Tianjin people will never lose SAN

Chapter 596: Ruling by Doing Nothing (4k+)

"Wine...wine..."

Old Gonzalo buried his face in the smelly pillow and stretched out his right hand to grope back and forth in the darkness. The "clang, clang" sound of rolling came one after another with the random touch of his clumsy fingers, and wine bottles of all sizes fell over on the low table one after another.

He took a bottle, held it close to his eyes, shook it, and it was empty. He took another bottle and shook it... still empty.

After working for three minutes, just when Gonzalo was about to give up, he finally touched a bottle with half a bottle of wine left in it. Gonzalo quickly sat up straight and poured the remaining wine into his throat.

The inferior wine made from fruits is a bit sour and astringent when it first enters the throat, but when it flows into the stomach, it starts to rise like fire.

Gonzalo ignored him and just chuckled twice in the dark. At least he had some energy, enough for him to have a good sleep.

With a creak, the bedroom door was opened and his wife walked into the room holding a torch.

"It's not time to get the bottle yet. Go out first and come back in after I fall asleep."

Although Gonzalo was a little dissatisfied, he didn't dare to lose his temper with his wife. After all, he was just a drunkard who spent his days eating and waiting to die. He relied on his wife to take care of his food and drink every day. He really didn't have the confidence to lose his temper.

"Gonzalo, there's a gentleman outside who wants to see you."

The wife's tone was cold and she didn't like her cowardly husband.

"Looking for me? You must be mistaken."

Gonzalo turned over, covered himself with the quilt and prepared to sleep.

Gonzalo knew that it was impossible for anyone to come looking for him. He was one of the first people to enter the village. At that time, he walked out from behind the bronze gate in a daze, driving a donkey cart with seven or eight oak barrels on it, all of which were filled with fine wine that was to be delivered to the Marquis's estate.

The Marquis's daughter was getting married, and her father had to prepare the banquet. He was the steward of the manor, his wife was a kitchen maid, and the three children lived in the manor every day, doing odd jobs within their abilities. These were all the memories Gonzalo had.

How did I suddenly come to this world? What did I see behind the bronze gate?
I can’t remember anything. The mess of memories are twisted into a ball like a rotten hemp rope and I have no idea what’s going on.

Gonzalo couldn't figure it out and simply stopped thinking about it. He didn't like this new place, he didn't like the talkative neighbors around him, and as for "gods" and "demons", these fantastic explanations, he disliked them even more.

Gonzalo used to love drinking. After finishing his work on the estate, he would wait until the sun went down and then have a drink with some old friends.

Gonzalo missed his old life and old friends whose names and appearances he had forgotten. Now he could only drink by himself, and when he got drunk he would forget all the bad things outside.

Fortunately, their family had many people and they arrived early. Gonzalo's donkey cart was loaded with a lot of fine wine. The village leaders gave him a nice house and rarely bothered him.

It’s just that his wife would occasionally complain that he never attended village meetings and it would be bad if others knew about it.

But Gonzalo himself felt that it was no big deal. If he showed up occasionally, maybe they would pay attention to him, but if he never showed up, these people would just forget about him.

Every day he lay alone in the dim room, drunken and dreaming. As he wished, fewer and fewer people remembered him.

"The other party specifically asked for you by name. Hurry up and get up, change into decent clothes, and wipe the wine and saliva off your face. Hurry!"

After his wife came into the house, she stuck the torch into the wall. The sudden light made Gonzalo's eyes hurt.

Gonzalo has always listened to his wife, in the past and even more so now. Since his wife said so, Gonzalo could only climb down from the bed, rummage through the box, find a set of clothes that look decent and put them on.

"Who is it? Are you coming to our house to ask for something?"

Gonzalo didn't even have enough wine to drink himself, so he was afraid that others would ask for wine.

"Tax collector, the village tax collector."

The wife roughly took a dirty rag from the table and wiped Gonzalo's face.

"Tax officer? When did we have a tax officer?"

Gonzalo spat twice. The smell of the rag was quite unpleasant, but only slightly stronger than the smell on his body.

“Don’t talk nonsense when you go out. These tax collectors are terrible. There was a big fire in the village last night. I heard it was set by the devil’s minions.

Oh, by the way, you have seen that man, Charlie, have you forgotten? He was very enthusiastic, and he was the one who found our house for us. Alas, I didn't expect that he was actually the devil's minion.

