Painful Parting, Never to Meet Again 1 Entering the Thieves' World is Like Falling i

However, Shi Qian underestimated Song Jiang. In fact, Song Jiang was not angry at all. On the contrary, he greatly admired Jiu Wan's humble yet assertive attitude, his responsible and dependable character, and his ability to get things done.

Shi Qian was no less impressive. Their brotherhood was something Song Jiang highly praised and admired, far superior to those who were only superficially brothers but betrayed their brothers in the back.

Seeing Jiuwan questioning Song Jiang, Wu Song couldn't help but say, "This is the famous Song Jiang, Brother Song Gongming. Since he said so, you're definitely alright." It was only because Wu Song appreciated their friendship that he spoke up; otherwise, he wouldn't have said anything and would have just beaten him up!

At this point, Wu Song's personal worship of Song Jiang was genuine and had reached its peak. Whether it was his personal charm or his character, Wu Song really felt that Song Jiang was just to his liking, except that his martial arts skills were slightly lacking.

But what does it matter? With him by his side, who would dare to cause trouble! Wu Song believed that this brother, who wasn't his biological brother, was far more capable than his own brother. It seemed there was nothing in the world he couldn't do. His calm personality, composed demeanor, and the air of someone who seemed to have everything under control made everything seem so effortless to him. This made Wu Song genuinely want to follow this brother and achieve great things together.

Shi Qian exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be Brother Song Jiang, known in the martial arts world as Timely Rain? I have long admired your name, please accept my bow." He then knelt down on the ground.

Jiuwan also bowed and said, "So it's Brother Song Jiang. Please accept my bow as well."

Sometimes society is just that realistic. If you have fame and prestige, many people will admire and worship you, even bowing down to you upon seeing you, even if you're not a great person, your reputation still matters. But conversely, if you're an unknown person, no matter how skilled you are or how good you are, no one will pay you any attention, let alone bow down to you upon seeing you.

Song Jiang helped the two up and said, "If you trust Song Jiang, tell me the whole story. There is a treasure land in Yuncheng County called Liangshanbo. Many brothers are willing to go with me there. I guarantee that all the brothers can realize their lifelong ideals and ambitions there."

The two men stood up and thanked Song Jiang gratefully, believing him simply because it was Song Jiang.

Song Jiang laughed and said, "To be honest, the Eight Treasures Box and the luminous pearl are just common objects to me. What I value more are the skills of the two of you. If I really wanted to capture the Ninety Thousand Brothers, I wouldn't have sent only a few people here."

He paused and then said, "But this theft of the treasure definitely needs to be resolved, otherwise it will implicate a large number of people. The imperial treasure definitely needs to be returned, but Brother Jiuwan, I will definitely not let anything happen to you. I will keep my word. I just hope you can tell me what happened so that we can solve the problem."

In fact, Song Jiang was not exaggerating when he said that a large number of people would be implicated. If they couldn't be found, Shi Wenbin would definitely suffer. Since he had taken on this task, he would definitely follow in Shi Wenbin's footsteps. The prefect of Jizhou would also be affected, not to mention the others.

These words actually reflect Song Jiang's true thoughts. In his view, what is most needed now is talent. There is no need to elaborate on how outstanding Shi Qian is. He can not only go deep behind enemy lines to investigate enemy situations, but also secretly set fires and cause sabotage. In the original work, Shi Qian truly made many contributions to Liangshan. It was only because of his poor background that he was ranked second to last, while the last place was Duan Jingzhu, who also made a living by stealing.

It was just a matter of stealing a horse and stealing money. In Song Jiang's view, heroes don't care about their background. As long as they sincerely follow him and don't have major blemishes on their character, it's not a problem!

Moreover, Shi Qian wasn't inherently a heinous villain; a poem once praised him: "He who steals a country becomes a prince, he who steals a hook becomes a thief. The world is in chaos, and the common people have no one to turn to." As for mundane objects like luminous pearls, even if they were priceless treasures, in Song Jiang's eyes, they couldn't compare to the sincere service of a talented person. Unless it was a divine weapon, Song Jiang might not even consider it; otherwise, he wouldn't even think about it! Even if it were praised to the heavens, it would still just be a pearl, of little use or significance to him.

What's more, there are actually two talented people right now. In addition to getting Shi Qian, we can also get Jiu Wan, who is no less capable than Shi Qian.

