Chapter 16 Quick Project (VI)
The pain from the distillation finally subsided, and Zhu Erniu was fully rejuvenated. The guy who was dumbfounded half an hour ago was now walking around the workshop, muttering, "What the hell are those people out there?" while preparing the wine.
Huo Chong felt amused, but he found that even though he knew he felt amused, he couldn't feel any emotion in his body. This was a sign of exhaustion. He could only advise, "Brother Zhu, don't worry."
Zhu Erniu replied excitedly: "What's the matter? Brother Huo, take the wine out and make these guys shut up."
Huo Chong shook his head. Although he couldn't explain why, Huo Chong still felt that it was unnecessary. Seeing that Zhu Erniu was about to go out and argue with others, Huo Chong advised: "Brother Zhu, I'll sleep for a while. We'll talk after I wake up."
Huo Chong really couldn't bear it anymore, his eyelids seemed to be filled with lead. He found a bunk and lay down, feeling comfortable all over.
Amid the violent shaking, Huo Chong heard shouts coming from far away: "Big Brother! Big Brother! Help!"
As soon as he lay down, someone called him. Huo Chong opened his eyes with difficulty, and he felt his eyes burning and his vision was blurry. The shouting was also clearly audible, and Liu Shiwang shouted a little hoarsely: "Big Brother, save me!"
He rubbed his eyes vigorously, but saw that the sky was dark. Huo Chong remembered that it was still daylight when he lay down, how could it be...
Just when he was about to ask whether it was evening or morning, he heard someone cursing and wailing at the door, and in between there were sounds of punching and kicking. Huo Chong stood up quickly, feeling that every joint was protesting with pain. He almost fell down.
Huo Chong looked around for a while and finally found a wooden stick. When he went over to pick it up, the three people blocking the door could no longer hold on. The people outside the door rushed in.
His body was still sending signals to his brain because of weakness, but Huo Chong knew that he couldn't rest at this time. Since he couldn't win with fists and feet alone, he had to use weapons.
The fight was mediocre, and it didn't take much effort to drive out the group of ferocious guys just a moment ago. Listening to these losers standing far away and cursing, Huo Chong closed the door and locked it, walked back to the front of the house and sat down.
No wonder the bandits were vulnerable to the soldiers most of the time. The bandits who dared to use force to solve the problem were still like this when facing trained soldiers. A group of untrained villagers could not resist Huo Chong who had received strict training from a famous teacher.
"What's going on?" Huo Chong asked.
Zhu Erniu had a minor head injury, so he covered his head with his hands, rushed over and cried, "Brother Huo, when you went to sleep, I took the wine out for those people to taste. I didn't expect that they would deny it after drinking it, and instead said that I stole their old wine. I was so angry that I argued with them, and they beat me."
At this point, Zhu Erniu was already sobbing and crying loudly.
Huo Chong understood now that the people outside were not here to reason. Their goal was to destroy Zhu Erniu's newly opened workshop. As for whether they stole the master's skills or whether the wine they made was different from that of Mr. Zhu, it was not important at all.
After understanding all this, Huo Chong wanted to say something, but he felt weak again. It seemed that the most important thing at this moment was not to argue with the people outside, nor to discuss internal affairs.
Huo Chongming said, "Brother Zhu, move the bed to the door. I haven't slept well for a few days, let me sleep for a while. You guys guard first, don't let them rush in. If they rush in again, wake me up."
"This...I can't defend it without Brother Huo!" Zhu Erniu was frightened by Huo Chong's words.
"I told you to move the bed to the door so you can get up at any time. I'm right here, what are you afraid of? Hurry up!" Huo Chong didn't want to argue anymore. Seeing Zhu Erniu's cowardly look, if he told him that the people outside were determined to destroy Zhu Erniu's winemaking workshop, he would probably be scared to death.
The bed was moved in, and Huo Chong asked for more quilts. It was still very cold in the evening in April, and it would be bad if he caught a cold.
Sitting on the bed, Huo Chong saw the wine-steaming vessels in the yard and ordered, "Move these things into the house, don't let them break them."
Seeing that several people started to move, Huo Chong wrapped himself in a quilt and lay down. Before the group of people finished moving, Huo Chong had fallen asleep again.
I didn't sleep well that night . The yelling and cursing outside was fine, but there was also the sound of banging on the door, and people outside threw things into the yard. This banging noise lasted until the middle of the night, and Huo Chong was woken up several times.
Although the people outside were making a fuss, they also cursed back when they heard Huo Chong threatening them in the yard, but they never dared to rush into the yard.
By the middle of the night, the gang outside finally quieted down, and Huo Chong was able to sleep until dawn.
After waking up from his deep sleep, Huo Chong felt refreshed. He sat up and saw that the yard was full of mud and broken bricks. These were all thrown in by the gang last night. Fortunately, the brewing utensils were moved into a safe house and were not damaged.
