Settling scores
Settling scores
Yi Yun laughed, "Xiaoke, come over. I have something for you."
Zhou Xiaoke looked blankly at Yi Yun's face. Zhou Xiaoke saw that familiar innocent smile that had been absent for a long time.
The smile made Zhou Xiaoke realize that Brother Yi Yun had not changed. He had never changed. Even after he had become a Kingdom Knight, he was still her favorite Brother Yi Yun.
"Oh!?" Zhou Xiaoke laughed. Dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth. She nodded and cheerfully ran towards Yi Yun, grabbing his hand.
"Brother Yi Yun!"
Zhou Xiaoke was not nervous standing beside Yi Yun. Yi Yun's hands were smooth but strong. Zhou Xiaoke felt a sense of security as if the cold and hunger was nothing with Yi Yun around.
"Xiaoke, this is for you." Yi Yun took out a bag. It was a cloth bag that emitted hot steam.
Xiaoke was stunned and sluggishly took the cloth bag. She did not open it, but she could smell the fragrance of food from within.
"This…" Zhou Xiaoke was stunned.
"Open it up," Yi Yun said with a smile. This was specially roasted by him for Zhou Xiaoke just before he reached the village. Although he had brought back a lot of food, he guessed that Aunt Wang's family was starving. So it was better to cook the food first.
And in the vast wilderness which lacked food ingredients, Aunt Wang's culinary skills were definitely not as good as his.
Zhou Xiaoke swallowed a mouthful of saliva before she opened the cloth bag carefully. Inside it was a bundle wrapped in a green lotus leaf. Opening up the lotus leaf, what greeted Zhou Xiaoke was red roasted meat that weighed about three to four catties.
This was the leg of the Seven Colored Deer chosen specially by Yi Yun. The meat of the Seven Colored Deer was delicious. The marbling on the meat was of the utmost quality. Although it was all lean meat, it was rich in fat. It was very fragrant when baked.
Yi Yun had prepared and marinated the meat previously. When he roasted it, he had basted it with honey, making it extremely appetizing.
Sitting beside the roasted meat were rice balls wrapped in green vegetables. The aroma assaulted the nostrils.
Seeing this, Zhou Xiaoke nearly swallowed her tongue. The surrounding people also stared at the food!
Even the tribal elders were in a daze. They could not help but stare unblinkingly at the roasted meat in Zhou Xiaoke's hands. Their saliva nearly flowed out.
The people of the Lian tribal clan had never seen such exquisite food. The meat they ate was 90% cured meat. The meat was salted and dried. Besides being hard and salty, what other taste did it have?
Occasionally, there was fresh meat. They would just cook and eat it, which was a great pleasure in life. How could they have ever seen such an exquisite method of roasting?
What's more, there was a severe shortage of food in the Lian tribal clan. Even the tribal elders had problems with their meals. Seeing the roasted meat in Zhou Xiaoke's hands, they turned envious!
"Brother Yi Yun, I…" Zhou Xiaoke swallowed a mouthful of saliva after another. She couldn't wait to bite down on it and give some to her parents so as to partake in this feast.
But, Zhou Xiaoke felt embarrassed to immediately eat in front of Brother Yi Yun and so many people.
Yi Yun could read Zhou Xiaoke's mind, and smiled, "If you are hungry, eat it. Aunt Wang, Uncle Zhou!"
Yi Yun called out to Zhou Xiaoke's parents and beckoned them over.
Aunt Wang was stunned. She felt like it was a dream. Was it real?
She kept pinching her hands, but the pain seemed to indicate that it was not a dream.
"Kiddo Yun, he really made it… he really made it…" Aunt Wang muttered to herself. The honest Uncle Zhou beside her was even more astounded. He did not react until Aunt Wang gave him a pat.
"Let's go, Kiddo Yun called us over," said Aunt Wang.
Uncle Zhou blankly replied. He was not accustomed to such scenes. Uncle Zhou turned stiff with so many eyes looking at him.
"Aunt Wang, Uncle Zhou, this is for you," Yi Yun cut two pieces of the roasted meat and gave them two rice balls.
"Just eat if you are hungry. Don't stand on ceremony."
"How… How can I…" Uncle Zhou scratched his head as he swallowed the saliva at the corners of his mouth.
Zhou Xiaoke laughed. She was just a child and extremely pure. Since Brother Yi Yun allowed her to eat, she began eating it.
