Chapter 31: Playing the Zither with Pigs

  Everyone stared at him with eyes wide open, surrounding Qian Yaozu in a tight circle. Listening to the thunderous voice of Lei Wanli alone, Qian Yaozu couldn't help but lift his heart to his throat. This kid doesn't know what's heavy or light! That Lei Wanli is a renowned figure in the Central Plains, and over the years, he has only seen countless heroes fall under his feet, never seeing him fall at anyone else's feet.

  "Make way, make way, don't block the old man." Qian Yaozu angrily pushed through the crowd and finally managed to see Meng Yao from between the people.

  "Huh? Why isn't this doll fighting back?" As he looked on, his heart grew even more anxious.

  It's strange to say, but Lei Wanli's two fists were fiercely blowing in Meng Yao's face and chest, yet they couldn't even touch the edge of his clothes. The crowd watched with growing horror, unknowingly transferring their concern from Meng Yao to Lei Wanli. Except for Qian family father and son, most people here had experienced life-and-death struggles, and naturally, they saw through the trick: this shopkeeper's kid wasn't being beaten without any strength to fight back, but rather was waiting for his opponent's weakness like a cat playing with an old mouse.

  This kind of skill is indeed one level higher than others.

  Just then, Meng Yao let out a long laugh, "I think you're also getting tired, why don't you sit down and take a break?" As he spoke, he wiped the left fist of Lei Wanli with one side, rotated his entire body to stick to his back, stepped on one foot of his opponent with his right foot, bent his knee inward, and exerted a slight force in his waist.

  But before Le Wanli's cry of surprise had fallen, Meng Yao made a low bow and his palm chopped to the soft bone of his throat. This is one of the most vulnerable weaknesses of the human body. It's all over, Le Wanli closed his eyes, waiting only for the sound of himself falling to the ground.

  Who would have thought that at this moment, he suddenly felt a hand lightly supporting his waist, and almost instinctively, Lei Wanli got up dizzily.

  Ding Ding Shen, he gazed at Meng Yao who was smiling and staring at him, suddenly made a fist and bowed his head to pay respects.

  "Ba Ga——"

  Suddenly a discordant quacking sound came from outside the door, followed by a group of people making a ruckus and shouting, and soon after that, another round of scuffling sounds could be heard.

  Meng Yao furrowed his brow, as if he were Japanese. How did these beasts arrive at the Central Plains border so quickly? Before he could think deeply, his figure flashed and he was the first to rush out of the door. Fortunately, Cao Feibiao outside had already signaled for the warriors hiding in the dark to be stationed at various strategic points, while confronting a group of people with unknown origins along with the Qian family's guards.

  Immediately afterwards, the two young masters of the Qian family also walked out, similarly frowning as they went.

  "What are you pigs doing here, making so much noise?" A well-dressed man pushed through the crowd at this time, pointing at the people who came out with a bossy attitude, scolding them indiscriminately.

  Qian Ruyang's face sank, and he looked at the newcomer and said: "This is a winery, why are you cursing as soon as you come out?"

  "Hachi gatsu," a voice suddenly spoke out in Japanese from within the crowd.

  The man in the suit hastily turned around, bowing his head and muttering Japanese phrases for a while before turning back to face Meng Yao's side, loudly saying: "Listen up, all of you! I am Lu Dachang, the inspector of the three provinces of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan, under the command of General Wu. I was ordered to accompany the Japanese military advisor for a drink and entertainment. You have disturbed the Japanese advisor's pleasure and ruined the atmosphere. Now, I order you all to bow down and apologize sincerely to the Japanese advisor."

  At this time, a warrior leaned in close to Meng Yao's ear and whispered a few words. Meng Yao nodded his head, then looked at the warrior with approval and said in a low voice: "Good kid, you're called Mei Jinlong, when did you learn this bird language? Not bad, for the next few days follow me." As he spoke, he glanced over at the opponent's quarters and saw that they had set up a Go board.

