Leaving that stall that took advantage of people’s desperation, Jin Feng began to gallop on horseback.
He had no saintly tendencies and had never thought of becoming some saviour of the world.
But he was someone who had seen peaceful and prosperous times. He simply could not stand by and watch corpses litter the land without feeling anything.
Especially when he had the ability to help the common people but failed to do so.
After dealing with that group of lackeys, the anger in his heart did not ease at all. Instead, it burned even more fiercely.
A wave of helplessness surged in his chest.
He wanted to do something for the common people, yet he felt there was nowhere to start.
“What exactly should I do?”
All along the way, Jin Feng kept thinking about this question.
But even after thinking for several days, right up until he returned to Jinchuan, Jin Feng still had not found any clear answer.
Instead, because he had seen too many tragedies of the human world on the road, the suppressed anger in his heart grew heavier and heavier.
Ever since entering the territory of Sichuan, not a single smile had appeared on Jin Feng’s face.
He came back from the east, crossed the Jialing River, and on the opposite side lay Shuangtuo Peak.
On the west bank of the Jialing River, the corpses of bandits that Iron Ox had hung along the riverbank were still swaying in the cold wind.
The escort who came to greet him noticed that Jin Feng was looking at the corpses by the river and felt a little worried.
He was a fairly senior escort and knew that Jin Feng opposed killing captives, so he feared Jin Feng might get angry.
But this time Jin Feng’s expression did not change at all. He only looked for a while before turning his gaze away.
Along this journey, he had seen far too many scenes that he could never have imagined before.
It was too tragic!
The power of hunger was too overwhelming!
In his previous life, during one May Day holiday while he was still a student, Jin Feng lost his wallet on the way to a part-time job.
Back then there were no lending platforms, and Jin Feng did not even have a mobile phone.
His wallet was all his possessions. Losing it meant he did not even have money for food.
Although his classmates had all gone home, the professor lived on campus, so he could have asked the professor to lend him some money for meals.
Those classmates who had received subsidies because their families were poor knew very well that the poorer a person was, the more sensitive they became.
Many truly poor students felt that receiving help was something deeply shameful.
On the other hand, those from better-off families would collect subsidies without any care and even feel proud about it.
Driven by his sense of self-respect, Jin Feng did not go to the professor to borrow money. He decided to tough it out through the May Day holiday.
At that time he often did part-time jobs, and one classmate had borrowed three hundred yuan from him, which was enough for the next month.
It was only five days. Could he really starve to death?
The first day was still bearable. He got by just drinking water.
By the second day, his stomach felt like it was on fire and extremely painful.
But he endured it and got through.
By the third day, it was no longer just his stomach. He began to crave food desperately, rummaging through boxes and cupboards looking for anything he might have left somewhere by mistake.
He even searched through several roommates’ drawers.
But boys always spent money freely. By the end of the month it was normal to go hungry for a couple of meals. There was simply no food to be found in the dormitory.
Jin Feng could only lie back on the bed helplessly.
By the fourth day, the hunger felt like a cat’s claws constantly scratching at him, urging him to get up and find food.
In the end, with no other choice, Jin Feng walked out of the dormitory, hoping for a miracle and that he might pick up even fifty fen on the ground.
Unfortunately, heaven did not hear his prayers. He walked two laps around the campus and did not see a single coin.
It was lunchtime then, and the cafeteria had opened two windows for students who had not gone home for the holiday.
As he passed the cafeteria, he saw other students dumping leftover food into the rubbish bin, and suddenly the idea of scavenging from it came to his mind.
Why was he starving? Was it not all for the sake of his dignity?
His last shred of reason stopped him from doing it. Instead, he ran back to the dormitory as if fleeing, forced himself to sleep, and got through the fourth day.
On the fifth day, he woke up starving just as dawn broke and, almost unconsciously, went to the cafeteria again.
Perhaps deep down he wanted to see if there was still any leftover rice in the rubbish bin. If he picked some up before it got bright and no one saw, maybe…
He really could not bear the hunger any longer…
Unfortunately, the rubbish bin had already been cleared. Apart from a few vegetable leaves stuck to the sides, there was nothing.
At that moment he even had the urge to scrape those leaves off and eat them.
But a noise came from the cafeteria and interrupted that thought.
He turned his head and saw the cook carrying out a steaming basket of freshly steamed buns.
In that instant, the idea of grabbing two buns and running away flashed through Jin Feng’s mind.
He was so hungry that he no longer cared about dignity or consequences.
The thought startled him.
Fortunately, he had not completely lost his reason. He did not do it. Instead, he went back to the dormitory, gathered up his and his roommates’ old books from last year, carried them to the scrap station, and sold them for six yuan and fifty fen.
Jin Feng took the money from selling the junk and immediately bought four steamed buns.
He had never known before that steamed buns could taste so sweet.
Before coming to Dakang, Jin Feng thought he had already suffered enough.
But after walking this road, he realised that the hardships he had endured in his previous life were nothing at all compared to what the common people of Dakang were going through.
In recent days, every night Jin Feng had nightmares in his sleep.
In his dreams were all the miserable scenes he had seen during the day.
“Husband, we have reached the shore!”
Tang Xiaobei gently touched Jin Feng’s arm, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Is the salt factory still operating normally these days?”
Jin Feng gathered his thoughts and asked the escort who had come to meet him.
Jinchuan Wharf used to be a very small dock. Ever since Jin Feng built the salt factory at Shuangtuo Peak, it had become bustling.
Every day boats carrying raw materials and finished salt came and went without end, often causing congestion.
But now the river surface was eerily quiet, completely without the liveliness it had when Jin Feng left.
“Now the area around Jinchuan is not peaceful. Madam Xiaorou sent a letter instructing us to stop night shifts.”
The escort replied, “The workers on the mountain are now working in two shifts. One shift produces while the other trains, and they rotate every two days.”
“I understand.”
Jin Feng did not comment on Guan Xiaorou’s decision. He only nodded slightly.
The wooden boat slowly pulled up to the shore. Jin Feng led the way onto the wharf.
He already knew that Shuangtuo Peak had been attacked by bandits and had mentally prepared himself.
Yet when he saw the bloodstains that had not yet dried at the foot of Shuangtuo Peak, and the stones blackened by flames, the anger in Jin Feng’s heart still surged uncontrollably.
“When the bandits attacked Shuangtuo Peak, what were our casualties like?” Jin Feng asked.
“The brothers from the escort agency were defending the mountain, so our losses were small. But many brothers from the merchant associations and traders who came to deliver or pick up goods were killed.”
The escort sighed and said, “Actually Shuangtuo Peak was still okay. The worst places were Tieguan Mountain and the villages. A few days ago when I went back, I passed Yangquan Ridge. The mountain path there was dyed red with blood.
And even the common people farther away suffered badly this time. Many villages were completely wiped out by the bandits. It really is too tragic…”
Before the escort could finish speaking, he saw Jin Feng, who was climbing the mountain, suddenly stop, then turn around and head back down.
Tang Xiaobei quickly chased after him.
“Husband, where are you going?”
“To the county government office!”
“What for?”
“To kill the county magistrate!”
