Chapter 12: Plotting to Rob Grain

  Lin Fei's body recovered quickly, and several times Su Yun said he still had to take medicine. Lin Fei, in order not to have to drink those bitter Chinese medicinal soups again, persuaded Su Yun to compete with Zhong Er Dang in a footrace, and only then did Su Yun completely put his mind at ease.

  Lin Fei thought for a long time, and since he had nowhere to go temporarily, he agreed to stay at Wohu Mountain with Su Yun. Su Yun was overjoyed and immediately set up a grand banquet to welcome Lin Fei into their group.

  Lin Fei told Su Yun to just be an idle person for the time being, and wait until later when they had made some achievements before talking about other things. Su Yun disagreed but could only agree.

  These days, Lin Fei has been wandering around Wohu Mountain. Zhong Er'ang and others couldn't see through what he was doing, so there were some idle talk. But Su Yun said to let Lin Fei be for now, since there's nothing else going on, it's good for him to get familiar with the mountain too.

  That day, Su Yun and Zhong Er Deng were discussing some matters of the mountain stronghold when Lin Fei walked in from outside. Han Peng said with a sarcastic tone: "Oh! Our great idle person has finally found time to come to the council hall!"

  Su Yun glared at him: "Han Peng! What are you talking about?"

  "Hey, Auntie! Am I wrong? Since he agreed to stay in the mountain stronghold, have you ever seen him do anything decent? He's either out sightseeing or sleeping all day. We're still having to provide for him like a lord, not to mention wasting food!"

  Su Yun furrowed her brow, about to lose her temper, when Lin Fei chuckled and stretched out a hand to stop her: "Hehe! What the Fourth Master said is right! I've been suffering from hunger for days now, what are you all doing?"

  "Ah! Lin Fei! We're discussing what to do next. You know the mountain stronghold's food is running out, and the brothers need to eat, we can't just sit around!"

  Lin Fei smiled and said: "Oh! Then you guys talk! I'll just listen on the side!"

  Han Peng gave him a slanted glance: "Since you're also from the mountain stronghold, you should worry about it too! You can't always rely on us few!"

  Lin Fei smiled slightly: "Alright! I'll just say my opinion then! Miss Su, I don't know how you guys used to solve this problem in the past?"

  Before Su Yun could speak, Han Peng hastily said: "Needless to say! Go out and rob, of course! We're bandits, what other way is there?"

  Su Yun furrowed her brow unintentionally and remained silent, while Lin Fei chuckled: "Hmph! What the Fourth Master said is right. If we don't go and grab some, who will still obediently send us grain? However, recently, the number of refugees coming from outside the pass has increased significantly. No family has excess stored grain."

  "That's what I'm saying! So what do you think we should do?" Han Peng pressed on.

  Lin Fei leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Of course we still have to go and grab it, only we need to change our tactics."

  Han Peng snorted disdainfully: "Hmph! Easy for you to say!"

  Lin Fei didn't get angry and looked at Su Yun. Su Yun encouraged him: "Lin Fei! Then what do you think we should change?"

  Lin Fei pointed with his finger in the direction of Pingzhou: "Let's go to Pingzhou and get it!"

  "What? Going to Pingzhou? Are you still talking nonsense because your illness hasn't healed yet? Before, there was nothing, now the 217th Regiment is stationed in Pingzhou, how can we go and grab?" Han Peng jumped up.

  Su Yun also looked at him with a puzzled face, Lin Fei said calmly: "I heard that Pingzhou has just prepared a batch of grain to be sent to Taiyuan!"

  "What? You're talking about that batch of grain? That's military rations! Are you out of your mind? With just our few dozen broken guns and over 200 men, we're going to go up against the 217th Regiment's thousands of soldiers? Don't be ridiculous!" Han Peng sneered.

  Su Yun also felt a bit incredulous: "Hehe! Lin Fei! You just arrived, you may not be familiar with the situation here, I think it's better to forget about this and think of another way."

  Lin Fei shook his head: "Su Niang! Everyone! You are being intimidated by the 217th Brigade's sign, this batch of grain is not military rations as far as I know, but rather a private resale by several officers from the 217th Brigade. If we can get it back, not only will there be no trouble, but they can only swallow their losses. I think this deal is worth doing."

