The Golden Age - Chapter 98: Not My Rule
Qin Xiao didn’t expect the White Tiger Battalion to have a special stone like this.
“The Tiger Stone was said to be placed there under the Marquess’ orders when the campground was built,” continued Guo Wang, “I heard that at that time, three strong men were used to move it. On the first day the battalion was set up, the Marquess said that whoever is able to pick that stone up, no matter the body size, that person could become one of the eight hundred cavalry immediately.”
“Just pick it up?”
“No, I heard that it has to be picked up several times. Once is not enough.” Guo Wang quickly shook his head and apologized, “But I don’t know how many times is needed either. All I know is that after that stone was placed there, no one has ever managed to lift it.” Just as he finished speaking, his face suddenly changed. Qin Xiao turned around and found Sergeant He standing not too far away looking at them coldly.
Qin Xiao originally thought that since he was brought here by Yuwen Chengchao, he could get some special rights in the battalion. He never expected himself to be working in the feed mill.
Although he had only been here for less than a day, he felt very uncomfortable.
It wasn’t because the job was too hard.
“Too hard” was never in Qin Xiao’s dictionary. He had the dedication and strength to face up against anything in his way. He just didn’t like the surroundings of the feed mill very much.
Even when he was still at the Manor of the Governor, although he was just in charge of Jia Prison, he felt very free. And his friends in the yamen were all very nice to him as well. Plus Meng Zimo’s care, he felt like life was great back there.
But this tiny horse feed mill, although there weren’t many people here, some acted like they were the boss of the world.
Maybe it was because Sergeant He had to bow down to everyone else out there, so he used this feed mill to show his superiority.
At this moment, while he stood there staring at Qin Xiao, it made Qin Xiao feel like he was a manager watching slaves work. He didn’t like the feeling.
“You just came here for one day and you’re thinking about the Tiger Stone?” Sergeant He obviously heard their conversation as he walked over and looked at Qin Xiao, “If you can pick up that Tiger Stone, I’ll eat this whole basket of horse feed.”
Qin Xiao smiled, “Please stop joking.”
“I’m not joking,” Sergeant He said with a cold face, “Wang Xiao, I’m going to be honest with you, give up that thought.” He pointed towards the battalion flag, “The Tiger Stone is there, if you can pick that thing thirty times, you can automatically become a cavalry and you don’t have to work in this feed mill anymore. Whenever you want to do so, just go. There are rules in the camp, as long as anyone wants to pick it up, no one will dare to stop you. But you have to remember, if you can’t lift that rock up, you’ll be humiliated by the whole battalion and people will even laugh at our feed mill.”
Qin Xiao laughed in his head. Isn’t this feed mill already a place to be laughed at?
He wasn’t saying that the people working in the feed mill were inferior to everyone else, it was just a fact that no one really cared about this place. But Sergeant He made it sound like this place was very important, how hilarious.
“Are you going to give it a shot?” Sergeant He was still pointing at the battalion flag.
Qin Xiao just smiled and didn’t speak.
“If you can’t lift that, then just do your job,” said Sergeant He coldly, “Wang Xiao, there are military rules and also feed mill rules. You better know your position here. If you break any rules, you won’t get away easily.”
Guo Wang lowered his head and nodded for Qin Xiao. Sergeant He gave a cold sneer and left with his hands behind his back.
Guo Wang didn’t dare to say anything anymore as he concentrated on chopping the hay.
Although Qin Xiao didn’t care about Sergeant He, he didn’t want Guo Wang to be in this as well because of him.
Guo Wang didn’t dare to speak, but every time he went to empty the basket of chopped hay, he would help Qin Xiao empty his as well.
Soon, it was midnight. Qin Xiao stretched his body and asked Guo Wang, “Brother Guo, where is the latrine[1]?”
Guo Wang quickly pointed in a direction. “Go out, turn to the right, and walk for a little while. Then you’ll see the little hut, that’s the latrine.”
The entire battalion was already very quiet. Other than a few soldiers on night duty, everyone else was pretty much asleep.
The rooms in the feed mill were all pitch black as well.
Qin Xiao got up and stretched his body again. After a whole day of cutting hay, his arms felt a little sore and his buttocks even hurt a little. He wondered how the other workers at the feed mill could do this all day long for years.
After leaving the feed mill, he followed where Guo Wang pointed and after walking for a bit, he did see the latrine. Before he even got near, a stinky smell suddenly came out of it.
People in the battalion were all men and this latrine was used every day. Of course it wouldn’t smell good.
After he walked in front of it, it felt as if he couldn’t bear the smell anymore. He looked back and suddenly saw a few black figures not too far away. They also seemed to be coming towards this latrine.
In the beginning, he didn’t really care at all. After all, it was normal for people to use the latrine. It was just what they did after that that made Qin Xiao confused.
When he turned his head, those figures stopped moving and one of them even lay on the ground as if they were worried.
Qin Xiao frowned and immediately knew what was going on. He quickly walked into the small hay hut.
Seeing that Qin Xiao went in, the black figures sped up their pace and almost dashed towards the hut. The one in front had a square face. It was none other than Geng Hong who just got beat by Qin Xiao in the morning. Behind him were three men each holding a wooden stick.
Geng Hong held his stick in both hands and raised it high as he arrived at the door.
Soon, a figure came out from inside the small hut. Before he even stepped out, Geng Hong had already let out a yell and smashed down with his wooden stick in hand. Just as he was about to hit the figure, it suddenly reached out a hand and held onto the stick tightly. Before Geng Hong even realized what was going on, his whole person was pulled into the latrine.
