16: The First Lesson of Social Practice

The mule cart creaked and rattled over the stony dirt road, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust.

Zhao Rui sat on the soft cushion, yet still felt uncomfortable all over. He lifted the curtain and looked at Su Ming, who was walking silently by the roadside, a sneer curling his lips.

"Hey, Su Ming, are your legs made of iron? You’ve been walking for almost two hours, aren't you tired?"

Su Ming didn't look back, merely responding flatly, "I'm fine."

"What's the point of saving a few coppers on the fare? By the time you reach the town, all your energy will be gone. How are you going to study then?" Zhao Rui’s voice was full of superiority. "Unlike me, I'm conserving my strength, so I'll naturally be refreshed when I arrive at the town."

The driver was an Old Man Qian in his fifties, hired by Village Head from a neighboring village. He focused on driving the cart the entire way, ignoring the conversation between the two boys, the wrinkles on his face deeper than the ruts on the dirt road.

"From the current perspective, your choice is correct. Look at Zhao Rui, doesn't he look like a peacock displaying its feathers, afraid that others won't know how bright they are?"

Just as the mule cart rounded a bend in the mountain, several people suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

They were five burly men, all with open shirts revealing dark chests. They carried various weapons: machetes, wooden clubs, and even a rusty firewood knife.

The leader had a scar running from the corner of his eye to his mouth. As he grinned, the scar looked like a centipede coming alive.

Old Man Qian’s face instantly went pale. He couldn't hold the whip in his hand and shakily pulled the mule to a stop.

Zhao Rui, still unclear about the situation inside the carriage, impatiently poked his head out: "Old Man Qian, why aren't we moving? Stop dawdling!"

As soon as he poked his head out, he met the Scarface's malicious gaze.

Zhao Rui's face instantly turned as white as Old Man Qian's.

"G-gentlemen, what... what is the meaning of this?" Old Man Qian asked tremblingly.

Scarface slowly walked forward, shouldering his machete, and patted the mule cart's shaft with the back of the blade: "It means nothing. We brothers just finished repairing this road, filling in all the potholes. If you want to pass, you should at least pay us for our hard work, right?"

"Road repair fee?" Zhao Rui heard clearly from inside the cart, and a burst of anger rushed to his head.

He had been the little tyrant in the village since childhood; when had he ever suffered such humiliation? He figured these people were just local thugs looking to extort some money.

"'Crybaby ADC' is getting agitated, showing signs of initiating a fight! Su Ming, hold him down! Don't let him speak!" Lin Yu was so anxious his soul body was nearly smoking.

But it was already too late.

Zhao Rui suddenly threw open the curtain and jumped down from the cart. Although his calves were trembling slightly, his Aura was fully displayed.

"Do you know who I am? My father is Village Head Zhao Dequan of Su Family Village! How dare you rob me? Aren't you afraid my father will report you to the authorities and have you thrown in jail?"

As soon as he said this, the air instantly froze.

Old Man Qian closed his eyes in despair.

Su Ming's heart also sank to the bottom.

Scarface froze for a moment, then exchanged glances with his brothers behind him, bursting into a deafening roar of laughter.

"Hahahaha! Village Head? I'm so scared!" Scarface laughed so hard tears almost came out. "Brothers, we're lucky today! We ran into a big fish! And it's the Young Master fish from the Village Head's family!"

"The Young Master of the Village Head's family must be rich!"

"Strip him naked! Let's see if the Village Head's son is gold-plated!"

The bandits laughed until they were bent double, looking at Zhao Rui as if he were a lamb already skinned, cleaned, and ready for the pot.

Lin Yu spoke calmly, "Disciple, maintain your poor person identity. You are safer than Zhao Rui right now. If Zhao Rui gets into trouble, immediately run into the mountains."

Zhao Rui's face completely lost all color. Only then did he realize that the identity he was so proud of was not a protective talisman here, but a death warrant.

"Wha... what do you want to do?" His voice was shaking uncontrollably.

"Nothing much." Scarface stopped smiling, his eyes turning cold. "Originally, if you just gave us a hundred or so coppers for tea money, we'd shake hands and call it a day. But you insisted on using your Village Head father to intimidate us brothers."

He stretched out his large, fan-like hand, grabbed Zhao Rui's collar, and lifted him up.

"What I hate most are dogs like you who constantly rely on their status to oppress others!"

"Unload this cart for me! Bring everything down!"

Two bandits immediately rushed over and violently threw the luggage, cushions, and food from the cart onto the ground.

Zhao Rui's exquisite study box, containing the Four Treasures of the Study, was kicked open, scattering its contents everywhere.

"The m-money... the money is in my bosom..." Zhao Rui cried miserably, trembling as he pulled a heavy money pouch from his clothes.

A bandit snatched it, weighed it in his hand, counted the contents, and his eyes lit up: "Big Brother! Quite a bit! Three or four hundred coppers!"

