Chapter 44: Another acquaintance

We finally got into this car, the one that came later. Master said we couldn’t wait any longer, we had to take it.

It was just a small truck, only slightly larger than a double-cabin pickup. In order to stop it, Master stood in the middle of the road with his arms outstretched. When the truck braked, it was only five meters away from Master.

“We can’t wait any longer. It’s best to leave here as soon as possible, but on this remote stretch of road, drivers are generally unwilling to stop and pick up passengers, so…” When we saw the pickup truck behind us, Master said these words to me, and then rushed out of the road, stopping the car in front of us with a firm hand.

Then, under the guidance of my master, we almost half-forcibly opened the car door and got into someone else’s car. The driver was pale and thought we were robbers.

But we got on the bus and instead of going to Xiangxi, we headed for Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan.

The master said that this is called “man’s plans are no match for the will of heaven.” He had not considered the factor of money in his original plan, so now he had to change his plan at the last minute and go to Chengdu first, all for the sake of money.

I said to him that he had been a Taoist monk for too long and had not been in touch with the real world. He had made a careful plan, but had not thought that he would have to change it because of money.

But that is a story for another time.

I won’t go into the details of the journey, but suffice it to say that the driver was not originally going to Chengdu, but was driving an empty car to Hunan.

I have to admit that Master is very good at talking. Under his “sweet talk,” he even promised the driver 2,000 yuan in compensation. The driver, who had thought he had been robbed, actually believed Master’s words and really went to Chengdu.

In those days, 2,000 yuan was a lot of money for a white-collar worker to earn in a month.

I was worried about being chased all the way, but I was not as worried as when the master told the driver that. We couldn’t even come up with 20 cents, let alone 2,000 yuan. And the driver believed us just because of the way we were dressed?

But the driver not only believed it, he also lent his cell phone to the master to make a call. I asked the master who he was calling, and the master said directly, “It’s a secret.”

I looked helplessly out the window, knowing that it was because the driver was there and Master was not in a position to speak freely. But I didn’t care about that anymore… I was so hungry that I was numb, but after the ordeal, the wind blowing through the car window was so pleasant.

After driving for a day, the car finally arrived in Chengdu.

During the day, I followed Master and the driver around, eating and drinking with them. Master said that we would pay double for the meals, and his words were sincere.

In short, after a day of traveling, I silently calculated that not only did we not have a dime on us, but we also owed an estimated 2,500 yuan. I was silently about to cry, but a hungry person can’t resist the temptation of food. I ate with my master like a wolf, and the driver was stunned.

I think the driver must have had some doubts in his heart when he saw us eating like that, but he had already invested in the trip, so he could only continue to choose to believe.

Chengdu, this city is not only familiar to me, but also very familiar, because my temporary home is here.

But I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been back… I believe everything is taken care of by Su Rou… When I get here, I have too many ways to get money, including going home, and maybe I can even find a bank account with money in it.

As for Su Rou, he is even richer. During the days at the Bamboo Grove, even he himself and I were chatting about how much money he had, and I felt that whoever said it was right, that when money reaches a certain level, it is just a number.

Whoever it was, I forgot who it was. Even if Su Rou was rich, I wouldn’t dare to go find him. The reason is needless to say.

On the contrary, I was worried about him. That day, he fled in a hurry. Did Su Rou follow them or did he return to normal life? I have no news at all now. The only thing I am sure of is that Yang Sheng would not dare to touch Su Rou, after all, he is just an ordinary person.

In short, as we approached Chengdu, my thoughts were in a complete mess. I really couldn’t understand why my master would come to Chengdu when he knew that he might be under surveillance.

In the midst of my rambling thoughts, the car was already approaching the edge of downtown Chengdu. It was relatively quiet here, but I could see a seemingly low-key luxury car parked on the side of the road from a distance… The reason I recognized it as a luxury car was because I was somewhat interested in cars on a boring day.

What is this car doing here? While I was still wondering, our car was already approaching the luxury car, and the door of the luxury car was already open. A man got out and waved at us to stop.

The man was tall and well-dressed in a suit in such a hot weather, but I looked at him and found that I didn’t know him at all. Instead, my master calmly shouted, “Stop!”

The driver stopped the car with some confusion. In those days, private cars were far less common than they are now. Even if the driver didn’t recognize what kind of car it was, he certainly didn’t associate us with people who looked like they had money.

As soon as the car came to a stop, my master got out of the car. The tall man backed away, but an old man with a walking stick got out of the car. He bowed to my master and said, “Master Jiang!”

The master helped him up and waved his hand to indicate that he didn’t need to be so polite.

The man then turned to look at me, and suddenly smiled at me, saying, “In that case, I have had more contact with Chengyi than I thought. The first time he was still a little boy, and I still remember that time he was wearing a yellowish outfit.

At this point, I recognized who this person was, and quickly stepped forward, calling out, “Uncle Yun, long time no see!” I interrupted him, and the yellowish-brown clothes were a terrible memory, proving the master’s strange appreciation ability. It was bullying me for not knowing how to appreciate things when I was young.

I can hardly recall what it was like to wear it at that time. I hope others don’t think I’m a walking lump of clay.

It turns out that the master was looking for him, Yun Xiaobao. I naturally remember him. The first time I went to the provincial capital, I was deeply impressed by the jade-selling incident, which was the result of my contact with him. Later, I remember that I and Su Rou went to expose a fake Taoist who was cheating people out of money, and we also had contact with him once.

Once, when I first met him, he was still a middle-aged man, but now he is already an old man. It makes one feel the mercilessness of time. Many things have changed in the blink of an eye.

“Master Jiang, Chengyi, since you’ve already waited for us, let’s go. Get in the car, get in the car, this time we’re going to have a good chat.” Yun Xiaobao was unusually enthusiastic, but at this time, someone coughed inopportunely.

I looked and saw that it was our big creditor, the ‘driver’ who was actually a good person?

Who is Yun Xiaobao? Perhaps he had already guessed from the way we were dressed that we were in a difficult situation. Without waiting for my master to say anything, he gave a wink to the tall man, who took a wad of money from his bag and politely handed it to the driver.

The stack of money was the standard 10,000 yuan. The driver was suddenly taken aback by the money, but Yun Xiaobao walked forward two steps and said in a gentle and polite tone, “These two are important friends of our family, and they can be called distinguished guests. I really appreciate your taking care of them all the way. The money is not much, not enough to repay your friendship, but you should at least accept it as a small token of my appreciation.”

The driver was still a bit dazed, but the master patted him on the shoulder and said with a laugh, “Then you can keep it. It’s more valuable to give help in times of need than to add flowers to a brocade. Although I scared you at first,”

The driver slowly reacted, and whispered, “Did I meet a rich man on a private visit?”

My master and I didn’t say much more. I also went up to the driver and said thank you, and then got into the car with my master. I had to admire Yun Xiaobao’s way of handling things. His way of handling things was so skillful that even the crispy meat in front of him seemed immature.

I also thought that Master was only looking for Yun Xiaobao to solve some financial problems. After all, they are just ordinary people, but what I didn’t expect was…