Chapter Twelve: Sneaking into the City

  When night fell, Li Guoting and Zhao Erhu arrived in Guangyuan.

  "Big brother, look at that city gate over there. There are soldiers guarding it. They will search us. Hide the silver coin on you well, or they'll find it and take it away."

  From a distance, Zhao Erhu pointed at the tall city gate in front of him and said to Li Guoting.

  Guangyuan? Li Guoting had heard of this name. But he had never been here before, and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. When Zhao Erhu said this, he hastily patted his chest and said to Zhao Erhu: "Brother, I'm hiding inside, it's okay, right?"

  Zhao Erhu looked at him and said calmly: "Hiding it won't work, when soldiers search you, they'll touch you there first, and you can't let them take it away."

  Li Guoting felt a bit nervous, thinking that hiding it in his chest was not safe, so where would be safe? He turned his face and looked up and down at his tattered clothes, wanting to hide it in his waistband, but then thought, no, if the belt came off, the silver dollar would also be lost. He stretched his head to look under his body, ah, got it, hiding the silver dollar in his crotch, it should be safe there.

  Thinking of this, he took out the silver dollar from his chest and put it into his pants pocket, saying to Zhao Erhu: "Brother, I'll hide it in my pants pocket, will that be okay?"

  Zhao Erhu turned his head and burst out laughing: "Haha, big brother, you're really good at thinking of ways to hide your money, putting silver coins in your crotch, I hope you won't stuff them into your **."

  Zhao Erhu smiled, and Li Guoting's face turned red.

  "What are you laughing at? I'm asking you if this is hidden or not." Li Guoting said angrily.

  "That won't do, those soldiers are really bad, they love to pinch people's ***, and if it's a woman, they'll even reach out and touch her privately."

  "They are so bad, it seems that there is no good person in this world." Li Guoting said with some indignation.

  "Good fellow? Where did you find him? Never mind, big brother, hide your silver coins first." Zhao Erhu said.

  "This won't work, that won't work, then take a look at me, with this tattered and worn-out clothes, where can I hide safely?" Li Guoting said to Zhao Erhu.

  Zhao Erhuo surrounded Li Guoting, looking left and right, and said in his mouth: "Yes, your body is not safe to hide anywhere. Even if you hide it in the rotten cotton jacket, it will be searched out. If you hide it in your cotton shoes, it won't work either. If they suspect you, they'll let you take off your shoes, and you'll be exposed. Why don't I hide it on my body? My body is safe."

  Li Guoting glared at Zhao Erhu: "I'm telling you, brother, you're not trying to cheat me out of my silver dollars, are you?"

  "Big brother said that, how could I cheat big brother? Forget it, you don't want to, let's not mention it. However, there is another way, those soldiers won't search you," Zhao Erhu said.

  Li Guoting hastily asked: "What's the solution? Speak quickly."

  Zhao Erhu's eyes rolled again, and he pulled Li Guoting to run forward. They stopped under a tree by the road, where Zhao Erhu said: "Brother, didn't you say you wanted to take a dump just now on the road?"

  "Is that so? You didn't say to bear with it and pull it forward?" said Li Guoting.

  "It's your turn now, go ahead and take a dump, squat under that tree over there, I'll keep watch." Zhao Erhu pointed to the big tree beside him and said to Li Guoting.

  "What's the point of pulling shit now?" Li Guoting looked at Zhao Erhu in confusion and asked.

  "Oh, just don't say anything. You're called to pull, so just pull, are you going to guarantee your silver coins or not?" Zhao Erhu became impatient and urged Li Guoting.

  "Alright, I'll listen to you, brother, but don't trick me, okay? I'm going now." As he spoke, Li Guoting untied his pants and squatted down at the side of the road to relieve himself.

  It's all over. Li Guoting pulled up his pants and said to Zhao Erhu: "It's all over."

