Chapter 27: Even Better

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Chen Fan observed from the corner of his eye that everyone was watching him, and that he had managed to stir up their emotions.

It seemed the time had come to test them—and manipulate them psychologically.

“You fellows must be having a hard time sleeping at night, right?

“Not a single one of you even has someone to warm your bed!”

“Exactly! Those damned bandits deserve to die! They kidnapped my wife! If I had known, I never would have gone drinking with them!”

He burst into tears, sobbing loudly.

“Tch! You call that something to cry about? Almost all of our wives have already been taken. You’re hardly the only one! What are you crying for? You sound like a woman!

“Weren’t you always complaining that your wives weren’t pretty enough? Every day, you hang around Village Chief Xia’s house, staring at Xia Linhua.

“Look at how pathetic you are. You’re a disgrace!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

The man immediately stood up and pointed at them.

“Which one of you doesn’t loiter around the village chief’s house every day? You have some nerve criticizing me!

“What man doesn’t like beautiful women?”

The crowd fell silent at his words, all of them lowering their heads.

Perhaps they were thinking of their own wives—or perhaps of Xia Linhua, who had also disappeared without a trace.

Chen Fan felt that he needed to find out what these men usually did in the village.

“There’s no need to dwell on unpleasant matters. Why don’t we talk about your daily lives instead?

“If I understand your situation better, I may be able to help you recover your wives sooner.”

After hearing this, the men felt that Chen Fan was rather naïve.

Their wives had been kidnapped. What else could have happened to them?

Weren’t they simply sold to the Red Joy Brothel, or to wealthy masters?

The law did not allow women the right to remarry of their own accord. They could only remain by their husbands’ sides.

A man had to take a wife through a proper marriage ceremony, or through an arrangement made by the authorities.

Therefore, if they wanted a wife—or a beautiful wife—the only thing they could do was spend a large sum of money at a brothel to purchase one. That, at least, was not against the law.

The men did not think Chen Fan meant them any harm. They simply thought he was rather foolish.

Who else would try to catch criminals by using a method like this?

Thus, they were unwilling to continue the subject and remained silent.

At the same time, they did not want to reveal too much to Chen Fan.

After all, they had only just met. They were not familiar with him, nor did they trust him very much.

Chen Fan saw that none of them would take up the conversation.

He realized that he might have made them uncomfortable, perhaps because his intentions had been too obvious.

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After thinking it over, Chen Fan decided that they would be staying there for several days anyway. There was no need to rush.

First, he had to win their complete trust.

How did one gain another person’s trust?

They had to believe that you were harmless and that you could benefit them. Only then would they lower their guard.

They might even try to curry favor with you, giving you an opportunity to coax out more information.

“Then let’s talk about something pleasant. Why don’t we discuss the Red Joy Brothel in the county?

“You’ve all been there, haven’t you?

“Even if you hadn’t gone before, you must have gone these past few days—or at least wanted to go, right?”

Chen Fan did not like saying such vulgar things. When he had served in the military on Earth, the training he had received forbade him from speaking that way, and his comrades had never talked like that among themselves either.

But today was different. The men gathered here were mostly uneducated villagers.

Their minds revolved around little besides such matters.

“Who hasn’t been to the Red Joy Brothel? What else would we spend our yearly earnings on?

“The women there are plump and well cared for. Every one of them wears makeup and dresses in incredibly seductive clothes.

“I searched every clothing shop in the county and never saw anything like those outfits. Later, I even went to the tailors who made custom clothes and asked about them.

“They told me the fabric was extremely expensive and that they only sold such garments to wealthy merchants.

“I brought a full ounce of silver, and they still refused to make one for me.”

“Exactly! I think the only things attractive about those women are their clothes and makeup.

“Otherwise, some of them aren’t even as pretty as my wife!

“And they don’t cooperate at all. They’re so stiff!

“Some of them just lie there like corpses and let you do whatever you want.”

“That’s right. The beautiful ones who take the initiative and know how to serve people are all extremely expensive. Otherwise, someone has already bought them.”

“Us poor people had better stop dreaming. We should save our money and give it to our sons, so they can marry themselves a beautiful, good wife.”

Hearing this, Chen Fan felt that these country villagers were just like his childhood playmates.

All of them dreamed of marrying beautiful wives. Some even dreamed of marrying the women they truly loved.

How difficult could it be to understand their daily lives?

The wives assigned to them by the authorities might not like them, and they might not like those women either.

Although affection could be cultivated over time, there still had to be some feeling to begin with.

Chen Fan thought back to the time when he had still been living on Earth.

He, too, had once liked a woman. She had been a wealthy heiress who had never known hardship since childhood.

Yet she was also outstanding—pretty, ambitious, intelligent, considerate, and kind.

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Chen Fan and she had attended the same school throughout their student years.

He had come from the countryside, and his family had been poor. He had intended to work hard and become worthy of her.

But on the day of their graduation from senior year, Chen Fan—who had never spoken to her—held his admission letter in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other, preparing to confess his feelings.

“Hello, classmate! I’m Chen Fan. We’ve been classmates since high school.

“I’ve liked you for a very long time! This is my admission letter from Jinghua University.

“It looks as though we’ll still be classmates in the future. May I properly get to know you?”

Chen remembered standing behind her that day, silently repeating those words in his mind. He had practiced them countless times in front of the mirror, carefully planning which words should be followed by a breath and what expression should accompany each sentence.

He had spent a long time designing every detail.

Then he saw the famously gifted, handsome, and wealthy student from Jinghua University arrive with a large group of people.

Each of them carried a bouquet of flowers as they walked toward her from behind.

“You got in!”

“Yes! I got in! I’ve finally caught up with you!”

“I just never expected you to come in person.

“I thought I was merely an ordinary girl among all your friends.”

Chen did not stay to witness the confession that would later become a celebrated romantic story.

He only remembered how, during the holidays, he liked to linger beneath her dormitory building.

He only remembered that whenever she was on holiday, she would go out to have fun instead of staying in the dormitory.

He only remembered searching for her figure from the corner of his eye.

He only remembered that when his classmates suspected him of stealing money, she had been the only one to argue with them on his behalf.

He only remembered reading all kinds of guides to romance every day because he wanted to become a good boyfriend.

He only remembered that during military training, when he had wanted to save money by not buying water, she had handed him the water she could not finish.

He only remembered the incomprehension he faced when he chose to apply to a military academy instead of reporting to Jinghua University.

He only remembered that he could stop thinking about her only when he devoted himself completely to training in the military camp each day.

At that moment, Chen Fan closed his eyes, then opened them again.

He finally understood something of what the men in this village were thinking.

He decided to stop treating them merely as tools to be exploited. Instead, he would find a way to help them become better men.

He would help them make contributions to their country.

He now understood why the Great Zhou had always placed such importance on education.

Perhaps the Great Zhou also dreamed of creating a better society—

a society where everyone had access to books, and everyone possessed a rich inner world.