“Okay! Our Ye-er is rich now. Grandpa is benefitting from that too!” said Gu Xiao as he followed happily behind Gu Ye walking from one end of the street to the next.
When they returned to the inn, Gu Ye was distressed like a soldier who was just defeated in a battle. The nameless little town was too small, all the shops have very limited selections. And Young Master Ding had already gifted them fabrics, snacks, or pork. They looked all over the place and couldn’t find anything that she wanted to buy. Gu Ye was very disappointed.
Seeing how dispirited she was, Gu Xiao quickly comforted her, “Grandpa will take you and Ming-er to Yan next time. There are much more places to shop at over there. You can save your money for now for when we go there.”
The grandpa and granddaughter had a bowl of noodles and went to bed early. They left the next morning when the sky was still dark. It was long after they’ve left town before Gu Ye noticed that they were being followed.
It’d seem some unwanted element had witnessed the 100 taels was given to them by Young Master Ding at the inn and was tempted. In a small town when a ordinary person’s income was less than 20 taels, 100 taels was an attractive amount.
Anywhere one went, there were always those who eyed what wasn’t them and wanted the shortcut way to riches. So, when the bad elements in town saw the elderly and a child having this “massive amount”, how could they possible not target them?
Gu Xiao noticed how his granddaughter looked behind them from time to time. While he thought to himself how smart and alert she was, he also comforted her at the same time, “Just a few robbers, not much they could do. Don’t worry, grandpa’s here!”
Gu Ye nodded and gave him the brightest smile, “Mmm, Ye-er is not scared. Grandpa can take care of them all!” Having said that, she couldn’t help but looked down on herself – she was getting better and better at faking to be a good little kid.
“Stop right there!” The few robbers had no patience at all. Gu Xiao and Gu Ye have barely just left time before the robbers moved up and have them surrounded.
The man who looked like the leader had a chubby face. He viciously pointed at Gu Xiao, spit on the ground, and said in a ferocious way, “Old man, hand over your money if you know what’s good for you. Otherwise… neither you nor your granddaughter will be leaving!!”
“You want money? We don’t have any!!” Gu Xiao tugged on the reins and looked at the six robbers from high above, exuding a very intimidating might.
Perhaps the sky was still dark, the robbers hadn’t notice how strong their opponent was. They continued to shout out, “What do you mean you don’t have any? Didn’t that Young Master Ding give you 100 taels in payment? And those fabrics and pork, those could be exchanged for money as well. Hand them all over. Otherwise…. Hrm, hrm, you are asking for what is going to happen next.”
“You want our goods? Let’s see if you are good enough to get them yourself!!” Gu Xiao didn’t care about these weaklings in front of him at all. Turning to Gu Ye, he said, “Xiao Ye-zi, step aside. I don’t want you to get hurt!”
“Oh! The old thing is asking for it! Brothers, let’s go! The one who brought down this old thing will take the biggest cut!!” As soon as the leader had finished saying that, a big fool stood out right away and aimed his rod straight at Gu Xiao’s head.
Gu Xiao moved out of its way and, with lightning speed, grabbed his rod with his left hand. With a slight tug, the big fool immediately lost control and stumbled forward. Gu Xiao reached out his foot and kicked him right at his stomach. The fool let out a loud cry that belonging to a slaughtered pig and flew out about 2 yards before he landed on the ground rolling and moaning.