Jun Jiuling

Coincidence

They crossed the alley and came to another street. Compared with the main street, this street was narrower and quieter, and the night was darker. There were only sporadic stalls with lanterns.

The boss was sitting and dozing behind the fire when he heard footsteps. He stood up and rubbed his eyes.

“What would you like to eat?” he asked, looking at the four men who had already sat down at the table.

“Fruit, a plate of meat, and bring a jug of wine.” One of the men said loudly, stroking the thick beard on his chin.

The boss responded and went to work. He took out the stewed meat from the pot, cut it quickly, grabbed wine, plated fruit, and sent it over.

The bearded man who sat under the lamp and ordered the food was full of smiles. He rubbed his hands together impatiently.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten stuffed fruit from this restaurant.” He said, and then extended his hand to the people on the table with a smile, “Quick, everyone, try it. Although you are from Kyoto so I’m afraid you won’t know the stuffed fruit from this restaurant is the best.”

The boss smiled in surprise and joy when he heard the words.

“This guest is truly flattering.” He said.

Originally, he wanted to babble a few more words, but the other three people on the table looked a little impatient.

“Go.” One of them waved his hand.

The boss hurriedly backed away.

The bearded man who had praised the deliciousness of the fruit seemed different from the other three. He was already eating with chopsticks in a happy mood while pouring wine.

“Eat, eat, drink, drink.” He greeted enthusiastically, “I will pay today.”

He was paying, that was really a rare thing.

But the three people at the table didn’t look very excited or happy. Their creased brows made them seem somewhat gloomy.

“I said, do you have a credible letter?” A short, fat man in his forties whispered.

The bearded man finished chewing and chased the meat with a bowl of wine.

“You’re looking down on us by saying that,” he said. “What kind of character is our leader? Its hard to explain in a few words. If you cut eighty sticks of firewood today, tomorrow you’ll surely be missing one.”

The boss who was squatting by the fire thought in his heart, so is he a firewood cutter?

So now chopping wood had also become a business that needed to be discussed?

Obviously it was big business. At least for the three people sitting at the table. Their expressions were solemn.

“We have given you all the money, and you know the goods we want.” Another man said, “Don’t owe for too long.”

“I said no problem.” The bearded man said. “Who is our leader? How could he do such a disreputable thing?”

“Who is your leader? You admire him so much?” Another man couldn’t help asking curiously.

The bearded man’s face was full of admiration.

“He is the most powerful person in the world.” He said solemnly.

“I don’t care whether he is the first or the second most powerful, as long as he gives me what I want as scheduled,” the short and fat man said.

“Liu Si, look at your guts. Do a little business, be a little generous.” The bearded man held his chopsticks and patted him on the shoulder.

Before the man called Liu Si could say more, the hand on his shoulder suddenly moved in one direction.

The two chopsticks flew into the night like sharp arrows.

It sounded like they hit a wall next to the street.

“Come out.” The bearded man said, turning around.

He didn’t get up. He just spoke bluntly and without mercy, looking in one direction.

“You sneaking around is an eyesore, and you’re not clever enough to hide.” He continued.

The other three men sitting at the table stood up nervously.

Who was there?

Miss Jun, who was standing behind a door, also tensed up, looking at the two chopsticks not far away through the dark night.

The chopsticks had shattered apart.

It could be seen how powerful the throw was. If it had hit a human being, she guessed that it would have penetrated flesh.

She held her breath and remained motionless. Just when she was suffocating, she heard a sound, and five or six people suddenly appeared in the night on the street.

Miss Jun exhaled in her heart, but she still breathed shallowly and remained motionless.

“Who are you?”

Seeing these people surrounding them, the three men standing behind the bearded man were scared.

“Who else could they be? They showed weapons as soon as we met, which shows that they aren’t good people.” The bearded man said.

There was a crackling sound, and it turned out that the owner of the stall had run away.

At the same time, the lights of the other two stalls on the street also turned off, and in a blink of an eye there were only these two confronting groups of people left on the street.

“Did you see that? This is the quality of people in the capital.” The bearded man’s voice was somewhat admirable of the scene.

At this time, do you still have the mood to comment on others?

The three men standing behind him had complicated looks and didn’t seem to know how to respond.

“Friends, what are you trying to do?” The short and fat man’s shout was trembling, “Is there any misunderstanding?”

There was no answer. The bearded man clicked his tongue again.

“Are you blind? What can they want us to do? Cut your meat with their knives and serve you wine?” He said, staring at the three people again, “I told you to be careful. Were you discovered after you entered the city? Did you attract your enemies to follow you?”

Was that it?

“Doing this kind of business is shady, but it’s also tempting. I told you a long time ago that several companies are vying to do it. Which one of you is not a ruthless character yourself? The solution to this problem is simple and crude. If they get rid of you, the business belongs to them.” The bearded man said.

Yes, yes.

The three of them looked restless and even more frightened.

“Well, what do we do then?” asked one.

“Fortunately, I am a man of good manners and loyalty.” The bearded man said, “Since we have already done business, we are naturally in this together.”

As he spoke, he lifted his clothes and pulled out a knife from his back as he stood up.

“I’m here to chop them down.”

The three breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could speak, the bearded man turned his head again.

“However, you have to pay some money,” he said.

Miss Jun, who was standing in the corner, rolled her eyes in the night.

Ha ha.

She laughed in her heart.

Just the same.

She knew what he was like, but the three of them obviously hadn’t figured him out yet.

“What, why?” the chunky man blurted out.

Didn’t he just talk about rules and loyalty… did rules and loyalty also cost money?

“You know our rules.” The bearded man said solemnly, “We charge money for chopping everything else except firewood. I have to be worthy of my knife and the rules of our leader.”

There it was.

“You can think it over…” the bearded man said. It looked like he was going to put his knife away again.

Even if they yelled to attract the city patrol, there was no guarantee that they would be rescued in time.

Even if they ran, they couldn’t outrun all of them.

The three men felt their scalps tingling as they looked through the approaching night at the noiseless and ghostly newcomers, especially at the gleaming weapons in their hands.

This was not the time to think and carefully consider.

“Okay, okay, you can have the money.” They said hurriedly.

“Then according to the rules, and these people…” the bearded man said, looking at the approaching men as if assessing goods, “their skills are good, and the weapons are not bad. Although they are not top-grade, they aren’t bad. Then I’ll charge you five hundred taels each.”

After he finished speaking, he turned to look at the three men.

“So how will you pay?”

Brother!

We beg you!

“We’ll pay!” The three men were about to cry, and they said in unison, trembling. They took out the bank notes from their sleeves, “Pay now.”

The bearded man took the banknotes and squeezed them, and seemed as if he wanted to look at them under the lamp.

“Brother!” The three men shouted in unison, and they also hid behind him.

Those five or six people were already approaching, and all the weapons in their hands came slashing at them.

The bearded man didn’t dodge short, he stuffed the banknote into his sleeves, and he stepped forward to meet them, slashing directly with the knife in his hand.

There was a crackling sound, and the weapons sparked as they collided.