Chapter 223: Joining the Gang

After a while, the wooden door was pushed open, and indeed a burly man carried an entire roasted sheep in, and even untied their ropes for them.

The roasted whole sheep steamed with heat, brushed with oil and specially made spices, smelling very fragrant.

An entire roasted sheep was placed there, and the other party even reached out a hand, gesturing to invite them over to eat, but didn’t leave, only standing at the doorway staring at them with wide eyes.

Both Bai Zimu and Luo Jiaqing’s gazes fell upon the roasted whole sheep; Bai Zimu’s gaze only lingered on the mutton for an instant, very quickly noticing that no dagger for cutting meat had been provided, only a small silver fork, and his eyes narrowed slightly; meanwhile, Luo Jiaqing to the side looked at Bai Zimu, then looked at the roasted whole sheep, swallowing his saliva as if he truly couldn’t control his own desire, closely followed by taking a few steps forward and reaching out his hand to grab it.

……

Outside the wooden house, after delivering the roasted whole sheep inside, Duojie and the few others outside were also pricking up their ears to listen, wanting to know what kind of reaction those two captured “hostages” would have; testing it from a book for the first time, they were all quite excited. Their ears were pressed against the wooden door, trying hard to discern the sounds inside; there seemed to be a faint sound of speaking, but it couldn’t be heard clearly. Duojie brought his ear a little closer again, and this time the commotion coming from inside was much louder; with a clatter, it was unknown what had been smashed, and the few people outside the house were all stunned for a moment.

The person who delivered the roasted whole sheep came out, looking somewhat wretched, the hem of his Tibetan robe stained with some grease spots; the man used his sleeve to haphazardly wipe his face.

Duojie dragged him a few steps away, having no time to care how he was, rushing up first to ask:

“How is it, how is it going inside? Where did they eat?”

The person who delivered the roasted sheep was somewhat frustrated, shaking off his hand:

“Didn’t eat, that one with the injured foot inside, is both pretty and fierce, I had just put the roasted sheep down, he limped over, and overturned it all at once!”

“Overturned it?! How could this be…”

“Why would I deceive you, if you don’t believe it go in and see for yourself! Duojie, does this idea of yours work or not?”

Duojie was confused for a moment first, closely followed by his eyes emitting light and slapping his thigh, repeatedly saying excitedly:

“This is a big fat sheep, with such a picky mouth, not eating a single bite of roasted sheep, he is definitely a young master from a wealthy family and that’s not wrong! Let’s go, let’s go, we’ll go inside to take a look.”

The other few people were half-believing and half-doubting; with Duojie taking the lead, they all followed inside one after another.

Inside the wooden house.

Luo Jiaqing, who had taken a bite of the mutton while it was hot, was scalded until his eyes contained tears, but still couldn’t bear to part with that mouthful of meat; his hands were oily and completely empty, the entire roasted whole sheep he had just gotten his hands on now overturned on the ground. He looked at the roasted sheep with heartache, raising his head and glaring at Bai Zimu in anger, saying:

“What are you doing! [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] If you aren’t going to eat then leave the meat for me, why did you overturn this?!”

Bai Zimu didn’t pay attention to him.

Very quickly the wooden door was pushed open, and those men wearing Tibetan robes outside walked in; the bearded one leading at the front was exactly Duojie. Duojie swept a circle over the two “hostages”‘ bodies, and very quickly locked his gaze directly onto Bai Zimu; that one opposite had meat in his mouth and grease all over his hands, while this one right before his eyes was clean and spotless; this one was the true young master from a wealthy family!

Duojie tried hard to puff out his chest, putting on a full imposing manner and preparing to speak, when he suddenly heard that pretty-looking little young master opposite say coldly:

“Have the person in charge among you come over to speak with me.”

Duojie: “…”

The expression on Duojie’s face stiffened for a moment, his imposing manner deflating by half, but he still squared his shoulders and forcefully braced himself with a smile, saying:

“I am.”

Bai Zimu turned his head to look at him, sizing him up from top to bottom, seeming somewhat unconvinced.

Duojie: “I really am! [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] We might as well open the skylight and speak bright words, my coming here this time is wanting to have a chat with you, and make a friend.”

Probably having found back a bit of the feeling, Duojie using his half-baked Chinese also slowly spoke with some organization.

“You guys, encountered a car accident on the road, it was still us who helped save you after all!”

Let alone Bai Zimu, even Luo Jiaqing didn’t believe these words.

Luo Jiaqing bit on a large piece of roasted meat in his mouth, revealing a few fractions of a strange expression; where was this a car accident, it was clearly a shoot-out. However, the other party carried a hunting gun on his shoulder, so Luo Jiaqing still tactfully shifted his gaze away, not speaking much.

Bai Zimu nodded, following the other party’s words and saying:

“Since we are making friends, then let us mutually bring out a bit of sincerity first, I want to inquire about a bit of news from you all first, that driver who came together with me, how is he right now, is the injury on his shoulder serious or not?”

