Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 33
Shout out to Jesse for commissioning chapters 29-33!
Volume 02 Chapter 33: Two People Riding A Horse Wildly
"Hyah! Juan’juan, your riding skills are bad. Sit behind me and hold onto my waist."
Zhang Xiao'bao, who was in a rush, found that Wang Juan’s way of horse riding was too constrained. It was not like she was a female police officer travelling on the road; they needed to get back home quickly. The horse would probably be able to dance with the way she was riding the horse.
He had to smack the horse's rear as he shouted out. Then he asked Wang Juan to change spots with him. He had learned true prairie horsemanship before. The only thing he was missing right now was a stirrup.
"This was how I learned it before. If you’re so good, then you do it." Wang Juan let go of the reins, stretched her arms back, and grabbed onto Zhang Xiao'bao's shoulders for support. She used the muscles on her back and flipped her body backwards. She even deliberately touched Zhang Xiao'bao’s nose with her forehead.
After Wang Juan was behind him, Zhang Xiao'bao inched forward a bit and stretched out his hand to hold the horse's rein. He leaned over slightly and instinctively used his legs to exert force on the horse’s body. He didn't need to shout out commands, and the horse lunged forward. Its speed was more than twice as fast as before.
"Xiao'bao, I never knew you knew how to ride a horse. Tell me, who did you learn this from?" Wang Juan hugged Zhang Xiao'bao's waist from behind, and she moved up and down at the same pace as him, which could reduce the burden on the horse. She trusted that Zhang Xiao'bao's body movements were the most suitable for running horses. At the same time, she asked curiously.
"In Inner Mongolia, I learned this from an old soldier. He didn't know who I was. He only thought I was a tourist, a rich tourist. After I donated them some money, I told them I wanted to learn how to ride horses, so he taught me. "
Zhang Xiao'bao used the shortest amount of time to get used to the horse's moving pattern, and he got the horse to run in the most energy efficient way. He did all of this while he responded to Wang Juan.
Wang Juan froze for a moment, and said, "I never knew that you, Xiao'bao, is also a guy who knows how to use money to buy favoritism from people."
"Buy what? I really did want to help them improve their places and horses. In that place, you wouldn’t be able to use tanks and machine guns to their full potential---their mobility is incomparable with the cavalry. The cavalry not only carries a saber, but also a rocket-propelled grenade, which can be used when the wind is not strong.
When in combat, usually an anti-tank team needs two to three people, but if it was the cavalry, one person and one horse were enough. They can run right after hitting, and horses can run faster than people. Horses don’t just run in a straight line; they can also run in a zigzag pattern. When the sandstorm is heavy, all the artillery and guns are hard to use except for missiles.
Just think about it, when sand is blown into the barrel of the gun, what will happen if you shoot? At that time, the saber was the most powerful. When the cavalry charged forward with each person holding a saber and riding on a horse, and combined with the force of the sand blowing from behind, all the infantry would be nothing but just decorations. A few grenades can also be thrown in. They can come and go like the wind."
Zhang Xiao'bao recalled the time when he was almost buried alive in the sandstorm and explained to Wang Juan.
Wang Juan was stunned after hearing this. She thought that retaining the cavalry unit was just a symbolic action. She didn’t expect that during a sandstorm, the cavalry team could be used as a death squad. The tanks can be destroyed by a bunch of grenades that were thrown out. Once the armor piece on the outside of the tank was blown up, a special grenade can be used and its blast wave can kill the people inside.
There was also a kind of grenade whose purpose was combustion, and could produce fire like a fire bomb. It was already hot enough inside the tank, and if it was also hot outside, the people in the tank would faint from the heat.
How fast can a gun shoot, and how fast can a horse gallop? With the sand blown everywhere in the air, how many sharpshooters can accurately shoot a target two to three hundred meters away? The person would also have to protect their gun barrel first. Even the horse the two of them were riding right now, not to mention professionally trained horses, would be able to travel two to three hundred meters in just a blink of an eye.
It was not easy to rely on cavalry to defeat a unit, but it was relatively easy to interfere with the unit to achieve tactical goals. In particular, those infantry fighting vehicles would not be able to withstand several attacks.
