Chapter 60
The next day at Chen time, which was 7:00 in the morning, the gate of Hamao Village slowly opened.
A large group of people were lying down at the entrance, all of whom had been tormented by hunger and illness, their hearts shaken, and had chosen to join the bandit village. They had begged for a night, guarded for a night, and were already weak with exhaustion. Now that they saw the big gate finally open, they cast expectant and pleading glances at it.
Cheng Dali faced this scene without much expression. A table was placed in front of the door, and Cheng Dali, Xu Shenji, and Huang Sanyuan sat behind it.
"We want to join the Toad's Village."
"Please take us in."
"Silence, silence." Xu Shenji maintained order: "To join the Toad Gang, you must go through an interview and meet the requirements before you can join."
"I want to join the Toad Gang." The man with a festering wound on his leg walked up to the table.
"What's your name?" Huang San Yuan asked, pen in hand.
"Sun Jiu."
"What did you used to do?"
"It's for the old master to eat."
"Is there an injury on your leg?"
"It doesn't matter if I'm pinned under the wheel hub, I have a strong arm and can do any job." Sun Jiu struggled to straighten his body.
"This situation of yours is really difficult." Huang San Yuan sighed and asked Cheng Da Lei with his eyes.
Sun Jiu's heart tightened and he begged: "Please, take me in, I can endure hardship, I'm willing to work hard, one leg is crippled, it's nothing."
Cheng Dali checked Sun Jiu's information and was surprised to find that Sun Jiu was actually an excellent chef, which was beyond Cheng Dali's expectations.
"For now, stay and be ranked as third-rate."
"Thank you, Master Da, thank you, Manager Huang." Sun Jiu Xi was overjoyed, seemingly completely forgetting that he had left of his own accord yesterday. At the same time, he also felt a bit strange: "What is third-rate?"
"You'll know later, go in first and let someone take a look at your injury. Remember, you're still on probation now, if you don't perform well, you can be kicked out anytime."
The term "probationary period" was again beyond Sun Jiu's comprehension, but he understood that he had been kept on. At the same time, his mood was a bit apprehensive, fearing that he would be driven out at any moment.
"Next." Huang San Yuan waved his hand.
Someone took the lead in eating crabs, and things went much more smoothly afterwards. Cheng Dairen set up a strict grading system from A to D, and those who wanted to join the Frogman Squad had to go through rigorous and even harsh interviews before being recruited, while some were directly eliminated.
Facing such a scene, people are worried and afraid that they will be eliminated and left homeless. Some people not only think about it, but also cry and shout to join in, what do they want to achieve? Some people were eliminated and cried out for mercy, but Cheng Da Lei showed his unprecedented iron heart.
Cheng Da Lei just wanted to make it difficult for them, stripping away their dignity. Making them understand that the Toad Village wasn't begging them to join, but rather the opposite - joining the Toad Village was an honor, a recognition. People have always taken things they easily obtain for granted, and only consider something precious when they've worked hard to get it, even if that treasure is just a straw.
Those who joined the bandit village also received very good treatment, with injuries treated and illnesses cured. The mountain stronghold currently has no doctor, only Qin Man temporarily taking on this position with some knowledge of herbal medicine. However, the stronghold possesses healing skills, so these people's injuries and illnesses are not a big problem.
At least they could each have a bowl of steaming hot rice, the fragrance of food wafting from the mountain stronghold made people's stomachs growl with hunger.
While busy with these things, another thing happened in Yamashita.
Lu Hong led a small team, looking disheveled and dusty, coming from the direction of Luoye City. When he saw the lively scene here, he subconsciously jumped in fright, what were these people doing?
"Lu Jiang! Lu Jiang!"
Suddenly someone shouted loudly at him, Lu Hong raised his head and saw Cheng Dairen excitedly waving at him.
Lu Hong didn't want to see Cheng Dairen, the failure of attacking Gama Ridge made himself a laughing stock. People all said that Cheng Dairen only used one move to knock him off his horse.
In fact, he was injured by Qin Man first, otherwise what qualifications does Cheng Da Lei have to fight with him.
When you patiently explain to them: Cheng Dairen is actually not good...
Then they would say: Oh oh, you let others defeat you with one move, can't others do it? You're capable of letting others defeat you with one move.
When speaking, it must be accompanied by exaggerated tone and a smiling face with raised eyebrows.
From Luoye City to Heishi City, Gama Ridge was a must-pass route. Lu Hong didn't want to meet Cheng Dali, but he couldn't avoid meeting him.
"Lu Jiang, weren't you going to deliver the birthday gift to the King of Youzhou? Why are you back so soon?" Cheng Dairen hurried over, his tone surprisingly warm.
"En, I'll be back after I've finished my business." Lu Hong casually responded with a sentence, he didn't want to fight with Cheng Dali, and even if he did, he wouldn't win, Qin Man was still waiting for him on the mountain.
"Doesn't seem to be going very smoothly?"
"How come it's not going smoothly, it's going very well, isn't it!" Lu Hong shouted as if his foot was stepped on. In fact, this time he went to Youzhou City, it wasn't just not going smoothly, but utterly disastrous.
Youzhou King Yang Longtan was the actual ruler of this land, so Xue Banquan urgently needed to get Yang Longtan's support after usurping the throne. However, there was one thing that Xue Banquan did not know.
Thirty years ago, the Rong tribe invaded, and Han Hu died defending the isolated city, buying time for the rear reinforcements to arrive, thus repelling the Rong tribe. Han Hu became famous through this battle and became the lord of Blackstone City.
Everyone knows these things, but what they don't know is that the person who led the supporting troops back then was none other than the current King of Youzhou, Yang Longtan. Without Han Hu's desperate defense, Yang Longtan would not have been able to organize his forces to repel the Rong tribe, and he also wouldn't have become the future King of Youzhou.
The two men served in the army at the same time, crawling and rolling in a small team for three years, calling each other brothers. As for these things, Xue Banquan had been following Han Hu's side for so many years, but he was completely unaware of them.
Yang Longtan didn't know that Han Hu had died, the distance between Youzhou City and Heishi City was too far, and news spread inconveniently. It wasn't until Lu Hong sent birthday gifts this time that Yang Longtan learned of the news.
Facing Han Hu's death, Yang Long said only one word: Dead.
He drew his sword, killed several of Lu Hong's attendants to clean the blade, and let a few go back to inform Xue Banjiang that he would be well in the next few days. He would send troops to attack Blackstone City and personally offer sacrifices at his brother's grave with Xue Banjiang's blood.
Lu Hong didn't tell Cheng Dali about these things, lest he would be happy for his misfortune. He tried to change the subject and asked: "What are so many people doing?"
"Oh, our company is hiring, with excellent benefits and five insurances plus a housing fund." Cheng Dalai excitedly waved his hand: "Does Lu have any interest in joining?"
Lu hummed and suddenly looked at Cheng Da Lei with a ghostly gaze, thinking: "Are you kidding me? We are sworn enemies, I've always wanted to kill you, and now you want me to follow you as an outlaw?"
Facing Lu Hong's expression, Cheng Dairen helplessly sighed and stretched out his hand: "Alright then, give it to me."
"What's this?" Lu hummed in puzzlement and asked.
"Toll, 20%."
