Chapter 135: Think He's Easy to Talk To?

At the entrance of the villa, a dense crowd of over a hundred people had gathered, including the old and the young, men and women alike.

The dozen or so people at the very front were all strong and vigorous, and some were even holding knives, spears, and bows and arrows.

"Th-this, what is going on?" Zhang Cheng asked, his mouth agape in shock.

Yuan Chen's expression darkened, and he set down the chopsticks in his hand.

The complexions of the other three or four people also turned somewhat pale, to varying degrees.

They had just been wondering if anyone would truly be bold enough to set their sights on Lu's belongings.

As it turned out, there really were people who didn't fear death, and by the looks of it, there were quite a few of them.

"Quick, pick up the weapons on the ground," Yuan Chen said in a low voice.

The others snapped out of their daze, hurriedly picked up the knives and spears from the ground, and followed closely behind Yuan Chen toward the main entrance.

Looking at the dense crowd before them, their hands gripping the weapons began to tremble slightly and uncontrollably.

"What do you want by coming here? Haven't the rations already been distributed?"

Yuan Chen gripped his long spear tightly, his cold gaze sweeping over the crowd as he tried to keep his voice steady.

Under his gaze, the old, weak, women, and children in the crowd instinctively took a step back, not daring to meet his eyes.

However, the dozen or so men at the lead showed no signs of panic at all.

One man, standing over one meter eighty tall with triangular eyes, wore a seemingly kind smile and said, "Brother Yuan, the rations have indeed been distributed, but everyone is still lacking some daily necessities, like shampoo and body wash."

"I heard there are still plenty in the basement; why don't we distribute those too? Everyone is in urgent need of them."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dozen or so people around him immediately chimed in.

Not far away, other onlookers also crowded over, clearly waiting to see how things would develop.

"You want some daily necessities?" Yuan Chen asked.

"Yes, yes, yes!" the triangular-eyed man named Yang Jiawang nodded repeatedly.

"Fine." Yuan Chen turned to look at Zhang Cheng and said, "Fei, go inside and bring out some daily necessities."

This scene instantly caused a stir among the crowd. The dozen or so men in the lead, in particular, were overjoyed.

To be honest, they had summoned all their courage to do this.

After all, Lu Yu from the Lu Family Stockade was even more formidable than Li Meng; if they truly angered him, their fate would likely be even more miserable than Li Meng's.

But they had previously seen with their own eyes the people from the Lu Family Stockade moving one good item after another out of the basement.

Linking this to the extravagant lifestyle the Li Family used to lead, they knew without even thinking that the basement must be hiding countless treasures.

So they gathered a group of people to come over, hoping to take the opportunity to reap some benefits, never expecting the first step to go so smoothly.

"Huh?" Zhang Cheng was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Take, take how many?"

Yuan Chen frowned and said, "Start by bringing out a few dozen."

"A few dozen?" Yang Jiawang raised his voice. "Brother Yuan, that's too little, isn't it? Look, there are over a hundred of us here; how can a few dozen be enough to go around?"

"Exactly, Brother Yuan, the things in the basement aren't yours, so why are you being so stingy?"

"Come to think of it, those things belonged to everyone to begin with, only they were occupied by Li Meng and his lot. Now that Li Meng and the others are dead, instead of letting those things go to waste in the basement, it's better to bring them out and share them with everyone."

"That's right, Lu left in such a hurry, he probably forgot about this. If he were here, he would surely agree to this."

The group spoke one after another, never stopping, and from time to time, someone would join in the clamor, loudly asking if that wasn't the case.

The hundred or so old, weak, women, and children behind them also grew bolder, joining in the noisy clamor.

This scene made the eyes of the hundreds of onlookers turn red with envy.

Some were wondering if they should join them, thinking they might get a share of the good stuff later; others grabbed those beside them and shook their heads slightly.

"Are you finished?" Yuan Chen asked once the clamor had died down slightly.

"Since you're finished, it's my turn to speak."

Standing on the steps, he looked down at the crowd and said loudly, "You are all mistaken about one thing: these things are not 'everyone's'; they originally belonged to Li Meng. Lu killed Li Meng, so the things in this basement naturally belong to Lu..."

Before he could finish, someone opposite him snorted disdainfully and said, "What Li Meng's things? Those were all earned by everyone through hard work, only to be snatched away by Li Meng. Everyone, tell me, isn't that the truth?"

"Yes!" the crowd echoed in unison.

Yuan Chen glanced coldly at the man and said, "Since you think these are everyone's things, why didn't you say so when Li Meng was here, and why didn't you say so when Lu was here, but chose to wait until now?"

"I, I just didn't get a chance to say it," the man said, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Hmph."