After thinking about this, Wang Juan suddenly felt that she had experienced too little and that she was not as good as Zhang Xiao'bao. The way she was trained was backed by science, while Zhang Xiao'bao studied hard with a radical mindset. It was no wonder that he was so seriously ill-- he was overusing his life’s potential.
"Xiao'bao, what happened later?" Wang Juan felt that there must be more stories, and it would not be this simple.
"Later, they rescued me. I thought I was going to die. They came over in the raging sandstorm, and they carried me on the back of a horse back to the camp. They fed me food, gave me a bath, and I survived. I donated a lot of money to them so that they can build a headquarter and breed good horses.
Unfortunately, at that time I only wanted to learn how to ride horses, and I didn’t learn how to breed horses. The only thing I knew was that their horses had to eat eggs every day. Each ate half a bucket in one meal. Their hooves were as big as a plate, and were much taller than this horse.
Back then, the old soldier said that there weren’t enough eggs, so I also built a chicken farm nearby, and got someone to manage the place. Now that I think about it, the place has probably been expanded to be bigger. Those chickens are free-range, and the eggs that aren’t eaten by the horses and people can be sold. A catty of eggs can be sold for quite a bit of money.”
When Zhang Xiao'bao thought about what happened at the time, he felt that he had done a good deed. The chicken farm occupied other people’s land. It partially belonged to the army and the civilians. The army accounted for 40%, while the civilians accounted for 60%. After the chicken farm earned money, half of the profits was used to build military camps.
"That is to say, you gave them a chicken farm for free, and all the money earned was invested in the military camps? Xiao'bao, you did good." Wang Juan had admired heroes like that since she was a child, and of course she would like this aspect of Zhang Xiao'bao.
Who would have thought that Zhang Xiao'bao would shake his head, "Who said that I didn’t make a profit? I forced the other egg merchants to leave the market. There was only one place, which was the prairies outside, where I monopolized their egg imports. Before I got there, I gave an order to stop the supply of eggs if that place dared to provoke me.
Our country also monopolized a lot of daily necessities there. Once the supply was cut off, the battle could be won without a fight. Eggs were exchanged for beef, mutton and various leathers there, and then sold to other countries. Quite a bit of money was earned. Half of it went into funds, and half was used to build schools for children and cook food, much like what we’re doing right now. Am I great? "
"I think you’re just using ill means to obtain fame. What do you mean by being great? I feel embarrassed for you." Wang Juan couldn’t tolerate Zhang Xiao'bao's way of doing things and pouted her lips as she criticized him.
"Fine, I was just trying to obtain fame, I'm a fake gentleman, is that enough? I'm not that selfless. I want to use these things to make myself more at ease. After I paid for the materials, I received spiritual gains in return. I must be better than those who don’t pay at all, right? Hyah!"
Zhang Xiao'bao saw a small river in front of him, but he had no intention of taking a detour to go to the faraway bridge. He urged the horse to charge towards the river. He was unsure whether he wanted to take a shortcut or if he was being passively aggressive towards Wang Juan.
Others would be afraid, but Wang Juan didn't worry at all. As soon as the horse entered the river, she immediately got up from the horse, and started swimming. She pressed one hand onto the horse’s body, and used her other hand to hold onto Zhang Xiao'bao's clothes.
"Go on, there is a mountain over there, let the horse climb up it. Do you think that will scare me?" After swimming to the other side, Wang Juan mounted the horse again and spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao.
"I didn’t intend to scare you, I want to go back quickly. You have to believe me. I can even build a chicken farm for the cavalry, I’m a good guy." Zhang Xiao'bao wiped away the water on his face and rubbed the inside of his leg as he tried to explain himself.
"Believe you? International con men can be trusted? I’m better off believing that sows can climb trees, or that roosters can lay eggs. At least it might be possible with some genetic mutations. What? Does it hurt? Aren’t you good at horse riding?" Wang Juan was happy to see him suffer as she spoke.
"That’s why I’m a down to earth person. Pain is pain. This is better than some people who feel the pain, but force themselves to say that it doesn't hurt. It's better to experience the pain a few times. When it calluses over, there’s nothing to be scared of anymore. Don't forget, we’re the same type of people; we don’t care about this little amount of pain. Hyah!"