  Wei Wuyou looked at Lin Fei in surprise: "Lin... Lin Fei! How did you know? We heard it was military rations, how did they become smuggled goods when they got to you? You haven't been out for a while, are you kidding me?"

  Several people looked over, Lin Fei smiled slightly: "Yes! This period of time I haven't gone out, but this doesn't mean I don't know about the outside situation. You can rest assured, I have my own channels for information, and this news is absolutely reliable."

  "Ah! Lin Fei! I didn't know you had an ace up your sleeve! If this news is true, doesn't that mean we've hit the jackpot? Haha!"

  Su Yun didn't say a word, she stared blankly at Lin Fei, and she also didn't know if Lin Fei's information was accurate. Lin Fei smiled: "Miss Su! Please believe me! My information is absolutely accurate! If we make a move, we must do it quickly, or else things will change."

  Su Yun still hesitated, when someone rushed in from outside: "Sister Su! Everyone, Xiaoshi has returned, he says it's an urgent matter."

  "Quickly, let him in!" Su Yun hastily waved her hand.

  Xiao Shi Tou burst in, sweating profusely: "Sister Su! Something strange happened to the 217th Regiment yesterday. I felt uneasy and rushed back."

  Su Yun was taken aback: "217th Regiment? What's going on? Speak slowly!"

  Xiao Shi Tou took a sip of water and touched his mouth: "Su Auntie! Yesterday, when it was almost dark, I saw two people quarreling and leaving the gate of the 217th Regiment. At first, I didn't pay attention, but later I heard them mention food, so I paid attention. I followed them to a wine shop..."

  Xiao Shi Tou followed them to the wine house and saw two people enter a room. He then snuck outside along the wall root to the window of that room, listening for half a day before he finally understood the reason why those two were quarreling.

  Originally, some officials from the 217th Regiment used grain collection as an excuse to coerce large households in various towns of Pingzhou into handing over their grain. By just a few days ago, they had already collected five or six hundred thousand catties of grain.

  Just a few days ago, their actions were reported by someone. Coincidentally, the person who handled the report was also a greedy guy, so he used both soft and hard tactics to coerce those people into giving him 70% of the spoils, leaving the remaining 30% for them to divide among themselves.

  These guys couldn't swallow it, so they started infighting. However, when faced with that person's extortion, they were also helpless. The delivery deadline was approaching, but there was a disagreement on who to send for escorting the goods.

  One of the two people was a representative of both parties, earlier neither side was willing to transport this batch of grain, which led to the dispute, in the end the two reached an agreement that the grain must be transported on the day after tomorrow, and the personnel for transportation will be divided equally between the two sides.

  Everyone's gaze at Lin Fei was a bit strange after Xiao Shi Tuo finished speaking, they were all curious about how Lin Fei, who looked like he didn't care about anything, knew this situation.

  Su Yun smoothed her hair in front of her forehead: "Everyone! Does anyone else have any opinions?"

  Everyone fell silent, Su Yun looked at Lin Fei: "Lin Fei! Since you brought it up, you must have a plan in mind. Tell us what to do!"

  Lin Fei smiled slightly: "Of course, we'll ambush them halfway! According to intelligence, they're likely to pass through our Sleeping Tiger Mountain. Let's take action here and catch them off guard."

  Han Peng glared with his eyes: "Take action here? Isn't that openly telling them it's us, Sleeping Tiger Mountain? Or what I just said, with our little family business, if they really want to attack Sleeping Tiger Mountain, we're not even enough for them to fill their teeth gaps."

  Lin Fei smiled: "Even if they knew, they wouldn't attack our Sleeping Tiger Mountain, because they themselves are speculating. Do they want everyone to know?"

  Wei Wuyou nodded: "Mm! Lin Fei is right, even if we rob their food, they can only suffer a dumb loss, no one dares to make a big deal out of this matter."

  Su Yun looked at everyone: "Alright! Since that's the case, let's do it! Five or six hundred thousand catties is enough for our mountain stronghold to eat for a few years. Now I'll arrange the specific actions. Second Master, give you ten guns, lead a team of men and ambush in the forest at the foot of the mountain, as soon as they show their faces, shoot..."

  Su Yun arranged everything and Lin Fei smiled and said: "Sister Su! What about me? I can't just sit back and enjoy the benefits, give me a task too."

  Su Yunyi said: "Hehe! You'd better bring a team of people to transport the grain up the mountain."