It was laughable. Zhang Fei had been in this world for more than three months, but everything about this world still felt very foreign to him.
Because only half a day after his arrival here, he was captured by the government runners, and then he had been confined in a prison ever since, never seeing the light of day.
Just out of jail, he did not have the leisure or the mood to appreciate the local customs here. However, he was somewhat surprised by the bustling commerce here, with restaurants and tea houses everywhere, and goods on both sides of the street, filling his eyes with dazzling sights.
Most of dynasties of ancient China adopted a system of designated marketplaces, and casual trading along the streets would not be allowed. But the Song Dynasty was a bit special. Trading along the streets was allowed, and there was no curfew imposed.
This indeed provided great convenience to Zhang Fei. He first found a nearby inn that seemed relatively clean to settle down.
After taking a bath, he changed into the clothes Xu Zun had given him. But because his hair was neither long nor short, he didn’t know how to manage it, so he paid extra to have a nimble-handed maid from the inn help him with it.
“Tsk, it seems that the old man’s powers of observation are used up by judging cases. These clothes do not fit well!”
Standing in front of the bronze mirror, Zhang Fei tugged hard at the lapels of his clothes, but they still seemed a bit short. He shook his head in dissatisfaction, then touched his own cheek. The vibrant young man of the past had become blurry in his memory. The person in the mirror was extremely thin, with a bluish pallor on his cheeks, and his eyes sunken, as if he was seriously ill.
For a moment, he felt very sad.
Suddenly, Zhang Fei noticed in the mirror that the maid behind him was shyly sneaking glances at him. He couldn’t help but smile, turned around, took out ten coins, and handed them to the maid, saying, “This is for you.”
The maid instantly widened her eyes, looking at Zhang Fei in disbelief.
Xu Zun had lent him two strings of coins in total.[1] If he spent it carefully, he could live for a month without a problem. After all, the cost of living in Dengzhou could not be compared with that in Capital. However, if he continued to live like this, he wouldn’t last long.
Seeing the maid standing there like a stunned chicken, Zhang Fei couldn’t help but ask, “Is it too little?”
The maid shook her head vigorously.
Zhang Fei said, “Then take it.”
Only then did the maid accept the coins from Zhang Fei’s hand, and bowed her head saying, “Thank you, sir, thank you, sir.”
Zhang Fei laughed hoarsely, “It’s I who should thank you. You’ve helped me regain a little bit of confidence, which is very important to me now.”
As he spoke, he touched the headscarf on his head and nodded in satisfaction. Then he walked out the door, leaving the dumbfounded maid behind.
When he arrived at the inn’s main hall, Zhang Fei ordered four meat dishes and four large steamed buns. Then, he devoured everything on the table like a whirlwind, leaving the bartender beside him dumbfounded.
They didn’t expect that this delicate-looking man could eat even more fiercely than those hardworking laborers.
Truly, one should not judge a book by its cover, nor a stomach by the size of the person!
“Uh?”
After swallowing a cup of tea, Zhang Fei almost spat it out. He quickly covered his mouth with one hand and forced it down, feeling as if he was filled with food up to his tonsils.
He had no choice. In jail, he had been eating clear soup and stale leftovers all the time, and his stomach was empty. This was undoubtedly the most delicious meal he had ever had in his life.
It took him a while to come around.
Just then a bartender came to clean up the dishes. He asked, “Bartender, do you know how to get to Wei Family Village?”
“I do!” The bartender nodded, and said, “Go out of the west gate of the city, and walk about 15 kilometers, then you’ll reach Wei Family Village.”
“15 kilometers?”
Zhang Fei glanced outside the door, thinking to himself that it was already getting late. He decided to go tomorrow!
After the meal, he went back to his room and lay on the bed. In no time, he fell into a deep sleep.
This sleep was incredibly deep.
Various events of the past and present flashed back and forth in his dreams. Awoken by a nightmare, he felt as if he was still in a dream.
He was in a daze, not knowing whether he was awake or asleep, let alone whether he was in the Song Dynasty or in the future.
By the time he woke up the next day, it was already afternoon. Unable to go to Wei Family Village, he could only have dinner and then go back to rest.
On the third day, he got up early. But just as he was walking to the west gate, not yet out of the city, he was already panting as if a gust of wind could knock him over. There were no taxis in this era; he had to walk everywhere. Helplessly, he had to return to the inn.
Not until the seventh day did Zhang Fei feel that his body had recovered sufficiently. And he felt that he couldn’t delay this case any longer.
Early in the morning, after tidying up, he left the inn. He bought a few large buns on the street and drank a teapot of tea, then set off for Wei Family Village.
After walking for most of the day, Zhang Fei finally arrived at a hill. He sat cross-legged on the hill, sweating profusely, panting heavily, and thinking to himself, “It seems I have overestimated my own physical condition. How can I win this lawsuit with such a body?”
After resting for a while, Zhang Fei, who had gradually recovered, looked down at the small village of about thirty households and said, “This should be Wei Family Village.”