The other three were all taken back. One of them reacted fast and yelled, “Shit”, and also rushed in to help.
The remaining two looked at each other, but before they even went in, there were already voices from inside, “Help! Help!
“It’s from Brother Hong!” One of the two said as he lost his voice. Before he could say anymore, Qin Xiao had already walked out. He quickly yelled and also hit towards Qin Xiao’s head. But before the stick landed, he suddenly felt a sudden pain in his stomach.
The person felt as if all his organs were smashed into pieces. His hand instantly let go of the stick and fainted.
Qin Xiao caught his stick and immediately pointed towards the last man standing.
The man looked at Qin Xiao staring at him and immediately dropped his stick. He forced out a smile. “Ah, so it’s Brother Wang… We… we didn’t know it was you!”
Qin Xiao also recognized that this man was one of the workers at the feed mill.
Yells of pain constantly came out from the latrine hut and were heard by some nearby patrol soldiers. Some of them rushed over and asked, “Who? What’s going on?” After seeing the stick in Qin Xiao’s hand and a person on the ground yelling in pain, the leader of the patrol group immediately pulled out his sword.
Qin Xiao turned around and found the patrol guard looking at him coldly. He just smiled and pointed towards the hut. “Someone fell into the cesspit. I’m using the stick to get them out.”
“Fell into the cesspit?” The patrol guard was surprised.
At this moment, someone else also rushed over. Before the person even arrived, he had already bowed down slightly and apologized, “Sorry, sorry, there are no intruders, it’s my problem, I’ll deal with it.” It was Sergeant He.
There were still people in the hut yelling for help. Sergeant He yelled at Qin Xiao and the other man, “What are you guys waiting for? Go help them!”
Qin Xiao handed the stick to the worker and said, “I’m weak. They are too heavy so I can’t pull them up. You can go.”
The worker didn’t object. He took the stick, held his nose, and rushed in.
Soon after, the worker came out, ran a few steps, and started vomiting. Behind him came out two more people. A gross smell covered both of them. Everyone else immediately took a few steps back and distanced themselves from these two.
Geng Hong and the soldier who rushed in were covered in piss and shit. There were also black marks on their faces.
The patrols held his nose and the leader asked, “These are you men?”
“Yes… yes…” Sergeant He bowed down and apologized again, “Sorry for the disturbance, sorry.”
“Quick, take them away.” With that, the patrols quickly left.
Sergeant He waited for the patrol team to leave and then looked at Geng Hong. He held his nose and then looked at Qin Xiao, “You did this?”
“Sergeant, you should ask them. Why did they come to the latrine at this hour?” Qin Xiao replied while also holding his nose.
“What’s wrong about using the latrine?”
“Of course it’s very normal for four people to be coming in at the same time,” replied Qin Xiao, “But why are they carrying sticks? Is there a rule in the feed mill that we must bring sticks with us to the latrine?”
Geng Hong was trembling as he pointed towards Qin Xiao, “Sergeant, it’s him! He ambushed us in the latrine! He hit me in the morning and brought me more trouble at night. You must punish him!”
“Sergeant, he’s here ambushing us!” The person on the side immediately agreed. “This person just came here and on the first day, he did such a thing. You can only imagine what kinds of things he will do in the future!”
“Did you hear that?” Sergeant He sneered at Qin Xiao, “If one person says it’s your fault, then you might be clean. But if everyone says it’s your fault, then it must be your fault.”
Qin Xiao stared at Sergeant He’s eyes as his face sank.
These people who came to attack him must be well prepared. Otherwise, at this time of the day, they should have long been asleep.
He didn’t know whether Sergeant He knew this in advance, but looking at him standing up for Geng Hong, he felt very angry.
He knew very well that Sergeant He and everyone else in the feed mill was already treating him as an enemy. If he continued to stay in the feed mill, these kinds of things would just happen more and more often.
If Qin Xiao was like Guo Wang, then he could only lower his head and be bullied.
Unfortunately, he was not.
Qin Xiao treated people very nicely on normal days. But ever since he knew what was right and wrong, he had never allowed anyone to insult him.
“If it’s my fault, how will you punish me?” Qin Xiao asked while staring at Sergeant He.
Sergeant He replied coldly, “Tomorrow, you won’t be able to eat either. And you must work until midnight tomorrow as well with no breaks in the middle.” He thought about it and then continued, “There are rules in the feed mill. You will also receive ten whips.”
Qin Xiao sighed. “I haven’t eaten anything for a whole day today. If I continue to starve tomorrow, I won’t have enough strength to work. By then, you’ll find more excuses for me to starve. I’m afraid I’ll starve to death with you here. Your rules are not my rules. My rules are simple, if I don’t agree, don’t even think about touching me.”
“Wang Xiao, do you know who you are?” Sergeant He sneered, “This is the White Tiger Battalion, and you are a worker in the feed mill. If you don’t do as I say, that’s disobeying an order. This is a battalion, do you know what disobeying means?”
Qin Xiao smiled and ignored him. He turned and left.
“Stop! Where are you going?” Seeing that Qin Xiao didn’t take himself seriously at all, Sergeant He was very angry, “Stop right there!”
“Isn’t there a stone?” Qin Xiao didn’t look back. “I’ll go check how heavy it is. Sergeant He, I can’t stay in the feed mill anymore. I’m going to find another place.”
Sergeant He opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.Â
“Stone? What stone?” Geng Hong asked on the side.
“The Tiger Stone!” Sergeant He looked coldly at Qin Xiao’s back. “This kid’s crazy, he’s going for the Tiger Stone!”
Edited by: EyljeeÂ