Twilight Boundary

In March, the entire Zhuangzi received the first batch of blood food.

A steward took two Hongxiang disciples and seven or eight Qingxiang disciples, escorted a tightly sealed carriage, and came to Zhuangzi.

Hu Ma immediately took the people and welcomed them into Zhuangzi. The carriage was sent directly into the warehouse without unloading the goods. He took the horses back and sent them to the trough for fodder and water.

Then the warehouse was sealed and a red lantern was hung in front of the warehouse.

The clerk in Zhuangzi took the guy and kept watch outside the warehouse all night, while Hu Ma arranged for people to prepare meals for the steward and the Hongxiang disciples and Qingxiang disciples. They were all good meat and good rice. But no wine was served to them at all.

On the second day, he broke the seal, hitched his horse, left Zhuangzi, and headed for the city.

From the beginning to the end, Hu Ma had no idea what the blood food looked like.

He analyzed that it was probably because this Zhuangzi had had trouble before and there were still suspicions from above.

Bloody food does not come to Zhuangzi unless it is forced. Even if it does come, it is either in a hurry or in small quantities.

Moreover, the escort personnel did not change from beginning to end, and they were escorted back to the city in one go, eliminating all kinds of risks.

After all, Zhuangzi has a dark history.

When something happened to the old shopkeeper earlier, it was the people from the mine who escorted the blood food to Zhuangzi first. The old shopkeeper checked it and recorded it in the account, and then arranged for the people to send it to the city. The others then returned to the mine to work, which was more efficient than this. Much more.

But in this way, life is more leisurely than Hu Ma thought.

I have been busy for more than two months, and I am almost done with this season.

Before and after this, he didn't do too many practical things. He just prepared the carriages and horses when asked to prepare them. He opened the warehouse when asked to open the warehouse. He went to respond to requests wherever he was asked. In addition, that was Just taking care of the food and things like that.

He doesn't look like a shopkeeper, but more like a warehouse manager.

Although it sounds like this is leisurely and there are a lot less risks, the thought of being a shopkeeper has also faded away.

The shopkeeper said before that he wanted to be the shopkeeper, but when he thought about it, after working like this for a year, with only hard work and no merit, his foundation was too weak, and it was still too difficult for him to get the position of shopkeeper. .

"It's said that the Red Lantern Lady can produce a year's harvest, so she can do it..."

While working, Hu Ma thought about it silently, feeling a little frightened.

As a Zhuangzi himself, the amount of blood food that came in and out was relatively small, but Hu Ma looked at it coldly, looking back and forth, probably not two or three thousand kilograms of blood food entered the city through Zhuangzi.

Moreover, Hu Ma knows that his own village is only the smallest one among the various branches of the Red Lantern Lady Guild. Based on this, if other Zhuangzi are included, the Red Lantern Lady Guild will not be afraid of getting five or six blood meals for this year. Ten thousand catties?

According to the market price in this world, a pound of green food is worth several taels of silver. In this year, the Red Lantern Empress Association has brought in and out hundreds of thousands of silver?

This does not include the blood Tai Sui, some special rare Tai Sui, Tai Sui blood, etc. that are scarce or additional.

"The Red Lantern Empress has been in power in Mingzhou Mansion for more than ten years. How much wealth has she accumulated..."

Hu Ma didn't even sigh, of course he wasn't thinking about anything, he just sighed.

Seeing that the blood food coming into Zhuangzi in recent days has become less and less, he can be considered relieved. He has no credit, but this year's hard work always fails.

But on this day, it was almost dusk, and suddenly there was a sound of horse hoofbeats outside Zhuangzi. Immediately, someone hurried over and told Hu Ma that a disciple with a red belt around his waist was here and wanted to see the steward. .

"Why do you have to come here when it's almost dark?"

Hu Ma was actually heartbroken.

The blood and food were often transported during the day and must be sealed in various villages at night.

However, the road is complicated and there are always some unexpected things. If the escorting carriages and horses are left halfway and catch up with the darkness, it will be very dangerous. At this time, they will often send people immediately to the nearby village. Come for help, extra manpower.

But no matter how many people there are, escorting blood food at night will not be peaceful, and something may happen.

I rushed out in a hurry, but I was a little surprised to see that the Hongxiang disciple here was an acquaintance.

Although I am familiar with them, I am not very familiar with them. After all, I have met many Hongxiang disciples during this time, and some of them have met several times.

The person who is here now has only met once. He is one of the four Hongxiang disciples who came to Zhuangzi with Manager Xu to investigate after the Tan'er Cult incident. Hu Ma still remembers that his name is Yang Gong is a proud and arrogant person.

And he didn't seem to be here to look for help. When he saw Hu Ma, he said, "I'm here to help you."

"What's the deal?"

Hu Ma was a little surprised and invited him into Zhuangzi, saying: "You haven't eaten yet, let's eat in Zhuangzi first."

"Don't eat in Zhuangzi."

Yang Gong glanced at Zhuangzi and said, "If there's any outside, I can eat anything. I've been hungry all day."

Although his conditions were rather strange, Hu Ma still said: "Yes, I will take you to eat in the town."