Duojie said: “He has already been sent to the hospital, for his shoulder, I didn’t really pay attention to, but his forehead bumped a quite large gash, needing stitches.”

After Bai Zimu tested him, he let out a slight breath of relief, nodding and thanking him.

Duojie only then reacted, that rich young master had been testing him, smacking his lips and saying:

“Hey, you Han friends always have a lot of suspicion, you put your hearts at ease, we are not bad people, only having saved you, we still need a bit of remuneration.”

Bai Zimu said: “Fine, how much money is needed? You state a number.”

Duojie asked: “You, is your family very rich?”

Bai Zimu said without changing his expression: “My surname is Luo, called Luo Jiaqing, Jinyuan Jewelry Store was opened by my family, you make a phone call, or let me write a letter to over there, as long as you release me, however much money you want I will give to you.”

Luo Jiaqing: “!!”

If his mouth hadn’t been stuffed with a mouthful of meat, he would have retorted long ago; at this moment he had just wanted to speak when he choked quite heavily, pounding his chest in anger and coughing several times in a row.

Meanwhile, the several Tibetan-robed men opposite upon hearing that the other party’s family did business, exchanged glances with each other, joy showing in everyone’s eyes.

Duojie cleared his throat, putting on an act and asking:

“Your family’s business, is it big or not?”

Bai Zimu said coldly:

“It’s okay, making enough to eat.”

“How many stores opened?”

“The main store is in Pengcheng, other coastal cities have opened seven or eight, the revenue situation is passable.”

Duojie asked a few sentences, pleasantly surprised endlessly in his heart, but on the surface still maintained his original state, and regardless of Luo Jiaqing shouting incessantly to the side, waved his hand to let the few people behind go over to tie Luo Jiaqing up; in his heart he had already determined this meat-eating one was a fake. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Luo Jiaqing’s mouth was stuffed with a cloth ball again; this time no matter how round he glared his eyes, it was of no avail, and he could only watch helplessly as Bai Zimu negotiated with the other party, angry to the point of wanting to spew fire.

Duojie politely reached out his hand and said:

“This friend, please come out to roast by the fire together with us, eat some things, we have some matters to trouble you with.”

Bai Zimu’s right foot was sprained, at this moment walking still couldn’t be considered agile, but he rejected the arm extended over from the side, limping by himself and following to watch them walk out.

A Tibetan-robed man walking at the very back finished tying up Luo Jiaqing, and when preparing to go out the door, thought for a moment before turning back again, loading the roasted whole sheep that had been overturned onto the ground back onto the tray, and carried it away on his shoulder.

This mutton was the best and tenderest they had picked; although it was dirty now, slicing off a thin outer layer in a bit and roasting it again, it would still be edible.

Bai Zimu followed them out of the wooden house, only then discovering that this place was actually a temporary dwelling for herders; two vehicles were parked to the side, along with several other crude wooden houses. These few people hadn’t intentionally mistreated them, because the wooden house this group of “bandits” lived in had no difference from the one imprisoning them, all were equally dilapidated, even worse than theirs; at least the wooden house imprisoning them had a complete roof and didn’t leak wind.

Duojie politely invited Bai Zimu over, then sat down together, letting him eat meat, eat tsampa, and also the same plain porridge from before, bringing out all the food he had on hand.

Bai Zimu drank a bowl of porridge, holding the wooden bowl and watching him speak.

Duojie watched him finish eating, feeling he had also fulfilled the obligations of a host, saying to him:

“We are all compatriots, we should help each other, just like one family, but some people just inexplicably have a sense of superiority themselves, not speaking any reason at all, tyrannical and authoritarian, as if the entire grassland must listen to him!”

In the very beginning Bai Zimu thought the other party was boasting about himself, but very quickly heard that something wasn’t right; this bearded man right before his eyes grew more and more indignant the more he spoke, looking as if he had been fiercely suppressed by someone, aggrieved quite heavily.

Duojie:

“There is a person doing business here with us, also a Han person like you all, he has been here for many years, his temper is unbelievably large, and regardless of right or wrong, he always feels he himself is very good, never reflecting! I am not the same, I like to speak reason, and also know to reflect, like doing business, definitely it’s however much ability one has one bears however much responsibility, for example you Han people, I just feel you all do business very well, very smart, us this, this, need to think from the other’s perspective…”

He spoke for half the day, scratching his ears and cheeks.

Bai Zimu simply couldn’t understand what he wanted to say.

Duojie waved his large hand, carrying a posture of risking everything and saying fiercely:

“Anyway I’ve thought it over, we should wake up to reality, no matter what, we definitely must first suppress Langka’s business, not letting them snatch our territory again!”

Bai Zimu probed, saying:

“Your meaning is, there is a person called Langka, who is in a business competition relationship with you all?”

Duojie nodded, but very quickly said:

“Is your person, Langka is a Han person.”