  Zhao Erhu walked over and said, "Take that silver dollar and wipe it with your shit, then put it in your crotch. Guaranteed nothing will happen."

  "What? You want me to put the silver coin with shit on it in my crotch? What kind of idea is that? No way, I won't do it." Li Guoting said with a glare.

  "Big brother, this is the only way to fool those soldiers. This method is very effective. In the past, I stole something and used this method to get out of the city. If you're not willing, then I don't have any other good methods. Then you can take it yourself. It's up to your luck." Zhao Erhu said with a shrug of his shoulders to Li Guoting.

  Li Guoting looked up at the brightly lit city gate in front of him, then reached into his pocket to touch the silver dollar inside. He thought for a moment, considering that if those guards took it away from him, he would not be able to face Yan Hong. Thinking this, he steeled himself and said to Zhao Erhu: "Alright, brother, don't fool me, I'll listen to you."

  As he spoke, Li Guoting took out a white cloth package from his pocket, opened it, and pulled out the silver dollar. He stuffed the white cloth into his pants, held the silver dollar in his hand, and despite the stench, pressed the silver dollar against his own freshly defecated feces. Then, he turned around and asked Zhao Erhu: "Do you want to put it in your crotch?"

  "Hmm, you put the side that didn't stick down below and the sticky side up above." Zhao Erhu said.

  "Damn it, that didn't even touch my butt!" Li Guoting glared at Zhao Erhu.

  "Big brother, you're really stupid. You're holding up your pants, just don't pull them up any further. When we get to the city gate, bend over and say your stomach hurts, that you need to take a crap. If the soldiers want to check, just open your pants and let them check. It's so smelly, who would even look?"

  Li Guoting thought for a moment, and since Zhao Erhu's words made sense, he followed his instructions to put the silver coins stained with feces into his pants. Then, holding up his pants with both hands, he followed Zhao Erhu towards the city gate.

  At the city gate, there were indeed soldiers on guard again, checking people entering and leaving the city one by one.

  "Halt." A soldier with a large gun in his hand saw Zhao Erhu and Li Guoting walking over and stepped forward to shout loudly.

  Zhao Erhu and Li Guoting stood still by the roadside, not daring to move. A soldier walked up to Zhao Erhu and asked: "Where are you from? Where are you going?"

  "Sir, we live in the city, we went out of the city for fun and now we are going back home."

  The soldier, by the light of the torch, looked up and down at Zhao Erhu and Li Guoting, who was standing behind him, pretending to have a stomachache and muttering to himself, and said: "From the city? Which part of the city?"

  "Along the river street, that yard near the dock." Zhao Erhu said.

  "What's your father's name?" the soldier asked again.

  "Call... call Li Yuanchao." Zhao Erhu replied.

  "And you?"

  Li Tiezhu

  The soldier rolled his eyes and looked at Li Guoting behind Zhao Erhu again, pointing at Li Guoting: "What about him?"

  "He is my brother, named Li Tiedan."

  "Hey, poor kid, don't play any tricks on me, come here and get searched." The soldier then dragged Zhao Erhuo to the side and started searching him.

  Li Guoting saw this and started shouting that his stomach hurt and he wanted to have diarrhea.

  After searching Zhao Erhu, the soldier walked up to Li Guoting and said, "What are you shouting about?"

  "My stomach hurts, I have diarrhea, I need to have diarrhea. Hurry up, I can't bear it anymore." Li Guoting frowned and put on a mournful face as he shouted.

  "Damn it, you little rascal, are you pretending to be stupid? Dare to cheat me, I'll shoot you with one bullet. Let go of your hands and let me check." As the soldier was about to take action, Li Guoting pulled down his pants, and a foul smell came out from his crotch. The soldier immediately covered his nose with his hand, lifted his foot, and kicked Li Guoting's bare buttocks. "Damn it, you stink to death, get out of here!"

  Li Guoting hastily pulled up his pants and ran towards the city with Zhao Erhu.