"They moved fast indeed." Jiang Che watched Gou Buyi's receding figure grow smaller and smaller as he thought to himself.
Yesterday, he had forged a deadly feud with Wu Da Bala, and today the man had come to the Auxiliary Barracks. If anyone said he was merely taking a stroll, that was simply impossible.
Yet there was one thing Jiang Che could not quite figure out.
Why was Gou Buyi being so aggressively overbearing?
Jiang Che was about to be transferred to the "frontier," where he would pose no threat to him at all. Could it be that simply knocking Scarface over had made the man bear a deadly grudge against him?
If that was the case, it would truly be difficult to survive in the camp.
The thought flashed by, but what Jiang Che felt more deeply was worry.
He worried that Liu Zhi would go back on his word and, out of deference to Gou Buyi's elder brother, casually cast him aside. If that happened, his situation would instantly become perilous.
The feeling of placing his own safety in someone else's hands made Jiang Che very unhappy.
"Brother Che, Brother Che."
Xu San'er called out beside him. Jiang Che came back to himself and revealed a calm smile.
"What is it, Brother Xu?"
"N-Nothing." Xu San'er was a shrewd man. From Jiang Che's earlier behavior alone, he could tell that Jiang Che was in a foul mood, so he did not dare ask too much.
A moment later, the personal guard at Liu Zhi's side jogged over and instructed him.
"Jiang Che, Commander Liu summons you."
"All right."
Before the tent, Jiang Che, who was about to enter, came face-to-face with Gou Buyi, who was coming out. The atmosphere between them froze somewhat. Gou Buyi halted and spoke first.
"What, you don't recognize Brother Gou anymore?"
"Of course I recognize you. It's just that things seem different from a few days ago."
"Heh heh. You really do have some tricks, kid. You made Deputy Commander Liu refuse even to give my brother face, all just to protect you for seven days. Very good. Today, I've truly seen what you can do."
Gou Buyi stared at Jiang Che with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"Squad Leader Gou's methods are the truly impressive ones. I merely bought a few jin of meat, yet it made you covet it so greatly. That is something Jiang truly cannot understand."
Jiang Che did not fear meeting his gaze, hoping to probe the true situation.
But Gou Buyi answered beside the point. With his hands behind his back, he walked to Jiang Che's side and said in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Seven days from now, you'll be transferred to the kitchen. When that time comes... Brother Gou will definitely arrange things for you properly. Heh heh, heh heh heh."
With a soft chuckle, Gou Buyi strode away.
Jiang Che's expression remained unchanged. Only as he watched the man's departing back did he narrow his eyes.
Upon entering the tent, Liu Zhi still sat high at the seat of honor. Jiang Che bowed.
"This subordinate greets Commander Liu."
"You saw Gou Buyi just now, didn't you?"
"I did."
Jiang Che nodded.
"Just as I expected, that dog used his brother Gou Buren to pressure me, intending to transfer you to the kitchen to help out. But I have always been a man of my word.
If I said I'd protect you for seven days, then I'll protect you for seven days."
"Regardless of what happens after seven days, this subordinate will certainly engrave your kindness upon his heart."
"Haha, you do have the temperament of one who knows gratitude and repays it."
Liu Zhi was quite pleased with Jiang Che's attitude. It had not been in vain that he had specifically timed things so the two would meet.
Jiang Che was a promising seedling whom even Captain Zhu had praised. So long as he could demonstrate his value within seven days, Liu Zhi's efforts would not be wasted. If Jiang Che truly had aptitude,
there would be another benefit waiting for him afterward.
In short, Liu Zhi wanted Jiang Che to devote himself to loyal service!
"Have you finished reading Savage Bull Strength?"
"This subordinate is currently cultivating it."
"Are you confident?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, this subordinate will certainly master this technique within seven days!" Jiang Che raised his head, his eyes gleaming. From head to toe, he radiated powerful confidence, as though this were nothing more than a trivial matter to him.
No one knew that he still could not even properly understand stance training.
But...
With the crisis posed by Gou Buyi drawing near, he had to raise his standing in Liu Zhi's eyes. Only then could he make Liu Zhi continue protecting him instead of abandoning him because of outside pressure.
At a time like this, hiding his abilities was absolutely not an option.
"Good. Then this commander shall wait and see."
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed. Jiang Che focused all his efforts on selling the Savage Bull Strength technique. Wu Changfeng, Li Erxian, and the others Xu San'er had mentioned before all agreed to pay to practice martial arts.
However, those two were not easy to fool, nor did they have much silver. Altogether, Jiang Che only managed to get ten taels of silver from them. Because of this, Jiang Che began looking for other targets with fuller purses.
He was extraordinarily busy.
That day, after group training ended, Geng Dabiao hurriedly found Jiang Che and said he had already opened up the necessary channels, telling him to quickly hand over the silver.
"Is this connection reliable?"
It was not that Jiang Che was overly cautious. It was simply too difficult to get silver from the auxiliary soldiers, and there were fewer than four days left before the seven-day deadline. If the money vanished like a stone dropped into the sea,
his situation would immediately take a sharp turn for the worse.
"Don't worry, it's absolutely reliable." Geng Dabiao patted his chest with great confidence. Seeing Jiang Che still somewhat doubtful, he lowered his voice.
"I won't hide it from you. Before I came to serve, I had several sworn brothers who slaughtered pigs and sold meat. Once they got my message, they found a target. They can get the goods here whenever they want."
"Of course I trust you, Brother Dabiao, but I've never met those brothers of yours. Handing so much silver to them would indeed be rather risky. How about this?
I'll give you ten taels first. Added to the ten taels you promised, that makes twenty taels as a deposit. As for the remaining ten taels, we'll settle it all together once the goods have been delivered."
Jiang Che actually had only ten taels of silver on hand and could not produce any more. Yet he did not want any unforeseen complications to arise, so he made this proposal.
"That's not what you said before." Geng Dabiao glared with his bull-like eyes.
"Rest assured, I will absolutely not break my word. This is merely safer. Since things have come to this, I won't hide it from you either. This beef and bull tendons are actually wanted by Commander Liu.
I'm merely passing along the message. Could it be that you don't trust Commander Liu?"
Jiang Che continued draping himself in tiger skin.
His purpose was to ensure that Geng Dabiao's group would not dare harbor ill intentions. Otherwise, if Liu Zhi came to bear a grudge against them in the Auxiliary Barracks, their days ahead would certainly be worse than death.
Sure enough, once Jiang Che mentioned Liu Zhi, Geng Dabiao's attitude changed as well. After pondering for a moment, he said,
"Fine, we'll do as you say. But when the time comes, you must give me the rest of the silver. Otherwise, my brothers will lose money."
"Of course. Jiang has always been a man of his word."
Smiling, Jiang Che stuffed ten taels of fine silver into Geng Dabiao's palm.
After weighing it in his hand to confirm its amount, Geng Dabiao tucked it into his clothes and continued.
"At the latest, the goods you want can be delivered outside the military camp the day after tomorrow. When the time comes, you must arrange for someone to receive them."
"Good!"