NFBE Chapter 277 Found someone
Chapter 277 Found someone
Upon hearing the news the children brought back, the man knew they were also looking for him. Unable to wait a moment longer, he immediately went out with the children.
Following the marks he found, the man arrived at the outside of a courtyard.
He raised his hand to knock, and immediately heard footsteps inside. The door was quickly opened, and the man glanced at the person who opened it; he didn't recognize them. His earlier excitement instantly turned to cold.
"Excuse me, I've disturbed you. I think I've come to the wrong place," the man apologized to the person who opened the door. He then turned to leave with his group.
"Wait a minute!" The person who opened the door looked him up and down. His appearance was indeed nothing special, but his complexion was paler than most men.
"May I ask if you are Xiao Wu?" the person who opened the door asked cautiously.
Hearing his question, the man abruptly looked up at him. Seeing his expression, the person who opened the door knew they had found the right person. They quickly opened the door a little wider and said to the man...
"Come on in, the other brothers have all gone to look for you on the street."
"Who are you?" the man asked hesitantly.
“Our captain was entrusted by Commander Wu to send us out to find you.”
When the man heard that the man had even mentioned his elder brother's name, he no longer doubted him. After thanking the man, he led the five children into the courtyard.
"Who are these little kids?"
“I was injured and unconscious a few days ago, and these guys saved me. They are all orphans, and I want to take them back with me.”
Hearing his answer, the person who opened the door didn't ask any further questions, simply telling them to wait patiently for a while. The brothers who went out would return for lunch, and then someone would go to the county town to report the matter to their captain before making further plans.
Sure enough, around noon, three people returned one after another with the food they had bought. When they learned that the person they were looking for had found them, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The task was finally complete.
After the meal, one of the messengers rode back to the county town to deliver the message. Just as the messenger entered the town, several other riders left through another city gate, heading towards the capital.
Captain Ding had just lain down on the kang (a heated brick bed) when he heard Zhao Dawei's voice outside.
"Captain, we've found the person Commander Wu is looking for; he's in Xiao'an Town."
Captain Ding breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what the messenger had said; it was good that they had found them. He had done his job.
However, when he learned that he had brought five boys back with him, Captain Ding silently considered the matter for a while before instructing Zhao Dawei to prepare another house two streets away for Xiao Wu and the five children to live in.
Since it wasn't convenient for him to appear in person, he left everything to Zhao Dawei. After arranging everything, he waved his hand, letting everyone go about their business. He, meanwhile, was considering delivering a letter to the Zhang family that evening.
Remembering what his master had said in the letter, he was ready to fully cooperate with whatever she wanted to do. This "she" referred to Miss Zhang; over the years, his master had always used "she" in his letters to refer to Zhang Xiayu by her name. This was probably a form of protection, since only he and Zhao Dawei knew about their connections with the Zhang family over the years; as long as they didn't speak of it, no one else would know.
That evening, as usual, Zhao Dawei drove the carriage to the Zhang family's house under the cover of darkness. The Zhang family's house was no longer the simple courtyard it used to be. Zhao Dawei drove the carriage familiarly to an inconspicuous side gate of the Zhang residence and gently knocked on the door a few times.
The door opened quickly from the inside, revealing Uncle Ma's face. He stepped aside to let Captain Ding in. It turned out that the door was actually inside the room where Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma lived. However, the door was blocked by a cabinet, so it was impossible to tell from the inside that there was a door behind it.
Uncle Ma led the man through his small courtyard and escorted him to an inconspicuous house. Then Uncle Ma brought him a cup of tea and asked him to wait a moment before closing the door and going out to call for more people.
Captain Ding didn't find anything wrong with Uncle Ma's arrangement. This room was originally prepared for him, and he had been here more than once or twice.
Before long, the door was pushed open again, and Zhang Youtie led Xia Yu in quickly.
After exchanging greetings, Zhang Youtie finally spoke and asked...
"Brother Ding, does Lord Shen have something to arrange?"
"Yes, the master sent a letter from the capital for me to give to Xiaxia." With that, Captain Ding pulled the envelope addressed to Zhang from his pocket. He then said to Xia Yu...
"The master said that I should cooperate with you to do what you need to do, so Xiaxia, just tell me if you need anything."
"Thank you, Uncle Ding, I understand."
Captain Ding didn't linger. After finishing his business, he took his leave, leaving Zhao Dawei waiting outside.
Zhang Youtie and Xia Yu knew he had a place to stay, so they didn't try to stop him. They told Xia Yu to go back to the courtyard first, and he personally saw Captain Ding out.
When Zhang Youtie returned, Xia Yu was sitting under the lamp talking with Liu Shi, and there was an opened envelope on the table.
"Xiaxia, what did the master say?"
“Father, I told the adults what the peddler said. I’ve always had doubts about what he said, so I wrote a letter to Shen Jingheng about it.”
"What did the master say?"
Zhang Youtie recalled his daughter's recurring dream from the past few days, and the words of the knife seller. He never expected his daughter to write a letter to Lord Shen about it.
"Shen Jingheng told us to just focus on growing more grain, but he didn't say anything else." He then looked at Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi, who were deep in thought.
"Father, Mother, I've already put too much unthreshed wheat in the cellar. If we don't find a way to thresh the wheat soon, the cellar won't have enough room left."
Hearing what she said, Zhang Youtie and Liu were both confused. They didn't go into the cellar often, so were all the rooms down there already full?
Seeing the affirmative look in his daughter's eyes, Zhang Youtie also realized that this was indeed a problem. He rubbed the back of his head and thought for a while before speaking.
"How about we wait until our new wheat is harvested in a few days and thresh it all together? Anyway, all our land is registered under your fourth uncle's name, so we don't have to pay taxes. What do you think?"
After considering the feasibility of doing so, Xia Yu slowly nodded.
“I think that’s a good idea. When no one is looking, I’ll mix the wheat ears in the cellar with those in the drying yard, and then put them back in after threshing. That way, our wheat yield won’t attract attention.”
“Alright, let’s do it this way. What do you think, her mother?” Zhang Youtie asked Liu Shi, who hadn’t spoken until now.
"I think it's a good idea too, let's do it that way. Just be careful, and make sure no one else sees it."
"Yes, I understand, Mother. I will be careful." Xia Yu nodded and assured Liu Shi.