Chapter Sixteen: Toll Station (Three)

  Can this little problem stump Ye Feng? In his previous life, he was a veteran of the liquor battles.

  He stroked his chin, chuckled twice, and if a white dot were pasted on the bridge of his nose, he would be a perfect White-faced Treacherous Minister in Peking Opera. Even so, it sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.

  He walked with a steady gait to the shore and carefully examined the large ship. The ship was a typical Swan sailboat, meaning that from an aerial view, it had a sharp bow, a wide hull, just like a giant swan floating on the water.

  The cargo hold on the ship was open, with a tall mast standing in the middle of the ship, but the sails had already been completely lowered. On both sides, there were rows of oars. Dozens of rowers sat there with worried and sad faces. Their clothes were tattered, their expressions were miserable, and their hair and skin tones were different. There were people from the continent of Bolon, nomads from Aberdeen, and savages from the north. The only thing they had in common was that they all wore shackles on their hands and feet.

  A number of burly men with ferocious faces paced back and forth among them, occasionally cracking the whips in their hands to lash at some poor devil. When they saw Ye Feng's gaze fall on them, they hastily nodded and smiled obsequiously. However, as soon as they turned around, the whips in their hands would lash down even more mercilessly.

  Ye Feng couldn't help but sigh at how quickly these people's expressions changed, enough to make a master of disguise blush. At the same time, he was also shocked that one group of people could oppress another group to such an extent.

  He shook his head and threw that pathetic and self-pitying idea to the outer space, just as the Internationale sings, 'There has never been a savior, nor a god or demon.' Human rights can only be obtained by fighting for them yourself. If you don't plan on fighting for it, why should others come to save you?

  Ye Feng pulled his thoughts back to reality, and at this moment what he needed most was how to squeeze oil from these human waste.

  He rolled his eyes and waved his hand, those several big men with black dragons painted on their bodies immediately came running over in high spirits, standing behind him with hands hanging down, waiting for orders.

  These soldiers were all used to being ruffians in peacetime, otherwise they wouldn't have been chosen by Ola. As soon as they saw the soldiers beating up Xiao Huzi, their hands started itching and they couldn't wait to show off their skills.

  If there's a chance to beat up those hooligans who usually look down on ordinary civilians, they'd be willing to do it even if they have to pay two bucks.

  "Yeh Feng pointed at the ship and loudly commanded: 'You few, go and inspect it carefully. While searching for pirates, you must ensure the safety of the good people's lives and property on the ship. Our motto is: never wrong a good person, but also never let off a bad person. The most important thing is not to let off a bad person.'"

  Those big men rushed onto the large ship upon hearing the noise, and started rummaging through everything on board. They smashed whatever could be smashed, and knocked down whatever could be knocked down. For a time, the sound of crashing and banging filled the air. Interspersed with this were the sounds of the big men beating people, as well as the crying and wailing of the crowd on board.

  Xiao Huzi slanted his eyes at Ye Feng, rubbing the bruise on his face, still coldly laughing stubbornly.

  Several big men rummaged through the ship and found nothing else to smash, while that despicable little mustache still refused to surrender, so they had to slink away from the ship with their tails between their legs.

  Ye Feng saw this and couldn't help but scold these guys in his heart, thinking that they had grown so big for nothing, all of them were good-for-nothings. Then he heard Burlin quietly educating the soldiers behind him, saying: "Do you see? These guys are all good-for-nothings. They didn't even get a little something. This will make it difficult for Young Master."

  One of the soldiers said sincerely: "What's the big deal? Just let him go."

  Bulin slapped the soldier's head heavily and scolded: "Long-headed, is that okay? If one ship doesn't pay, then there will be a second ship that doesn't pay. At that time, what can Xiao Gongzi do? Can't collect money, everyone goes to drink northwest wind!"

  The soldier rubbed his forehead and asked discontentedly: "What should we do when we encounter this kind of situation?"

  "Ugh, you guys are so stupid! Didn't you hear what Lord Ye said? We absolutely won't wrong a good person, but we also absolutely won't let off a bad person. The key is not to let off a bad person."

  He bit off the words "not letting a single bad person go" extremely heavily, and the soldiers immediately understood, unanimously uttering an "oh".

  "That soldier pointed at the tattooed big man who had just come down from the boat and said, 'What to do now? They've already searched everywhere, and looking at that little mustache like an iron rooster, even if we arrest everyone on his boat, it's unlikely he'll confess.'"

  Bulinna thought for half a day and let out a long sigh, saying: "In this situation, I don't know what to do either?"

  Ye Feng glanced at Bulin and said lightly: "You're really something."

  Bulin hastily put on a smiling face and said, "You're really something, sir." Although he said so, his face revealed a complacent expression, apparently thinking that Ye Feng's plan was not impressive at all, and he could easily do it himself.

  He secretly made up his mind that he would only help Ye Feng when the time was right, so that Young Master Gong could see that Old Bulin was still very useful and not just a freeloader.

  Ye Feng turned his head and looked at those several big men standing in front of him with a sullen face, saying: "What did you find out?"

  One of the Han people said with difficulty: "Your Honor, we have carefully checked and found no suspicious persons or things."

  "Fart!" Ye Feng was furious, pointing at his nose and scolding, "You bunch of lazy bums, good-for-nothings. During inspections, you're not even serious. If it's still like this, tonight's wine is off limits, meat too. All of you get out of here and go gnaw on some big buns!"

