Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 58: Fall
Wu Chengjian was in Beijing, feeling like a lost dog.
That day, a dozen people suddenly came and drove him out of the Guangdong Guild Hall without any investigation. The leading official revealed a little about his background, and the manager and waiters of the guild hall dared not even breathe. All the people brought by Wu Chengjian were expelled from the city, leaving only Wu Chengjian alone in the city.
Wu Qi was furious but helpless outside Yongding Gate. Haoguan was not there, and Tietou Junba was nowhere to be found. He did not dare to leave his master, so he found a family to stay with outside Yongding Gate, and then sent someone to Guangzhou to report the news while trying to get in touch with Haoguan again. However, he had no roots in Beijing and was being watched. Looking at the towering city walls, he could only sigh helplessly.
In Beijing, in an alley, a figure scurried out, being chased, beaten and scolded by several servants. The man was holding half a dirty steamed bun in his hand. The servants laughed and scolded: "Damn you, how dare you steal things under the eaves? That's what my master feeds the dog, what can you do with it!"
The servants kicked and hit the man's hands that were holding the steamed bun. Half a steamed bun was worth nothing. These servants were just mistreating him.
The passers-by had indifferent expressions, some stopped to look, some glanced and continued walking, but there was a group of people returning from the city running on the road. This group of people was leading Huang Qingcang, probably some relative who was returning from hunting in the suburbs.
Everyone hurriedly retreated, and the man took the opportunity to stuff half a steamed bun into his mouth, swallowing it without taking a bite. Because he didn't retreat, he bumped into the nobleman's mount. The man dodged in time and was lucky enough not to be trampled by the horse's hoof, but the nobleman's mount almost stood up, and the whole team was in chaos. The servants hurriedly calmed the horses, and the nobleman was furious, whipped the man on the ground with a whip, and then left angrily - such a beggar was not worth him staying to deal with, and just pointed at someone in the team.
The person who was pointed out took a few people out of the team. He knew that he was pointed out to deal with this matter, so he immediately shouted, "What's going on? Who brought these beggars here to get in the way?"
The servants who were chasing the beggar recognized the noble status of this group of people and retreated in fear. The beggar looked up blankly. His body was in tatters and his face was dirty, but the man on the horse recognized him and was surprised: "Oh! Wu Chengjian, is that you?"
The beggar raised his head and recognized that the knight on the horse was Guangxing. He immediately lowered his head and tried to leave, but was stopped.
Guangxing looked around: "What's going on? What's going on? What on earth is going on?"
Someone pointed at the servants who were chasing and beating the beggars and said, "They are the ones who drove the beggars out of the alley."
Guangxing pointed his whip at the servants and the beggar, and asked, "What's going on?"
The servants saw that they could not push him away - if the monk could run away, couldn't he? Moreover, his master's mansion was nearby, so they could not escape. They had no choice but to step forward and said, "Sir, this beggar stole something."
"Stealing things? What did he steal?" Guangxing couldn't help but feel curious. If it was any other beggar, he would just whip him a few times so that people would see him and then turn around to report to the nobleman. But since this beggar was Wu Chengjian, he had to ask him something.
"The leftovers we threw to the dog in front of the door were stolen by this beggar."
"Ah? What to steal?" Guangxing could hardly believe his ears.
"Leftovers from the dog's meal, half a steamed bun."
Guangxing looked down at Wu Chengjian's appearance, and suddenly burst into laughter. He pointed his whip at the people around him and said, "Stealing steamed bread? Or the leftovers of a dog? Do you know who this person is?"
People around him said, "Isn't this just a beggar?"
Guangxing laughed loudly: "Beggar? Haha, let me tell you, this is a famous tycoon in Guangzhou City, the richest man in the south, and the wealth in his family is comparable to that of the princes in Beijing City."
He was laughing, and the people around him had to laugh along. The people watching the fun all thought it was funny, and they all thought that this gentleman on horseback was really boastful. Where in the world could there be such a miserable rich man? And he was comparing himself with a prince? Even boasting was not like that.
The beggar lowered his head and just wanted to leave, but he was stopped.
Guangxing leaned down slightly and said, "Lift his head up. I want to take a closer look."
Then a servant used a whip to prop up the beggar's chin . Guangxing took another closer look and said with a smile, "So I was right. Haoguan, I heard that you were kicked out of the Guangdong Guild Hall, but are you that hungry? You're actually snatching steamed bread from a dog."
This beggar was indeed Wu Chengjian. He turned his head away and said nothing, but his stomach suddenly growled.
Guangxing laughed and said, "We are old friends, I can't just stand by and watch him die, oh no, I can't just stand by and watch him starve." He turned around and asked, "Haoguan likes to snatch food from dogs, do we have any dog food here?"
Then a servant said, "There is still half a meat pie that was left over by Lord Beile's pet dog."
"Oh, this is good stuff." Some people in Sichuan and Shaanxi were so hungry that they rebelled, but the dogs in the old city could still eat meat patties. Guangxing took it, bent down, and handed it to Wu Chengjian.
Wu Chengjian hesitated and endured, but his eyes couldn't help but shine when he looked at the dog food. Finally, he slowly stretched out his hand. Guangxing suddenly threw the dog meat on the ground and shouted, "Ouch, I missed it. It's dirty. What should I do? Is there any more?"
The attendant said, "No more, sir. What shall we do?"
Guangxing said: "Haoguan, what should we do?"
