Chapter 20: The Nature of a Bandit (Happy New Year! Two extra chapters today)

  Lu Qi's body charged forward, his left hand flipped the knife to the front and grasped it, with extremely fast speed, he swung it out, "peng" sound, the scabbard tail of the knife swept across Wang Renshou's right cheek, Wang Renshou let out a miserable cry as he was hit, spinning around in a circle before falling to the ground, his mouth agape, spitting out a mouthful of bloody teeth.

  "How about it? Will you sell or not?" Lu Qi's knife tip flashed in front of Wang Renshou's eyes.

  "Mine, I'm selling." Wang Renshou was startled and hastily retreated backwards.

  "Fine, go and get the deed of sale then." Lu Qi said with a cold smile.

  Wang Renshou hastily stood up, covering the bruise on his right cheek, and looked at Lu Qi with fear. He hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice: "Master, this girl is very wild and has run away from me many times. You'll be losing out if you buy her."

  Lu Qi said coldly: "You're also going to buy it, isn't your left side too thin?"

  Wang Renshou hastily turned around and ran, stumbling back to the main house to fetch the deed of sale and paper pen. Under Lu Qi's cold gaze, he wrote a transfer contract. After carefully examining the transfer contract and deed of sale, Lu Qi put them away and sneered: "Consider yourself lucky, unlock and release him immediately."

  Wang Renshou didn't dare to delay, and quickly went over to unlock the shackles on the laundry girl's feet with a key. Lu Qi followed him, looking at the laundry girl, whose eyebrows and eyes were similar to those of Dong Qing, but her thin face and dull eyes had none of the vitality of youth. Lu Qi took off his outer garment and draped it over the girl to cover her body, then bent down and picked up the girl with his left arm, which was holding a knife, and turned to walk away.

  "Old man, you haven't paid yet!" Wang Renshou hastily chased after him, shouting.

  Lu Qi stopped and reached into his sleeve to take out ten coins, throwing them on the ground. Wang Renshou saw this and hastily said: "Sir, that's sixty taels of silver!"

  Lu Qi Meng suddenly turned around, his right hand stretched out to grab Wang Ren Shou's chest and pulled him in front of him. With a fierce gaze, he intimidated: "Wang Lao Ye, it was you who said that buying this girl would be a loss. If we buy her back and spend 100 taels on medical treatment, wouldn't that be a huge loss for the official? You're a merchant, shouldn't you know how to calculate accounts? If not, I can send you to the county prison to carefully calculate it."

  Lu Qi finished speaking, exerted force with one hand and pushed Wang Renshou to the ground, closing his breath. He took a cold glance and hummed, leaving with a swagger, completely displaying the domineering style of a bandit soldier.

  He forcibly bought the girl, Lu Qi, and felt very pleased. After leaving the rice shop, he found a nearby clothing store and bought a set of light blue clothes for the girl to wear. Then, he took the girl to a noodle shop and ordered some small dishes and Yangchun noodles for her to eat.

  The girl, bought by Lu Qi, remained silent and didn't respond to Dong Qing's heartfelt calls. She even stared at Dong Qing with hatred in her eyes. However, when she saw the Yang Chun noodles on the table, she reacted violently, wolfing down the food and choking several times. Dong Qing tried to pat her back but was pushed away, leaving Dong Qing teary-eyed as she looked at her sister.

  Lu Qi's expression remained calm as he gazed at the girl, understanding that she hated her relatives for selling her and not redeeming her. When the girl finished half a bowl of Yangchun noodles, he suddenly reached out and snatched the noodles, placing them in front of himself. The girl stared frantically at the noodle bowl, then lifted her head to look at Lu Qi, with a frightened gaze in her eyes.

  "Do you know why I bought you?" Lu Qi asked in a cold voice.

  "I don't know." The girl lowered her head in fear and whispered.

  "It was your sister who begged me, so I came to buy you today." Lu Qi said coldly, the girl turned her head to look at Dong Qing, with a painful and sorrowful expression.

  "Sister." Dong Qing called out deeply, tears streaming down her face.

  "Holly, do you know why I agreed to buy you?" Lu Qi said coldly again.

  Dong Qing was taken aback and said with tears: "Because young master has a kind heart and pities me."

  Lu Qi coldly said: "Dong Qing, I'm telling you clearly, I didn't buy you out of kindness. In this world, kind people can only become increasingly poor. I was willing to buy you because you refused my ten cents, it's your ungreedy virtue that makes you worthy of being taken in by the Lu family. Now, since you don't want the ten cents, I'll use it to buy back your sister instead. So, your sister belongs half to you, which means from now on in the Lu household, your sister will be at your beck and call. From now on in the Lu household, you must address her by her servant name, not 'sister'. You are a maid of the Lu family, and she is also a maid of the Lu family. Remember my words, do you understand?"

  Dong Qing hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, "The young master's great kindness, the slave will remember, the young master's orders, the slave will also remember."

  Lu Qi Zhengrong nodded slightly and asked the girl coldly: "What is your slave name?"

  The girl replied in a low and timid voice: "I am called Xiaoyun, taken by Madame Zhao."

