Chapter 6

PS: I'm shedding tears, begging for recommendations, favorites, clicks, and donations...

Sigh...

Although Wang Bao had left, Han Yi could not feel happy at all. It seemed that the immediate execution had merely been changed to a deferred one. If he could not pay back the money by the deadline, Wang Bao would have the right to reduce him to slavery, and no one could save him. After all, the Tang Dynasty was still a semi-slave, semi-feudal society, and many commoners became slaves because they owed money to landlords.

Slavery!

That's the kind where you have to endure even the worst treatment.

Just thinking about it made Han Yi so scared that he almost wet his pants.

When Han Yi turned around, he found that all the villagers were staring at him in a daze.

Today's Han Yi was truly different. He was brave and composed, unafraid of authority, and was simply cool. If it were the old Han Yi, he would have been scared under the bed and wouldn't dare to show his face.

It was completely the opposite.

Actually, Han Yi understood this point and was even clearer about it than anyone else, but he couldn't say that the current Han Yi was no longer the old Han Yi. Even if he did, no one would believe him. He bowed and said, "Thank you all, uncles and aunts, for your help. I really don't know how to repay you." He wasn't being polite; he really wanted to repay them, but he was so poor that he truly had nothing to offer.

"Oh, Xiaoyi, you're being too formal. Brother Han was always good to us. This is what we should do."

"Xiaoyi, don't worry. The Han family's affairs are our affairs."

"Right, Xiaoyi, we will definitely help you."

...

The villagers comforted Han Yi one after another.

It was touching!

So touching!

What is true friendship in adversity?

This is it.

Seeing all this, Han Yi was moved to tears, his eyes welling up with hot tears, unable to express his feelings. For the first time, he felt that the ancient times were really good, and the ancient people were truly kind. He choked and said, "Can everyone lend me one guan of money?"

Hmm... silence!

The villagers, who were just enthusiastic, suddenly fell silent.

Sigh... It seems I was thinking too much. Han Yi forced a smile and said, "I was just joking. This little bit of money is no problem for me."

It was a joke!

The villagers immediately believed Han Yi and breathed a sigh of relief. They were really afraid that Han Yi would come to ask them for money. It wasn't that they were stingy and didn't want to help Han Yi, but the recent flood had caused them various losses, and they were all poor, living on the edge, barely able to put food on the table. How could they have money to lend to Han Yi?

Every family has its own troubles!

However, the villagers still offered to take care of Han Dashi's funeral. They had no money, but they had the strength to help.

This was a great help to Han Yi, and he was especially grateful.

In the afternoon, everyone worked together to place Han Dashi's body in a simple coffin made of a few pieces of wood. They comforted Han Yi a few more times, telling him that the burial would be the next day, and then they left one by one.

After sending off the enthusiastic villagers, Han Yi returned to the house and stood in front of Han Dashi's body, lost in thought. After a long while, he suddenly became very agitated, "Brother Dashi, why, why weren't you a rich man? If you were a wealthy and powerful man who could get your son a dozen concubines, how great would that be? It would let me taste the life of a rich second generation—sigh, it seems I don't have that fate. Living two lives, and in the end, I'm still a pure屌丝, purer than 99999 gold."

"Xiaoyi, what is屌丝?"

Accompanied by a pleasant voice, a woman walked out from the inner room.

Han Yi looked at the woman. He now remembered everything. The woman's surname was Xiao, and her name was Yun. Han Dashi had found her on the road. When Han Dashi went up the mountain to cut wood, he saw Xiao Yun lying unconscious by the roadside and saved her.

According to Xiao Yun, she was originally from Bazhou and her family was in business. She had come to Yangzhou to do business but was robbed on the way. Her relatives all died, and she was the only one who escaped.

Han Dashi was truly kind-hearted. Even though he could barely support himself, he still took Xiao Yun in.

So Xiao Yun stayed with the Han family. Later, she taught Han Yi to read, and Han Yi listened to Xiao Yun very well, following her around all day, even forgetting his father's surname. He was much more diligent in learning from her than from Xu Lao. The two seemed to get along well, and Xiao Yun appeared to be well-educated and ladylike. Han Dashi thought about having Xiao Yun marry Han Yi.

At first, Han Dashi only occasionally thought about it, treating it as a daydream. After all, their family was too poor, and Xiao Yun was a beauty and a genius. She could easily attract a rich second generation or an official's son. The gap was too large, and at that time, Xiao Yun hadn't tried to kill anyone. Han Dashi thought Xiao Yun would never agree, so he never brought it up. But one day, when Han Dashi casually probed, Xiao Yun agreed without hesitation.