  The big men caught the implication in Ye Feng's words, and their eyes all lit up. The leader of the group wiped off the spittle that Ye Feng had sprayed onto his face, gritted his teeth, and resolutely asked: "Yes, sir. We are ignorant. Please instruct us on what to do next."

  "Yefeng pointed at the boat and said: 'Have you guys checked the bottom of the boat?'"

  "Boat... boat plank?"

  Ye Feng scolded: "I knew you bunch of bastards were slacking off again. I've told you how many times, people's lives must be put first, everything else is secondary."

  "According to intelligence, those pirates are all at the level of Saint-class mages. They can transform into mice or insects and drill into the ship's boards without being detected. I want you to knock open every single board, don't let any insect escape, and trample them to death. Those who turn back into human form after dying must be pirates. Only this way can we ensure the safety of the personnel on board."

  Xiao Huzi immediately spat out white foam and fell to the ground, unconscious.

  Bulin stared blankly for half a day before muttering in a low voice: "Black, really black. It's too black."

  Those few big men, upon hearing Ye Feng's words, let out a loud howl and turned to charge towards the boat. Little Hu Zi hugged Ye Feng's leg tightly and cried out: "Sir, sir! Have mercy! I'm willing to pay the money! I'm willing to pay the money now!"

  Seeing him with a nose full of snot and tears, even a tiger would take pity on him.

  Ye Feng waved his hand to signal the big men to stop, let out a long sigh and said: "Forget it, forget it. Who made heaven have good birth virtue? I couldn't bear to see people cry. Just pay twenty gold coins and that's it."

  Xiao Huzi cried out: "Twenty? Didn't they all pay ten each?"

  "Look, I'll calculate it clearly for you. Ten is the basic fee, and the other two are late fees because you didn't pay on time. The additional five is the VIP inspection fee for their meticulous examination of your ship."

  Xiao Huzi counted on his fingers and found that they didn't add up. He said, "There are still three missing?"

  Yefeng kicked him away with one foot and said, "There are three more. Two of them are the consultation fees you owe me for the questions you asked, and the last one is the dry cleaning fee for washing my pants that you dirtied. Do you have any other questions?"

  Xiao Huzi scrambled up from the ground, wiped his face and said quickly: "None left, sir. I'll go get you the money right now."

  Having said that, he quickly scrambled onto the boat.

  Ye Feng spat on the ground and thought: This idiot who doesn't know when to stop.

  At this time, the people in charge of several other ships saw the situation and came over with trepidation. They all expressed their willingness to pay up.

  Ye Feng thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Thirteen gold coins."

  One of them asked in surprise: "Sir, didn't you just tell the people from Sevili's house that it was ten, even if we add two more to make up for the delay..."

  Ye Feng smiled and reminded: "Late fee."

  That man politely took out his handkerchief, wiped the cold sweat and said: "Thank you, customs duty. It's just twelve gold coins. How did it become thirteen gold coins again?"

  Ye Feng spread his hands, innocently blinking his eyes and said: "If you had paid the money from the beginning, this situation wouldn't have occurred. No way, the economy is not good. According to the latest statistics, inflation has worsened, CPI has risen again."

  “C……I？”

  "I'm telling you, but you won't understand anyway. With your IQ, it's hard to comprehend such profound economics. Just think of it as a price increase and be done with it, got it? If not, in ten seconds, I'll raise the price again." Ye Feng said viciously.

  At the same time, he raised his hand and looked at his bare wrist, pretending to wear one of the essential gold accessories for successful people - a Rolex watch, and started counting down: "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

  The bosses were so frightened that they turned their heads and ran back to the ship to fetch money.

  Ye Feng looked at them and burst out laughing as they rushed around like headless flies.

  "Don't you have any compassion at all?" a familiar voice came over.

  Ye Feng was taken aback. He looked up to see Nia standing behind him. Looking at her slightly furrowed eyebrows, it was clear that she had been there for a while and had seen everything. (This was where she was better than Diana, not so impulsive. And she would also consider the situation on site, not letting herself lose face.)

  Ye Feng's smile froze, and he said coldly: "Pity? You can save those words for the slaves who have been flogged and the widows of soldiers who died in battle."

  "Look at those oarsmen," Ye Feng said, pointing to the rowers on the ship. "They are also human beings, but they are being oppressed by another group of people." He pointed to his subordinates beside him, "Do you know why they are so happy? It's because they beat up those who relied on their noble status to bully others."

  Ye Feng turned around calmly and faced her, pointing at the captains of those ships again, saying: "I'm sure that once these guys leave here, they will think of ways to make up for the losses and the humiliation they suffered here."

  He shrugged and continued, "But even if I pity them and don't beat them up. They will still swindle money from others mercilessly. Do they have any pity for those people?"

  "We need compensation for the families of soldiers who sacrificed in battle, medical expenses for wounded soldiers, and compensation for the trauma of war. I think you are not unaware that they smuggle goods under the guise of nobility. They don't pay taxes or contribute a single penny. Do they have pity on our soldiers?"

  Niya lowered her head and was silent for a moment.

  Those soldiers all looked at Ye Feng with a respectful gaze from the bottom of their hearts. After hearing his words, these rough men found that Ye Feng was someone who truly cared about them. Compared to those grand principles, they didn't understand and didn't care. What they were more concerned about was the food on their plates and the wine in their cups. Therefore, they especially resonated with Ye Feng's words.

  "He's an idiot."