Chapter 100: Jia Yuan City

Lan Prefecture was the eighth largest prefecture among the thirteen prefectures of the Yue Kingdom, but in terms of prosperity, it ranked second only after Xin Prefecture. It was located in the southern part of the Yue Kingdom, with fertile land, and within its jurisdiction were countless waterways, lakes, and canals. Coupled with favorable weather, it was extremely suitable for planting grain and rice, making it a premier grain-producing region in the country.

Jia Yuan City, located in the central part of Lan Prefecture, although not the prefecture capital, was the true number one city of Lan Prefecture. The Xianglu Grand Canal, which ran through the north and south of the Yue Kingdom, passed through the center of this city, and several other water and land thoroughfares also converged here. Therefore, transportation was extremely developed, and it could be called a hub of water transport and a commercial thoroughfare. Every year, countless merchants and travelers passed through here, greatly driving the economic and trade activities of this place, so it was not a strange thing for Jia Yuan City to become the number one city in the entire prefecture.

In Jia Yuan City, there were numerous carriage firms, wharves, and boat households, spread all over the city. The coachmen, coolies, and boatmen engaged in this trade were as numerous as ox hair, numbering in the tens of thousands. Sun Ergou was one of those who made a living by the wharf.

Sun Ergou was just like his name, with slanted brows and crooked eyes, a ruffian appearance like a rotten pear or bad date. However, because he was good at observing people and flattering, he had managed to become a small leader of a gang at the wharf, managing dozens of coolies and porters, making a living by helping passing merchants move goods and luggage.

Therefore, when Sun Ergou came to this small wharf early this morning, his few subordinates hurriedly gathered around and respectfully called out:

"Good morning, Second Master!"

"Second Master is here!"

……

Hearing these titles, Sun Ergou couldn't help but feel a bit floaty. After all, being called "Master" by others also showed that he was considered a person of status here. Therefore, he put on airs and hummed from his nose, which counted as responding to the greetings of these subordinates.

"What Second Master, isn't he just Ergou?"

"That's right, he's just a dog with two legs, a dog that looks like a human!"

"Haha! Haha! ……"

……

A burst of cold mockery and ridicule reached Sun Ergou's ears without any concealment.

Upon hearing this, Sun Ergou's face suddenly sank, and his mood turned bad in an instant.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the dozens of people standing on the other side of the wharf, his gaze falling on a big black man with a broad waist and thick back, a look of jealousy flashing in his eyes.

If one were to talk about the person Sun Ergou hated most in Jia Yuan City, this big black man could definitely rank in the top three. If someone told him that he could exchange all his family wealth to make this big black man disappear from the world completely, Sun Ergou might hesitate, but if the other party changed it to only half of his property, he would agree without hesitation. Of course, because he ate, drank, whored, and gambled, his so-called total family wealth didn't actually amount to much.

No one knew the real name of this black man anymore; people at the wharf either called him "Master Black" or directly called him by his nickname "Black Bear." He was the leader of another small gang, the "Iron Fist Society," and his status was not much different from Sun Ergou's in his gang, the "Four Peace Gang," so he was also sent to this wharf to manage another batch of coolies.

One mountain cannot hold two tigers, let alone this small wharf. Therefore, the two gangs were not on good terms from the beginning, and after several conflicts over competing for customers, their relationship became even worse. Now, whenever they met, the two gangs would either mock and scold each other or push and shove, just short of a major fight.

If the subordinates were like this, then it was even more so for Sun Ergou and Black Bear, the biggest beneficiaries of the business here. The two of them looked at each other even more unpleasantly. But as small gang leaders with some status and identity, they knew that the "Iron Fist Society" and the "Four Peace Gang" they belonged to were allied gangs, jointly resisting another slightly larger gang, the "Poison Dragon Gang." Therefore, although both wanted to drive the other out of this place and occupy the wharf alone, they could only temporarily endure and restrain themselves. However, the dissatisfaction and anger accumulated by the two themselves were vented through the verbal conflicts of their subordinates, which became a daily routine for the two every morning.

Sure enough, before Sun Ergou could signal, a few of his sharp-tongued subordinates began to counterattack without any politeness.

"Do you know what the stupidest thing among beasts is?"

"A bear!"

"What is the stupidest bear among bears?"

"Of course, it's a black bear!"

"Ha……"

Black Bear, who had originally been listening to his subordinates mock the other party with a look of triumph, turned black in the face after hearing this. Sun Ergou laughed, and he patted the shoulders of these few subordinates with satisfaction to show encouragement.

Black Bear's subordinates did not show weakness, and all kinds of filthy and unbearable words were sprayed out in strings. Sun Ergou's side naturally wouldn't be polite; they were all big men, who was afraid of whom! Naturally, they picked whatever sounded bad and unpleasant to counterattack.

Sun Ergou and Black Bear, as their leaders, sat on the side and watched coldly. They were people with some status, so naturally, they couldn't join in this shrew-like scolding activity.

Just as the two groups of people were dry-mouthed and spitting, suddenly one of Sun Ergou's subordinates exclaimed: "A boat is coming over!"

This sentence immediately made the nearly hundred big men who were scolding excitedly shut their mouths, and at the same time, they turned their heads to look toward the river. After all, shiny silver was much more tempting than a moment of verbal pleasure.

But when the big men saw clearly the boat that had docked at the wharf, they were a bit disappointed. It was just a small flat-bottomed boat, which at most could only seat three or five merchants, not a big business at all.

This was no wonder; this wharf was broken and small, and its location was very remote, so naturally, there wouldn't be any big boats coming here under normal circumstances. Only during the peak season of trade would there be big boats that couldn't dock at other wharves that had no choice but to land here.

After this small boat stopped at the wharf, two people came down from the boat. One was a young man who looked seventeen or eighteen years old with an ordinary appearance, and the other was a giant man who was more than two heads taller than ordinary people.

The young man wore an ordinary green shirt with a small yellow bird perched on his shoulder. As soon as he got off the boat, he looked around, looking like a country bumpkin who had just entered the city. The giant man wore a hood and a green robe, making it impossible to see his face, and he was dressed a bit strangely. The giant man followed closely behind the young man, not leaving his side, looking like a servant.

This young man and the giant man were Han Li and Qu Hun, who had traveled for three months to reach Doctor Mo's hometown.

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