Chapter 465 Encountering Robbers on the Road
Today is April 4th, and tomorrow is Qingming Festival. After Yan Jiekuang had breakfast with the children in the morning, he drove on the road again and headed straight for Jijia Kiln. On the way, he stopped at a village supply and marketing cooperative and bought items for worship and some fruits, mainly apples, oranges and pears, and also bought some snacks for the children.

After two days of adjustment, the children were no longer shy around him, especially Chen Fang, who would run to the front co-pilot seat and talk to Yan Jiekuang whenever she had nothing to do. Chen Liang also became more lively, and would stare at Da Wang and Xiao Wang whenever he had nothing to do.

It was already afternoon when they arrived at Ji's kiln. Yan Jiekuang first drove the car to Ji Quan's house. He remembered that his family had been looking at the village, but when Yan Jiekuang climbed to the door of Ji Quan's house, the door was closed and locked. Yan Jiekuang looked inside through the wall. As soon as he saw the situation inside, he knew that Ji Quan's family had moved away for a long time, and the broken windows in the yard were gone.

Yan Jiekuang returned to the car and drove directly to Ji Lian's old house. He parked the car at the place he had been to before, but it was completely unrecognizable. The house walls and gates were gone, and there were piles of broken bricks and tiles, as well as rotten wood on the ground.

Yan Jiekuang looked at the time and decided not to go to Grandpa Ji's grave. He parked the car in front of Ji's house and said to Chen Liang, "I have to pay tribute to an elder tomorrow. Let's stay here for the night. I've built a stove and I'll roast some lamb legs for you."

Chen Liang smiled widely, rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'll help you, big man."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Okay, help me pick up some bricks." Yan Jiekuang went to the car and released Da Wang and Xiao Wang, letting them run around. Chen Fang also wanted to get off, but Yan Jiekuang disagreed and asked her to look after her sister. Chen Fang pouted and went to the bedroom.

Yan Jiekuang built a stove pit, took a bag of charcoal from the car, and started to make a fire. He asked Chen Liang to watch the fire while he went to prepare the lamb legs. He returned to the stove pit with the seasoning box, started to put the lamb legs on, brushed them with oil, and slowly roasted them.

Chen Liang just sat aside and watched quietly. Yan Jiekuang went to the car, carried Nannan and brought Chen Fang down. Chen Fang excitedly ran to her brother and started to help, but in fact she was just making trouble. Yan Jiekuang scalded the milk, tested the temperature, and then started to feed Nannan.

When the lamb leg was almost done, Yan Jiekuang handed Nannan to Chen Liang and started to sprinkle seasonings. After a while, the aroma filled the air. Even Da Wang and Xiao Wang came back and lay quietly beside Yan Jiekuang.

Just as Yan Jiekuang was distributing food to several people, the big king suddenly stood up, his eyes suddenly stared in one direction, and the little king then stood up as well, letting out a low growl.

Yan Jiekuang knew that someone must be coming over there, but he ignored it and continued to distribute the lamb legs to the children, his eyes always drifting in the suspicious direction.

They saw two figures from afar. When they saw the big king and the little king who were like lions, they stopped immediately and dared not move forward. At this time, they were only about a hundred meters away from Yan Jiekuang and his men. Yan Jiekuang saw that they were two sloppy men, of medium height, with wandering eyes. One of them was holding a stick as thick as a bowl in his hand. He didn't look like a good person at first glance.

Yan Jiekuang looked at them and shouted, "Friends, is there anything wrong? There is no village or shop in this place. Where are you from?"

One of them, upon hearing Yan Jiekuang's question, rolled his eyes and said, "We are from this village, who are you?"

"Oh, we are just passing by. You are from this village. What is the name of this village? What is your surname?" Yan Jiekuang replied, and then motioned Chen Liang to take the sisters into the car.

Chen Liang asked Chen Fang to hold her sister while he got into the car carrying two plates.

The man opposite said, "My last name is Wang, and this is Wangjia Village. Since you are just passing by, can we go over and talk?"

Yan Jiekuang sneered when he heard it, and suddenly took out a knife, shook it in his hand, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't like to interact with strangers. You go your way, and I go mine. I won't cause you any trouble, but please leave, big king and little king."

The two were stunned. This guy really turned against them. At this time, the Big King and the Little King had already made attacking gestures.

When the two of them saw it, the big guy said, "I want to help you. Are you lost?"

Yan Jiekuang sneered and said, "Don't you really know where this is? This is the Ji family brothel. You are too young to scare me. Go, big king and little king."

The big king and the little king rushed out like tigers descending from the mountains. When the two men saw this, they turned around and ran away. The big king was too fast and slapped the big man on the back. His sharp claws cut the big man's clothes on his back. The two men continued to run away without caring about anything else.

