With the closing of the textile factory and the suspension of work at the construction site, Xihewan Village, which had been bustling for several months, suddenly fell silent and returned to its previous lifeless appearance.
The smiles on the faces of the villagers disappeared, and they all sighed when they met each other, each one more bitter and more resentful than the last.
"Damn bandits" replaced "Have you eaten yet" and became the greeting language in Xihewan and Guanjiawan villages.
Because all the villagers know that the people who caused all this are the Iron Can Mountain bandits.
It seemed that life was about to get better and better, but the bandits interfered with everything, and everything was lost.
There are already rumors in the village that Jin Feng may have left Xihewan with his spinning wheel and moved to Jinchuan or a county where there are no bandits to set up a factory.
As soon as this rumor came out, all the villagers panicked. The two village chiefs went to Jin Feng's house countless times in the past few days to inquire about the news.
It's a pity that Jin Feng was stuck in the iron smelting workshop with a full warehouse, and Guan Xiaorou delivered meals and didn't come out to sleep. The two village chiefs were in a hurry and had no choice but to take turns guarding the door of the iron smelting workshop, waiting for Jin Feng to come out after finishing his work.
Say it again.
As a result, before Jin Feng came out, news came that the bandits had entered the village.
"The bandits are coming?"
Liu Qingyuan jumped up from his stool as if his butt was burned by fire: "Where are you? How many people are here?"
Under normal circumstances, bandits would only come to the village to ask for annual grain after the autumn harvest. It was only summer, so coming here at this time would not do anything good.
"Six or seven have come, and we are almost at the entrance of the village."
said the villager who came to inform.
The village chief turned around and ran away.
Not long after he left, Jin Feng also came out of the iron smelting workshop.
"Sir, your calculations are really accurate. You said that the bandits would come to the village in the next two days, and they did indeed come."
Tieniu, who was guarding the door, gave Jin Feng a thumbs up: "I'll go to the back mountain and ask Brother Liang and the others to come over."
"Okay, but you hide outside the courtyard wall and don't let the bandits see you. Don't come out without my order."
Jin Feng explained.
"OK."
Tieniu grabbed the knife and ran into the back mountain.
At the entrance of the village, six bandits carried machetes and entered the village in a show of force.
In the already deserted village, no one could be seen at this time. All the villagers hid in their homes and peeked outside through the cracks in the doors.
All the villagers had fire in their eyes, but no one dared to come out.
The most naughty children usually hide in the cellar or on the roof beams, not daring to say a word.
"Your Majesty, why are you here now?"
Liu Qingyuan trotted over, nodded and bowed and asked.
Other villagers can hide, but as the village chief, he cannot hide or escape.
"Old Immortal, I heard that a big shot came out of your Xihewan, and he led you all to live a good life. We in Iron Can Mountain are so poor that we can't afford to take the blame. We also want to ask the big shot to give us some advice."
The little bandit leader glanced sideways at the village chief: "Where is the big shot? Take me to pay him a visit."
"this……"
The village chief's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.
As soon as he heard that bandits had entered the village, he guessed that they were probably coming for Jin Feng.
I am really afraid of what will happen.
He was very worried that the bandits would hurt Jin Feng, and then he would become a sinner in Xihewan and Guanjiawan, but he did not dare to disobey the bandits.
Before he could think of what to say, the bandit impatiently kicked him on the waist:
"You old man, why is it so difficult for you to lead the way? Do you believe that I can still find a place even if I chop you down?"
"Your Majesty, come with me."
Liu Qingyuan was kicked off his feet, got up and silently led the way.
He knew what the bandits said was right. Xihewan was so big, and the textile factory and iron smelting workshop were so conspicuous that the bandits could find them even if he didn't lead the way.
If you go over by yourself, you can still get around anyway.
The group walked into the yard of the iron smelting workshop and saw Jin Feng sitting silently at the door of the workshop.
"Hey, you are Jin Feng, right?"
The bandit leader took a few steps forward and put his face provocatively in front of Jin Feng: "A big shot is a big shot. You really can keep your composure!"
"Has anyone ever told you that your mouth stinks?"
Jin Feng moved to the side, with only disgust and no fear on his face.
He was not pretending to be calm, but Jin Feng knew very well that there were at least ten crossbows pointed at the little boss's head in the dark.
With the archery skills of Zhang Liang and others, they will never give the little boss any chance to hurt himself.
"Have courage!"
The little boss didn't know that he had actually walked around the Gate of Hell just now, but he still sat down opposite Jin Feng with a carefree attitude, picked up the kettle from the table and poured himself a bowl of water: "You should know why we came to find you, right?
"
"I know," Jin Feng nodded: "It's nothing more than negotiation."
"No, you are not qualified to negotiate with our Iron Can Mountain!"
The little boss shook his head: "I'm here to tell you what you should do. If you do it well, you will live. If you do it badly, you will die!"
The most common tactic used by bandits is to build momentum. Regardless of whether they have ability or not, they must first overwhelm the opponent with momentum.
This tradition has been preserved for thousands of years. Even in the 21st century, when two gangs of gangsters fight, they still have to shout a few harsh words first.
The little boss was chosen by the Iron Can Mountain bandits to threaten Jin Feng, and he is a leader who knows this well.
What's more, the little boss was really confident, so he showed his threatening face vividly, but he didn't know that in Jin Feng's eyes, he was now just like a clown.
"Tell me what you want us to do."
Jin Feng picked up the water glass and asked calmly.
"I heard that you made a new spinning wheel and a textile workshop of some kind. Tell me about you. Everyone is farming. What do you do with a shabby workshop? It makes everyone no longer interested in farming.
Our boss has told you to personally take the spinning wheels to Tin Can Mountain, and farm the land well from now on, and stop thinking about whether these things are available or not."
The little boss added an accent to the word "personal", and then pointed to the chimney behind Jin Feng: "By the way, we also quickly demolished this broken chimney and that broken brick kiln, causing a smoky mess and ruining the village's feng shui.
It’s all destroyed.”
"You have quite an appetite!"
Jin Feng was immediately laughed out of anger.
He thought that the bandits from Tin Can Mountain only came to ask for a spinning wheel and took it back to imitate it.
Unexpectedly, the other party wanted to take away all the spinning wheels and asked Jin Feng to deliver them personally.
Forget all this, he even threatened Jin Feng that he would no longer be able to manufacture spinning wheels, nor build brick kilns or iron-making furnaces.
Jin Feng is just a scholar. Now he can gather a large group of people around him. Isn't that what he relies on?
The bandit's request was no longer just a big statement from the lion, but a clear intention to force Jin Feng to death.
The village chief standing aside turned pale when he heard this.
The bandits' demands not only cut off Jin Feng's path, but also cut off the hope of the entire village of Xihewan.
"I can't possibly agree to your conditions."
Jin Feng sneered and shook his head: "Go back and discuss it with your boss. Let's talk again."