Chapter 23: Plundered

"Yiqing, well said!" Ma Wencai praised.

Zhu Yingtai stamped her foot in anger. "You two... you're birds of a feather!"

The old man shook his head, his expression one of utter helplessness. He hoisted his shoulder pole, snatched the vertical banner Ma Wencai had hung high, and chuckled, "If destiny decrees, people meet across a thousand miles; if not, they may stand face to face and remain strangers."

Seeing Ma Wencai about to charge over in a fury, I quickly held him back. "Why bother arguing with an old man?" I glanced at the banner. "This thing is useless anyway."

We found a teahouse and sat down. This clothing was so restrictive that I was sweltering. The waiter brought over a pot of cold tea and a few dishes. Zhu Yingtai poured herself a bowl, took a sip, and sighed, "If I’d known I’d need to quench my thirst here, I shouldn't have wasted that bowl of chrysanthemum tea earlier."

"Even you are making fun of me?" Ma Wencai grabbed his teacup and took a drink, his brow furrowing slightly—I couldn't tell if it was because of the poor taste of the tea or his foul mood.

"How could I dare?" Zhu Yingtai replied with a mocking tone. "It's just a pity that the gold in your pack has no chance to be put to use."

I figured Zhu Yingtai wouldn't dare, but she really was someone who spoke without thinking. "Yingtai, do you know what it means to not flaunt your wealth? If you keep running your mouth like that, aren't you afraid someone will overhear and get wicked ideas?"

"Brother Yiqing, don't worry. With him here, who would dare harbor any crooked thoughts?" Zhu Yingtai gestured toward Ma Wencai.

I was just about to argue with Zhu Yingtai when three men shoved me to the ground. As I watched them snatch the bundle from the table, Ma Wencai immediately grabbed the last man by the collar and started fighting. I saw the first two thieves mounting our horses and riding away. Ma Wencai kicked off, grabbed his bow and arrow, and prepared to shoot at the three thieves.

Zhu Yingtai grabbed the arrowhead. "Wencai, don't kill anyone."

"Get out of my way! All our travel money is in there!" Ma Wencai pushed Zhu Yingtai aside, but it was too late to shoot; the three thieves were already far away on horseback.

Ma Wencai angrily threw the bow and arrow aside and demanded, "Zhu Yingtai, have you been with Liang Shanbo so long that you’ve turned into a fool? Our travel funds have all been stolen. What do you suggest we do now?"

"I..." Zhu Yingtai hurriedly searched herself, pulled out the pouch Liang Shanbo had given her, and wore a look of utter sweetness. "It's fine, the one Shanbo gave me wasn't stolen."

"You," Ma Wencai kicked the table and chairs. "Again with this Liang Shanbo! Zhu Yingtai, don't forget who you are."

I truly admired Ma Wencai's innate strength; that kick smashed the furniture to pieces. The waiter came running over in a panic. "Three guests, for the food you just had and these tables and chairs, it will be three taels of silver."

Ma Wencai was incensed. "Are you blind? Can't you see my money was stolen!"

The waiter cowered but dared to continue, "That is... precisely because I know your money is gone that I am so anxious."

"You..." Ma Wencai was fuming. He reached to snatch Zhu Yingtai's money pouch, but she pulled back and hid it behind her. "Don't touch it! This is the pouch Shanbo gave me."

"You..." Ma Wencai was so angry he couldn't speak. Not only was he furious, but I was also fuming. I snatched the pouch from behind her. "Zhu Yingtai, has your brain stopped working? What did Shanbo give you this money for? Isn't it meant to be used in times of crisis? Even if the words 'Liang Shanbo' were written on these coins, they wouldn't be worth a penny more."

I counted the money inside; there really wasn't much, only three or four taels. I took out three taels and handed them to the waiter. "Take the money. It's every cent owed. Stop your yapping."

"No! Liu Yiqing, give it back!" Zhu Yingtai tried to grab it, but I pulled her back firmly. "Zhu Yingtai, what is wrong with you? Do you want to eat and drink for free? Or should we sell you to pay the bill? We lost our travel funds because of you; you need to take full responsibility."

This Zhu Yingtai really didn't know the value of money. Damn it, Shanbo's silver wasn't made of diamonds! Was it really worth all this?

In truth, I hadn't kept my gold in that bundle; stuff wrapped in a cloth is unreliable, and I wouldn't dare put my shiny gold in there. Hoarding money had been a bad habit of mine for years. Back home, I had an older brother three years my senior who had married a shrew. If I didn't hide some private savings, I’d never see a cent of my father's inheritance.

Since it was Zhu Yingtai's fault we lost our funds, she had to be the one to pay. I wasn't kind enough to spend my own money on them.

"Enough!" Ma Wencai roared. "What are you arguing about? Isn't it embarrassing enough already?"

With that, Ma Wencai walked off alone. Zhu Yingtai and I could only follow along sullenly. I suddenly recalled a scene from television where men in ancient times reacted exactly like this when their two wives were bickering.

But I knew that by using Liang Shanbo's silver to pay the bill, Zhu Yingtai must have hated me to the core.

We walked on foot into a forest. I remembered that the story of the "Peach Blossom Spring" was written by Tao Yuanming, so he must have lived in the mountains; generally, reclusive masters all lived in the deep wilderness.

I had been hiking and running since I was a child, so this mountain path was no challenge for me, but Zhu Yingtai couldn't take it. She grumbled, "My feet are so sore. If only our horses hadn't been stolen."

As soon as she said that, my temper flared. "You still have the face to say that? This is all your doing."

"There's a rock over there. You two sit and rest for a bit," Ma Wencai interrupted our bickering.

Zhu Yingtai, still sulking, plopped down on the rock. I didn't want to associate with such an immature and willful woman, so I sat on another rock.

Ma Wencai sat down on the same rock as Zhu Yingtai. Damn, the fiancée is always closer. The two of them spent all day at the academy pulling long faces, like the Titanic hitting an iceberg, but the moment they left, they couldn't stop clinging to each other. Damn it, if I’d known, I wouldn't have given them such opportunities to be all lovey-dovey.

I don't know what came over me, but a surge of irrational anger welled up inside. I glared at them, saying nothing.

After a long silence, Zhu Yingtai spoke first: "Wencai, [Lingjie] had been with you for seven years. Now that he's been stolen, you must be heartbroken, right?"

I pricked up my ears. Lingjie? That must have been the name of that horse. I remembered Zhu Yingtai saying Ma Wencai had another horse named Linghao, but he had killed it himself.

"Hmm," Ma Wencai replied, his tone laced with melancholy. "It’s the same feeling I had when I killed [Linghao]."

Zhu Yingtai gave a bitter laugh. "Why bother? You’re just bringing trouble upon yourself."

"You will never understand me! Not when I was ten, and not now at twenty," Ma Wencai said softly, as if his life were filled with inescapable helplessness.