Yuan Chen let out a cold snort. "I think you simply didn't dare to say it.

You think that because Lu distributed rations to everyone, he must be easy to talk to, so you brought all these people here, wanting to demand more.

Once the things are distributed, the law can't punish the masses, so even if Lu returns, he won't be able to do anything to you, right?"

"You, stop spouting nonsense!"

A flash of panic crossed the man's face. "I'm doing this entirely for the sake of everyone. Look at how everyone is living now; is it too much to ask for some daily necessities?"

"Asking for a little isn't too much, but from what I heard you say just now, it sounded like you wanted to take everything out of the basement and distribute it," Yuan Chen sneered.

The clamor of the crowd suddenly quieted down.

"You, you must have misheard," the man said, casting a look of help toward Yang Jiawang at his side.

They had risked offending Lu Yu and gone to great lengths to gather so many people; if they only ended up with a few dozen daily items, it would be a huge loss.

"Brother Yuan, Xiao Wang is just being kind-hearted," Yang Jiawang said, squinting his eyes. "With so many of us, what you're giving is indeed too little."

"Brother Yang is right, give us more."

"Brother Yuan, just have some mercy. Considering we are all in the same boat, let us go in and take some. Don't worry, we definitely won't take too much."

"That's right, we promise not to take too much."

Yuan Chen sneered and refused without hesitation: "I will not let you go down there to take anything. This is all I can give you; I cannot make the decision for anything more."

"If you really want more, wait for Lu to return and ask him yourselves."

In an instant, the atmosphere turned quiet. The dozen or so people in the lead fixed their gazes squarely on Yang Jiawang.

This guy was clearly unwilling to give any more, but they couldn't just walk away with so little, could they?

"Brother Yuan,"

Yang Jiawang piled a smile back onto his face, "Why bother? Why make things so tense? You're guarding the basement for him; when he comes back, how many benefits can he really give you?"

"Don't forget, he is from the Lu Family Stockade, and there are quite a few people in the Lu Family Stockade. It would be better if we split the things in the basement; everyone could get some benefits."

"Even if he finds out when he returns, what can he do against so many of us, right?"

"Take my advice and let us go down. When the time comes, you take the lion's share, we'll take a little, and everyone else can get a portion too. Wouldn't that make everyone happy?"

It had to be admitted that Yang Jiawang's words were like a highly attractive magnet, stirring the hearts of the few people behind Yuan Chen and making them restless.

Others might know very little about the treasures in the basement, but they knew clearly that just the cigarettes in there amounted to dozens of cartons, and there were over a hundred cases of liquor!

Any one of these things, if taken outside to sell, would bring in several hundred yuan!

If they followed Yang Jiawang's proposal and they took the lion's share, wouldn't they be able to easily earn over ten thousand yuan?

For them, having struggled in hardship for so long, this was an irresistible temptation.

"Big Brother Yuan, just make an exception and let us go down and take a little."

"Yeah, Big Brother Yuan, that Lu Yu is from the Lu Family Stockade. When he comes back, he will definitely take most of the things back to their Zhai. Let's just take a little bit in advance; we really won't take much."

A woman even winked at Yuan Chen and said in a coquettish voice, "Big Brother Yuan, if you agree, I'll do whatever you want me to do from now on."

However, Yuan Chen remained unmoved by this. His eyes were like torches as he stared fixedly at Yang Jiawang, saying coldly, "I don't believe that if you dared to do this, you wouldn't have left yourself a way out."

Yang Jiawang's expression changed slightly, showing displeasure, and he questioned, "Brother Yuan, what do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean? Don't you know in your heart?" Yuan Chen did not show any weakness and said bluntly, "You gathered so many people; if you really emptied the basement, I don't believe you would still dare to stay here."

As soon as these words were spoken, the gazes of the people around toward Yang Jiawang were instantly filled with suspicion and vigilance.

"Brother Yuan, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want! Everything I'm doing is entirely for the benefit of everyone."

"It's you, as a person from the Li Family Fort, who is single-mindedly siding with the Lu Family Stockade. Don't you feel you're letting everyone down?" Yang Jiawang's tone was icy, but cold sweat had already quietly beaded on his forehead.

That's right, he did indeed have a backup plan. The so-called "the law does not punish the masses" was an outdated notion from ten years ago.

In this world today, even if someone killed them all, who would be able to do anything about it?

Li Meng had been acting like a tyrant here for so many years, and no one had ever been able to keep him in check.

Therefore, he planned to take advantage of Lu Yu's absence to make a huge haul, and first thing tomorrow morning, he would grease the soles of his feet and run away.

Whether he went back to his original Zhai or went somewhere else, as long as he had money in his pocket, what was there to fear? He had long since had enough of these miserable days!