Chapter 66: Brother and Sister in Trouble Receive Aid

  Ma Chao and Cui An stayed at Dian Wei's house for only one night, and they left the next day.

  Ma Chao saw the situation at Dian Wei's house and, to be honest, didn't want to bother them anymore. However, when he was about to leave, he gave some money to Dian Wei, who initially said he didn't need anything but was eventually defeated by Ma Chao's words "What if your child is not doing well?"

  Ma Chao indeed felt that Dian Wei was now so down on his luck that he wanted to help him out a bit. If it were someone else, he would do the same, after all, there were still children involved. He had always thought that with Dian Wei's abilities, things shouldn't be so difficult, but the fact of the matter was that they were struggling at home.

  What are you talking about, hunting? Living off the mountain is not wrong, but if it's near a big mountain, life in Dianwei's house might be good. But this small place won't do. The little tiger we met that time didn't even know where it came from, and it's already a big probability to meet once every few months. On ordinary days, being able to hunt back two rabbits for a warm meal is already very good.

  On this day, Ma Chao and Cui An were having a meal at a restaurant in Chenliu's Jiyang when they heard someone making a ruckus just as the two of them were about to finish eating and settle the bill. Ma Chao furrowed his brow upon hearing this because he was a person who particularly liked quietness, which also helped him think through problems. As a result, upon hearing the commotion, he pulled Cui An over to take a look at what was going on.

  As a result, it turned out that someone had eaten without paying. Ma Chao thought to himself, "This is bold enough, such a big store and yet there are still people who dare to eat for free here, what kind of person is this?" However, after watching for a while longer, he discovered that things weren't quite as he had thought, the person wasn't eating for free.

  Since it's like that, then let's take care of it. Ma Chao has learned to love meddling in other people's business over the years. Whenever he encounters something, he tells himself who made him encounter it, and if he can take care of it, then he'll take care of it.

  "Hey, no disrespect!" Ma Chao shouted.

  As expected, the fellow who was just arguing calmed down after hearing Ma Chao's words.

  "What can I do for you, sir?" the shop assistant said to Ma Chao.

  "What's all the commotion about?"

  The fellow, upon hearing this, immediately became electrified on the spot. "Sir, you are unaware of the situation, and it's just right that you've come to evaluate the reason. They not only don't pay for their meals but also take out a knife, saying they want to use it as payment. Can we merchants accept such things?" As he spoke, the fellow pointed at several people in front of him and then pointed at the knife in the other person's hand.

  Ma Chao nodded his head, indeed what his partner said was reasonable, the restaurant couldn't possibly accept a knife as payment for food.

  "Alright, buddy, whatever they owe will be on my account!" Ma Chao said and handed over enough money to the buddy.

  "Not enough? Then there's more!"

  "That's enough, sir! That's plenty!" The shop assistant was all smiles.

  Ma Chao and Cui An brought a lot of money, this little bit is just a small gesture, the partner took the money and left.

  "This friend, how is this..." said one of those who had no money to pay the bill, apparently their leader.

  Ma Chao didn't wait for him to finish speaking and waved his hand, "Brother, no need to be polite! As the saying goes, 'all within the four seas are brothers', when one is away from home, who doesn't have some difficulties? Today, since I've encountered this matter, it's only natural that I cannot ignore it. It's just a small effort, what's there to say?"

  That person heard Ma Chao say so and had another layer of good feelings towards him.

  "In the lower village lives Wu Yi and Wu Ziyuan. This is my sister-in-law, Wu Xian." said Wu Yi, pointing to the person beside him.

  The person next to him, Ma Chao, only knew it was a woman. As for her appearance, he wasn't clear because it was covered by a veil, but judging from her figure, she was absolutely stunning.

  "Have seen the young master." Ma Chao listened and thought the voice sounded really good, but didn't know what he looked like.

  Ma Chao and Ma Mengqi stood up to greet them, saying "We've met before, Brother Zi Yuan and Miss Wu!" Ma Chao also introduced Cui An, but the other side was clearly only interested in him.

  "But I don't know why Brother Zi Yuan has ended up like this?" Ma Chao asked Wu Yi, looking at him as if he didn't seem to be someone who couldn't afford to eat.

  "Alas, Mengqi won't deceive you, we were going to visit relatives in Yizhou, but..."

  Next, Wu Yi told them about their situation. His parents were no longer around, and he only had his younger sister with him. Recently, they were going to Yizhou to visit relatives, and his father also had friends there, so he sold all the family property, bought a horse-drawn carriage, and took his sister and her maid to Yizhou.

  Unexpectedly, just after arriving in Jiyang, after finishing dinner, the money was found to be missing, and it must have been stolen by someone. Having no choice, Wu Yi thought of using his knife as collateral for the meal, but unexpectedly the shopkeeper refused and made a big fuss, then Ma Chao came over.

