Chapter 96: Trip to the City God Temple

Chapter 96: Trip to the City God Temple

Qianhuan was grateful to Master Cai for saving her last time. She had always remembered to treat Master Cai to a meal. Now that she had money in her hand, the first thing she wanted to do was to find Master Cai and ask him out for dinner.

She looked at the sky. It was still early, so she went to the City God Temple. She remembered that Young Master Cai had said that if she wanted to find him, she could just ask the beggars in the City God Temple.

After entering the City God Temple, she found that there were indeed quite a few beggars inside, but these beggars all seemed to be very young, and the oldest looked only eleven or twelve years old.

When the ragged little beggars saw Qianhuan entering the City God Temple, they thought she was a pilgrim coming to burn incense, and they all rushed over. They held out their broken bowls and said pitifully, "Kindhearted people, give us some money..."

Qianhuan was a little confused by this scene. She took a step back and said quickly, "I'm here to look for Master Cai. Excuse me, do you know where Master Cai is?"

The group of little beggars immediately stopped begging and looked at each other, but no one dared to answer.

Qianhuan took out two coins from her bosom and said, "I'll give these two coins to whoever can take me to see Master Cai."

At this time, a slightly older boy finally stood up. He looked at Qianhuan with a wary look and asked, "Who are you to Master Cai? What do you want from him?"

"I am Mr. Cai's friend. Last time I was attacked by a bad guy, it was Mr. Cai who saved me. I came to him to treat him to a meal to express my gratitude."

The little boy lowered his guard after hearing Qianhuan's explanation of their purpose, because Young Master Cai was a gangster and sometimes offended people. The little beggars were very cautious and would not casually reveal Young Master Cai's whereabouts to strangers.

The little boy said enthusiastically: "So you are Brother Yunlong's friend. I know where he is. Little brother, I will take you there."

So the little boy led Qianhuan to the south of the City God Temple. After walking for about a few hundred meters, they turned into a small alley. The little boy said, "Brother, Brother Yunlong is in the small wooden house in the front yard."

"You call Master Cai Yunlong? Is his full name Cai Yunlong?"

"Yes, Brother Yunlong is called Cai Yunlong." The little boy nodded.

After calling him Master Cai for so long, this was the first time Qianhuan knew that his full name was Cai Yunlong, which was a pretty nice name.

When they arrived in front of a dilapidated wooden house, the little boy pushed open the door and shouted, "Brother Yunlong, someone is looking for you."

When Master Cai heard the little boy’s voice, he asked, “Pumpkin, who’s looking for me?” and ran out of the house.

When he saw Qianhuan standing next to the little boy, he was surprised but also a little at a loss.

"Aunt Liang...Brother Liang, how come you have time to come and see me today?"

"Master Cai, I just happened to come to the county town today for some business, and I took the time to come and see you after I was done. What are you doing in the room? Why are your face and hands covered in black dust?"

When Mr. Cai heard that she came to see him specially, he was immediately overjoyed. He quickly wiped the black dust off his face with his sleeve.

"My brothers and I are making a fire. We are going to make porridge for the children in the City God Temple. Brother Liang, you came here unexpectedly. I was not prepared at all. If you saw me like this, I would not be able to see you again in the future."

"Master Cai, it's okay. When I set up a stall to sell sugar-roasted chestnuts, I helped my mother to light the fire every day. Didn't you often see my hands and face covered with black dust? Let's not make fun of each other." Qianhuan smiled and helped him out.

"Brother Liang, stop calling me Master Cai. These kids call me Brother Yunlong. If you don't mind, you can call me that too." Master Cai didn't want Miss Liang to always call him Master Cai, as that seemed too distant.

"Okay, Brother Yunlong, don't call me Brother Liang anymore. In front of outsiders, just call me Shanbo. In private, just call me Qianhua."

Qianhuan thought about it and decided to use the name Liang Shanbo when she dressed up as a man. She was shamelessly stealing the name of an ancient person.

"Okay, Qianhuan." Young Master Cai felt sweet in his heart. Miss Liang said that she could call her Qianhuan in private. Young Master Cai already knew that Miss Liang's full name was Liang Qianhuan last time.

Qianhuan handed two copper coins to the little boy named Pumpkin: "You can call yourself Pumpkin. This is the two copper coins I promised to give you for leading the way."

"Little brother, you are Brother Yunlong's friend, I can't take your money." The little boy named Pumpkin looked up at Qianhuan and shook his head, refusing to accept the copper coins.

Master Cai was very satisfied with Pumpkin's performance.

"It's okay, just take it. I promised to give it to you. If you don't want it, wouldn't that make me a person who doesn't keep his word?" Qianhuan pretended to be pitiful and scared people again.

Pumpkin frowned and thought, he looked up at Master Cai.

Qianhuan understood instantly that this Pumpkin must be very obedient to Master Cai, and whether to accept money or not depends on Master Cai's wishes.

Qianhuan immediately turned around and looked at Master Cai pitifully: "Brother Yunlong, you don't want me to be a person who goes back on my word, do you?"

"Pumpkin, this is for you, just take it." Young Master Cai couldn't stand Qianhuan's aggrieved look, so he spoke to Pumpkin immediately.

Pumpkin happily took the copper coin upon hearing this. He also politely said to Qianhuan, "Thank you, little brother."

Qianhuan followed Master Cai into the wooden house. The other brothers had been trying to light a fire for a long time but still couldn't. Qianhuan immediately walked over, squatted down and said, "Let me help you light a fire."

After a while, Qianhua lit the fire. The younger brothers all praised: "Brother Liang is worthy of being a stall owner who makes fire every day. He lit the fire in no time. We fanned the wind for a long time but couldn't get it lit. Every time we light a fire, we waste a lot of time."

"There are some rules for making a fire. You stuffed too much firewood under the stove. Without oxygen... well, the flames have nowhere to get into, so it won't start. Next time, don't stuff so much firewood under the stove. Leave some space, and the fire will start more easily."

Qianhuan almost wanted to say, "You stuffed a lot of firewood under the stove. Without oxygen, the fire naturally can't start," but she suddenly remembered that the word oxygen didn't exist in that era, so she quickly changed her words.

"You all should remember what I, Liang Xiaodi, said. Next time you want to start a fire, you should know how to do it."

The younger brothers answered in unison: "Boss, we will know later."

After learning more about the situation, Qianhuan found out that Master Cai used part of the stall fee to feed his younger brothers, and the rest to buy food for homeless beggars. The oldest of those children was only 12 years old, and the youngest was only four or five years old. They were all homeless orphans.

Even this shabby wooden house was bought by Young Master Cai, specifically for the little beggars to sleep in at night so that they would have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.

During the day, some of the little beggars would beg from passing pilgrims in the City God Temple, while others would go outside to beg. At night, they would all squeeze into this wooden house to sleep.

Qianhuan couldn't help but admire Cai Xiaoye. She didn't expect that such a gang leader was actually doing such a great thing.