Han Yi was so happy that he fainted, clearly having had a crush on her for a long time.

Han Dashi was also very happy and immediately set the wedding, which led to the high-interest loan.

However, because Xiao Yun was older than Han Yi, she always called him Xiaoyi, and even after they were married, she couldn't change the habit.

Han Yi thought to himself, a certain Zhang Mama once said that the prettier a woman is, the more dangerous she is. This woman should be classified as a nuclear weapon. Besides, I'm an unmarried man. Being friends is fine, but being a couple is terrifying. He said in a very calm tone, "People like me, who have no money, no land, and no parents, are called屌丝."

Xiao Yun didn't understand what Han Yi was saying and asked with concern, "Xiaoyi, what's wrong with you today? Why are you different from usual?"

Han Yi sneered, "Mutual, mutual."

Xiao Yun was shocked, "So you were pretending before?"

Pretending? I'm not the old Han Yi. That's not right. Han Yi's eyes widened, and he drew a sharp breath, "What do you mean 'pretending'? So you were pretending to be gentle and virtuous before?"

"I—I wasn't pretending. I am a lady," Xiao Yun blushed and said softly, "I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

Han Yi laughed, "I think you were trying to harm me. Fortunately, that knife didn't hit. If it had, we would both be finished. Do you even have a brain?"

Faced with Han Yi's sarcastic remarks, Xiao Yun couldn't help but get angry, "I remember you were the one who went out with a knife first."

"I took the knife to scare them, but you were serious!"

Han Yi said irritably. Of course, he was just scaring them. As a con artist, he knew that when debt collectors came, you either run or be tough. The weaker you are, the worse the situation gets. This was a performance honed by life, and he couldn't mess up. If he did, it would be over. As he spoke, he felt a pain in his shoulder and rubbed it, puzzled, "One more question, do all ladies have such strength?"

Xiao Yun's face turned red, and she stammered, "That—that's because you're too weak. How strong can a weak woman be?"

"Hey, weak woman? The strength you used to throw that hatchet, if it had hit that fat guy, he would have been split in two. I find it strange that other ladies, when holding a knife, are scared and throw it at their own feet, but you throw it at others."

That flying knife, not to mention Wang Bao, still made Han Yi shudder.

Xiao Yun couldn't take it anymore. In the past, Han Yi respected her so much that he treated her like a goddess, and she could command him to do anything. But today, Han Yi was full of sarcasm and ridicule. If this was how it was before they even consummated the marriage, how would it be after? She felt cheated and couldn't help but get angry. She rushed forward, pointing at Han Yi, "Han Yi, I have been very tolerant. Don't be ungrateful."

This must be her true self. Oh, this must be the saying, 'When it rains, it pours.' I'm finished. I'm finished. My current body might not be able to beat her. If we fight, if I win, people will say I hit a woman, which is not gentlemanly. If I lose, people will say I can't even beat a woman, which is embarrassing. What a dilemma!

Han Yi felt a bit guilty. After all, this woman was capable of killing. He waved his hand weakly, "Alright, alright, I'm not in the mood to talk about this now. Let's take care of Brother Dashi's funeral first."

There was no choice. To maintain his dignity and gentlemanly demeanor, he had to bring up Brother Dashi.

Sure enough, when Xiao Yun heard this, she didn't say anything more. After all, Han Dashi hadn't been buried yet.

The newlyweds spent the night in silence, one sleeping inside and the other outside.

Better to be in different beds than to share a bed with different dreams.

So, both of them had a dream about getting rich.

The next morning, with the help of the villagers, they finally buried Han Dashi. Whether he was at peace or not, no one knew. The funeral was very simple, as they had no money to make it more elaborate. The villagers were very enthusiastic, so it was all done in the morning. Han Yi had nothing to offer in return, so he bowed in gratitude.

Yang Lin, who was closest to Han Dashi, wanted to organize the villagers to help Han Yi pay off his debt, but as soon as he mentioned it, everyone started complaining about their poverty. Yang Lin understood their situation, and he himself was barely surviving, so he had to give up.

At the Han family's house.

Xiao Yun sat on the bed in the front room, lost in thought, with no future in her eyes.

There was a light thud.

Han Yi walked out from the inner room and threw a bundle next to Xiao Yun.

Xiao Yun looked at the bundle on the bed and then at Han Yi, her eyes full of confusion.

Han Yi said coldly, "You can leave."