Chapter 101: Trouble Brought on by Money

Han Li set out from his hometown, heading southeast, making straight for Lanzhou.

Along the way, he sometimes traveled with companions, passing through bustling city districts together, and sometimes walked alone through wild mountains and wasteland, seeking shortcuts. Nothing major happened on the road; the only mishap was when he camped out in the wild one night and ran into a few wild wolves with hunger-glazed eyes—which ended up becoming Han Li's dinner.

The whole journey, travel-worn and weary, he crossed two other prefectures in succession before finally arriving at Lanzhou with great difficulty.

The moment he entered Lanzhou's borders, Han Li was greatly astonished by its extensive waterways. You see, his original home, Yuezhou, was mostly wild mountains and ridges, dominated by hills and highlands; there were hardly any proper rivers, let alone canals or large lakes, and people mostly relied on wells and streams for water.

Therefore, Han Li grew very interested in the various boats shuttling along the waterways, and finally, driven by curiosity, he hired this small boat and tasted for the first time the pleasure of drifting downstream.

As a result, more than ten days later, Han Li arrived smoothly at Jiayuan City—the place Physician Mo had mentioned in his letter—and stepped onto this unremarkable dock.

The first thing this dock told Han Li was: it's terrible.

The entire dock was built of simple wooden planks; not only was the space cramped and crude, but broken baskets and torn sacks were piled everywhere, looking utterly filthy and disorderly. In the only two bamboo sheds on the dock stood several dozen sturdy men each, their upper bodies either bare-chested or wearing only a short shirt, all radiating a fierce, brutish air.

Now every one of these men was staring unblinkingly at him and Hearing Qu Hun, some even showing eager looks in their eyes.

Han Li was briefly taken aback, but then smiled faintly.

Before leaving his small boat and stepping onto the dock, the boatman steering the vessel had kindly warned him that Jiayuan City's docks had an unwritten rule: regardless of how much luggage a visiting merchant carried, he had to pay to hire one of the dock's porters to carry his things. Otherwise, he would face rough treatment from these laborers and bearers, and might even get beaten badly.

Having just arrived, Han Li had no intention of breaking the local custom, so he obediently called out:

"I need to hire a porter! Anyone coming?"

Sun Ergou had already withdrawn his gaze. From his scrutiny just now, he had decided in his heart that this young man who had just disembarked was most likely some local rich man's young master, and that giant fellow was surely a bodyguard with nothing but brute strength. Such combinations appeared in Jiayuan City many times every year—they came to broaden their horizons, spend a little money, then go home and brag about it—so there was nothing worth paying attention to.

But people like these loved to pretend to be richer than they were, and made perfect suckers! A few flattering words were usually enough to make these country bumpkins, beyond the agreed carrying fee, hand out a generous tip on top. So for whoever got hired, it was a pretty lucrative little job.

However, this job wasn't going to fall to their side. Because according to the arrangement he and Black Bear had agreed on beforehand, the two sides took turns handling incoming business; neither was allowed to fight over customers, and the size and quality of the jobs depended entirely on each side's luck. Since they had taken a job just yesterday, this one belonged to Black Bear's men across the way.

Thinking of this, Sun Ergou glanced at the opposite side and saw Black Bear whisper a few words to his men around him; then one man ran excitedly out of the crowd, charging toward the young man.

"No good, you can't carry it alone—better call another person." Han Li looked at the very solidly built man before him, then glanced at the enormous bundle on Hearing Qu Hun's back, and gently shook his head.

"Young master, something this small, I can lift it with one hand—no need to find anyone else." The man was unwilling to have anyone else come share his tip, and besides, he didn't believe that bundle, even if it was a bit big, was something he couldn't carry—unless it was full of rocks.

Having said that, the man walked up to Hearing Qu Hun and, without further ado, tried to snatch the bundle away.

Han Li sighed. Inside that bundle were several thousand taels of silver, plus all sorts of other miscellaneous things—the weight was truly considerable, far beyond what an ordinary person could bear.

But seeing the man so enthusiastic, he had no choice but to quietly have Hearing Qu Hun hand the bundle over to him, without struggling.

Sure enough, the moment the sturdy man took the big pack, his face changed dramatically. He struggled to carry it on his back and had barely walked a few steps before his face was flushed red and he was gasping for breath. Ashamed, he had to put the bundle down, go back, and call for another person.

Seeing that two people could finally carry the bundle, Han Li nodded in satisfaction, quickly left the dock, and walked along the road toward the city.

What Han Li didn't know was that, due to his lack of experience in the jianghu, two pairs of greedy eyes had fixed on him, and he was about to bring upon himself trouble he shouldn't have invited.

Sun Ergou watched the young man's gradually receding back, finally withdrawing his greedy gaze. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he couldn't help turning his head to exchange a look with Black Bear across the way. He was well aware that the enormous wealth hidden in that bundle certainly hadn't escaped the other's eyes either.

Sure enough, Black Bear was also wearing a delighted expression. After a moment's hesitation, he still gave Sun Ergou a meaningful look. Sun Ergou immediately took the hint and walked with him behind a nearby garbage heap. In the face of such a huge sum of money, even if he had a grudge of "killing one's father or stealing one's wife," Sun Ergou would still cooperate with the other party—after all, "men die for wealth, birds die for food."

"Fifty-fifty split!" Sun Ergou got straight to the point in a low voice.

"Thirty-seventy. This was originally our side's job," Black Bear refused bluntly without hesitation.

"Forty-sixty, and not a fraction less. You should know the reason you just gave doesn't hold water at all." Sun Ergou said coldly, hitting the nail right on the head.

"This…" Black Bear hesitated, clearly still reluctant to give up that extra share.

"Hmph! If you keep thinking any longer, the men from other gangs will probably have their eyes on this fat sheep already." After a cold snort, Sun Ergou said icily.

"Fine! Then it's settled—we'll seal it with a clap of hands." Clearly stung by those words, Black Bear finally agreed.

*Slap* *Slap* *Slap*—Sun Ergou and Black Bear each spat in their own palms, then clapped hands three times, temporarily forming an alliance.

"Alright, let's hurry and catch up with him—don't let this kid run into a crowded area." Sun Ergou urged hurriedly.

"Hehe! Don't worry, I had those two of my men lead them down Black Water Alley. If we head there now, we'll catch them just in time." Black Bear suddenly revealed a sly smile that didn't match his rough appearance.

"Excellent! What a fine scheme, brother!" Sun Ergou showed a look of delight on the surface, but a chill ran through his heart, and he inwardly raised his guard against Black Bear several notches higher.

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