  Lu Qi coldly said: "Xiao Yun, from now on you are a slave of the Lu family. If you can't satisfy me, I'll sell you anytime. From now on, you will serve Dong Qing, no matter who she serves, you will follow her. Now call out 'Sister Dong Qing' so I can hear it."

  The girl Xiaoyun turned her head to look at Dongqing and said in a low voice with a hesitant tone: "Sister Dongqing."

  Lu Qi immediately fixed his gaze on Dong Qing, who looked embarrassed and nervously said in a low voice under Lu Qi's stare: "Xiao Yun."

  "Alright, remember the rules from now on, eat up." Lu Qi said with a gentle voice, and pushed the Yang Chun noodles back.

  Xiao Yun hurriedly ate a bowl of food as soon as she met, and Dong Qing hesitated for a moment before softly saying: "Xiao Yun, quickly thank the young master."

  "The slave thanks the young master." Xiaoyun said while eating, apparently having been hungry for a long time. Lu Qi called for another bowl to let her eat, but she dared not want a third bowl, fearing that it would lead to trouble.

  Xiao Yun finished eating the noodles and her spirit lifted greatly. She raised her head to look at Dong Qing, then looked at Lu Qi, before getting up and walking over to Lu Qi's side, kneeling down and softly kowtowing: "Your humble servant thanks you, Master. From now on, I am willing to serve Master forever."

  "Get up, I don't like people kneeling down." Lu Qi said calmly.

  He just did that to resolve Xiaoyun's hatred towards her family, letting Xiaoyun know that her sister is also an involuntary servant girl. From now on, Xiaoyun will be under Dongqing's control and won't leave her side, only then will Dongqing's concern for Xiaoyun produce gratitude. The two sisters will also get along harmoniously due to their shared interests. If the sisters were in the same position, the older sister would not feel the younger sister's concern, but instead would always remember that the younger sister is luckier and happier, and would forever resent her parents for finding a good family for the younger sister to be a servant, feeling that her parents are unfair to her.

  Xiao Yun sat back in her seat, and Lu Qi asked in a low voice: "Xiao Yun, why did that Wang fellow bully you so much? Was it because you ran away?"

  Xiao Yun's eyes welled up with tears, and she said in a hoarse voice: "Young master, Wang is a wicked man. He forced me to agree to be his concubine, but I knew that if I became his concubine, I would never be able to leave the Wang family again. He tried to rape me many times, but I resisted with all my might and even scratched him a few times. He was furious and whipped me, and I couldn't bear it, so I ran away twice, but he caught me and stripped me of my clothes, locking me up. After that, he said he wasn't interested in me anymore and didn't force me, only making me do laundry every day and giving me a small bowl of thin porridge to drink. He would often sit on the side watching me do laundry, and if I stopped for a moment, he would scold and beat me. Sometimes, he would even use meat buns to tempt me into begging him, but I would rather starve to death than beg that wicked man."

  The next sentence was said with great enthusiasm, and Lu Qi listened with a hint of admiration, thinking that this little girl had a lot of backbone. He echoed in agreement: "From now on, you won't be bullied at the Lu's house."

  Xiao Yun wiped away her tears and nodded: "I know that you will be good to me."

  Lu Qi listened and was stunned for a moment, smiled slightly without taking it to heart, glanced outside and laughed: "It's getting late, let's head back."

  It was already the second watch of the night, and most of the shops on the street had closed. There were even fewer people on the streets, only the wine shops still had lights on. The curfew at the third watch meant that no one was allowed to walk on the streets, but drinking all night in a wine shop was not restricted.

  Walking on the street, Dong Qing supported Xiao Yun and walked slowly. Lu Qi wasn't in a hurry either, although he estimated that his mother would be back soon, rushing back now wouldn't make much of a difference.

  After a while, Lu Qi looked at the shops on both sides and suddenly asked: "Dong Qing, is there a pharmacy in Wangjiang Pavilion?"

  Dong Qing was taken aback, and Xiao Yun said in a soft voice: "Young master, there is only one pharmacy on West Street. It's very difficult to see a doctor in Wangjiang Village, there are no good doctors, and there is also a severe shortage of medicine. Minor illnesses are treated with rough folk remedies, and serious illnesses require going to the county town for treatment. Even wealthy families have to invite doctors from the county town to come and treat them."

  "You actually know all this."

  Xiao Yun said gloomily, "The pharmacy on West Street originally belonged to the Zhao family. I used to help sell medicine in the pharmacy, but after the Zhao family had some trouble with purchasing medicinal materials, they sold it."

  Lu Qi nodded and asked in a low voice, "How is that pharmacy doing now?"

  Xiao Yun said in a soft voice: "The Zhao family's business has been poor, mainly due to the lack of medicinal sources. The cheap medicine commonly used to treat wind-cold diarrhea is also out of stock."

  Lu Qi thought for a moment and replied in a harmonious tone: "How much silver did Zhao's pharmacy sell it for back then?"

  "One hundred and twenty taels." Little Cloud replied softly, looking at Lu Qi in surprise.