Encounter by Chance

"Tap tap tap tap"

On the empty street, a mule cart moved slowly, the sound of the mule's hooves on the bluestone pavement especially crisp in the silent night.

Inside the mule cart, Liu Yuanzhou and his cousin Liu Jiali sat facing each other.

Liu Yuanzhou's head was dizzy at the moment, a little painful, and he wanted to fall asleep, but his mind was clear, wandering aimlessly.

Steward Lan, Wang Zhen, Ding Yue, Old Guan, Niu Baoyuan, Zhu Hongcai, Deputy Captain Zhong, Hall Master Ren and his son, and so on, the figures of these people flashed in his mind one by one.

Unconsciously, he dreamed. In the dream, he became a Martial Master, knocking down Deputy Captain Zhong with one punch, and forcing Hall Master Ren back with another punch. Steward Lan, his cousin, and others all showed surprised expressions, and he laughed loudly.

"Whoa—, we're home."

Liu Yuanzhou woke up suddenly.

Shaking his head vigorously to clear his mind, Liu Yuanzhou jumped out of the mule cart, offered his arm to his cousin, and helped him down from the cart.

Wang San Ge turned the cart around and drove back. Liu Yuanzhou took his cousin's arm and walked into the yard, where he saw his aunt Gao Shi waiting at the door.

After handing his cousin over to his aunt Gao Shi, Liu Yuanzhou went back to his room to rest, and spent the night uneventfully, sleeping until dawn.

He got up on time in the morning, practiced his stance, and boxed. Estimating that the people in the yard were getting up one after another, Liu Yuanzhou stopped practicing.

Practicing martial arts is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat. Occasional interruptions of one or two days don't have much impact, but not practicing for a long time makes you rusty, and laziness will also grow in your heart. Liu Yuanzhou understood this very well.

After eating breakfast, Liu Yuanzhou decided to go to the city for a stroll. He asked Third Master, but Third Master said he wasn't going. He had now become chess friends with Old Gao next door, and they played chess together every day.

He didn't have a specific destination. After leaving the gate and walking out of the alley to North Main Street, he walked along the street, looking around.

Unconsciously, he arrived at East Main Street. He looked up and saw a pastry shop called "Old Wang Pastry", so he walked over.

Because yesterday at lunch, his aunt Gao Shi said that there was an Old Wang Pastry shop on East Main Street that sold very delicious Jujube Cake. When Liu Yuanzhou saw this shop, he thought about buying some for Gao Shi to take back.

Walking into the shop, Liu Yuanzhou asked the shop assistant behind the counter how the Jujube Cake was sold. The shop assistant said ten copper coins for a package, about four or five taels in weight.

Liu Yuanzhou bought a package of Jujube Cake for Gao Shi, and another package of Rice Jade Crispy Candy for little Shuwen, spending a total of fifteen copper coins.

He couldn't help but sigh at how expensive things were in the city. In the countryside, his allowance for half a year was only twenty or thirty copper coins, which wasn't even enough to buy three packages of Jujube Cake in the city.

Liu Yuanzhou turned around to leave with the pastries, when a person walked in hurriedly.

"Li Er?" Liu Yuanzhou recognized the person as Li Er from the village.

Li Er was stunned for a moment, and then he recognized Liu Yuanzhou. He said in surprise, "Second Child, what are you doing here?"

Seeing that there were many people buying pastries in the shop, Liu Yuanzhou said, "Let's go outside and find a place to talk."

In a strange city, meeting a fellow villager, even though they had had some conflicts before, Liu Yuanzhou was very happy at the moment.

Li Er must have felt the same way, as he nodded and said, "Okay, you go out and wait for me, I'll come out after I buy the pastries."

Liu Yuanzhou walked out of the shop and waited on the side.

After a while, Li Er came out carrying a few packages of pastries.

"Third Master asked Uncle Jiali to find me a job in the city, and I'm here to work." The two walked and talked. Liu Yuanzhou told Li Er about coming to the city to work, but he didn't say where he was working.

Li Er said "oh" and didn't ask in detail. In his opinion, Liu Yuanzhou was probably very different from him and wouldn't find a very decent job. After more than half a year of training in the city, he had become much more sophisticated in dealing with people.

Liu Yuanzhou asked about Li Er's recent situation, which struck a chord with Li Er. He said with some pride, "I'm currently working in my cousin's silk dyeing workshop, sigh, just managing a few dyers."