"Search him! Search him thoroughly!" Scarface ordered.

Soon, the purse Zhao Dequan had given him, along with the few pieces of broken silver he had hidden in the sole of his shoe, were all found.

Zhao Rui was pinned to the ground by two bandits, his fine cotton gown torn to shreds. He looked as miserable as a defeated rooster.

From beginning to end, Su Ming stood rooted to the spot, motionless.

He lowered his head, gripping his small bundle tightly with both hands, his body trembling slightly, his eyes filled with "fear," perfectly playing the role of a terrified, poor youth.

His hand was actually resting on the skinning knife his second brother had given him, inside the bundle.

The cold touch of the knife handle slightly calmed his boiling blood.

He knew that rushing forward now would be meaningless, resulting only in one more corpse.

"Hold fast to The Way of Cautious Survival. When he is strong, let him be strong; the gentle breeze brushes the hill. When he is fierce, let him be fierce; the bright moon shines upon the great river." Lin Yu's voice echoed in his mind like a lullaby. "Your money is the sweat and blood of your family, an investment in the future. Zhao Rui's money belongs to his father; it's meant to buy him a lesson. The nature is different, the value is different; they cannot be confused."

Scarface's gaze finally fell upon Su Ming.

He sized Su Ming up, noticing the faded, old clothes he wore, the worn cloth shoes on his feet, and the pitifully small bundle.

"You, come here."

Su Ming's body stiffened. He slowly raised his head and looked at him with a timid gaze.

He shuffled over reluctantly.

"What's in the bundle?" Scarface asked.

"It's... it's a few black flour steamed buns, and... and two changes of old clothes," Su Ming's voice was barely a whisper, filled with fear.

"Open it, let me see."

Su Ming's hands trembled even harder. He untied the bundle, revealing the dry, hard black flour buns wrapped in oiled paper.

A bandit reached in and rummaged around. Besides a few patched-up clothes, there was nothing else.

"Big Brother, he's just a pauper." The bandit curled his lip in distaste.

Scarface frowned and glanced at Su Ming again.

He saw Su Ming's eyes.

Those eyes held fear and tension, but deep within, there was a strange calmness. Like a bottomless ancient well beneath a storm.

This was not the look a terrified child should have.

Scarface's heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

He had been in this line of work for over a decade, had seen many desperadoes, and had killed more than one person. He possessed a beast-like intuition.

This poor boy in front of him, though unassuming, gave him a sense of indescribable danger.

Like a venomous snake hidden in the grass.

Harmless if left alone, but if it moves, it might take a life.

"Forget it." Scarface waved his hand, feeling an inexplicable annoyance. "How many coins could a poor, shabby kid have on him? Bad luck!"

"Let's go!"

He gave Zhao Rui, who was sprawled on the ground, one last vicious glare, then took his subordinates, shouldered the stolen goods, and swaggered away.

It wasn't until the group disappeared around the other side of the mountain bend that the silence of death returned to the surroundings.

All that remained was the mule's uneasy whinnying and Zhao Rui's uncontrollable sobbing.

Old Man Qian collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air, looking as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

Su Ming slowly released the knife handle he was gripping; his palms were covered in cold sweat.

"Crisis averted. This social practice course has reached Perfection." Lin Yu let out a long sigh of relief. "Disciple, you successfully utilized the core tenet of The Way of Cautious Survival—'Poverty is the best protective talisman'—and perfectly avoided all risks. Course grade: Excellent."

Su Ming listened to his Master's concluding remarks and walked over to Zhao Rui. Looking at his miserable state, with snot and tears smeared across his face, he felt no schadenfreude.

He simply bent down and quietly picked up the scattered books and writing brushes, one by one, putting them back into the damaged study box.

Zhao Rui raised his head and looked at Su Ming, his eyes filled with confusion, humiliation, and a complex emotion he couldn't quite place.

He couldn't understand why those fierce bandits had robbed him of everything but let this country bumpkin, who was even poorer than him, go free.

"Don't... don't touch my things!" he suddenly roared, pushing Su Ming away and sprawling on the ground, frantically hugging the books to his chest.

Su Ming stumbled from the push but didn't get angry, merely watching him quietly.

After a long while, Zhao Rui's crying gradually subsided.

He sat on the cold ground, clutching the broken study box, like a child abandoned by the whole world.

Old Man Qian also recovered his senses. He looked at the mess on the ground and the empty mule cart, feeling like he wanted to cry but couldn't.

"Wha... what are we going to do... how am I going to explain this to the Village Head when we get back..."

Su Ming walked over to Old Man Qian, took two black flour buns from his bundle, and offered him one.

"Uncle Qian, have something to eat."

Old Man Qian dazedly accepted the bun, which was hard enough to kill someone, and looked at Su Ming's calm face. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

Su Ming also picked up a bun and nibbled on it slowly.

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