Descending the hill and arriving at the entrance of the village, he just happened to meet a man carrying a hoe towards the fields. He thought to himself, “What time is it and why are you just heading out to the fields?” But this thought passed quickly. He approached with a smile on his face and asked, “Excuse me, sir.”
Before he could finish his sentence, the man glared at him fiercely and walked straight past him.
Scratching his forehead awkwardly, Zhang Fei thought to himself, “Are the villages in the Song Dynasty always so hostile to outsiders?”
This unpropitious start made him feel a little scared. He couldn’t help but wonder, “If I go in like this, will I get beaten up?” After hesitating at the entrance for a moment, he still mustered the courage to walk in.
At this time, most people were busy in the fields, and the village was filled with the sounds of dogs barking and roosters crowing, with a few voices of conversation.
“Ah!”
Zhang Fei suddenly slapped his forehead, thinking, “I’m really silly. Everyone is farming now, what am I doing here?”
Just as he was about to turn around and head towards the farmland, he suddenly heard the sound of crying.
It was a man crying.
Zhang Fei frowned slightly and looked around. Suddenly, his eyes locked onto a small farmhouse. He walked over carefully and looked into the courtyard from the outside, but he couldn’t see what was happening inside the house.
He looked around again and seeing no one, he quietly pushed open the wooden gate and came to the door of the house. Peering inside, he saw a large man lying on the bed crying.
It must be said, this man was incredibly ugly.
With a wide nose and broad mouth, his face was pockmarked, as if it was the surface of the moon. On a rainy day, it could probably hold water. The center of his head was bald, and on his forehead, he had a large, purple, horn-like lump, like a humanoid monster.
This man was indeed something. Zhang Fei suddenly looked at the man’s right hand and saw a white cloth wrapped around his little finger. His face lit up with joy, but just then, a shout came from the courtyard, “You bold thief, how dare you steal in broad daylight.”
Zhang Fei turned around to see the man he had met outside the village earlier. As he was speaking, the man had already rushed into the courtyard.
At this point, the ugly man in the house was alerted. He immediately got out of bed, picked up a hoe and rushed out of the house. He bulged his eyes and glared at Zhang Fei, as if he had seen someone who had killed his father. Coupled with his appearance, it was truly terrifying.
“Don’t misunderstand, I’m here to help you,” Zhang Fei said, retreating towards the corner while frantically waving his hands.
The ugly man seemed deaf, just staring at Zhang Fei with his bulging eyes. The other man stopped in his tracks and asked subconsciously, “Help us?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Zhang Fei nodded vigorously, “My name is Zhang San, I was entrusted by Ayun to come and help you.”
“Ayun?”
Hearing this name, the ugly man’s face became twisted, filled with pain and fear.
The man next to him, however, was unable to contain his anger, “That wicked woman almost killed my big brother, would she have such a good heart?”
The ugly man was none other than Wei Ada, the male protagonist of the Ayun case, and the other man was his younger brother, Wei A’er.
Zhang Fei immediately said, “That’s exactly why she entrusted me to come and make amends for her. She knows the depth of her sins.”
“How to make amends? Can you reattach my brother’s severed finger?” The man said, his eyes already filled with tears.
Zhang Fei shook his head, saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
Then he quickly added, “But it’s better than nothing, right? Your big brother is the only real victim in this case. Ayun deserves her punishment, but even if she died, it would be hard to make up for the damage she has done to your big brother. Now, it’s hard for your big brother to do farm work, what about his future?”
Hearing this, Wei Ada thought of his bleak future and was overcome with sorrow. He threw down his hoe, squatted down, held his head, and started to sob.
Seeing his big brother in such pain, Wei A’er couldn’t help himself. He wiped away the tears that were about to fall from his eyes with his sleeve, then asked Zhang Fei, “What is your relationship with her? Why are you helping her?”
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, then said, “She saved my life.”
Wei A’er scoffed, “That wicked woman saves people?” Saying that, he looked at Zhang Fei’s face and sarcastically said, “She must have saved you because she thought you were handsome.”
“Thanks for the compliment!” Zhang Fei smiled faintly, then said, “But I’m here to help you, not to discuss my personal affairs. If you don’t want my help, I won’t force the matter.”
Wei A’er scrutinized Zhang Fei for a moment, then asked, “How do you plan to help us?”
Zhang Fei said, “I will try my best to ensure that your big brother has no worries for the rest of his life.” As he said this, he paused slightly, then added, “And ideally, he should be able to marry a wife.”
The crying subsided a bit, but Wei Ada still didn’t raise his head.
Wei A’er glanced at his big brother, then asked Zhang Fei, “Really?”
Zhang Fei nodded and said, “But first, you have to tell me the ins and outs of the whole matter.”
Wei A’er questioned, “Didn’t that wicked woman tell you?”
Zhang Fei said, “There are some things she doesn’t know, such as how you negotiated this marriage with their family.”
[1] One string of coins held 1000 coins. “String” will be used as a measure of currency.
