Chapter 23: The Thief and Beggar Wang Hou

Jiang Jinshi didn't despise the other party for being a beggar, but instead asked with interest: "What can you do?"

In this era, beggars couldn't make money just by lying down; they must have a special skill to get a bite to eat.

Wang Hou buried his head low, his voice getting smaller and smaller: "I only know how to steal things."

Obviously, Wang Hou didn't think that knowing how to steal things was an honorable thing, but from childhood to adulthood, this was what he did the most and was most skilled at.

Jiang Jinshi pondered for a moment, took out a copper coin from his clothes, showed it to Wang Hou, and put it in the inner pocket of his jacket.

"Now, I'll walk past from here, and you find a way to get this copper coin in my pocket."

Although he didn't know the other party's intention, Wang Hou still nodded and agreed.

For him, stealing things was much easier than being a laborer.

Seeing that Wang Hou was ready, Jiang Jinshi lifted his foot and walked towards the other party, focusing his attention on Wang Hou's hands.

Jiang Jinshi was very curious about the stealing techniques of this era. You must know that most people in this era put their money close to their bodies, and even their bags were sewn close to their bodies, rather than being as obvious as an outer bag.

Wang Hou knew very well that this was testing his ability. Even if he didn't know what such a small path as "stealing" could do, he still took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Just as the distance between the two was only two steps, Wang Hou pretended not to see and strode towards Jiang Jinshi, while his right hand was placed on one side, ready to go without a sound.

Jiang Jinshi naturally wouldn't let everything go so smoothly and turned his body to dodge Wang Hou, who was bumping into him.

Just as Jiang Jinshi turned his body, Wang Hou's eyes became bright and focused, without the previous timidity.

His body tilted forward, and while pretending to fall, his right hand quickly grabbed towards Jiang Jinshi's jacket.

Jiang Jinshi frowned, grabbed his right wrist, and turned it.

Because his wrist was turned, Wang Hou's elbow was against Jiang Jinshi. Wang Hou, in pain, hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Captain! Captain! Pain, pain, pain!"

Jiang Jinshi let go of Wang Hou's hand and was about to say something, but saw that Wang Hou's left index and middle fingers were holding a copper coin.

Wang Hou rubbed his wrist, restored his previous restrained appearance, and praised: "The Captain's reaction is really fast. I just got the copper coin, and my hand was grabbed."

Thick-skinned Jiang Jinshi naturally wouldn't admit that he hadn't noticed at all. His strategy was just to keep Wang Hou's hand from getting close to him, so Wang Hou wouldn't have a chance to take the copper coin out of his clothes.

Jiang Jinshi looked at Wang Hou, who was rubbing his hand, with full admiration: "The speed is so fast, how did you do it?"

Wang Hou scratched his head in embarrassment, stretched out his left palm, and opened it, hiding a thin blade inside.

Jiang Jinshi subconsciously lowered his head to look at his clothes. The inner pocket where he had put the copper coin had already been cut open from the outside of the clothes.

Now the onlookers Luo Feng and his sister also understood.

If you treat Jiang Jinshi as an ordinary passerby, then Wang Hou would walk towards you. Whether you noticed it or not, Wang Hou would deliberately get close to you. The right hand was just a feint or cover, and the real technique was all hidden in the left hand.

Even knowing that Wang Hou would do something to him, Jiang Jinshi didn't see Wang Hou's movements clearly, let alone in a situation where he couldn't predict it in advance.

The more Jiang Jinshi looked at Wang Hou, the more satisfied he was. This was a talent!

A small stature plus an innocent appearance would subconsciously make people ignore his existence. If the knife in his hand didn't cut the clothes, but the neck?

Seeing that Jiang Jinshi was very satisfied with Wang Hou, Luo Feng was also happy from the bottom of his heart. Could he be considered to have made a contribution?

Jiang Jinshi gave Luo Feng a thumbs up to express his appreciation: "Luo Feng, you did a good job on this, keep up the good work."

Of course, how could this be enough?

Jiang Jinshi immediately decided to continue arranging tasks for the three.

Continue to recruit people!!

He wanted to do a big job.

So he skillfully threw out a big cake: "Your main task next is to continue to recruit people. As long as you do this task beautifully, my position as Small Squad Leader will be yours sooner or later."

To facilitate the recruitment work of Luo Feng and others, Jiang Jinshi decided to pass on some experience to the few.

Because life was too difficult in his previous life, Jiang Jinshi had inadvertently joined a pyramid scheme organization, and was eventually kicked out because he had no money, no relatives, and ate too much.

Even though he cried and clamored to work with the other party, the organization rejected him with a dark face.

He also learned a lot when he was in the pyramid scheme organization, and now it just happened to be useful.

So Jiang Jinshi cleared his throat with his hands behind his back.

"Next time you recruit people, you can do this. For capable people, their family members can also join our Yangguangzhai, just like you and your sister.

When their friends join Yangguangzhai, you can also appropriately lower the threshold.

After all, when we first come into contact, no matter how much we say, it's not as trustworthy as their relatives or friends."

This is the most commonly used family or friendship card in pyramid schemes, because most people believe that their relatives and friends will not harm them. (Note: Raise vigilance, beware of pyramid schemes starting from you and me.)

Luo Feng nodded seriously when he heard this, his whole gaze full of longing for "knowledge."

The three waited expectantly for Jiang Jinshi's next speech, and Jiang Jinshi continued to fool them.

"For those who are lonely, lack friends, or lack support from relatives, we must provide family warmth and a sense of belonging, just as I told you before, our Yangguangzhai is a united and friendly mountain stronghold."

Luo Feng didn't find this hard to understand. Just like people like Wang Hou, they should take more care of them and treat them as their own family, letting them feel warmth.

Suddenly Jiang Jinshi stretched out a finger and said mysteriously.

"The next point is especially important!! Tell them quick success, freedom to eat, and satisfy their desire for self-worth."

Now Luo Feng was a bit puzzled. He was sure he had heard every word clearly, but he didn't know what "self-worth" meant.

Thinking that there were common modern terms in the sentence, Jiang Jin explained patiently.

"The general meaning is that a mountain bandit who doesn't want to be a Small Squad Leader is not a good mountain bandit. This is also called enterprising spirit."

Luo Feng nodded as if he understood, and kept these few sentences in his heart, thinking constantly.

Wang Hou hadn't studied, but he tried his best to remember these few sentences.

Originally he was almost starved to death, but Luo Feng found him and invited him to join Yangguangzhai.

Since childhood, he had been begging in the city. All the beggars in the city were controlled by forces, and the money begged every day had to be handed over. Only those who reached the amount had food to eat.

Those who didn't reach the amount were slapped and scolded at best, and beaten with sticks at worst.

Someone had thought about escaping control, but the next day there would be a floating corpse in the river.

In order to be able to eat a bite of food, Wang Hou could only try every means to get money.

If begging didn't work, then go to carry big bags as a laborer, but he, with a small stature, could never find work, so he could only steal.

If caught, at worst it was a beating, which was better than dying.

It was under such circumstances that his technique in "stealing" became more and more proficient. ===== CHAPTER 24 =====