If these tax officials hadn’t discovered it in time, many lives would have been lost.”

Gonzalo was still drunk, and his wife told him everything that had happened recently. Gonzalo was so confused that he couldn't process it.

Seeing her husband's foolish look, his wife was so angry that she twisted his ears:

"Hey, why don't you come out and say a few words to him first? What if he gets angry again after taking so long?"

Gonzalo had no choice but to follow his wife out of the bedroom.

There were two people sitting at the dining table in the living room. One was smoking and playing with a coin on the back of his hand. The other had slender fingers, and the coin rolled left and right on the back of his hand like waves. It was obvious that he was a very dexterous person.

The other one was smoking a cigarette and shaking his head, his eyes looking around, with an inexplicable smile on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.

"Mr. Tax Collector, Gonzalo didn't sleep well last night and has a headache today. I called him to get up."

Gonzalo's wife tugged at his sleeve, and the old drunkard nodded timidly towards Liu Yonglu and Lin Bei, just as a greeting.

"Lin Brown, look, this... isn't this the man I told you about this morning?"

Liu Yonglu patted his wet shoulder seriously and pointed at Gonzalo who was standing opposite him.

"Yes, it is exactly the same as the portrait you drew of me."

Lin Bei glanced at Gonzalo and immediately lowered his head. He rarely partnered with Liu Yonglu to do such immoral things, and he was not yet used to the rhythm of the situation. He was afraid that he would laugh out loud.

"Mr. Gonzalo, I finally found you!"

Liu Yonglu jumped up from the chair, walked to Gonzalo, stretched out his hands and grabbed Gonzalo's wrists tightly.

This handshake startled Gonzalo and his wife.

"Mr. Tax Collector, Gonzalo has been staying in his bedroom recently and has not gone out. Did you recognize the wrong person?"

His wife quickly explained that he was worried that this ruthless man who had just killed the devil's minions last night would target Gonzalo today.

“No, no no no, it’s him.

With his sparse white hair, stubble on his face, and a big mole on his right cheek, it was definitely him who was going to be beaten."

Gonzalo was so frightened that he was shaking all over.

"At that time, I saw him standing in a white light, with colorful clouds under his feet, and boys and girls around him playing musical instruments and singing. There is no doubt that you are the messenger sent by the gods!"

"I am... a messenger of God?"

Gonzalo murmured.

"God's messenger! A genuine God's messenger who is authentic and fair to all.

Don't just stand there, come with me to meet the angel of God!"

"Pfft...cough cough cough..."

Lin couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out laughing, then quickly coughed twice to cover it up:
"Master God's Messenger, please pack your things quickly and come with us."

Lin Bei also came over and added a polite remark.

"My Lord, you can no longer hesitate, and you can no longer keep a low profile. Charlie is the devil's minion. Why did he lie in wait for so many years before finally showing his fox tail?

It was because you had been hiding in the house and not showing up, and not being able to take charge of the situation, that gave him the opportunity to take advantage of you.

It is said that one should not meddle in other people's affairs if one is not in a position to do so. We were blind before and did not find you. Now that we have found you, you must go out and raise your arms to protect the village. This will not be in vain for the trust that the gods have placed in you!"

Gonzalo drank a lot of bad wine every day, and his mind was not clear to begin with, and now it became even more confused.

Gods, demons, messengers of God, responsibilities, a whole bunch of messy information were all fighting in his head. Gonzalo blinked, not knowing what to say.

Gonzalo's wife looked at her husband in shock.

Gonzalo's wife didn't believe the gods' words at first. After all, she had never seen the gods or the devil with her own eyes.

But last night, Charlie's long red tongue was wagging outside, and she had no choice but to believe that since these tax officials had the wisdom to see through the devil, her husband might really be a messenger of God.

"I... I... a messenger of God? That's not right... Charlie... I was really... fine... why did this happen..."

Gonzalo muttered something incoherent, broke free from Liu Yonglu's hands and began to walk around the room.

Liu Yonglu and Lin Bulang did not stop him. They just watched him rummage through the drawers and cabinets at home. After searching several places, he finally found an amber bottle.

Old Gonzalo unscrewed the cork and took a few gulps.

"I'll pour a glass for the tax officials as well. Let's celebrate together. I wish... the village will be peaceful and prosperous in the future."