Song Jiang had never heard of Jiuwan before, nor had he appeared since Shi Qian joined Liangshan. There were only two possibilities: first, he was already dead, possibly silenced after being implicated in the theft; second, Shi Qian himself was unhappy at Liangshan and was embarrassed to ask his junior brother to join. Of course, since he himself had appeared, neither possibility could have occurred!

When Song Jiang heard Jiu Wan's name at the tea stall, he had the idea of ​​recruiting him. He didn't expect that Shi Qian would also follow him. This was a complete surprise. In order to prevent things from getting out of control, he deliberately did not call Yang Zhi and Zhu Tong to come. He was afraid that Yang Zhi would be eager to make merit and would arrest the two of them on the spot to interrogate them about the whereabouts of the imperial treasure and then hand them over to the government.

It's important to understand that Yang Zhi was only a partner at this point. If Yang Zhi insisted on this, Song Jiang couldn't afford to make things too ugly with him! As for Zhu Tong, Song Jiang didn't want to put him in a difficult position or force him to go against his principles. He didn't want Zhu Tong to know that he had released the thieves, as this would inevitably create resentment in Zhu Tong's heart, so he didn't bring him along either!

At this point, Jiuwan knew that Song Jiang wasn't lying; otherwise, there would have been dozens of people. He trusted Song Jiang completely and no longer hesitated. He picked up a bamboo tube, gulped down a large amount of water, and then began to tell his story.

Jiuwan originally had a very happy family. They lived in Baihe Village outside Qinghe County. His parents made a living by farming, and with his two siblings, they were not rich, but they had enough to eat and wear. In addition, his parents were very loving, and the family lived in harmony and enjoyed family happiness. Such a life was the envy of many people.

Of course, even God couldn't bear to see such a happy life. As the saying goes, "The weather is unpredictable, and fortune can change in an instant."

When Jiuwan was six years old, one night, his father suddenly clutched his heart in pain. His mother panicked, but his eldest sister reacted quickly and was about to call a doctor. However, just as she reached the door, her father suddenly collapsed to the ground and never woke up again.

The government sent a coroner, who, after examination, determined that the cause of death was heart disease, or in modern terms, sudden death caused by a heart attack.

Father is gone, leaving behind his boundless love for this world and his reluctance to leave his family. The family has lost its pillar of support, and their once happy life has plummeted from heaven to hell.

After their father passed away, their mother spent her days in tears, and their older and younger sisters were also depressed. Six-year-old Jiuwan knew that he would be the only man in the family from now on. The young boy went to his mother to comfort her. Although his pain was no less than his mother's, someone had to cheer him up at this time.

Looking at her sensible son, the mother hugged Jiuwan and burst into tears, and Qin Jiu also cried bitterly.

Although Jiuwan was sensible, he was still very young, so the burden of life fell entirely on his mother's shoulders. His eldest sister was only eight years old, but she took care of all the housework and cooking. Jiuwan couldn't bear to let his sister work so hard alone, and his younger sister was too young, so Jiuwan went to the mountains to collect firewood every day. The neighbors, seeing how strong he was at such a young age, would often help him with firewood, and occasionally share some rabbits and pheasants they hunted with him. Although life was hard for the four of them, their harmony and happiness remained unchanged.

As the three siblings grew older, life became increasingly difficult for the family. After all, their appetites were increasing day by day. The older sister planned to go to the county to see if she could find a job, but at fourteen years old, she had never learned needlework and was not from a well-educated family. Finding a job was not easy, and even becoming a maid in a wealthy household was just a pipe dream.

Jiuwan was only twelve years old at the time, and he was growing rapidly with a large appetite. There was never any extra food in his daily rations, and he would often get hungry again an hour or two after eating. Afraid of worrying his mother, he could only grit his teeth and keep drinking cold water.

Not wanting to burden his mother too much, and also so that his sisters could eat more, he decided to leave home.

One night, he quietly left, leaving his mother only one sentence: "I'm leaving. Wait for me to come back."

He had a rosy view of the outside world. He had been out for two days and had only eaten two steamed buns. Now he was walking down the street, starving.

In the past two days, he asked around at several places, including rice shops, teahouses, restaurants, and blacksmith shops, but none of them wanted him as an apprentice. After all, he looked thin and small, which was seriously inconsistent with his age. He didn't seem like someone who could do physical labor. Moreover, at his age, he ate a lot but did little, so they were even less likely to hire him. The restaurant owner took pity on him and gave him two steamed buns before letting him leave.