As he said this, he asked someone to lead Yang Gong's horse and go to the stable to feed and rest. Then he left Zhuangzi side by side with him and came to a wine shop in the town.

There are hundreds of households in this town, and they are actually well-equipped. There are wine shops, restaurants, and some oil and salt sauce shops. Most of them do business with merchants who come and go from Mingzhou Prefecture. Most of them are closed in winter, and only after the beginning of spring there is some business. .

When they entered the restaurant, the restaurant owner also knew Hu Ma and hurriedly came to greet her.

Hu Ma asked him to make some food and wine first, then sat down at the square table with Yang Gong, and then asked him what was going on.

"I made a batch of blood food and want to leave your village. I don't worry about the others."

Yang Gong waited for the meat to be cut up, took a few chopsticks to eat, and then whispered to Hu Ma: "But I don't have much manpower. At the critical moment, I may need you to bring the man to help me, so I came to see you in advance. , please do me this favor."

"Blood food?"

Hearing this, Hu Ma felt a little strange.

This Yang Gong joined the Red Lantern Empress Association in the same year as him, and it was less than a year ago.

These Hongxiang disciples are now mostly responsible for following the stewards from various places, escorting blood food, or going to the mines to prevent changes, but according to Yang Gong's intention, he is actually going to get a batch of blood food himself. .

This made Hu Ma curious. No matter how capable he was, he would never be responsible for a batch of blood food alone, right?

Besides, if you have this power, how come you are short of manpower?

"Humph, I just can't swallow this breath!"

Yang Gong poured a glass of wine into his mouth, slammed it on the table, gritted his teeth and said: "My parents died early, and my uncles sold me to Yazi. I was lucky enough to join the Red Lantern Club, and I worked hard to endure hardships." , I want to survive a lot and go back to kill those uncles."

"But unfortunately, I am willing to endure hardships and dare to work hard, but those people still look down on me. Let our brothers do the hard work, and let his subordinates do the credit."

"When the blood meal was distributed, we were at the back, picked a little angel, and gave a lame one..."

"Fuck you!"

"..."

As he spoke, his eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, and he stared at Hu Ma and said: "Boss Hu, when I entered this red lantern club, I only liked you, and I wasn't afraid of your jokes."

"My original name was not Yang Gong. My name was Yangdanzi. No one gave me a serious name. But after I burned red incense, I changed my name to Yang Gong. Who dares to bully me again? Just shoot that bastard to death with one arrow..."

I felt the hostility in him, but I also heard some depression and grievance in his heart.

Hu Ma sighed softly, poured the wine for him, and said: "Brother Yang Gong, I am the same as you. I only have a mother-in-law who loves me. She passed away last year, but this is always the case in this world. I am plotted and bullied. Are there less things to do?"

"Why embarrass yourself? Just be more open-minded."

"..."

"I can't see it!"

Yang Gong patted the table, which shocked the restaurant owner on the counter.

Hu Ma winked at him, and the restaurant owner immediately understood and trotted into the kitchen, not daring to listen to what they were saying.

Yang Gong also realized that his voice was louder, his face turned red, and he lowered his voice a little, saying: "Those guys are suppressing me and not letting me get ahead, but I refuse to accept this fate. There are several blood mines in our club." , I was just ordered by others to do some chores like running errands and patrolling."

"So I found a few people and decided to rob an ownerless blood food mine. As long as I successfully transport it back, it would be a great achievement..."

"The ownerless blood food mine?"

Hu Ma couldn't help being surprised.

There are quite a few meat mountains in this hundred-mile radius, but most of them are black Tai Sui. Any place where Qing Tai Sui, Blood Tai Sui, or even White Tai Sui can be cut has long been occupied by people, and most of them belong to their own families.

I have also heard that some products that are in small quantities or are too difficult to cut and transport are often fought over by people from all walks of life.

Yang Gong actually came up with this idea?

"Haha, you don't have to worry. I've already inquired about it and I'm completely sure."

Yang Gong thought that Hu Ma was scared, so he smiled and said: "The only problem now is that I can't trust those in charge of Xiang in the meeting, but we brothers, with too few manpower, can cut off the blood food." , but it’s too difficult to transport into the city.”

"I've thought about it for a long time, and your method is the only one available, so I plan to send it to you Zhuangzi first, and then transport it back to the city. Are you willing to help me?"

"Sending this batch of blood food back, those people must not underestimate me again. It is also a great achievement for you!"

"..."

Seeing his face flushed with excitement, Hu Ma sighed inwardly.

But on his face, he said sternly: "This is nothing to help, it's just my job. If you can do it and luck it out, I have no reason not to accept it."

But he knew in his heart that such a young man would most likely fail if he acted excitedly.

Even if he really succeeds and delivers this batch of blood food to Zhuangzi, he only needs to press the cooked ones, hang up the lanterns, and seal the warehouse. All he needs to do is business.

It would be against the rules of the Red Lantern Club to refuse.

What I feel in my heart now is the anger and innocence of this Hongxiang disciple. In fact, I have only met him once, but he believes in me so much.

"Great, I knew you were reliable."

Yang Gong was also overjoyed when he heard this. He raised his wine bowl and said to Hu Ma: "Brother, let's make contributions together and strive for a good future!"