Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Uninvited Guest

  That night, Yu Songyuan picked up Lin Xue and the two of them chatted and laughed intimately all the way back to their dormitory. Suddenly, Yu Songyuan felt something was off.

  As usual, the general would have run over to greet them, but tonight the general didn't come. He pulled Lin Xue's hand and ran quickly to the dormitory, seeing the general sitting majestically in front of the kitchen door, occasionally letting out a stern low growl. Seeing him and Lin Xue approaching, the general also did not get up to greet them, but only let out a low bark, as if calling Yu Songyuan and Lin Xue, then again vigilantly staring inside the kitchen.

  Yu Songyuan knew something was up, so he told Lin Xue to stay far away and not come over. He quietly walked to the side of the general. All that could be seen inside the kitchen was a dark mass, nothing else was visible. But the general's expression clearly indicated that someone or some animal had definitely entered.

  He walked towards the door, when suddenly someone inside spoke in a panicked tone: "Don't come any closer, I have a knife."

  Yu Songyuan stood in front of the door and suddenly laughed: "You think I'm afraid of you with a broken vegetable knife? You're a thief, aren't you?" The person inside didn't respond. Yu Songyuan asked again: "A few months ago, wasn't this place also one of your haunts?"

  The people inside still didn't speak, Yu Songyuan no longer accompanied him to play, he walked towards the kitchen door, Lin Xue had already come over, holding a fish pole made of wicker and wanted to hand it to him, seeing this hastily said: "Don't go over there!"

  Yu Songyuan waved his hand at her and walked straight to the kitchen door, turning on the light. There stood a man with disheveled hair, mud-stained face, tattered clothes, whose age was indistinguishable, holding a knife like a wooden puppet beside the table, motionless. Yu Songyuan wondered: "You have a knife, why don't you chop me?"

  The man also looked puzzled, "Why would I hit you? You're not a bad person, I'm just afraid of dogs, I've been afraid since I was young. A few months ago, I was bitten by a wolf dog and got seriously injured!"

  Yu Songyuan took down the knife in his hand and smiled wryly, "So you're saying you're afraid of dogs but not people?"

  The man said: "No. I am afraid of dogs and bad people, but not good people!"

  Yu Songyuan said: "Come out."

  The man hunched over and walked out, Yu Songyuan said: "Speak up, was it also you who stole here a few months ago?"

  The man said bluntly: "It was me, I originally lived in this kitchen, you came and I could only live under the bridge. But today I really didn't do anything, just wanted to come and find something to eat, as soon as I entered the door, I was blocked by this beast. It's really annoying, it doesn't bite me, but it won't let me out. Later I understood, it was deliberately trapping me, waiting for you to come and clean me up!"

  "It's not livestock, it's stronger than some people."

  "What you said is right. The biggest devil in the world is some wicked people, not animals."

  "I can see that you have external injuries, but also internal ones, and the internal ones are very severe." Yu Songyuan said as he threw a punch at his abdomen. He immediately fell to the ground, curled up into a ball, and began coughing nonstop, spitting out a mouthful of dark, dirty stuff.

  Yu Songyuan said: "You've ruined me, I had to eat radish and cabbage for a whole week, almost starved to death, even fainted in the classroom. This punch settles it." After hitting him, he said: "You can go now."

  The man finally stopped coughing and slowly stood up: "Thank you for saving me, I've spat it out, I feel much better. Are you really letting me go?"

  "Are you going to leave me with nothing but a thief?"

  The man spat out a mouthful of black blood, and indeed spoke more fluently. He made a fist, "Little brother, I was wrong to steal your food, I sincerely apologize! When a person is down on their luck, even dogs will give you disdainful looks... it's tough for you!" After finishing speaking, he wanted to lift his leg and leave.

  Lin Xue said, "Wait a minute." She walked into the kitchen, took out two cornmeal pancakes from the pot and handed them to him. Only then did she say, "You don't look like someone who is lazy and likes to eat well. Go home! What's more bitter than being in the countryside? It's the countryside now, but the policy has improved, and with the production contract, you won't be at a loss, at least you can get a full meal."

  The man took it, bowed his head to Lin Xue and thanked him. His voice was clearly choked with emotion, "Young brother is a hero, talented and promising! Little fairy is like a delicate flower bud, fresh and elegant, beautiful but not charming, icy and pure! Zhang Cheng sincerely blesses the couple, a pair of perfect matches, heavenly mates. Although they are suffering today, they will surely rise to greatness in the future..."

  "Slow down, don't flatter us first. Go wash up by the pond first, then go to the kitchen to eat!"

  "You're really..."

  Lin Xue was still fearful and pulled on his clothes. Yu Songyan patted her little hand and said seriously, "Really!"

  The man really went to the pool and washed for a while, and Lin Xue handed him a towel to wipe his face. Yu Songyuan had already heated up the remaining porridge and put it on the table, along with pickled vegetables, fish jerky, and cornbread. The man came into the kitchen, looked at the "sumptuous" food, and swallowed saliva uncontrollably, asking in disbelief, "Can I really eat all of this?"

  "Right."

  "Shall we all eat together?"

  "We've eaten, you eat now, being polite is being hypocritical." After finishing speaking, Yu Songyuan led the general out of the kitchen and came to Lin Xue's side. Seeing that Lin Xue was looking at him with a puzzled expression, he pulled her small hand and pulled her into the dormitory, letting her sit on the bed. "You're asking me why I'm being so good to a thief, right?"

  Lin Xue nodded slightly.

  "Have you ever seen a thief as clumsy as this? Have you ever seen a thief with such a belly full of goods? When you and I first came to this 'haunted house', weren't we also down on our luck like him? This is clearly just someone who's fallen on hard times. As soon as I think about my whole family and me being in dire straits, I want to help him out. Can you understand?"

