Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Under Master Hu's arrangement, Wang Feng was assigned a lower bunk. After thanking Master Hu, Master Hu left.

Soon, three more people entered the cabin: two men and one woman. The two men were middle-aged, and the woman was a young woman.

It was nine o'clock in the morning when the ship set off. Wang Feng had no intention of communicating with these people and simply lay down on the bed to sleep.

......

10 PM.

In a remote, mountainous forest in Baoding.

The terrier is still the same as before, with its leash on when it sleeps at night.

For the past month or so, he has been working tirelessly for Chen Laoyan every day, because he is terrified of being beaten by Chen Laoyan.

Since he started working hard for Old Eunuch Chen, he was beaten less often. However, Old Eunuch Chen would still whip him from time to time if he was in a bad mood.

He has been patient and patient for the past month, and today he has finally gotten his chance.

I don't know what went wrong with Old Man Chen tonight. He got completely drunk, and when we locked him up, he was walking with his feet turned outwards.

Half a month ago, he secretly found an iron rod the size of a little finger in Chen Laoyan's house. For the past half month, he had been secretly grinding the iron every night. After nearly half a month of continuous grinding, one end of the iron rod was finally ground down to the size of a hairpin.

He had seen his grandmother use a hairpin to unlock locks several times before, and his grandmother had also taught him some lock-picking skills. Whether he could escape this den of iniquity today depended on whether he could use this iron bar to unlock the lock tied around his neck, and whether Old Man Chen was really drunk.

Unlocking the lock around his neck was useless; the door was also locked from the outside by Old Man Chen. The only way to escape was to break the window.

The window was made of wood, about as thick as his wrist. Breaking the window would definitely make a loud noise. He was waiting for Old Man Chen to get drunk tonight before making his move.

After listening carefully for about five minutes and confirming that Old Man Chen was fast asleep, he took the iron rod out from under the dry straw.

For the past month or so, he has been sleeping on dry straw. Fortunately, Old Man Chen gave him a tattered cotton quilt, otherwise he would have frozen to death.

Banggeng gripped the iron bar tightly; this was his only chance to escape.

He gently inserted the hairpin-sized end into the lock, not daring to use too much force, afraid that he would break off the end that he had painstakingly ground down to the size of a hairpin, and then he would be finished.

He gently twisted it, but there was no reaction. He gradually increased the force.

He tried several times, but the lock still showed no signs of opening, and he became anxious.

He used to unlock things like this when he saw his grandma, so why doesn't it work for him?

He frowned, and defiantly used all his strength to twist it violently.

"Click."

The copper lock made a crisp, melodious sound, and he actually opened it. Bang Geng was so excited that his whole body trembled.

After a while, he calmed down and carefully removed the iron chain from his neck, trying not to make any noise.

He carefully placed the iron chain on the ground and then lifted the stones off the straw.

He picked up the stone a while ago. It was rectangular and weighed about ten kilograms. He said he would use it to make a pillow. Old Chen didn't suspect anything.

He picked up the stone to break through the window and escape, and today it finally came in handy.

Carrying the stone to the window, he listened carefully again to the snoring coming from next door, confirming that Old Man Chen was sleeping soundly. He then took the stone and threw it at the round wooden strip on the window.

"Bang."

A soft popping sound rang out in the woodshed. He dared not smash it too hard, for fear of making too much noise and waking up Old Eunuch Chen.

He could easily squeeze through a single log, given his small size.

"Bang."

Another loud bang, this time he used a little more force.

"Bang bang bang".

After several blows, the log showed no signs of breaking, and the stick-holder became anxious.

After listening carefully to the snoring from next door, he increased the force and smashed the round log on the window.

"Bang bang bang, bang bang bang."

He hit harder and harder with the stick, realizing that hitting too lightly would be useless. Whether he could escape tonight depended on how drunk Old Man Chen was and on his luck.

Every few times he smashed the window, he would stop and observe for a minute or two to make sure that Old Man Chen hadn't been woken up before continuing to smash the window.

"Bang bang bang".

He pounded the log with all his might for about twenty times, and finally saw it crack, which made him very happy.

He smashed it a dozen more times, and with a "crack," the bottom of the log finally broke. He was so excited that his whole body was trembling.

He carefully broke the log and easily climbed out of the window.

Hearing Old Man Chen snoring so loudly, Bang Geng breathed a long sigh of relief.

For the past month, he has suffered terribly, beaten half to death by that wretched old eunuch Chen. Now, there is not a single unscathed spot on his body; apart from his face, his entire body is covered in injuries.

During the day, he worked tirelessly for Old Eunuch Chen, and could only eat wild vegetable dumplings for meals. He wished Old Eunuch Chen would die soon so that he could escape this hellish place.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Old Chen's room, his teeth grinding together. He went to the kitchen, grabbed some matches, climbed out the window again, and returned to the woodshed.

"laugh."

He lit a match, and with a determined heart, he set the woodshed ablaze. He grabbed the dog leash that had been around his neck, quickly climbed out the window, went to Old Man Chen's door, locked the door with the iron chain, and then ran swiftly down the mountain.

The moon was quite round tonight, and he could barely see the road clearly, but even so, he had only run less than a kilometer before he fell several times.

Shortly after Banggeng left, the entire woodshed caught fire, which quickly spread to all the rooms.

Old Chen's house was made of wood, and it was basically beyond saving after being engulfed in flames.

Old Chen vaguely smelled the pungent smoky odor and felt a burning sensation on his body. He coughed a few times from the choking and woke up from his deep sleep in a daze.

He was still drunk at this point. Last night was the saddest day of the year for him. Thirty years ago today, his manhood was cut off. Every year on this day, he is very sad and he usually gets completely drunk.

"Ah! Fire! Help...help the fire!"

Old Chen woke up with a start. Seeing the raging fire in the room, he didn't even have time to put on his clothes before running to the front door, quickly pulling the bolt, and trying to open the door to escape.

But his door was locked from the outside by a stick, and he couldn't open it at all.