Chapter 41: Great Han

Hiring a wanted criminal as a residential gatekeeper and servant?

No matter how Li Po thought about it, it felt somewhat surreal, because this was a far cry from the cautious way he had journeyed south.

Yet, he was well aware that despite spending a few years on the grasslands and hearing many interesting anecdotes about the realm of the Great Sui from several old soldiers—while also mastering a completely authentic local accent—he still needed some time to truly integrate into the surrounding populace. After all, hearing about a place was one thing, but upon arriving in unfamiliar territory, mere hearsay was not enough; one had to experience the local customs and social climate firsthand.

Just like Luo San and that Brother Cheng of his; they knew that once they entered Mayi City, a swing of their fists could carve out a path for survival. Perhaps this was not reckless blundering, but rather a unique rule of survival.

This conflicted with his inherent values, but that did not mean their actions were rash while his own were correct.

The outcome bore this out: they had smoothly entered the prefecture city and become garrison soldiers, whereas he had struggled in the refugee camp for several months before barely managing to gain a foothold.

Of course, Li Po generally did not dwell too much or too deeply on philosophical propositions like this, believing it to be nothing more than self-inflicted trouble. Some things—if you felt they were right, you did them; if you felt you were wrong, you corrected them next time. That was his guiding principle of action.

Therefore, his thoughts quickly shifted to his imminent life.

Originally, he had imagined that after disbanding the people around him, he would acquire a house—not necessarily large, but with a courtyard either in the front or the back—and he would also keep the small shop in the slave market, and so on.

Now, suddenly, an additional choice had appeared: going to the prefectural government office.

In truth, making a choice was quite simple, wasn't it?

After the New Year, the weather began to gradually warm up, though in a place like Mayi, waiting for the ice and snow to melt still required another month or two.

Business at the small eatery was getting better and better. Master Bai of the market patrol, having heard that Li Po had been officially registered as a citizen, had also strongly invited Li Po to remain in the market. A shop like this might easily earn as much in a year as any of the various merchant houses in the market.

For an eatery to reach such a level right from its inception was no easy feat.

If he waited a few more days, perhaps even more options would present themselves to Li Po. As the saying went, more friends meant more paths, and Li Po was living proof of that.

When Zhang Er came by, he had also vaguely hinted that if Li Po had nothing to do, he could go to his granary and take up a position as a watchman or something similar.

If there was one overriding sentiment Li Po felt, it was simply this: having an official household registration made a damn difference. That omnipresent discrimination seemed to have vanished overnight.

Li Po was currently in the back courtyard, directing some men to dismantle the water pool.

It was for no other reason than the fear that, over time, it would contaminate the water source, as a well was located not far from the pool. At the time, they had no other choice but to set it up that way for convenient water access while connecting to the drainage ditch outside.

Now, however, Master Bai had cleared out another piece of land behind the main house's back courtyard, so the pool could be relocated.

The few rooms in the back would no longer be used for living quarters; they were all to be converted into storage rooms. Master Bai intended to quietly store some rice and flour there to prepare for potential famine years.

In fact, Zhang Er was also utilizing the small shop's name to traffic some aged grain, making his cooperation with Master Bai a match made in heaven.

Clearly, the rising prices of rice and flour had already begun to pressure these petty officials.

Li Po naturally held a share in this venture. Having been tempered by the crucible of the refugee camp, anything edible had skyrocketed in value within his mind.

"Big Brother Li, someone's here to see you!"

A half-grown lad ran up to Li Po, shouting as if vying for credit.

Li Po was hard at work with the others, treating it as physical exercise. Covered in dust, despite the chilly weather, steam was rising from his head.

Patting the dust off his clothes, he asked, "Who is it?"

"Dunno. A bearded fellow, really tall and strongly built."

Hearing this, Li Po had an inkling. He rinsed his face with water, had someone help dust down his robe, and then made his way to the front unhurriedly.

What a stalwart fellow.

This was Cheng Zhijie's first impression on Li Po. He was indeed fierce in appearance; leaving aside his full beard, just his robust build made that dark giant Yuchi look inferior by three tenth parts.

This man seemed to wear all his ruggedness and domineering aura on the outside, uninhibitedly flaunting his powerful presence as if telling everyone, "I'm not someone to mess with," while simultaneously seeming to challenge anyone to come and pick a fight with him.

Cheng Zhijie looked somewhat aged in the face, but in reality, he was only in his early twenties at this time.

Upon seeing Li Po, before Li Po could say anything, this man slightly narrowed his eyes, stood up, and burst into a succession of hearty laughs. His voice was exceptionally resonant, completely ignoring the astonished gazes of the bystanders, as he grabbed Li Po by the arm. "My good brother, you made me search all over! Come, come, let's go drink with your brother......"

Faced with such overwhelming enthusiasm, Li Po found it a bit difficult to accept and put on a bewildered expression. "This brother is......"

Cheng Zhijie's laughter stopped abruptly. He curled his lip in deep displeasure, his dark, twitching stubble seeming to convey utter disdain.

"My brother, why are you so unforthcoming? I refuse to believe Little San didn't come and give you a heads-up."

Li Po blinked, then smiled. "Brother has kept me waiting quite a while."

Another round of eardrum-shattering laughter followed. "Can't be helped. Little San is scatterbrained; I nagged him over and over again...... Who knows if he forgot or not? Look, it was only yesterday that he ran over to my place to tell me my brother had set up a shop here in the North City market."

"So, you see, I could finally rest easy. Otherwise, if I had wandered around looking for you and made my brother mistake me for an enemy coming to settle scores, leading to us trading blows, how bad would that have been? Don't you agree?"

Li Po nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself that at least the man had some self-awareness and knew how intimidating he looked.

Aloud, however, he said cheerfully, "With a hero like brother standing before me, if I hadn't known beforehand, it truly would have made my hands itch for a bout."

Just like Luo San, upon hearing these remarks, Cheng Zhijie found every single word music to his ears, and his infectious laughter refused to stop.

As he pulled Li Po toward the exit, he said, "My brother is truly a man of genuine passion! I love making friends with men like you."

"A few months ago, when Little San said he had recognized an elder brother among the refugees, I didn't think much of it. What kind of heroes could possibly be found among wretched refugees? Seeing you today, I realize my experience was still too limited."

Li Po replied, "If brother keeps praising me like this, your little brother will start to feel rather shy."

Thunderous laughter echoed once more outside the front doors of the large house.