  Qian Ruyang's calm demeanor collapsed as soon as he heard Lü Dachang introduce himself, and he stood there in a daze, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

  "What if we don't?" Qian Yaozu said, leaning on his cane as he walked out of the house.

  "Then you can't blame us, a group of unruly people." Lv Dachang smiled slyly and waved his hand vigorously. With a loud shout, a group of burly men with live ammunition rushed out from all sides. Judging by their attire, these men were likely the backbone of the Beiyang Army.

  Qian Yaozu apparently couldn't bear the sight of guns, just like some people can't stand the sight of blood. As soon as he saw the Beiyang Army raise their guns, he waved his arms wildly and shouted loudly: "Wait, wait, Lord Lü, we are fellow townspeople of General Yue Weijun, friends, let's talk things over, there's no need to fight."

  "Yue Weijun?" Lü Dachang thought for a moment, then spat and said: "He's just a small potato. Now listen up, all of you, not one less, line up and apologize."

  This scoundrel who has forgotten his ancestors! Meng Yao felt like he had swallowed a fly, and didn't even want to look at this donkey's intestines. He reached out and supported Qian Ya Zu, who was shaking all over, and comforted him as he helped him back into the crowd, patted the two Qian brothers on the back, then strode past the crowd, bringing Mei Jin Long to stand in front of that Japanese person.

  "Tell this little Japanese guy, I am a Chinese 5th dan." Meng Yao commanded with a dark face.

  "Yes," Meijin Long replied, and immediately began muttering to himself.

  "Yo, yo!" Little Japan suddenly shone with two bright lights, and with a swing of his two thick legs, he ran to Meng Yao's front, circled around him twice, admired him for a while, then suddenly made a bow with his two fingers together, "Hai, my great Japanese amateur master, named Kogoro Rokuro, nice to meet you, please give me more guidance."

  The guy who bought the cake surprisingly spoke Chinese. Thinking about it, it makes sense that at this time Japan had not yet launched a large-scale invasion of China, especially in the deep inland areas of the Central Plains, and most people who appeared before them were Chinese speakers. It was precisely because of these Chinese-speaking scouts that Japan's military government nurtured its ambition several years later and began to formally launch the war of aggression against China. Meng Yao seized this point, bypassing Zhu Da Chang and directly conversing with Kogoro, relying on the popularity of Go in Japan, and hooked up with the Japanese with just a few words, habitually following Japanese etiquette by first bowing his head in apology to everyone.

  However, Go is an art that cannot be faked, like marksmanship or boxing. He didn't have the confidence to win in chess. Soon, a Japanese old lady named Mei Ziying would come from Japan and defeat the two strongest players in China, "Nan Gu Bei Guo", and he couldn't even compare. But now that things have come to this point, it's too early to reveal his true strength, so this expedient measure is also useful.

  As for that donkey's intestines, let them jump around for two more days.

  Under the gaze of everyone's astonishment, Meng Yao proudly walked into the best private room in Zhu Da Chang's heavily guarded winery at Xiao He Liu Lang's invitation. As for others, they could only stretch their necks outside to peek inside, and how many people could understand the chess situation, only heaven knew. Cao Fei Biao didn't understand chess either, but he understood Meng Yao, so he had to temporarily take on the task of commentator, chatting with Qian family father and son in a casual tone.

  "Ugh, ugh." Little Japan finally lifted his paws, wiping away big handfuls of sweat from his pig-like head, and knelt down in defeat, conceding the game.

  Afterwards, Meng Yao told Cao Fei Biao that at the time he was also secretly sweating profusely.

  It's also true that dozens of people are under someone else's gun. Let alone a big family like the Qian's, who have a good reputation and social status, once something happens, they can't run away first.

  Cao Feibiao always thought nothing of it, habitually curling his lips and saying to Meng Yao, "What's the point of bothering with those beasts? A flick of the wrist and it's settled. Do we need to sit there like a wooden stake for several hours?"

  Meng Yao hated it and could only knock on his head: "It seems that I have to find a wife who can knit sweaters for you in the future."

  Why? So she can teach you how to knit sweaters and learn some curvy skills.