  Ma Chao thought to himself, "This Wu brother and sister are really unlucky. The money from selling their property was stolen, this thief is quite skilled." Just by looking at Wu Yi, you can tell he's a martial artist. To be able to steal the money silently under the nose of someone who knows martial arts shows just how exceptional this thief is. No wonder they say that great heroes are found among ordinary people, and that ordinary people can hide dragons and tigers.

  "What does Ziyuan's brother plan to do now?"

  As the saying goes, a hero is hard to find with just one penny. Now Wu Yi has no money on him, he must be thinking of finding the lost money or trying to make some money, thought Ma Chao.

  "I have an uncle in Luoyang, for now I can only go there first and then make further plans!" said Wu Yi.

  Ma Chao nodded and took out some more money from his bundle, "I know Brother Zi Yuan doesn't want it, but since we still have over 500 miles to Luoyang, perhaps Brother Zi Yuan can make do, but Sister Ling mustn't be inconvenienced!"

  Wu Yi listened and felt that Ma Chao's words were not wrong at all. He himself didn't mind, but there were still two girls, so he had no choice but to accept Ma Chao's kind intentions.

  "I never thought I'd meet you by chance, Meng Qi, but you've helped me so much! I'm truly grateful, please accept my bow!"

  Ma Chao hastily pulled Wu Yi, "Brother Ziyuan is wrong, today Brother Ziyuan has difficulties, I met and lent a hand to help. Another day someone else will have difficulties, and I believe Brother Ziyuan will also lend a hand to help. And another day when I encounter difficulties, others will also lend a hand. The world's affairs are like this: I help you, you assist him, he helps me again, circulating back and forth like this. Tell me, is it still difficult for people in the world to encounter difficulties?"

  After listening to Ma Chao's words, Wu Yi thought for a moment and bowed deeply to Ma Chao. "I've learned something! I didn't expect Meng Qi to have such ideas!"

  Ma Chao smiled and said, "It's just overthinking!" This kid is still being stubborn.

  However, he didn't notice, and of course, there was no way for him to see it. Wu Yi's sister, Wu Jian's face had been red for a while now, because when she heard Ma Chao say that he couldn't let her suffer injustice, she thought, is he trying to curry favor with me? Is he showing concern for me? Then her face suddenly turned bright red.

  If Ma Chao knew she had such thoughts, he would definitely cry out in injustice. He didn't mean anything at all, his intention was just to let Wu Yi accept the money. How could he have any intentions towards a woman whose appearance he wasn't even clear about?

  Ma Chao Ma Mengqi, I remember you. Wu Cai thought to herself that at first she indeed had a bit of a good impression of Ma Chao, but now it's clear that her good impression is increasing and she has also developed a strong interest in him.

  "I have to admire you, Mengqi!"

  Wu Yi said that it was true, he thought that there were not many people like Ma Chao who could say such things at such a young age, so he felt very admiring, and Ma Chao repeatedly humbled himself.

  "Meng Qi, it seems we might have to part ways here!"

  "Brother Ziyuan, you're leaving already?"

  "Yes, it's better not to delay, the earlier we arrive in Luoyang the better, after all our final destination is Yizhou!"

  Ma Chao nodded in understanding, "I see. It seems we can only part ways here then. Although our acquaintance is brief, it doesn't hinder the deep connection I feel with Brother Zi Yuan!"

  "Haha, Mengqi, from now on if you come to Yizhou, you must go to Chengdu to find me!" Wu Yi was also a person who liked making friends.

  "Even if Ziyuan brother doesn't say it, I will definitely go to his house for a big meal when I have the chance, and make up for today's lost food money by eating double!"

  As soon as Ma Chao's voice fell, Wu Zhi couldn't help but giggle, thinking that this Ma Chao was quite interesting. However, she realized that she had been rude and quickly suppressed her laughter.

  Ma Chao had long since realized that Wu Yi was not a man to be bothered with trivialities, and making a few jokes would not be a problem. Indeed, upon hearing this, Wu Yi burst out laughing, feeling that Ma Chao truly understood his temperament.

  "Not bad, Meng Qi's words are quite right. At that time, please spare me a bit of face!" After finishing, the two burst into loud laughter.

  Ma Chao watched Wu Yi drive away in his horse carriage. Nothing can be done, when people gather there will be separation, everyone has their own things to do, and if fate permits they will meet again.

  To save time, Wu Yi and his group headed west, while Ma Chao's group had to head southwest. Their paths were different, or else they would have set out together.

