PFC Chapter 259 Grand Gathering 3
Chapter 259 Grand Gathering 3
"Hey girl, what are you selling?" A burly man selling odds and ends bottles and jars looked curiously at Cheng Jiu's stall.
"Hey Cook, why are you so curious? What's it to you? Girl, I'm telling you, don't pay any attention to him, he's no good!"
A lean man on the other side, who was also selling miscellaneous bottles and jars, warned Cheng Jiu.
"Hey! Hey Qiao Lai, are you on your meds? What's wrong with me asking you a question? Are you a good person?"
Cheng Jiu sat in the middle, listening to the two people on either side start arguing over a disagreement. The argument grew more and more heated, and they seemed to want to drag out each other's ancestors for eighteen generations to curse them.
During their argument, Cheng Jiu roughly understood why no one was sitting there.
These two guys were good friends from the same mercenary group and had a very close relationship.
During a mission, Jolay was seriously injured while serving Cook. In a mercenary group like this, a seriously injured person is considered useless trash and is to be abandoned.
Joley had originally thought that Cook would say a few words for him, at least not leave him all alone in the forest.
But Cook didn't say a word and left with the mercenary group.
Jolai was left alone in the desolate wilderness, living in constant fear of being eaten. The mercenary group had left him no supplies, leaving him only to watch his death unfold.
Fortunately, he survived and encountered a lost mercenary caravan. The caravan found Jolai and, coincidentally, needed a local to lead them out of the forest, so they spent a lot of money to heal Jolai.
Jolai led the caravan out of the forest. Yes, in gratitude to Jolai, not only did they not charge him for the treatment, but they also gave him a sum of money to live on.
But the injury was so severe that Jolai almost lost the ability to do missions again, and could only make a living by doing small business in the city.
It was karma, really. That mercenary group abandoned Jolai to complete a mission, but they encountered an accident, and the entire team went missing.
Logically, the matter should have ended there, but the subsequent developments were like a wild horse, leaving Cheng Jiu completely dumbfounded.
In mercenary groups like this, the lowest-ranking mercenaries receive almost no money. Cook and Jolai, while not at the very bottom, are about the same.
During the years Cook was missing, the money he left for his family was almost gone. The two families lived close by, and Cook's wife had no idea that the two had fallen out. She only knew that Joley was her husband's good friend.
Joley was quite kind; during the years Cook wasn't back, she took good care of his widow and son, which allowed the couple, who had lost their income, to survive.
Over time, the bachelor and the widow developed feelings for each other, got married, and had children. Cook's children also called Joley his father.
Who could have imagined that Cook would actually return alive seven years later, only to find his home gone? His wife and children were with someone else.
That person was his "former" best brother!
Cook was furious! The two started fighting on the spot. One of them had been seriously injured but had recovered a lot after years of recuperation, while the other had just escaped death. They were evenly matched.
The events were bizarre and sensational; there's no way around it, the details were truly extraordinary.
In the end, it was Jolai's wife who stepped forward and tearfully recounted all the hardships she had endured over the years.
Cook hasn't come back all these years, and she's had a hard time raising her child. There are countless examples of how terrible it is to lose a head of the family at the border. If it weren't for Jolai taking care of her, she would have given up long ago.
Cook knew this, of course, but he couldn't accept it. The reason he was able to stay alive and come back was because his wife and children were his only source of emotional support.
He finally returned from the brink of death, only to find that his wife and children had been taken away. How could he accept this?
In the end, he chose to forgive her because he understood his wife's choice, but he still took the child back.
The matter ended there, but the feud between the two was now firmly established.
Joley hated Cook for being ungrateful and abandoning him; he had almost died in that forest.
Cook harbors deep resentment towards Joley for taking away his wife and children.
Cook couldn't become a mercenary after returning from the forest. The two did the same business, but even if they bumped into each other while setting up their stalls, they would keep a great distance from each other.
Even if customers come, the two of them still have to attack and belittle each other, preferring to lose the business rather than let the other succeed!
Normally, the two would tacitly keep their stalls far apart from each other, but wasn't this a city fair? There were still empty seats for them to choose from, and by some twist of fate, the two ended up together again.
The vendor who was originally between them couldn't stand the two arguing across from him, and even started to physically assault them, so he took the initiative to leave.
Other vendors didn't want to get involved, so the large open space remained untouched.
Then Cheng Jiu, who was looking around for an empty spot, sat down and took it.
Looking at Cheng Jiu caught between two enemies, his colleagues around him felt very sorry for him, especially since Cheng Jiu didn't look particularly aggressive, which made him seem even more pitiful.
However, the parties involved clearly did not think so, as their argument attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
It has always been human nature to gossip, and this other world is no exception. All around are guests who are unaware of the inside story and have come to join in.
That's a huge flow of people!
Meanwhile, those on the left and right were so engrossed in their own grudges that they were oblivious to the world around them.
The argument escalated into a real fight.
The sword was drawn, and the hilt slammed down on the heads of the two men.
"Ouch!" The two instantly snapped back to reality, clutching their heads as they stared at Cheng Jiu, who wore a threatening smile.
"Can you please not use your hands?"
The two nodded obediently and sat back down in their seats. They noticed the customers gathering around them and began to solicit business.
For some reason, this girl felt really scared!
The two were still somewhat shaken, but dared not argue any further, and even implicated Cheng Jiu.
Once the excitement subsided, most of the customers left, but quite a few remained to inquire about the items Cheng Jiu was selling.
Products that can beautify and nourish the skin always sell very well, especially the one that Cheng Jiu brought out, which represents the sentiment of a celestial lord, so its effects are boundless.
Cheng Jiu's business opened smoothly.
While Buto and his group sold their wares at the market for a few days, Cheng Jiu also spent several days browsing the market. When he ran out of money, he would set up a stall to earn some cash. Because he didn't set up a stall all the time, and because it was very effective, every time Cheng Jiu set up a stall, he could attract a large number of customers.
Under Cheng Jiu's imposing presence, the guys on either side dared not make a fuss anymore, and for a moment, the situation was surprisingly calm and peaceful.
The merchants who had initially been watching Cheng Jiu's antics were now quite envious. Who could have imagined that things would turn out this way?