Several people in the room hid behind Huo Chong's bed and fell asleep together. Looking at these guys sleeping in a cowardly manner, Huo Chong couldn't help but sigh, feeling very disappointed.
On second thought, Huo Chong felt that these brothers really tried their best. In other words, those guys outside were also scum. If there were a few of them who had received training, Huo Chong would probably have to give them up for nothing. If he wanted to have reliable helpers when encountering such things in the future, Huo Chong had to train his own people.
It takes three to make a hero, but if you fight alone, even if you are made of iron, you can only twist a few nails.
Thinking of this, Huo Chong just felt hungry. He went to the kitchen to cook some food for these guys. Just when he was about to wake up his companions, he heard the noise outside again.
Several people woke up, and when they saw Huo Chong was not in bed, they immediately shouted in panic. Huo Chong walked out of the kitchen and said with a smile: "Why are you in such a hurry? I have prepared the meal, everyone can eat first. You must be hungry after being busy all night."
The five hungry men devoured several bowls of pure carbohydrates, and drank two glasses of light wine in between. At this time, it was obviously inappropriate to drink a few sips of strong wine, but low-alcohol wine can help promote blood circulation. The alcohol in it is also a high-energy food, which can quickly provide the energy needed for exercise.
After everyone finished eating, Huo Chong said with a smile: "Brothers, we are in trouble."
The cut on Zhu Erniu's head was not big to begin with, and it had already scabbed over. He scratched the slightly swollen wound and asked tentatively, "If I make amends to them, will they let me go?"
Huo Chong did not directly state his prediction, but guided Zhu Erniu's thoughts, "Why are you apologizing to them?"
Zhu Erniu answered innocently: "To stop them from making trouble."
Huo Chong shook his head. "What they want is to destroy your workshop and stop you from making wine. Wouldn't compensation be enough?"
Zhu Erniu was stunned. After a while, he replied in confusion: "Brother Huo, no way. We are all fellow villagers. I didn't steal their business."
"When we get out later, you can ask them what they want. Just ask them directly whether they are going to scold you and leave, or whether they never wanted you to brew wine in the first place. Remember this!"
Zhu Erniu looked embarrassed, but still nodded.
Huo Chong gave a few more instructions to the others, and led them out through the door. The people outside were surprised to see Huo Chong come out first, and quickly stepped back. One of them shouted, "We are looking for Zhu Erniu, Huo Chong, why are you interfering?"
Hearing these guys shouting like this, Huo Chong patted Zhu Erniu on the shoulder. Unexpectedly, this guy just took two steps forward and asked in a trembling voice: "What on earth do you want to do?"
The guy opposite, who was obviously Mr. Zhu's apprentice, shouted bluntly: "We don't want you to open a workshop!"
Zhu Erniu was stunned, and Huo Chong was also very surprised. He didn't expect the other party to be so straightforward and explain his purpose so clearly.
Zhu Erniu was flustered for a while, then mustered up the courage to ask, "Why?"
"You stole our wine yeast, isn't that enough?"
Huo Chong shouted, "If I took your yeast, why do the two wines taste different? Do you still have any shame?"
I thought I could use this reason to retort the other party, but I didn't expect the other party to immediately shout: "Why is the taste different? Let's ask someone to taste it and see if it tastes the same."
This should have been what Huo Chong said, but when he heard it from the other party, Huo Chong couldn't help but feel a little frightened. Unexpectedly, Zhu Erniu thought this was an opportunity and shouted loudly: "Hit! Let's find someone to taste it!"
Huo Chong wanted to stop him, but he didn't say anything in the end. Since Uncle Zhu had made preparations, at least he would see who he had found. Huo Chong had already chosen a side, so the only thing left was to see how many people chose Uncle Zhu.
After the two sides talked to this point, several people Huo Chong had seen appeared there soon. Either he had seen them when he learned that his senior brother Li Xiunian was in trouble, or he had seen them when he was arranged in the main hall on the day when Master Liu Shu officially announced that he would hand over the position to Huo Chong.
They are all well-known figures in the nearby villages.
Uncle Zhu also appeared at this time, and his apprentices moved a seat for him and for several other people. Several people sat there, and the people they brought stood behind them.
Compared to Huo Chong's five men, the other side had ten times more people. Many of them were holding weapons, and they all looked unfriendly. It was unclear whether they were going to fight now or later.
Zhu Erniu was frightened by the huge disparity in the number of people. He was about to fetch some wine, but he trembled a little. He stayed close to Huo Chong and dared not move.
During the confrontation, someone suddenly shouted from afar: "Big Brother, something happened!"
Huo Chong turned his head and saw a few people who looked very embarrassed running towards him from a distance. Leading them was his third junior brother Li Tieniu.