He replied to Wang Juan, and then he urged the horse to run faster again. The combined weight of the two of them was not as heavy as an adult, let alone those well-built bailiffs who were probably two times their combined weight. Both of them were dressed in light clothing, and they didn’t carry any weapons on their bodies other than the needle in their sleeves, which did not count.
*
"Quick, quicker. Do you see the two children riding in front?" Li Cheng sat inside the carriage. The four-horse carriage bumped up and down, and it was not so easy to tolerate. He resisted the nausea, and he directed the question to the coachman outside with a loud voice.
"I don’t see them. Perhaps we have gone the wrong way." The coachman shouted loudly, and he waved the whip to make the horse hurry up. He felt a bit embarrassed himself. The road led straight to that place. The four horse carriage couldn't catch up with the horse that the two children rode. It was an embarrassment to tell anyone about this.
"Quickly. We can’t lose them. Wait, overtake the carriage in front, and ask them." Li Cheng was also troubled. Even though he only made a short delay, he couldn’t even see the shadow of the horse in front right now. He didn't believe Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan had such great riding skills. He pushed aside the curtain of the carriage and looked to the front, and he found that the carriage of the two children’s servants was not slow either.
"Have you seen your Young Master?" Li Cheng shouted from the window to the other side as he passed the carriage.
"No. They must be up ahead. You can see the horseshoe prints on the road. The horseshoe of that horse is a bit different from other horses. It's much bigger."
Shi’liu hurriedly replied, and at the same time, she urged the coachman to hurry up. The other person’s carriage passed them already. She was not the one who noticed the horseshoe prints. A male servant who came with her used to hunt at home and he was very good at tracking. If it weren’t for that skill of his, he would not be sent here with them.
"I see. Keep chasing." Li Cheng couldn't see any difference in the horseshoe prints, but he believed that the people in the car were also anxious. After all, their little masters were up ahead. They were only two little children, so what would they do if they encountered any danger? It would make sense for those servants to trust him.
"Hyah! Almost there. At this speed, we will definitely be able to get back before noon. The horse is not bad." Zhang Xiao'bao was also talking to Wang Juan at this time.
Xiao bao way is the petty path. It's funny and hypocritical that he mocks people for being capitalist, however his very own way is the path of petty base on his own words.
ReplyDeleteI just think wang juan is much better in personality.
ReplyDeleteXiao bao personality is like the fanatics of the church in the past.
Pushing beliefs on to others and breaking it at the same time.
For example:
He justified his way because he suffered. Now he made others suffer and still he proclaims he is a good guy.
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I know I'm a bit over analyzing this point since Justice is what you believe is right.
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Anyway thanks for the chapter
I think the juxtaposition of the two MCs' personalities makes the story more interesting. We get to see the POV of a person who's very has strong morals and is really upright, and then we get to see the POV of a person who's more conniving and will resort to 'dirty" tactics to get the job done.
DeleteI agree that WJ's personality is more likeable. This makes sense since she's the typical good person who grew up in a good family. On the other hand, we have ZXB, who had a rough childhood, and was a conman by profession.
A person's childhood has a strong influence on their adult life. Many people spend their lives trying to run away from their childhood, or trying to heal the traumas they suffered. ZXB does a bit of both. He doesn't want the weak and poor to suffer like he once did, so he seeks 'justice' for them. Now, whether his method of seeking justice is fair or not, that's highly debatable. Just like you said, he's hypocritical because he does 'evil' things to make a wrong into a right, but in the process, he does more 'evil' or 'amoral' things.
Evidently, he tries to heal his childhood traumas and not be like those evil people that he encountered as a child, but he ends up being a person with sullied hands. He's a really complex character, and I think that really adds on to the story. It's really hard to judge his personality because he wasn't given the same opportunities as other people, such as
Wang Juan, who pretty much grew up with a silver spoon.
There are definitely a lot of moral gray areas in the story, and that makes the story more realistic. Not everything can be labelled as right or wrong, good or bad. Furthermore, how boring and typical would the story be if the MCs are both goody-two-shoes?
In the end, both of the characters have their own boundaries that they want to protect. It's also interesting to see two people, a police and a conman, that should be standing on the opposite sides of each other, stand together and protect the people and things they care about most.
Thing is - while people say that "he started it first" is bad argument... it's often enough GOOD argument.
DeleteHe limited himself mostly to going against people that already started shit and that law done nothing about and not random people who done nothing to get his ire.