Xie Ming

Chapter 53: Selling Wine
Li Huchen felt quite uncomfortable in front of the camp at the entrance of the valley. Qi Dayong mentioned that Bairui Valley could produce good wine.

Upon hearing this, Hu Chen sat up suddenly.

"Oh? Are you serious?!" Li Huchen was overjoyed and said in surprise.

Seeing his captain's excitement, Qi Dayong knew that he had guessed it right.

"Oh, my Captain, how dare I, Qi Dayong, make up such a story to deceive you!"

"Of course it's true!" Qi Dayong replied.

"Hahaha"

"Okay, good boy!"

"I love you for a reason!"

Li Huchen was so excited that he couldn't control himself for a moment. He looked terrifying, just like a wolf staring at a lamb!
Seeing this, Qi Dayong unconsciously took two steps back.

But Li Huchen suddenly remembered what Xiao Jingchuan had ordered before he left, that the entire army should be on standby here and not enter the village at will.

Thinking of this, the tiger minister frowned again, feeling embarrassed and tried to speak.

"But, Xiao Lang said before he left that we are not allowed to walk into the village casually. As a leader of the army, it is not good for us to break the law knowingly!"

Li Huchen paused deliberately when talking about this point, staring at Qi Dayong with his big eyes, he was so anxious!

It was as if she was afraid that Qi Dayong would not understand and would not respond.

"Hey, Captain, of course you can't make mistakes!"

"But I am still here!"

"To be honest, I'm craving for wine too!"

"I have already taken aim. I will sneak out of the camp when no one is around. We won't go through the village entrance."

"I took a detour and found a gap at the south end of the village to sneak in."

"Once I have bought the wine, I will sneak back along the path without anyone noticing."

"Hey, Captain, you don't even know about this!"

Qi Dayong patted his chest proudly, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Hahaha, you kid!" Li Huchen got a satisfactory answer and pointed at Qi Dayong knowingly.

"Oh, I am indeed tired of lying down."

As he spoke, Li Huchen suddenly stood up, stretched himself, and pretended not to notice and threw the purse on his waist to the ground.

He also glanced at it secretly, afraid that Qi Dayong couldn't see it, so he turned around and moved forward, and deliberately kicked the purse towards Qi Dayong.

"You said this, if you drink too much water, you will pee a lot!"

"You guys just go do what you need to do. I'm going to find a place to relieve the pressure!" Li Huchen pretended to be casual.

Qi Dayong understood, and when the captain turned around, he bent down swiftly, grabbed the purse, and ran away with a grin!
To the west of Bairui Valley, there are several large mountain streams where springs converge and form a small river, flowing through the villages in the valley.

It went out from the southeast corner of the village and flowed northeastwards towards the valley entrance. After Qi Dayong sneaked out from the camping spot at the valley entrance, he went upstream along the stream, carefully avoiding the main road, and headed diagonally towards the southeast corner of the village.

It ran for about half a minute and gradually approached the scattered thatched houses in the corner of the village.

Dayong was delighted and ran past a small hillock in front of him with a smile on his face. Suddenly, he saw a village woman washing clothes alone by the river under a big willow tree.

He was thinking about it, and when he saw some villagers, he thought of going over to ask them where the wine and meat shop in the village was, so he went straight to the woman who was washing clothes.

When he got closer, Qi Dayong realized that from a distance, judging from the clothes she wore, he thought she was an old woman from the village, but in fact she was clearly a young and fair girl of no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.

The water in mountain streams and rivers is often cold and flows very fast. As they pass through gullies and bumps, tiny waves are surging in front of the shore.

The bright sun passed over the mountain top, casting a dazzling white light, which was reflected on the sparkling river surface, and streaks of light and shadows hit the shore.

Dayong unconsciously walked closer to the girl. Under the swaying light and shadow, the woman washing clothes beside the tree had a pretty face. Her waist was well-proportioned, but her chest was bulging, and as she squatted down to wash clothes, her chest was pressed against her knees.

Although her clothes were neat, they looked like old clothes that had been replaced by another old woman. The collar was badly worn and not buttoned tightly.

At that moment, Qi Dayong's eyes were completely sunken into the girl's collar, fixed on the vaguely visible large area of ​​white!

Wow!
The washerwoman was throwing a washed piece of clothing into the large wooden basin beside her. Suddenly, she turned her head and saw the fat man beside her. She was so scared that she shuddered all over.

Qi Dayong came to his senses immediately upon seeing this, and quickly took out his hands from his pockets to show that he had no ill intentions.

After all, Dayong sneaked out of the camp, and he was actually afraid that the girl would scream without saying anything, which would not only scare the villagers, but also scare Xiao Jingchuan who was currently stranded in the village. That would mean a big trouble today!

But at this moment, after Qi Dayong hurriedly explained, he looked at the washerwoman and found that she was fine.

The girl did not yell, and to Dayong's surprise, when she saw the burly, ruffian-looking stranger in front of her, the girl was stunned and burst out laughing.

With a slight smile and a frown on her face, the laundry woman turned her head away and continued to take other clothes to wash. She looked as if no one was around and did not seem to regard Qi Dayong as a threat at all.

You know, Dayong, dressed like a soldier, often followed the troops to capture cities and strongholds, and was often looked down upon by the villagers.

As the saying goes, bandits passing by are like combs, and soldiers passing by are like rakes!
The Ming army, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, suffered from chronic lack of pay, resulting in lax military discipline. The army often lacked the courage to kill the enemy, but was very good at raping and looting.

Qi Dayong was an old soldier who had been in the army for nearly ten years. In terms of conduct, his character was considered good among the regular army of the imperial court at that time!
Unexpectedly, this was the first time Dayong met such a girl, but she didn't dislike him at all.

As a result, the fat man became more interested in the laundry woman.

He did not act rashly, nor did he have much ill intention. He just tidied his appearance a little clumsily.

It seems that he himself may not have paid attention to his own appearance for a long time.

The rippling blue waves dazzled Dayong's eyes, and the snow-white color that occasionally appeared on the girl's collar seemed to confuse his mind.

"Ahem, um, this lady, I am actually from the capital, and I happened to visit your precious place. I wonder if there is a tavern in the village. I want to buy some wine, haha. I don't know."

Qi Dayong pinched his throat and racked his brains to come up with some words.

Somehow, he, a rough soldier who didn't care about anything, became so reserved and flustered in front of the laundry woman.

He tried very hard to make himself look more serious and presentable, but he himself probably didn't even realize why.

He was nervous, changing his stance from side to side with his hands and feet. He looked serious, yet surprisingly funny!
(End of this chapter)