Chapter 8 Lu Yao

A simple bowl of white porridge, seasoned only with a little salt, was eaten with gusto. His small head was practically buried in the bowl, as if he hadn’t eaten in days!

“What, are you a starving ghost?” The man watched, his heart itching to speak.

After a long pause, he finally managed to blurt out this sentence!

Even he felt it sounded a bit dismissive!

He might as well have said nothing!

“It’s just that your porridge is so delicious!”

Since entering the palace, she hadn’t had a proper hot meal.

In the cold palace, just having enough to eat to avoid hunger was good enough. As long as it wasn’t spoiled, being cold wasn’t a big deal!

She hadn’t had a hot meal cooked especially for her in a long time!

“Then…eat more!”

The man’s lips curled slightly, softening his features.

“Such a good person! You look so handsome when you smile!” The woman, catching this moment between sips of porridge, sincerely praised him.

The man’s slightly upturned lips froze, realizing something was amiss. He felt inexplicably irritated.

‘Bang!’

The bowl was placed rather forcefully on the tree stump. He then abruptly stood up.

Wanru looked up at him questioningly, innocently asking, “What’s wrong? You’re not going to drink this delicious porridge anymore?”

The man’s breath hitched.

He said sullenly, “No! I’ll go find you some clothes. Your current attire will make it easy for you to be caught if you go down the mountain!”

At the mention of being caught, Wanru immediately panicked: “Caught? Who’s going to catch me? Have they found me?”

No, she hadn’t run far enough, she had to keep running…

The man quickly stopped her. Damn it, what had those people done to this woman…

“Don’t panic! Don’t worry, I’m here, no one will catch you!”

Seeing the woman’s confusion, the man sighed inwardly. He sat back down, having just risen.

“It’s just that… the clothes you’re wearing are similar to what servants in wealthy families used to wear. After the establishment of New China, many of those wealthy families no longer exist, and clothes, jewelry, gold, and silver representing that era are prohibited…”

He continued on and on…

Under the woman’s bewildered gaze, the man, who usually didn’t talk much, had to transform into an explainer, roughly explaining the situation outside.

If anyone who knew him were here, they would doubt that the usually cold man had suddenly changed his personality, speaking more words than he had in the previous year combined!

“In short, you don’t have a household registration or a letter of introduction, and going out will easily get you arrested as a vagrant and taken to the Public Security Bureau!”

The tighter the woman’s brow furrowed, the more tense her little face became.

It’s over, it turns out that all the gold and silver jewelry she worked so hard to gather in the palace for two nights was feudalistic? She couldn’t use it, and she couldn’t exchange it for money!

If she took it out, she would be arrested?

Wasn’t all her hard work in vain?

I didn’t expect that even though she was wearing such a big Yue dress, she was still a poor person!

At this moment, she suddenly felt the porridge in her mouth wasn’t as delicious…

The only small comfort was that she had plundered two imperial kitchens’ worth of food, so she wouldn’t starve for now!

“…This used to be a resting place for hunters in the mountains. After the founding of the country, it was abandoned!

The villagers down the mountain are later migrants. Besides collecting firewood, they rarely come up the mountain!

Stay here peacefully for now. I’ll go out for a while and will be back before nightfall…”

“Oh! Then come back early!”

The woman, struck by the facts she had just heard, wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. She was rather listless.

Is this… reluctance?

On the way down the mountain, the man’s lips couldn’t help but curl upwards… upwards…

~~

“Brother Yao!”

“Brother Yao! You’re back! Grandma Lu was waiting for you at the village entrance just now. Hurry back and see her, in case something urgent happened!

Oh, and by the way, Dawei  sent a letter. The brick factory in the city is looking for temporary workers, and he got two spots. Are you going?”

A young man with a crew cut, carrying a hoe, jogged over from a distance.

As they got closer, the two seemed to be talking about the city’s brick factory recruiting temporary workers, but they were actually having a secret conversation:

“Tell Lao Qizi and the others, tonight at 12 o’clock, go to the usual place to pick up the goods! I have something to do tonight, you and Lao San, be careful!”

“Yes! Got it, Brother Yao!”

The man, with a cold face, gave his instructions in a low voice, without stopping, turned on his heels, and walked towards the end of the village.

As he walked, the mischievous boys playing on the ridge became quiet when they saw him, obediently following their parents to pull weeds.

It wasn’t just children who were afraid of him. Ordinary villagers wouldn’t approach him unless necessary, and if they could avoid him, they would.

Lu Yao’s name was famous in the ten surrounding villages.

There were two reasons for this:

One was the scar on his face, said to be from over 10 years ago, when there was widespread famine outside, and a group of unknown vagrants, taking advantage of the village’s able-bodied men being in the mountains,

suddenly entered their Yushugou village territory!

Not only did they steal food, but they also injured many people!

At that time, the 10-year-old Lu Yao was like a wolf cub, fiercely wielding a cleaver, hacking down three vagrants who had broken into his home. When the city’s armed forces arrived, the three vagrants were already dead!

At that time, he was desperately wielding his cleaver in the village, chasing the third vagrant!

The blood on his face, blood splattered all over, it was unclear whether it was his or the enemy’s!

The scar on his face was from that time!

Since then, Lu Yao of Yushugou village’s fierce reputation spread throughout the ten surrounding villages!

The second reason also started with the scar on his face.

Since the year he got that scar, his father, who was in the army, died on a mission, and the county sent a death notice and martyr’s compensation!

Lu Yao’s pregnant mother was stimulated and gave birth prematurely, resulting in the death of both mother and child!

Then, the always strong old Lu Tou suddenly suffered a stroke and died in the field!

In just five years, the Lu family lost members one after another, leaving only Lu Yao and his grandmother to depend on each other!

People privately said that it was because he had tried too hard that year, disfigured himself, and ruined his fate, that the current Lu Yao was cursed to bring misfortune to his family!

That’s why he killed all his family members!

The villagers of Yushugou village appreciated his ferocity that year, which prevented the vagrants from further harming people and protected their mothers, wives, and children, so they respected him very much!

But respect was respect, and fear was real fear!

Even after so many years, most villagers were still somewhat afraid of the centipede-like scar that covered half of the man’s face!

Coupled with his intimidating height and bulging muscles!

Most of the men in the village could only look up to him!

This made it even less likely that anyone would approach him!

Only a few young men who usually hung around him dared to talk to him.

And a few older people who had known him since childhood…

“Ah Yao, you’re back, did you get the money?”

“Yes! Uncle Li, I got it. I got it when I arrived in the county yesterday!”

“That’s good, that’s good. After all, the current policy is good, those who sacrificed for the country did not sacrifice in vain…”

Lu Yao pursed his lips, greeted them, and walked towards his home at the end of the village!

Humph!

Of course it’s good. If it weren’t, how could he justify spending his illicit income?

Just relying on the little grain he got every year?

He would have starved to death long ago…