From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 721: Chapter 723: Meeting

Yu Laoda and the others had never seen such a spectacle before; they all retreated several steps in fright.

Gu Benluo curiously stood on his tiptoes, peering out through the gaps between the guards. "You guys are being too cautious. These are just fellow villagers."

So what if they used to be bandits? He had heard his father say that these people were forced into the mountains by hardship. If they actually had blood on their hands, the local villages wouldn’t have protected them.

"That’s right, we are villagers of Xinsheng Village." Yu Laoda spoke exceptionally loudly. They had been going into the city often these days, so they had come to understand some of the official dialect.

They were people with status now, so they puffed out their chests with pride. Their favorable impression of the young gentleman who had just spoken grew even stronger. He truly came from a prominent household; he certainly had a way with words.

Gu Benluo didn’t push away the guards protecting him in the front, knowing they were doing it for his sake.

"Hello, we are here to visit you." Gu Benluo smiled at them amiably. "Sorry to intrude."

The pure official dialect left Yu Laoda and the others unsure of how to react. He was also the most polite child they had ever encountered.

"I’ll have someone boil some water..." Wu Xiaoliu was at a complete loss for what to do. Should he ask this young gentleman to come inside his home for a bit?

However, he really didn’t dare to ask that last question aloud.

His home was simply too crude. Aside from a stove and a makeshift wooden bed he had built himself, he couldn’t even bring out a stool to entertain a guest.

The others were in the same situation. Sometimes, they felt a pang of regret, wondering why they hadn’t been more diligent back then. Even making a simple stool would have been better than this.

Now that they finally had a rare guest, they couldn’t host them properly even if they wanted to.

Under their boss’s gaze, Gu Letian and Lai San, who were standing in the back, ran to their respective houses to boil some water first.

Gu Wenheng and his group rested for a moment before the large procession followed them into the village.

Seeing so many noblemen, Yu Laoda and the others felt their legs turn to jelly, but they forced themselves to maintain smiling faces.

Chief Chen popped up from nowhere and helped introduce them from the side. "This is Mr. Gu, Mr. Wu, Mr. Li..."

After this long string of officials was introduced, the several leaders felt quite dizzy.

In the past, they wouldn’t have even dared to dream of meeting the Lord County Magistrate, let alone so many high-ranking officials all at once. Since the magistrate was the lowest-ranking among these men, they couldn’t help but feel flustered.

Boss Xie was the first to buckle. He dropped to his knees, and the others quickly followed suit.

Gu Wenheng tried his best to look approachable. "We are just here to see how your village is coming along. You don’t need to be so restrained. Go about your business."

Even from a distance, the sweat beading on these men’s foreheads was clearly visible. Obviously, their group exerted a great deal of pressure on them.

He didn’t continue standing there. Instead, looking at the commoners still bustling about on the mountain, he took the lead and walked upward. "Let’s go see how your crops are doing."

Chief Chen immediately grabbed Yu Laoda by the collar and dragged him along. Among these bandit leaders, this man was the most articulate. "Hurry up and stick to the side. If the officials ask you any questions, remember to answer carefully."

Yu Laoda clutched his chest. "Chief Chen, I’m a little nervous..."

"What’s there to be nervous about? It’s just because your village hasn’t elected a village head yet, otherwise this wouldn’t have fallen on your shoulders.

"Just answer truthfully, and hurry up and follow them." After speaking, Chief Chen gave him a shove from behind, making it impossible for him to back out even if he wanted to.

Yu Laoda could only bite the bullet and move forward, though he couldn’t get too close. Just as he squeezed a few steps ahead, a guard blocked his path, signaling for him to just follow from a distance.

The group spent quite a while inspecting the mountain and asking a few questions before slowly making their way back down.

Gu Lexi and the others really had no interest in these places. This kind of land was just situated on a mountain; it looked no different from the land in their hometown.

Knowing that this was all Seventh Uncle’s official business, and that they were only brought along on this trip to do menial chores, they really had no place to interrupt.

They had only tagged along to broaden their horizons. Throughout the entire process, they hadn’t exchanged a single word. They merely followed quietly from behind, hiking up the mountain and then back down.

Gu Letian had boiled a large pot of water, but now he couldn’t find a container to hold it.

They did have bowls and chopsticks, but each person only had one set, which definitely wasn’t enough for everyone.

Since he had always been a man of few words, he could only seek out Lai San, who was also boiling water, to figure something out.

Lai San was also getting a headache over this. This was truly something he couldn’t solve on his own.

"Let’s go ask those Brother Officers. Maybe they brought their own." Thinking of the chipped bowls in his home, Lai San felt it would be better not to bring them out and embarrass themselves.

Gu Letian also wanted to find an opportunity to approach those people, so he naturally followed behind him.

Lai San felt that the young gentleman from earlier was very approachable. After standing on his tiptoes to look around, he spotted the young gentleman sitting on the grass and quickly led Gu Letian over.

"What is your business here?" They were intercepted by a guard before they could even get close.

Putting on a smiling face, Lai San said, "We just boiled two pots of water, but we don’t have enough bowls to serve it. We were wondering if you gentlemen brought your own? Otherwise, should we carry the water over here?"

Ming Xiang replied, "...There’s no need to trouble yourselves, fellow villagers. We brought our own water."

Lai San said, "...That’s good..."

At this moment, Gu Letian was staring at the little boy beside the young gentleman. This person looked very familiar. He had a bit of his uncle’s shadow, but at the same time, he didn’t quite look like him.

Gule Shun had been sitting there rubbing his legs. Sensing someone staring at him, he looked up.

He blinked, somewhat unable to believe it. The face that appeared before him was actually his eldest uncle’s face, just looking much younger.

Noticing the unusual behavior of Gu Letian beside him, Lai San reached out and tugged him. "Don’t be rude."

Gu Letian spoke up in the dialect of Bainiao Valley, "Whose boy are you?"

Gule Shun nervously gulped. No matter how slow he might be at the moment, he realized what was happening. Replying in the same Bainiao Valley dialect, he said, "My father is Gu Yuantu."

Gu Letian’s eyes instantly turned red. "Le Shun, why are you here? Were you sold off?"

Following beside a young gentleman... Could it be that he had already been sold into slavery?

Then what about the rest of the family? Gu Letian felt his entire body go limp, not daring to think any deeper.

"Sold?" Gule Shun was truly confused now. "You’re my eldest cousin."

"I am Gu Letian." After saying this, Gu Letian wanted to take a step forward to hug his relative, but unsurprisingly, he was stopped again.

Although Gu Benluo hadn’t lived in his hometown for long and couldn’t speak the dialect, he could still understand it.

Things finally made sense. So this was his eldest cousin who had been missing from home all this time.

It was just that his brain didn’t seem to work very well. Not only had he completely ignored a living, breathing person like himself, but he actually thought Le Shun had been sold.

"You are Gu Letian," Gu Benluo said with certainty.

Gu Letian’s head spun a little. "You know me, young gentleman? Did our Le Shun mention me to you?"