He wandered aimlessly, unsure of where to go. Should he go home? That would only be a burden on his family. Should he look for work? Nobody wanted him. He truly didn't know what to do.

A delicious aroma wafted into his nostrils. He was already hungry, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath. It smelled so good.

He had never smelled such a fragrant aroma before. He followed the scent and found a spring roll stall at the entrance of the alley ahead, where a crowd of people had already gathered to buy them.

The smell was so enticing that people kept coming over. Even though Jiuwan had no money, he couldn't resist going over too, and his mouth watered uncontrollably.

Spring rolls aren't expensive, five copper coins is only five copper coins each, but for Jiuwan, he couldn't afford a single coin right now. Looking at the crowded stall, he had an idea. He walked up to a fat man who was leaning forward. The fat man didn't notice anything, but Jiuwan suddenly had an extra string of coins, about forty copper coins. He squeezed into the crowded throng again, and when he came out, he had a spring roll in his hand.

Jiuwan, holding the spring roll, hurriedly left the crowd, found a step to sit down, and took a bite out of half of it. He swallowed it without even chewing it properly, feeling that it was a delicious treat he had never tasted before. He took another bite, this time savoring it carefully. It was fragrant, crispy, and crunchy. He wasn't a connoisseur of fine food, but this spring roll was truly delicious.

He was still licking his fingers, savoring the spring roll, when he finished eating it, unaware that someone was approaching from behind.

A hand pressed down on him, and Qin Jiu reacted by rolling on the ground to dodge. He saw a short person looking at him. The person looked to be in his forties and had an extremely ordinary appearance. He was the kind of person you would see once and then completely forget.

The middle-aged man coughed, then smiled and praised, "Not bad, a quick reaction."

Jiuwan looked at him cautiously, without saying a word.

The middle-aged man seemed to have lung problems, as he kept coughing. Between coughs, he said, "The technique is not bad, but it's too slow and too obvious. If that fat man hadn't been pushing and shoving through the crowd, you wouldn't have been able to steal his money. And you could have taken three spring rolls, but you only took one. You're really stupid, stupid, stupid."

Unexpectedly, Jiuwan was frightened that his actions had been witnessed by the middle-aged man. He took a few steps back, turned around and ran away, while the middle-aged man laughed unrestrainedly behind him.

As Jiuwan turned a corner, he saw a middle-aged man standing in front of him, smiling at him. Feeling a little nervous, he immediately ran back, only to find the man standing in front of him again.

This is really strange. Jiuwan stopped running and asked breathlessly, "You, you, what, do you want? Are you, are you going to take me to see, to the officials?"

The middle-aged man sneered, "What's an official anyway? I'm the kind of person who goes against officials."

After catching his breath, Jiuwan asked, "What exactly do you want?"

The middle-aged man laughed and said, "It's such a waste that someone with your physique and talent isn't a thief. How about you become my apprentice? I can make an exception and accept you as my disciple."

Jiuwan shook his head and said, "If I weren't starving, why would I do such a despicable thing? To become your apprentice and make a living by stealing would be despicable and a disgrace to my ancestors."

The middle-aged man retorted, "Bullshit! Stealing is stealing. Your words are pure nonsense. Tell me, what does stealing have to do with being hungry? According to you, as long as you give yourself a suitable reason, you can do despicable things? Is that so?"

Jiuwan was speechless after hearing these words, so he simply remained silent in response to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Fine, since you're unwilling, then forget it. It's a pity to waste such talent; it would be a shame if you didn't become a thief." After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.

Jiuwan hurriedly called out, "Please wait a moment."

The middle-aged man turned around and said, "What? Have you changed your mind?"

Jiuwan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I am willing to become your disciple." After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed three times.

The middle-aged man said happily, "That's more like it! But you sounded so determined just now, how come you changed your mind so quickly?"

Jiuwan said, "You're right, we're starving, why worry about anything else!"

Actually, Jiuwan didn't want to acknowledge a thief as his master. However, his words earlier, "Stealing is stealing, what does it have to do with being hungry?" provoked Jiuwan. In addition, he himself couldn't even afford to eat, so he had no mind to care about anything else.

He thought to himself that if he mastered the art, he would only steal from the rich and heartless, and he would also share some of the stolen goods with the poor.