“Xiao Zhao! Stop what you’re doing for a moment. Come here, I have other work for you!”
Night gave way to dawn. Though the morning summer sun was warm, when it shone into the stable, the faint smell of ammonia became more pronounced.
Zhao Yi’an, at that moment, was bending over to clean out the bedding straw amidst the unpleasant odor.
The sunlight fell on him, his slightly tanned skin highlighting his youthful vitality and healthy physique.
Hearing someone call him, he straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and turned to look in the direction of the voice.
“Eh? Big Brother Ma, why are you back?” He held the pitchfork handle with one hand to keep his balance, the other hand on his hip, looking puzzled.
“Yo! We’ve been swamped lately, no time to come back. And we’re just short of hands over there, so I came back.” Ma Debiao grinned as he greeted him, striding over.
“Speaking of which, it’s your shift today? Shouldn’t it be that kid He Liu?” He rubbed his stubble, thinking.
“Yeah, that’s right.” As he spoke, Zhao Yi’an pointed at the uncleaned bedding for Ma Debiao to see.
“Last time I got injured, so Brother He took my shift for a day. This time I’m covering for him. Courtesy demands reciprocity.”
“But speaking of which, Big Brother Ma, is there something you’re looking for me about?” Zhao Yi’an looked at Ma Debiao again, confused.
“Ah, don’t even mention it!” Ma Debiao scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat troubled. “Didn’t Big Brother Li take on a big job a few days ago?”
“I know that one—it’s to escort the lord of Lin’an prefecture. Isn’t that a job we do often?”
“Escort?” Ma Debiao pursed his lips and waved his hand. “How could scum like us be worthy of escorting important people? They bring their own guards.”
“We’re just delivering a batch of goods, running errands. But this time I heard, in addition to the goods to be escorted, there’s also a batch of prisoners to be transported together.”
Zhao Yi’an was taken aback. “Escorting prisoners? How did this fall to us?”
“Big Brother Li said that, in principle, this shouldn’t have come to us.” Ma Debiao twisted his neck.
“But didn’t he go to the capital not long ago? The previous employer was a respectable figure, and seeing that we did a good job, he put in a word for us with the Yamen runners over in Lin’an. And guess what? Hey, we got picked! Isn’t that a coincidence?” He chuckled.
After hearing this, Zhao Yi’an felt pleasantly surprised. He laughed. “Isn’t this a good thing? We’ve managed to get a little closer to those officials.”
“Right, although they’re not handing all the prisoners over to us to transport, at least we’ve made a connection. But now there’s one problem…” As Ma Debiao spoke, his smile gradually faded. He scratched his head and let out a long sigh.
“The problem is, Big Brother Li said the prisoners will arrive soon. I was thinking of discussing it with the Yamen runners to see if they could handle it themselves. And guess what? They said the jail is full, they really can’t fit any more!” He slapped his thigh, looking full of grievance.
“Besides, they’ve been busy catching some wanted criminal lately, and they’re short-handed. So they hope we can help take in these prisoners being sent over.”
“Take in prisoners? Our horse gang isn’t a jail…” Zhao Yi’an was stunned.
“Who says it isn’t!” Ma Debiao looked helpless.
“But this is a rare opportunity to build a good relationship with the officials. They’ve asked. If we refuse, can we even continue in this business? No choice, we have to hold our noses and accept it.”
Zhao Yi’an fell silent. This was the first time in his life he had encountered such a real-world problem.
But Zhao Yi’an also knew that Big Brother Ma had no choice. ‘It’s like a moral dilemma—advancing is not possible, retreating is not possible. This must be what they call a dilemma…’ the young man thought to himself.
Ma Debiao, regardless of Zhao Yi’an’s reaction, continued talking to himself.
“But the problem is, our horse gang already has a lot of people, and living space is tight. Livestock need space, fodder needs space, and the brothers themselves need to live.”
“Now we have to make room to lock up those prisoners, and we need people to guard them—where will we get the manpower? I’m so worried I can’t stand it.”
He scratched the back of his head, his face full of irritability.
“Big Brother Li is now in charge of the transport, so all this has fallen on my shoulders. I’m a rough guy, I can handle carts and horses, but let me manage prisoners? I don’t know anything about that!”
“That’s why I thought of you. You may not know martial arts, but you have a good head on your shoulders. You can help come up with ideas.” Ma Debiao patted his shoulder, his tone softening a bit.
“Besides, the prisoners have to eat, right?” He grinned.
“You’re in charge of the kitchen here, and the brothers all say you’re a good cook. Who else should I turn to for food matters? It can’t be that I ask my wife to come, can it? Do you want those prisoners to get an upset stomach?”
“So this is what Big Brother Ma came to see me about?” Zhao Yi’an smiled helplessly, then took the pitchfork in his hand and waved it in front of Ma Debiao.
“But I haven’t finished changing the straw here. Making me go now is a bit…” The young man gave a helpless wry smile.
Zhao Yi’an wasn’t trying to make excuses to refuse; it was just that his current work wasn’t done. If he left like this, no one would do this hard labor today.
Hearing this, Ma Debiao was first stunned, then laughed heartily. “Haha! Is that all? Isn’t that easy to handle? I’ll have that kid Zhang Agui take over for you, won’t that do?”
“That doesn’t seem right…” Zhao Yi’an’s expression was hesitant.
“What’s not right about it?” Ma Debiao patted the young man’s back, then hooked an arm around his neck and pulled him close.
“That kid stole my medicinal wine before, right?” Ma Debiao smiled at him, but that smiling face made Zhao Yi’an’s hair stand on end.
“N-no… was it? Uh…” Zhao Yi’an’s eyes wandered, his mouth saying he didn’t know, but he didn’t dare look at Ma Debiao.
“Heh heh… I know it has nothing to do with you, don’t be nervous.” Seeing his guilty look, Ma Debiao patted his shoulder to comfort him.
“I can understand that you young people get along well, but hiding this from your big brother makes me sad…”
“Then, what do we do… Big Brother Ma?” Zhao Yi’an swallowed.
“As punishment…” Ma Debiao quietly leaned close to his ear and whispered, “…help me dispose of the pork kidneys I secretly hid wrapped under the stove.”
“Huh?” Zhao Yi’an stepped back completely, looking over the burly man in front of him, his gaze gradually turning to pity. “Big Brother Ma, I never thought at your age you would…”
“Get out of here!” Ma Debiao glared fiercely at Zhao Yi’an, his face turning red with embarrassment. “If you dare tell anyone, you’re dead!” He said through gritted teeth.
Zhao Yi’an opened his mouth, about to say something else, but Ma Debiao had already snatched the pitchfork from his hand, thrust it into a nearby haystack, and pushed him to walk outside.
“Stop dawdling, let’s go! The prisoners will be here in two days. You need to sort out the food situation—what vegetables to buy, how much rice to prepare, you need to decide.”
Zhao Yi’an stumbled a couple of steps from being pushed, and said helplessly, “Alright, alright, I’ll go, I’ll go! Big Brother Ma, let go…”
“That’s more like it. And don’t worry about the stable; I’ll have Zhang Agui do it later.”
Tsk tsk tsk…
This has nothing to do with me…
Better you than me. Take care, Brother Zhang!
Zhao Yi’an twitched the corner of his mouth, brushed the straw bits off his clothes, turned around, and walked toward the kitchen.
Just as he had been away from the stable for a while, a deep shout came from behind: “Zhang Agui! You little brat, get your ass over here now!”
Zhao Yi’an shrank his neck when he heard it, then quickened his pace to leave.