When she bit into the roasted meat, she found that the meat was crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. The bone was smooth and the meat juicy. The deliciousness had exceeded Zhou Xiaoke's expectations.
Aunt Wang and Uncle Zhou could no longer bear it. They began picnicking right there. After all, they were starving.
But this caused misery to the surrounding people. Their stomachs twitched as they salivated. Their eyes were green with envy!
This was an absolute torture!
But with Yi Yun standing there, none of them dared to rob it from them.
Many looked at Aunt Wang's family with envy and longing. What would the taste of such fragrant meat be like?
Some of them were even resisting that act of biting their tongues for food. They stared at the roasted meat that slowly disappeared, wishing that the roasted meat had entered their stomachs.
They knew that being envious was pointless. After all, Aunt Wang's family had always taken care of Yi Yun and Jiang Xiaorou.
Yi Yun swept the crowd with his eyes and picked out a few children, "You… You… You… come out."
With that said, Yi Yun leaped up eight feet to his mount and took out a few large food boxes before coming back down.
Inside the food box were ready made meals. Of course, they were not prepared as exquisitely as the one Zhou Xiaoke's family was enjoying, but it was more than ten times better than anything the Lian tribal clan could cook.
Yi Yun placed the box to the side and said to those children, "It's yours. You don't have to fight for it."
Hearing this, the children were all excited and rushed forward with glee and opened the food box.
Poor and remote villages produced evil people, but most of the children were innocent.
But it was just the majority. The children Yi Yun picked were 70% girls. These children had seemed kind to Yi Yun.
The children grabbed and ate merrily.
As such, there were a few boys who turned envious. They realized that the children were given the privileges of eating.
"Yi Yun, why can't we eat?" A fifteen-year-old boy questioned Yi Yun. He was the village's child honcho and his grandfather was a tribal elder. Compounded with his strength, he would beat up anyone who did not please him. Hence, he established himself as boss among the children.
In the past, Yi Yun was also under his "jurisdiction", and he had bullied Yi Yun more than once. In fact, all the honest children in the village had been bullied by him.
Against Yi Yun, this child was a little afraid, but the temptation of food was too great, so he couldn't help but ask.
Yi Yun looked at him and sneered. How could he forget? Days ago, it was this boy who had led a bunch of children to lay siege on Jiang Xiaorou, throwing cow dung at his house.
Yi Yun had a very good memory. He remembered every boy that had thrown cow dung. Yi Yun would not condone their evil actions because of their age. He remembered everything and those who had done evil had to be punished.
In this food distribution, Yi Yun had excluded all the children that had thrown cow dung. Hence, the children Yi Yun had called out were 70% girls.
The boy felt nervous upon seeing Yi Yun's silent sneer. But he had always been bold and lawless in the village. The children had to worship him. Yi Yun from the past was not even qualified to hold his shoes; but now Yi Yun had become the master, making him extremely pissed.
But he knew he was no match against Yi Yun, so he could only endure.
The boy realized that the children that Yi Yun did not give food to were all his henchmen. This made him feel like Yi Yun had singled him out.
He endured and said, "Yi Yun, why are you singling me out? Why can everyone have food, but not me and my brothers?"
Yi Yun laughed upon hearing the boy's words. Competing with a boy was meaningless, but… Yi Yun, was a child himself, so what if he competed? Also, who said that children had the right to break the law? Who said there were no repercussions when a child breaks the law?
Many of the evil people in this world were not angels when they were young.
These people were bullies when young, gangsters when in their teens, criminals when they were grown up, frauds when in their old age.
They were evil to the bone. It was right to love the young and respect the elderly but there was no reason to do so to these kinds of people.
Yi Yun looked as if he was looking at an idiot and said, "I brought the food. Who I want to give it to is up to me. Back then when you distributed rations, the distribution amount was determined by you. Now that I'm distributing the rations, I'll give more to whoever pleases me. Those who don't, I wouldn't give them a single grain!"
Yi Yun's words made it clear that he alone had the final say in the Lian tribal clan!
Yi Yun was not a merciful saint. In this world, there were people who believed that you could be bullied that no matter how nice you were to them. They would not hesitate to stab you when the opportunity arose.
Treating these kinds of people well when they ill-treated you would only be dumb. Yi Yun's principle was to return the favor severalfold to whoever was good to him. Those who had harmed him, he would demand everything back without missing a single one.
As for these children… so what if they were children. They were about fourteen-years-old, two years older than Yi Yun. Age was not an excuse. A person had to be responsible for his actions!