Gonzalo's wife was really like that. She didn't want to scold her husband in front of Liu Yonglu and Lin Bei, so she just awkwardly found two glasses and opened a new bottle of wine to fill them up for both of them.

Lin Bei didn't dare to drink the wine outside, so he took out his flat-mouthed wine pot, took a sip and handed it to Liu Yonglu.

"Sister-in-law, we won't bother you today. Please help Mr. Gonzalo clean up..."

Liu Yonglu pointed at his hair and clothes:
"We'll come pick him up in the evening. We have to attend the villagers' meeting. Like I said, a country can't be without a ruler for a day, and a village can't be without a leader for a day. Let's meet everyone first, and then we can slowly get started with the specific work in the future."

Gonzalo completely ignored Liu Yonglu and Lin Bei. He was still immersed in the hallucinations stimulated by alcohol.

Gonzalo's wife thanked Liu Yonglu and Lin Bei profusely and sent them out of the house.

"Get wet, okay, this guy is suitable!"

After going out, Liu Yonglu patted the wet shoulder with satisfaction.

Dreaming about the messenger of God is all lies. Liu Yonglu made the following request to Mr. Lin Brown and Mr. Shani:
"Find a fool. The more foolish the better. It would be best if he doesn't recognize a woman when he gets on the bed, and doesn't recognize shoes when he gets off the bed."

Looking at it now, Gonzalo is truly a talented person who perfectly meets Liu Yonglu's requirements.

There are so many people in the village, why did Liu Yonglu choose only this piece of material? Liu Yonglu had his own considerations.

Charlie and his leaders have spent so much effort to promote the binary opposition of "God and the Devil", and most people can no longer understand it.

It was unrealistic to argue with these villagers at this time, and Liu Yonglu didn't have the time for that.

Shi Weitian’s goal now is to find the escaped preacher on earth and figure out the situation he needs to deal with after entering the bronze gate.

Liu Yonglu needed a suitable observation environment. The atmosphere in the village could not be too tense, and he could not allow the preachers on the ground to watch him too closely.

Liu Yonglu doesn't count on people with a sense of justice in the village. Judging from the behavior of the villagers at the gathering a few days ago, people who can speak out for justice are definitely rare animals in this village.

Anyway, it’s okay as long as he is not a creature of Charlie’s clan. It’s better for this person to do nothing than to make trouble. Then we can see the reaction of the preacher on the ground.

The shower blanket really lived up to everyone's expectations. After a walk around the village in the morning, I discovered Gonzalo, such a precious treasure.

"There will be a villager gathering this afternoon. Let's help out. Don't worry. I have another way to get the preacher out from the ground. Let's take our time..."

Liu Yonglu was just explaining the follow-up work to Lin Bei when a girl of about fifteen or sixteen came towards them. The girl stared at Liu Yonglu with her eyes wide open. She approached the two of them without giving way or moving aside, and it seemed that she had something to say.

"Thank you, Mr. Tax Collector, for helping us get rid of the devil's minions. I always thought that Charlie was not a good person."

Liu Yonglu looked at her carefully. He had an impression of this little girl. On the day he entered the village, this little girl was treated as a "criminal" and was locked up for a day by the villagers. When Charlie was judging her, the little girl even dared to say a few words.

"I... I can't hear the voice of God, nor do I have the wisdom eyes granted by God, so I would like to ask you two, can you...

Many children, including Granny Pilar, haven't had a proper meal for days. I'm not a sinner, and I want to vouch for them that they haven't done anything bad. As for whether they are the devil's minions, I'd like you two to go over and take a look."

The little girl was not yet an adult and her words were incoherent due to her excitement, but Liu Yonglu had already roughly understood what she meant.

"Sinner" is a label that is not easy to remove in the village. Children and the elderly who have been "sinners" will not only be arrested and put in solitary confinement, but will also be ostracized and discriminated against by the villagers in the distribution of food.

"We...are not idle people. We can help people with laundry, clean the house, chop wood, and we are willing to do most things."

Seeing that Liu Yonglu was indifferent, the girl continued to argue.

"Well, there's still enough time. It's okay to take a look. Didn't you want to exchange that bag of oats for some candles yesterday? Let's go and do this on the way."

Lin Brown understood and nodded.

"Little girl, what's your name?"

"Katarina."

"Katarina, come on, take us over there. If I take a look and there's no problem, you can attend the villagers' meeting tonight."

(End of this chapter)