  After staying in Jiyang for a night, Ma Chao and his men continued on their journey the next day. He thought that the place of Yanzhou didn't seem to be very big, and he also didn't know how Cao Cao had risen to power with such a small piece of land. It seems that the size of a place isn't the most important thing, what's key is still the talent, as talent is the most precious after all.

  So for the sake of talent, Ma Chao had to go to Yu Province next. To that land teeming with talented people in Yingchuan, to meet the great talents of the Three Kingdoms era. Thinking about this, he was especially looking forward to his trip to Yu Province.

  That day, they arrived at Yangzhai in Yingchuan. The legendary Yingchuan Academy was located here. Ma Chao was extremely excited when he came to Yangzhai, not only because he could meet some great people here, but also because he could come to the legendary Yingchuan Academy, which was known for producing talented people, so he was in a very good mood.

  They asked people about the location of Yingchuan Academy, and the people of Yangzhai enthusiastically introduced Yingchuan Academy to Ma Chao and his men, also pointing out the way. It seems that Yingchuan Academy is not only a pride of Yingchuan but also a pride of Yangzhai. Almost no ordinary people in Yangzhai do not know where Yingchuan Academy is. Perhaps ordinary people do not understand the significance of Yingchuan Academy, but this does not prevent Yingchuan Academy from becoming their pride.

  Ordinary people, as soon as they hear others mention the Yingchuan Academy, know that it must be an outsider, so every time they proudly introduce their hometown's Yingchuan Academy to outsiders. Outsiders can also hear the pride of Yangqi people.

  Knowing the specific location, Ma Chao was no longer so eager to go to Yingchuan Academy. He began to ask passersby about Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia, but it was clear that these two people could not be mentioned in the same breath as Yingchuan Academy, so Ma Chao asked several people but didn't get any information out of them.

  Just as Ma Chao felt there was no hope, a young man stopped him and asked, "Are you looking for Xi Zhi?"

  Ma Chao nodded as soon as he heard it, "Do you know this friend?" He also asked the young man a sentence.

  The boy just shook his head and said, "I know where he lives!"

  Ma Chao was delighted when he heard this and said, "I would be grateful if you could give me some advice!"

  "Are you sure you want to go there?"

  Ma Chao was unclear about it, "Confirmed!"

  The young man nodded, "Then let's go, I'll lead you there."

  The young man led the way in front, while Ma Chao and Cui An followed behind, leading their horses. Turning left and right, right and left, they didn't know how many turns they had made, until finally the young man stopped in front of a dilapidated house.

  Ma Chao looked at it and felt unexpected, thinking that this was still Yangzhi, how could there be such a broken house in this city. Does Xi Zhicai live in such a place? Although he had heard before that Xi Zhicai came from a humble background, he didn't expect to be so poor, this can no longer be described by the word "humble".

  The young man saw Ma Chao's expression and said: "I asked you, you said you were sure to come."

  Ma Chao shook his head and sighed, "How can we get a vast mansion with thousands of rooms, to provide shelter for all the poor scholars in the world?" He plagiarized Du Fu's poem, because only it could express what he wanted to say.

  The young man next to him heard this, raised an eyebrow, and a bright light flashed in his eyes. Ma Chao, on the other hand, heard several applause sounds coming from beside him, "Good sentence! I really didn't expect you still had two more!" The speaker was that young man.

  Ma Chao only now carefully sized up the young man, previously he was only thinking about his own affairs and hadn't paid much attention to him. The young man was around seven feet tall, with a clear and elegant appearance, and a beardless face. Judging by his age, he should still be younger than himself, probably around ten years old. He wore a green robe, with a sword hanging from his waist, dressed like a scholar.

  Ma Chao cupped his fists: "Hasn't asked for the friend's honorable surname and great name yet?"

  The boy just smiled and said, "You tell me first!"

  "Yes, yes, I was rude! My name is Ma Chao, style name Mengqi, from Fufeng Mailing, and I'm 12 years old this year."

  After Ma Chao finished speaking, the young man nodded his head. "Ma Chao Mengqi, I remember. I am a Yangzhai person from Yingchuan, my surname is Guo, my name is Jia, and I am 10 years old!"

  Guo Jia? He is Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao? Of course, Guo Jia does not have a style name yet.

  "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

  Ma Chao thinks Guo Jia is interesting and knows he's looking for him. He doesn't say that he himself is the one, but instead brings himself to Zhiyi.

  "Mengqi brother, you didn't ask me either!" Guo Jia made a helpless expression.

  "If you're looking for your brother, there's no need to, he's already gone traveling and studying, and I'm still taking care of the house. Speaking of which, I've helped your brother Mengqi a great deal, don't you think you should thank me?"

  Ma Chao heard this and thought to himself: I don't want to thank you, I just want to fight you.