When Da Wang and Xiao Wang were about to disappear from Yan Jiekuang's sight, Yan Jiekuang shouted, "Come back, Da Wang and Xiao Wang."

The big king and the little king stopped, turned around and ran back. The big king even raised his claws to show off. Yan Jiekuang saw blood on the tip of the claws, wiped it with a tissue in disgust, then divided the remaining lamb leg bones and lamb leg meat into two portions, put them in the bowls of the big king and the little king, and let them eat in the car.

Yan Jiekuang didn't know how many people there were on the other side, and it was still unsafe for him to take two dogs with him, so he packed up and drove to the nearby Qinhe Township. When he arrived in the town, he stopped at a hotel next to the township government and told Chen Liang that he would stay there today. At night, Yan Jiekuang booked a standard room, he held his daughter in one bed, and Chen Liang and his sister shared another bed. After all this trouble, he looked at the time and it was getting late, so he prepared to go to bed.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Yan Jiekuang was not sure whether the two men had left, so he did not let the children follow him and asked them to wait in the hotel. He took Da Wang and Xiao Wang to the Ji family kiln alone, and brought the offerings to the tomb of Grandpa Ji behind the Ji family's old house. He first repaired the grave and cleared the weeds, and then placed the offerings.

He knelt down, burned incense, and then burned paper. During this time, Yan Jiekuang muttered something about his family situation, comforted Grandpa Ji, and specifically said that his father missed him too.

After the worship was over, Yan Jiekuang returned to the car. Da Wang and Xiao Wang followed him throughout the whole process. Yan Jiekuang looked around and didn't see anyone, so he drove back to the hotel.

After refueling in town, we returned to the hotel. As soon as we entered the room, Chen Liang ran over and said, "Big brother, are you okay?"

Yan Jiekuang patted his head and said, "What can I do? Let's pack up, check out of the hotel, and leave after lunch. Our next stop will be Xi'an."

At noon, several people had a meal in a small shop next to the hotel. Each person had a bowl of noodles and some fried vegetables. Chen Liang and Chen Fang ate with satisfaction. Yan Jiekuang also asked for a bowl of corn porridge for Nannan, but Yan Jiekuang put a little sugar in it and fed Nannan mouthful by mouthful. Nannan was so happy that she shouted "big", which made Yan Jiekuang smile as well.

After dinner, Yan Jiekuang drove off. He had originally planned to go to Yan'an, but thinking that he had three children to take care of, he decided not to waste too much time and went straight to Xi'an.

To be honest, there wasn't much scenery along the way. There was yellow earth everywhere and the houses were dilapidated. Yan Jiekuang wasn't in the mood either. He just stopped for an hour in the middle of the Beiluo River to give Da Wang and Xiao Wang some fresh air. They were also feeling very cramped in the car.

It was not until after eight o'clock in the evening that the car entered Xi'an. Yan Jiekuang thought about it and decided to make the children more comfortable, so he parked the car directly next to a small shop with lights on.

Yan Jiekuang asked, "Are you hungry? How about buying some bread first?"

Chen Liang looked at Chen Fang, nodded and said, "Big brother, I'll go with you."

Chen Liang was afraid that Yan Jiekuang would buy too much and spend too much money, so he asked to go with him. Yan Jiekuang did not object. He took Chen Liang out of the car and walked into the shop. The owners were a middle-aged couple. The woman was sitting at the counter and the man was packing some beer bottles.

Chen Liang picked up a few loaves of bread and looked at Yan Jiekuang. Yan Jiekuang said, "No, bring me some soda. I want some too. Oh, boss lady, give me a Hongtashan."

When the proprietress heard this, she immediately stood up and said, "I'll get it for you right away. By the way, the soda is the Bingfeng one that tastes great."

The proprietress went to the inner room to get cigarettes. Yan Jiekuang and Chen Liang were standing there. At this time, the man turned around and asked, "Are you from out of town?"

"Well, I just got here. By the way, buddy, which is the best hotel here?" Yan Jiekuang asked.

The man looked at Yan Jiekuang in surprise, as if he thought he didn't look like a rich man, but he still replied, "Here, the best hotel is the Jinhua Hotel on East Street. Everyone says it's good. I don't know which one is good specifically. That place is not for people like me."

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Thank you, buddy."

The man asked tentatively: "Are you from Sijiu City?"

Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "Yes, you heard it."

The man smiled and nodded. At this time, the proprietress came out with a cigarette. Yan Jiekuang paid the bill and took Chen Liang out of the shop. When they got in the car, they saw the couple standing at the door looking at Yan Jiekuang's car in surprise, because they had never seen such a car before.

Yan Jiekuang drove the car, asking questions while heading towards Jinhua Hotel.

(End of this chapter)