Liu Yuanzhou exclaimed, "Li Er, you're doing well! You've become a manager."

Li Er was pleased inside, but said, "Ah, what manager? It's a tough job. I have to keep an eye on those dozen or so dyers all day long, watching them work. If there's a problem with the silk products, I'll suffer too."

Liu Yuanzhou laughed, "It's your own family business, what's there to suffer?"

As they talked, they turned a street corner, and on the left was a noodle shop.

Li Er invited Liu Yuanzhou to have a bowl of noodles. Liu Yuanzhou looked up at the sky, it wasn't noon yet, and he wasn't hungry, so he wanted to refuse.

Before he could answer, Li Er pulled him into the noodle shop. Because it wasn't mealtime, there were hardly any customers in the shop.

After ordering the noodles from the shopkeeper, the two found a table by the window and sat down. Li Er said with emotion, "This meal is on me. We were young and ignorant in the village, always bickering. Thinking about it now, it was really childish."

He invited Liu Yuanzhou to eat noodles because it was rare to meet a fellow villager, and he felt close. Secondly, he felt that he was doing okay now, with a monthly income of about one or two taels of silver. Thirdly, he was also thinking of expanding his network of contacts. After all, Liu Yuanzhou had also come to the city to work, and fellow villagers could help each other.

Liu Yuanzhou nodded, agreeing with what he said. Coming to a wider city, the things that happened in the village before, when he thought about them now, were just trivial matters, not worth worrying about.

Another point was that he also wanted to repair his relationship with Li Er. After all, Li Er's uncle, Li Fusheng, was a registrar in the Shi Fu County Yamen. He now knew that the registrar was also the third-in-command of the County Office, with great power, and he didn't want to make a big enemy for no reason.

Liu Yuanzhou saw the pastries on the table and started a conversation, "You bought so much, can you eat it all?"

Li Er explained, "I'm going to my uncle's house for dinner tonight. I don't have anything good to bring, so I'll bring some pastries for my aunt and nephews. I'll go to the market to buy some fresh fruit later."

Liu Yuanzhou asked about Li Mingzhong again, and Li Er replied that he was renting a house in the city to study hard.

The noodles were quickly served, and the two were not polite, picking up their chopsticks and eating.

The noodles were quickly finished, and Liu Yuanzhou wanted to take out money to pay, but Li Er paid first.

Liu Yuanzhou laughed, "Hehe, is this the first time I've openly eaten your Li family's food?"

Li Er looked confused, "What do you mean openly? I'm treating you this time, you can treat me next time."

Liu Yuanzhou smiled and nodded, without saying anything.

The two took the pastries and left the noodle shop. As they were about to part, Li Er suddenly said, "Second Child, I still think it's better to tell you about something. Around the end of March, I ran into Er Ni on Treasure Pagoda Mountain."

Liu Yuanzhou's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Really? Where is she now?"

Mentioning Er Ni, Liu Yuanzhou felt extremely complicated. After more than a year of no news, he had actually given up hope for their future. Now that he suddenly heard news about her, the fire that Liu Yuanzhou had extinguished in his heart burned again.

Li Er didn't beat around the bush and said, "That day I ran into her and her younger brother Gou Wa on Treasure Pagoda Mountain. There was also a man climbing the mountain, so I went up to say hello. Er Ni said that she is currently working in her uncle's weaving factory."

"Which weaving factory, do you know?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

Li Er shook his head.

Liu Yuanzhou was disappointed, but since he knew she was working in a weaving factory, he could slowly inquire and eventually find out the news.

Li Er added, "However, I think the man with her seemed to care about her a lot. I hardly said a word to Er Ni before he came over to urge her several times, and finally they separated in a hurry."

Liu Yuanzhou nodded absentmindedly, indicating that he knew.

In fact, Li Er had his own selfish motives for saying this. As the belle of the village, which young man hadn't fantasized about her? Li Er was one of them. Later, when Er Ni left, he gave up on this idea.

Unexpectedly, he ran into Er Ni again some time ago, and Li Er's heart became active again, but it was obvious that the man next to Er Ni was extraordinary, and he considered himself not an opponent at present.

Telling Liu Yuanzhou about this was a temporary idea. Because when he was in the village, he heard that Liu Yuanzhou and Er Ni seemed to have an unusual relationship. If Liu Yuanzhou and the man next to Er Ni fought, wouldn't he, Li Er, be the one to benefit?

Li Er chuckled inwardly.