NOVGO.NET Chapter 1399: Side Story: Fan Zijin (15)
Chapter 1399: Side Story: Fan Zijin (15)
Editor: Atlas Studios
With a straight face, Fan Zijin took out silver from his pocket and paid for the grains. After asking them to move the grains away, he brought them to the cattle market.
In the end, he couldn’t help but agree to Qi Haoran’s suggestion. Just as the latter had said, they had revealed too many traces. Perhaps in a few days, the two of them would be captured and brought back. With so much money on them, it would only benefit his uncle.
After Uncle took back the money, Haoran and Eldest Cousin could forget about using a single copper coin from the family.
After comprehensive consideration, rather than stuffing the money back into his uncle’s hands, it was better to disperse it all. At least they could obtain spiritual satisfaction and a good reputation.
However, even if he had the intention of spending all the money, Fan Zijin still calculated carefully and did not waste a single cent of the money.
It cost a lot to buy a farm in Jiangnan that could support so many people. Thus, after asking about the local farm price, Fan Zijin decided to sponsor their departure.
Fan Zijin expressed that if they wanted to go to a sparsely populated place to open up wasteland and make a living, he was willing to sponsor their traveling expenses.
The two youths went back to discuss with the adults. In fact, they did not hesitate for long before agreeing to leave.
The employment opportunities in this town were not enough for them to support themselves. The reason why they had not left was firstly because they did not have any grains, and secondly, they were worried about these children and the elderly.
Those who were willing to stay behind to take care of these children and the elderly were all people who had received a favor from their parents and relatives. Even if they were ordinary people, they knew that a drop of water should be repaid with a spring. Therefore, unless it was not possible to do so, they were unwilling to abandon these children and the elderly.
Now that someone was sponsoring their travel expenses, they naturally agreed hurriedly.
Knowing that the two boys had stolen the two young masters, the adults and elderly among the refugees were very ashamed.
However, Fan Zijin did not take it to heart. He only wanted to settle this matter quickly and leave. Although he already had a premonition that he might be captured, he still hoped to go further away before being captured. At least when he returned, he would not be too embarrassed when speaking of this with his friends.
He didn’t hand the money to them directly. Instead, he brought them along to buy enough food for them. Then, he bought two mules, mule carriages, and a few carts for them. He also went to the pharmacy to buy some commonly used medicine for them. Finally, he gave them some silver pieces and said, “This should be enough for you to reach your next stop.”
The elders hurriedly kowtowed to the two of them with the children.
Fan Zijin waved his hand and pulled Qi Haoran away. “Since we might have been discovered, let’s not take the byway. Let’s take the official road.”
Since the byway was rugged and made for a backbreaking journey, it was better to take the official road.
Qi Haoran nodded without any objections and rode towards the official road with Fan Zijin.
The elders turned around and said to the children, “We have to repay debts of kindness. Do you remember what your two benefactors look like? If there’s a chance in the future, you have to repay them, understand?”
The children agreed in unison.
No one expected that opportunity to come so quickly.
Not long after Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin left town, a group of people came to stop the refugees who were about to leave the town. They took out two portraits and asked, “Have you seen these three people?”
Seeing a child exclaim, the group of people perked up and looked at them with bright eyes. “You’ve seen them before?”
An old man walked forward and took a closer look. “Isn’t this Young Master Fan and Young Master Qi? Why are you looking for them?”
“They’re our young masters. Because we were separated from them, our old master is in a hurry to find them. If you can help us find them, our old master will definitely give you a handsome reward.”
The old man chuckled and said, “There’s no need to reward me. These two young masters are good people. When he was sick, my two grandsons went to serve them and helped them run some errands. They received a huge ingot of silver in return for their help. Unfortunately, you’re too late. They left town early this morning.”
They looked at each other and asked, “Where did they go?”
The old man pointed at the byway with a smile and said, “From the sound of it, the two young masters seemed to be going east. But considering Jiangnan is already east enough, wouldn’t they be going to the sea if they go further east? Since the two young masters didn’t say anything, I don’t know where they were heading.”
The few of them immediately put away the portraits and said, “Thank you, sir. If we can find our young masters, we will definitely reward you.”
With that, he mounted his horse and chased on the byway.
The two youths beside the old man looked at him speechlessly. The old man knocked their heads and said, “What are you looking at? You still have a lot to learn. Let’s leave quickly so that they won’t be able to catch up to us.”
A child was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses and shouted, “Grandpa, how could you lie? The young masters clearly took the official road, and Young Master Qi also said that they were heading towards Xingyuan Prefecture. He even asked us many questions about Xingyuan Prefecture.”
The old man gently patted his head and said with a straight face, “Grandpa didn’t lie to them. Those are bad people. The two young masters have done us a favor. How can we let the bad people catch our benefactors? In the future, if anyone asks about the whereabouts of the two young masters, just say that they went east, understand?”
The group of children nodded, not fully understanding.
Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran didn’t know that the guys Madam Wu had sent to kill them had been coaxed into heading in the wrong direction by the old man, nor did they know that the person Fan Siwen and Xia Tong had sent to look for them had already walked far ahead of them. They thought that they had exposed themselves in the town and would probably be captured soon. Hence, they no longer felt the nervousness they felt on the first day of traveling. Instead, they felt that since they were going to die anyway, they might as well enjoy themselves before that.
Along the way, they lived as comfortably as they could. If they encountered anything fun, they would stay for two days. If they encountered refugees, they would take out money to buy grains for them.
As Qi Haoran had always been extravagant when it came to spending money, he did not at all worry about how much money was distributed. Other than feeling a little heartache at the beginning, Fan Zijin’s heart soon stopped aching when he thought about how this money belonged to his uncle. Later on, he was even more generous than Qi Haoran when it came to spending money.
When he saw gorgeous clothes, delicious food, fun things, and good books, he’d buy it without much thought. In fact, he even spent 300 taels of silver, fighting with someone for a painting.
The two of them walked slowly towards Xingyuan Prefecture, completely unaware that three parties had suffered so much just to find them.
By the time Fan Zijin realized that something was wrong, they had already walked halfway and were about to reach Xingyuan Prefecture in a few days.
“It’s been almost a month. Even if my mother is slow, she should have found us by now, right? Why haven’t we been captured yet?” Fan Zijin asked in confusion.
Qi Haoran thought of a possibility and opened his mouth slightly. “Don’t tell me they’re ahead of us?”
The two youths looked at each other and thought of the three days they had spent recuperating in that small town. Their eyes lit up and they couldn’t help but laugh happily. “That’s great. We don’t have to worry about being caught!”