Bai Zimu: “This name doesn’t sound much like a Han person.”

Duojie grinned and said:

“He said it himself, having been here for too many years, we also don’t know what he is called, he himself calls this name, yet insists that he himself is a Han person, strange as can be!”

Bai Zimu sat there roasting by the fire; after drinking a bowl of porridge, he finally understood Duojie’s meaning.

Bai Zimu put down the wooden bowl, asking:

“You are meaning, wanting to let me come up with ideas for you all, to do business even better than Langka, is it like this?”

Duojie nodded repeatedly:

“Right, it is just like this, your family has done business, a young master from a wealthy family, definitely knows how to make money! Langka is only formidable here with us, a Han person on the grassland, definitely can’t compare to Han people from the outside, use your wisdom, and defeat him.”

Bai Zimu thought for a moment, saying:

“What our family does is all ordinary business, the kind you all do, I probably won’t be able to help much—”

Duojie said: “What we do is also ordinary business. Look we have cordyceps, safflower, turquoise, and also these agates, we have them all!”

As he spoke, he even took out a string of coral beads he was wearing to show him,

“This was given to me by my aba (a string of coral beads), if you agree, I will gift this to you!”

Bai Zimu waved his hand, saying:

“No need, if possible, I’ll trouble you to help me take care of my severely injured friend.”

Duojie readily agreed, still staring at him.

Bai Zimu said:

“I will help you deal with Langka; after the matter is accomplished, I still ask Mister to release me and my friend.”

Duojie grinned and said:

“Of course! You help me, we are friends!”

He patted Bai Zimu’s shoulder, and for a moment also didn’t know how he should express it in Chinese, so he could only coin a term himself, giving a thumbs up to praise him:

“Han-compatriot!”

After Bai Zimu agreed to join the gang, these people’s attitude towards him began to turn enthusiastic; even his foot was re-applied with ointment once more, and they even carved a walking stick out of wood for him, letting him use it for support. Bai Zimu was young, and these few days he was also gradually recovering; although the bandaging was somewhat simple, there was still an obvious improvement.

Bai Zimu intentionally sounded out their tone, winning a bit of time for himself; as long as the other party still had use for him, he could find an opportunity in the upcoming time.

This gang of Duojie’s looked very fierce and savage when acting fierce, but after becoming one of their own, they were especially enthusiastic again, every single one of them very generous.

Bai Zimu hit the road together with them; Duojie and several others drove vehicles, while behind there were also Tibetan-robed men riding horses. Their vehicles weren’t empty either; previously during the car crash the jeep was totaled, and there was also an off-road vehicle burned to the point of being unable to recognize the model; Duojie and the others scavenged everything usable and placed it on the vehicles. Bai Zimu even saw one of their horse-riding men tie a rope, dragging a half-broken tire from far away, cheering hey-hey-hey all the way as he ran swiftly following the vehicles.

This cheerfulness was truly too straightforward and fervent; even Bai Zimu was somewhat infected by it.

He sat in the passenger seat trying hard to withdraw his gaze, turning his head to ask Duojie:

“You all, are you usually like this too?”

Duojie concentrated on driving, asking in return:

“What?”

Bai Zimu thought for a while, probingly using a relatively gentle vocabulary word to communicate with him:

“Just like this, bringing many spoils of war back, like robbing the rich to help the poor?”

Duojie looked at him in astonishment, his sunglasses sliding down to the bridge of his nose, revealing a pair of eyes and saying disapprovingly:

“Where is this robbing, it’s nothing more than picking up some scraps to bring back, in a while when seeing our Director Quduo you absolutely must not speak nonsense!”

He pushed his sunglasses up a bit, saying self-righteously:

“Also we never rob the rich to help the poor, we mainly use it for ourselves, because we ourselves are already very poor.”

Bai Zimu: “…”

Bai Zimu thought in his heart, these people were actually quite honest.

The car window was wide open, wind pouring in, blowing with a burst of whoosh-whoosh howling sounds.

Bai Zimu breathed out a puff of air, rubbing his somewhat cool fingertips, narrowing his eyes to look ahead; there were numerous mountain passes along the way, and although there weren’t any reference markers, he still tried his best to memorize some. Only, relying solely on this still wasn’t enough; if he wanted to leave, he would at least need to get a vehicle.

Duojie and the others drove all the way to a village, and it was already afternoon.

Not long after Bai Zimu got in the car he had put on his coat hood, and halfway through even slept for more than an hour; at this moment after getting out of the car, aside from being somewhat lame when walking, his spirit was actually not bad.

Duojie helped him down, saying with a solemn face:

“Later when seeing Director Qu, don’t speak too much, act according to the look in my eyes—”

Before his words were even finished, from far away they saw a Tibetan-robed man around fifty years old running over, shouting the names of Duojie and the others in his mouth; these few people who were awe-inspiring in all directions when outside instantly became like elementary school students seeing their dean, all standing in a neat row there, wearing expressions of honest and innocent appearances.