  Kind-hearted Lin Xue nodded, "We should help him, but I'm just a little afraid, we don't know anything about his background, and this place is so desolate."

  Yu Song comforted him, "You believe me, this isn't a bad person, and he's also a practitioner's son. Moreover, his injuries are too severe, especially internal ones. Since ancient times, heroes have cherished each other, I'm not a hero, but I still have some discerning eyes."

  After a while, the man finished eating and sat quietly in the kitchen waiting for them. Seeing Yu Songyuan and Lin Xue walking over, the man clasped his fists in respect, but Yu Songyuan waved his hand, "Let's go. You also saw that we two are also poor people, so poor that it's pitiful, and we're also the lowest class of people who aren't taken seriously by others. Let's go, go home, don't mess around anymore."

  The man thanked him profusely, nodding his head in agreement while handing over a small red booklet. Yu Songyuan took it and examined it under the light, " 'Xinpu Yiding Highway Transportation Company, Zhang Cheng.' This is a very famous township enterprise, are you from Xinpu?"

  "It's called a township enterprise, but in fact it was all created by my uncle Zhang Yiding. It just bears the name of a township enterprise. I am Zhang Yiding's nephew and currently the only male heir of the Zhang family..."

  "You're the son of a wealthy family, how did you end up in such a sorry state?"

  "Little brother, do you know Mo's Logistics?"

  "You know, our county has a well-known enterprise that used to be called a commune and brigade enterprise, now it's called a township enterprise. It's also a highway transportation company. Their collectively invested and developed projects, such as Moyu Garden and Moshi Villa, are the most famous luxury residential areas in the county town. What happened to this enterprise?"

  "This Mo's logistics company is actually a township enterprise, but in fact it is Mo Wan Ying's personal enterprise. Mo Wan Ying appears to be bright and beautiful on the surface, but inside he is a devil, an evil ruffian who will stop at nothing. He uses the name of cooperation to deceive me and my two brothers into coming here, but then takes us captive, forcing us to sign unequal contracts, wanting to swallow up our Zhang's logistics company."

  "What's next?"

  "We certainly didn't agree. He wouldn't let us go, I watched with my own eyes as my older brothers were thrown into the king's water in a big vat, those miserable cries, that suffering... unforgettable..."

  "Dead? Wang Shui..." Yu Songyuan and Lin Xue exclaimed in unison.

  "That's right. On that day, two logistics businessmen from Jiangnan were also thrown in. Mo Wanying had another den in Jinyuan City, and according to the thugs, he had killed dozens of people there, all of whom had been dissolved, leaving nothing behind."

  "So, how did you manage to escape?"

  "After he killed my two older brothers, something came up and he went out, letting me narrowly escape. I promised a large sum of money and bribed one of his henchmen. This henchman had me wear a security guard uniform and took me out of the den of evil in a vegetable cart. After we got out, we went to a small inn together, took out 10,000 yuan, and gave it all to him."

  "What's next?"

  "I managed to escape, but I was badly injured and had no money. Mo Wan Ying's people were looking for me everywhere, so I couldn't even make it back to report the news. Mo Wan Ying is planning to take over Zhang Shi Logistics, while I can only hide in this desolate riverbank to recover from my injuries. There are their people everywhere, only here is safe."

  "What have you been eating for more than half a year?"

  "The school's Luo Bu, white vegetables, also catch fish, insects, cicadas, snakes, eat everything. If really hungry, also steal. I just have one thought, survive, go back and report, keep Zhang Shi Logistics Company safe, let the evil people get their retribution! But now my body is weak, relying on begging can't walk to Xinpu..."

  Yu Songyuan and Lin Xue exchanged a glance, and Lin Xue put the remaining six or seven corn cakes into a cloth bag and placed it on the table. Yu Songyuan brought in a pair of old sneakers that had been washed clean and dried on the iron wire outside, and put them on the table, then took out 20 yuan and put it on the table.

  The man's eyes were filled with a grateful expression, and tears had already flowed down. But his mouth said: "If you hand me over to Mo Wanying, you will definitely get a not small reward..."

  Yu Songyuan said: "Brother, we are students and will not do the kind of harmful things you mentioned. Although we don't entirely believe what you say, take these food, shoes, and money. Go back to Xinpu, first walk north along the riverbank at night for a few days, after walking out 180 miles, then take a ride. Go back, Zhang Yiding must be worried sick, your family is probably in urgent need of someone now, leave now!"

  The man knelt down with a thud, and Yu Songyuan and Lin Xue were shocked. The man knocked his head three times respectfully and said solemnly: "Little hero, chivalrous and kind-hearted; little fairy, mortal body with immortal bones, benevolent and selfless, moving heaven and earth. Zhang Cheng is saved, the Zhang family is saved! Please believe me, young hero and little fairy, that the Su North Zhang family is not an unknown family, nor is it a heartless family. If there is any danger in the future, no matter where you are in the world, the Zhang family will spare no effort or expense to help!"

  Yu Songyuan helped him up, "You're wrong, we're not as worldly as you think! That punch just now, I apologize..."

  "We wouldn't have known each other if we hadn't fought. You're a great little hero, I can tell you spared me on purpose, and helped me relieve my stagnation. Zhang Cheng has also been practicing martial arts since childhood, with a clear conscience. May I ask your honorable surname and given name?"

  "No need. We didn't expect you to repay us, we're all drifters at the end of the world, why bother if we hadn't met before? We should be helping each other out!"

  "If you don't say anything, this thing and money are just charity, then I don't want it."

  "Alright. My name is Yu Songyuan, from Yujia Village. This is my... girlfriend, Lin Xue."