Chapter Sixteen: Encounter with a Beggar Again

  "Brother, are you okay? Where are we going now?" Tie Niu was walking ahead earlier and didn't see Xiao Qi's actions. When he heard Yang Bo's angry shout and turned his head around, that beggar had already run far away.

  Yang Bo clapped his hands again and casually wiped them on his body: "Let's go find a car, we'll take a look at Xuzhou"

  Yang Bo knew that Xuzhou was a big city in later generations, but he did not know that during the Ming Dynasty, Xuzhou was only a directly administered state under Nan Zhili, with only Feng County, Pei County, Xiao County and Dangshan County under its jurisdiction, far less developed than it would be in later generations.

  Tie Niu was somewhat dazed: "Go to Xuzhou? Didn't big brother say..."

  Yang Bo shook his head: "Staying in this small county town is meaningless, let's go to the three prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang and Changzhou first, then take a look at Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If we have time, we can also go to Shanxi to swindle some money from those rich guys. By that time, we should have made enough money. Finally, let's go to the land of eight Min (Fujian) to find a big ship, find an uninhabited small island, and bring 500 boys and girls..." Seeing Tie Niu's expectant gaze, he smiled bitterly: "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore..."

  In a chaotic world, Yang Bo is like a stray dog who has lost his home, isn't that so...?

  The two of them wandered aimlessly and ended up back on the street where they sold breakfast. The boss who had scolded them that morning was still staring at his pancakes, apparently business wasn't booming for this stall. When he saw someone approaching, he looked up and met Yang Bo's disdainful gaze, and he immediately froze.

  Enemies meet with tearful eyes!

  Yang Bo took out a piece of silver from his bosom, about five or six coins, and kept tossing it in his hand as he walked until they reached the vicinity of this shop. "Iron Bull brothers! If we're going to eat braised pork head, aren't we still short a few buns? Where should we buy them?"

  Tie Niu didn't have any ideas, so Yang Bo took him to the neighboring shop that also sold pancakes. "Shopkeeper, bring out twenty white pancake for my brother first, if not enough, add more, and we'll pay after eating."

  The boss of the store was quite nimble, and he quickly brought over a white towel to wipe their backs, then hurriedly brought out a basket of steamed buns. Yang Bo smiled and made a gesture of triumph towards the puffed-up boss next door, before opening the lotus leaf package and devouring the braised pork head with gusto.

  "I don't know which big bag of rice is unlucky now, but you two got it...". The boss was furious and muttered a few sentences in a low voice, which just happened to reach Yang Bo's ears.

  Bang!

  Yang Bo slammed his palm heavily on the table, startling Tie Niu and everyone else in the store. Yang Bo ignored their reactions and pointed at the shop owner, cursing: "You damn thing! Stop spouting nonsense, or I'll slap you with my big ear...!"

  The shop owner was timid, but his mouth didn't fall behind at all. He immediately retorted: "Isn't it that the silver coins from heaven just happened to fall on your heads? But you're pretending to be rich and arrogant here, be careful not to get caught by the authorities and be tied up with a rope and sent to prison!"

  Yang Bo was furious and laughed: "You dog, can't you bear to see others doing well? No wonder your buns are almost rotten and can't be sold. If you dare to insult me again, let's go to the government office to settle the matter!"

  The shop owner was also a small figure, and when he heard that Yang Bo wanted to take him to see the official, his momentum dropped a few points. He just didn't want to admit defeat in his words: "Go then go, are you afraid I won't make it?"

  Yang Bo hummed: "You dog, do you have evidence? Do you have witnesses? Without them, you dare to frame an innocent person and make false accusations? The county magistrate's temper has been quite bad these past few days. If he gets angry, whether it's reasonable or not, he'll first give you twenty strokes of the cane. See if you still dare to be stubborn..."

  The shop owner had been afraid of Yang Bo's stubbornness and refusal to give in, wanting to take him to see the official. Now he didn't dare to retort, shrinking back into the shop, but still feeling uneasy in his heart, so he perked up his ears to listen to the movements on Yang Bo's side.

  Yang Bo vented his anger, and the shop owner also gave in. He didn't bother to argue with such a small person, so he turned his head and focused on dealing with the food on the table. This meal was extremely satisfying. Tie Niu ate smoothly, but ten palm-sized pancakes were not enough, and another ten were still not enough. Yang Bo knew the consequences of overeating and drinking, and firmly stopped Tie Niu's gluttony.

  "It's been ages since I last had a white pancake..." Tie Niu sighed with some resentment.

  "Don't worry......" Yang Bo comforted: "In the future, I'm afraid you'll eat something you don't want to."

  Tie Niu didn't understand either, when they entered the city in the morning, both of them were empty-handed, how did they suddenly have so much silver now?

  The two of them were satisfied with the price of the pancake, and Yang Bo deliberately gave an extra 200 coins as a tip, making the woman who sold pancakes so happy that she couldn't stop chanting Buddha's name.

  "Excuse me, where is the mule and horse rental place around here? We want to hire a carriage." Yang Bo asked casually, and under the enthusiastic guidance of the woman, the two arrived at a mule and horse rental place on North Street.

  …………

  Yangbo County is nearly two hundred miles away from Xuzhou. It's too expensive to rent a horse carriage in this small place, so Yang Bo can only afford to find an ox cart that looks okay. Hopefully, he can arrive before the city gate closes tomorrow, otherwise, he'll have to spend the night outside the city.

  In this era, renting a carriage usually requires advance notice, as it takes time for the carriage to prepare the necessary items for the journey. Yang Bo arrived in a hurry and, after paying the deposit, was told by the shopkeeper to return with two others an hour later. With nothing else to do, the three of them strolled along this old alleyway.

  Compared to the disaster-stricken areas of Henan, Dangshan County is relatively more prosperous. The streets paved with bluestones are lined with hotels, inns and grocery stores, and occasionally some young women can be seen, although their looks may not meet Yang Bo's standards, but their bright clothes still ease his repressed mood a lot. However, the streets are filled with refugees and beggars, reminding him that the current year is not peaceful.

  "Twelve more years, sigh..." Yang Bo muttered softly to himself.

  The boss of the mule cart said that there are elegant wine houses and tea shops on this side to kill time. Yang Bo saw a tea house in front of him, which was not bad, so he took Tie Niu for a stroll over there. The tea house was bigger than an ordinary tavern, with a row of large lanterns in front of the door that were quite spectacular. The wooden boards presented the original color of purple wood, and the first floor was a large hall with several pillars at least three people hugging together to encircle.

  As soon as he arrived at the entrance, a waiter came out to greet him. Yang Bo didn't like the crowded hall, so under the waiter's guidance, he prepared to go up to the second floor's private room. He wanted to find a quiet place to drink some tea and eat some snacks, and also think about some personal matters.

  Having walked halfway up the stairs, a loud commotion erupted outside, and faint cries could be heard. Yang Bo turned his head to look back, only to see a tall man grabbing the hair of a beggar at the entrance and beating him up.

  They were too far away to hear what was going on, Yang Bo sighed and was about to turn around and continue upstairs when the beggar was pushed by the man and stumbled backwards a few steps before falling heavily to the ground, hitting his head hard.

  Just as the beggar's face flashed for a moment, Yang Bo recognized that this beggar was the guy who had just stolen on the street!