Chapter Six: The Newcomer

  Li Mengsheng and Zhao Lianzhu didn't realize that eating mixed rice was not that easy until they entered the county town.

  Although the city is not big, it's very lively, with people coming and going, cars and horses passing by. The streets are lined with shops, and the shop assistants are welcoming customers with loud shouts. Every house, every object, and every person seems to be in the most suitable position, giving the feeling that everything has been carefully designed. Even beggars are only asking for food in the narrow gaps between shops. Meng Sheng thinks that even if he were a beggar, he wouldn't have a place to stand, you can't just squat at someone's shop door and ask for food, or you'd be chased away by the shop assistants! Besides, Meng Sheng had never thought of becoming a beggar, having been the son of a governor, with fine clothes and food, and servants at his beck and call. How could he fall to the point of begging for food? Wouldn't that be a shame to his ancestors?!

  Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu wandered aimlessly on the street, and every time they passed by a store, the shop assistants standing at the door urged them to hurry up, fearing that these two beggars would affect business.

  Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu had never suffered such humiliation before. Lian Zhu grabbed a shop assistant who was scolding them, wanting to beat him up. Just as he was about to take action, Meng Sheng pulled him back, saying: "Look, our rice bowl has arrived."

  Lianzhu followed Mengsheng's gaze and saw two tall men wearing military-style jackets collecting money from each store, with the owner of each store coming out to bow and hand over a few large coins. Mengsheng released Lianzhu's grip on his collar and smoothed out his clothes, saying: "Brother, my friend doesn't understand things, don't take him seriously, ask you, what are these two men collecting money for?"

  The hooligan angrily said: "You two stinky beggars dare to hit me!? Those two gentlemen are under Zheng Nancheng, Zheng Lao Ye's men. Wait till they come over and you'll be in for it!"

  Meng Sheng hastily piled on a smile and said, "Brother, don't be angry, don't be angry! My brother has offended you, I apologize to you! What does this Old Man Zheng do?"

  The fellow, Dreaming Life, had been speaking in a soft tone, and his anger was almost gone. He said: "Old Master Zheng is like the emperor of our county!" Then he lowered his voice and said: "Old Master Zheng used to be from the green forest, over ten years ago during the Xinhai Revolution, he killed the county magistrate sent by the imperial court and became the new county magistrate himself. All the former bandits were reorganized into a security team, maintaining order in the city, collecting taxes and taking bribes. Whoever didn't listen would..." He made a beheading gesture and continued: "Those two men are his security team members. If you don't want to get into trouble, stay away from them." After finishing speaking, he turned around and entered the store.

  Meng Sheng said to Lian Zhu: "Go! Follow them."

  "Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor? Taking their money?" Lian Zhu excitedly said: "Being a heroic outlaw who steals from the wealthy and helps the impoverished isn't bad either!"

  "I'd rather you rob yourself than have me become a thief!" Meng Sheng said.

  "What are we going to do with them?" Lianzhu asked in confusion.

  "Just wait and see," Meng Sheng said, pulling Lian Zhu to quietly follow the two Zheng Lao Ye's men.

  Following the two people for a long time, until it got dark, they went back to their dormitory after having dinner at a restaurant. The so-called dormitory was just several large tile-roofed houses with broken walls around them, looking like an abandoned school. The yard looked empty and desolate, with only a few clothes hanging on the drying racks in the playground, swaying gently in the wind. From time to time, there were shouts of people playing cards and drinking inside the house. Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu had not eaten anything all day, their stomachs growling loudly. Lian Zhu said: "Do you want to rob them?"

  " Were you a bandit in your past life? Why do you always want to rob others?" Meng Sheng said, "Wait for me here for a while." After speaking, he turned over the wall and entered the courtyard. A moment later, Meng Sheng brought back two gray military uniforms and said to Lian Zhu, "Quickly put them on!" The two people changed their clothes, tidied up their hair, and Lian Zhu asked, "Are we also going to collect protection fees?"

  "Others have just finished collecting during the day, who can give you more!? Fool! Shut up and follow me, wait and see my signal to act." Meng Sheng said.

  Two people returned to the street again, and although it was not as lively at night as during the day, restaurants, brothels, and tobacco shops were still brightly lit and bustling with people. Meng Sheng pulled Lian Zhu into the shadow of a restaurant across the street, Lian Zhu didn't understand but didn't dare ask more questions, so he just followed.

  Before long, a fat man came out of the restaurant, looked around at the door, and then twisted and turned to run towards the place where Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu were hiding. Meng Sheng pulled Lian Zhu to signal her not to make a sound.

  That fat guy walked up to the front without noticing them, unbuttoned his pants and relieved himself. At this time, Meng Sheng suddenly shouted: "What a big nerve!" The fat guy was so scared that he almost urinated on his own face.

  "Oh my goodness gracious, you scared me to death! What are you cats doing here?" Fatso cried out in a somewhat dispirited manner.

  "We are acting on the orders of Lord Zheng to supervise the moral reform of this county. You, exposing your private parts in public and plotting evil deeds! According to the laws of this county, you should be imprisoned for three months as punishment! Take him away!" Meng Sheng said, casting a glance at Lian Zhu.

  Lian Zhu will, upside-down scissors fat boy both hands shouted: "Go!"

  That fatty saw they were wearing the security team's uniform, and after hearing that he would be imprisoned for three months, he was scared out of his wits. He hastily explained: "Two sirs, I didn't think about plotting anything, I just had an urgent need to urinate, wanted to take a shortcut, and now you're going to imprison me for three months? I've never heard of this law of Master Zheng's! Two sirs, please be lenient, spare my life as a first-time offender! If I enter Master Zheng's prison, even if it's just for three days, I won't die but my skin will be peeled off!" The fatty's words were laced with tears by the end.

  "Hmph! Old Master Zheng has ordered us to catch the first-time offender, to kill one as a warning to a hundred! Stop stalling and come with us!" Meng Sheng bellowed, his eyes wide with anger.

  "Please spare my life, gentlemen!" The fat man bowed and said: "I won't dare again. A few days ago, I even gave a hundred taels of silver as a gift for Old Master Zheng's birthday, so we can be considered to have some connection with Old Master Zheng!" While speaking, he took out over ten taels of silver from his pocket. "This small token is not enough to show respect, please accept it and use it to buy some midnight snacks." He stuffed the money into Meng Sheng's hand.

  Meng Sheng pretended to be impatient and said, "I'll spare you this time for the sake of giving face to Old Man Zheng on his birthday. If it happens again, I won't go easy on you! Scram!" He casually put the silver dollars into his pocket, and Pangzi thanked him profusely as he ran away.

  When that fatty runs far away, Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu look at each other and burst out laughing. Meng Sheng says: "Let's go, change places and trick him a few more times!"

  The two of them were busy until midnight, and only when the restaurants, brothels, and opium dens had all closed did they find a secluded broken temple to count their money. Lian Zhuang looked at the pile of silver dollars with uncontrollable joy and said: "We didn't even break a sweat and we cheated over a hundred taels!"

  "What's 'cheating'? Can you find good people in restaurants, brothels and opium dens? I'm also doing this for the people, to rid them of harm, and to be self-sufficient. It's better than being a bandit who wields knives and rods!"

  "Right, right, right!" Lian Zhu echoed in agreement: "Tomorrow morning as soon as it's light, we'll go to the restaurant, damn it! We haven't eaten for a whole day!"

  "Alright, tomorrow we'll go to the best restaurant and eat the best dishes! With the remaining money, each of us will find a big girl!" Meng Sheng said with satisfaction.

  "No! We'll have the most expensive dishes!" Lian Zhu said.