Wu Chengjian panted heavily, suddenly picked up the meat pie from the ground, ran to the corner of the roadside wall, and started to eat it behind his back. As he ate, two lines of tears flowed down his cheeks.
The people around couldn't help but sigh when they saw this. They didn't believe that this beggar could be a rich man, but they thought that he must have some background to make this old man so mean.
Guangxing laughed loudly, and with a bit of condescending pity, he said, "Alright, alright, don't eat so fast, no one will snatch it from you. Alas, one of the richest men in Guangzhou has fallen to this point, which really makes people feel deeply moved."
Pointing at the servants around him, he said, "Don't beat him anymore. It's sad to see."
The servants responded, "Yes, we will obey you."
Guangxing smiled at Wu Chengjian and said, "If you can't find food in the future, you can come to my house. My dog has a small appetite, so there is always a lot of dog food left."
The people around burst into laughter.
Guangxing also smiled and walked away.
He went to report to the nobleman. Originally, his mount was bumped by a beggar, and he was just going to whip him twice to vent his anger. Who would have thought that the beggar was actually a wealthy man from Guangzhou, and a wealthy man whose name had entered the eyes of the nobleman in the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Naturally, people were curious and couldn't help asking a few questions, "How did that man fall into such a state of poverty?"
After further inquiries, I found out that the man's family had not fallen into poverty, at least not yet.
"The family hasn't fallen on hard times yet, so how could it become like this?"
Then it turned into a whisper, the person speaking it very softly, but the person listening suddenly understood.
A wealthy man who had not yet gone bankrupt was so hungry that he had to compete with dogs for food in the capital. This legendary thing spread to all the relatives and friends in West City in less than half a day.
Someone also reported the matter to Liu Quan, but Liu Quan just smiled and ignored it.
After Wu Chengjian ate the meat pie that the dog had left behind, he wandered into the alleys and headed towards the south city. He had been to the capital when he was young, and the city had not changed much over the years, so although he was alone and trapped, he was not lost.
Along the way, there were always two pairs of eyes staring at him secretly. As he walked further and further away, the two people staring at him became impatient and simply followed him openly - the capital city is so big, even if Wu Chengjian had his personal belongings taken away and his followers driven away, he would not have fallen to this point. It was because there were these people taking turns to follow him day and night that forced all those who knew him, heard of him, and pitied him to not dare to step forward, so that Wu Chengjian could not even get a bite to eat.
He walked to the corner and came to a dilapidated temple that had been in disrepair for many years. It was full of beggars. Most of the roof of the temple had collapsed, and the smell of feces and urine was everywhere. The two people who followed him covered their noses and did not go in. They were not in a hurry - Wu Chengjian had been staying here at night these days and nothing had happened.
Even in a dilapidated temple, the location is divided into good and bad. Those places with roofs have been occupied. Wu Chengjian came to the half-dead old locust tree outside the wall, bent his body, as if sleeping. It is said that locust trees attract ghosts, especially recently this locust tree has been doing some weird things, so the beggars are reluctant to get close.
It was already dark, and some of the beggars were asleep, while others were gathered together and making noises, bragging or doing something else. Seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, Wu Chengjian scratched his throat, silently vomited everything in his stomach into the bushes, and then moved to another position.
Something rolled out from the darkness, tightly wrapped in a lotus leaf. Wu Chengjian grabbed it in his hand, tore open a little bit of the lotus leaf, trying his best to prevent the fragrance from spreading, and ate what was in the lotus leaf bit by bit.
At this time, the voices of the beggars suddenly became louder. Five or six people who had begged for something started to gamble for money. The stakes were not much, but the beggars gambled with great enthusiasm .
In the bushes, Ironhead Junba's voice came over the noise: "Officer Hao, I'm sorry."
Wu Chengjian said nothing, just remained silent.
"He Shen has gone too far." Tie Tou Jun Ba said, "As the saying goes, killing people is not enough!"
Although Wu Chengjian's status and position could not be compared with Heshen's, he was also a well-known figure in the business world. However, Heshen forced him to the point of competing with dogs for food, which was to completely deprive Wu Chengjian of his dignity.
"Killing me with one knife is too easy..." Wu Chengjian whispered, "Of course, he has to humiliate me enough, and then he will deal with me when it's time."
In the bushes, Tietou Junba was slightly surprised. He originally thought that Heshen's purpose was only to humiliate him, but after hearing what Haoguan said, his life would still be in danger after the humiliation?
"Officer Hao, why don't we go? I'll escort you out of the city tomorrow." He was confident that he could deal with the two stalkers. The capital was not under martial law yet, so as long as he could deal with them, it would not be difficult to get out of the city.
Wu Chengjian raised the corner of his mouth slightly. Although Tietou Junba secretly provided him with food, he still consciously went on a diet during this period. He had lost a lot of weight due to hunger and hadn't taken a shower for half a month. He was covered in dust and dirt. But with this raise of his mouth, with the residual light of the fire in the ruined temple, Tietou Junba seemed to see the projection of the Third Young Master dominating Xiguan Street.
"If I want to leave, I won't leave now..." Wu Chengjian looked up at the moon. The moon in Beijing should be the same as the moon in Guangzhou. The people at home should be safe for the time being... As long as they are safe, all the suffering he has endured will not be in vain.
"Didn't Guangxing invite me to his house to eat dog food? If I don't go, I'll be sorry for him, and even more sorry for He Zhongtang!"
Wu Chengjian rolled up the remaining lotus leaves and threw them back into the grass.
