N-A-A Chapter 38 Virtue, Part 1
Chapter 38 Virtue, Part 1
Hearing Li Cunzhen's words.
Li Muxuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Cunzhen, his lips twitching.
"You were the one who didn't want to save her just now, and now you're the one who wants to take her away. What exactly do you mean by this? Are you deliberately going against me?"
Not only him, but also Zuo Ruotong's eyes showed a hint of doubt when Li Cunzhen said this.
These reactions do seem somewhat contradictory.
Li Cunzhen reached out and tapped Li Muxuan's forehead, speechless, "You're not a child anymore, how come you still talk so carelessly?"
Then, instead of explaining directly, he asked in return, "Master, Li Muxuan, do you remember what the thirteenth entry in 'A New Account of Tales of the World' is about?"
The thirteenth volume of "A New Account of Tales of the World" begins with "Virtue."
Hua Xin and Wang Lang both fled by boat.
Although Zuo Ruotong had been practicing Taoism on the mountain since childhood, he had never neglected his studies of traditional Chinese culture, so he naturally knew this little story.
During the transition from the Han to the Wei dynasty, war raged, and Hua Xin and Wang Lang fled together by boat.
Halfway through their escape, someone wanted to hitch a ride on a boat.
Before boarding the ship, Hua Xin hesitated, but Wang Lang readily took the man with him.
But later, when the bandits caught up, Wang Lang wanted to abandon the man, but Hua Xin spoke up.
He said that he hesitated at first because he was worried about encountering this situation, but now that he has accepted him, he cannot abandon him because of a crisis.
So he took that person with him, just like before.
The veracity of this story is unverifiable, and Hua Xin was not some moral saint.
But the meaning Li Cunzhen was conveying was quite clear.
To save a person is to see them through to the end; to see a Buddha off to the Western Paradise is to see him off to the Western Paradise
It's okay to ignore it at first, but once you do, it's like accepting the consequences.
The safety of those being rescued must be ensured.
After recalling the story, a look of realization flashed in his eyes, and then he looked at Li Cunzhen with a hint of inquiry.
Zuo Ruotong was just about to speak.
But then Li Muxuan's voice rang out, his tone indignant.
"How can you compare them? Ah Zhen is safe now, isn't she?"
Li Cunzhen pointed at Azhen, then looked at Li Muxuan and shook his head.
"It's not safe. She's in this state, and you still want to give her money? The world is so chaotic. The moment you leave, someone will rob you of your money."
Upon hearing this, Li Muxuan was taken aback.
When he saw Ah Zhen being beaten, he was so angry that he only thought about saving her and didn't consider anything else.
Li Muxuan still wanted to be stubborn and was about to speak.
But Li Cunzhen's second message had already arrived.
"Even if Ah Zhen is lucky and only meets good people on the road, that man is from the Green Gang. Once she is discovered, she still won't survive."
Li Muxuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Before taking action, he hadn't expected saving someone to be so troublesome.
There was a brief silence.
After a long pause, Li Muxuan nodded.
He was speechless and could only accept the outcome.
Although I didn't initially expect that saving people would come at a price, following along for a short distance wasn't unacceptable.
At this moment, he seemed to suddenly remember something and asked Li Cunzhen:
"Didn't you not want to help back then? Why are you so eager to save her now? Just consider it as fulfilling your wish from the beginning."
Li Cunzhen shook his head and continued to explain:
"You can't say that. If she's taken back, the man will need her to work, so he can't just kill her. But if we leave her alone now, she might not live as long as she was taken back by the man."
Li Muxuan paused for a moment, then pursed his lips and said:
"So, according to you, we've done something bad? It's so hard to be a good person!"
Li Cunzhen then said:
"If you kill a man and then leave her alone, I don't know if it's a bad thing, but it certainly isn't a good thing."
Li Muxuan sighed and said nothing more.
Zuo Ruotong observed the entire argument between the Li brothers and made a decision in her mind.
Li Cunzhen's actions in this matter may seem contradictory, but in fact they stemmed from the same belief.
This remains his consistent principle of conduct.
Not a hair is plucked, not a hair is damaged.
They wouldn't part with a single hair, so they were unwilling to take action at the beginning.
He wouldn't take a single penny, so even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance of harming someone, he'll make sure that one in ten thousand doesn't happen.
It's even possible that Li Cunzhen wanted to save people, but stopped because of that one in ten thousand chance of success.
After figuring it out, Zuo Ruotong stopped talking.
Although Li Cunzhen's actions this time did not suit his wishes, and even seemed cold-blooded to some, he would not criticize him for anything.
There's nothing wrong with not giving away a single hair; being able to avoid losing even a hair is already a worthy act in the world.
Thinking about it, Zuo Ruotong looked at Li Cunzhen.
"After taking her with us, whether we bring her back to Min or find her a way to make a living, she will eventually need a place to stay."
Li Cunzhen answered quickly.
"That's easy. Her hometown is on the way to Jiangnan. She has no parents and is all alone. She can just work as a helper in her father's shop. My family is quite influential in the area, and the one who died was just a hooligan. Even the Green Gang can't find her."
As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly remember something and looked at Ah Zhen, saying:
"My father's shop is in Minjiang. Would you like to go there? Or would you like to go back to our hometown?"
Although Ah Zhen had experience working away from home, having been through a near-death experience, she might never want to leave her hometown again.
If that's the case, since Li Cunzhen had already explained the pros and cons, we can only assume that Ah Zhen has lost the will to live.
"Yes! I'm willing! Thank you, my benefactor!"
Fortunately, Ah Zhen didn't have any attachment to her hometown. When she heard that Li Cunzhen wanted to provide her with a livelihood, she didn't even bother to eat and nodded repeatedly.
She heard the conversation between Li Cunzhen and the other two clearly; they didn't hide it from her.
However, although she listened, she didn't understand much of it.
All he knew was that the older young man in the white robe seemed to have initially not wanted to save him, but now he was the one who most wanted to save him.
The smaller young man in white robes seemed to have initially wanted to save him, but now he felt like he was a nuisance.
That's really strange.
But she knew she shouldn't think so much.
No matter how strange the ideas of these people are, they saved my life and they will provide me with a livelihood.
These people are all my great benefactors!
In my mind.
Ah Zhen knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Li Cunzhen.
But Li Cunzhen couldn't stand seeing others kowtow to him. When Ah Zhen knelt down like that, he felt uncomfortable all over and quickly pulled her up.
"No need to thank me, I didn't intend to save you in the first place."
As he spoke, he pointed to Li Muxuan and Zuo Ruotong.
"You should thank him and my master, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered with you at all."
But before he could finish speaking, it was Li Muxuan's turn to be unhappy.
He simply waved his hand.
"No, no, no, don't thank me. I didn't actually think that much about it."
Upon hearing this, Ah Zhen, who was about to turn her head to look at Li Muxuan, stiffened her neck and looked somewhat embarrassed.
She suddenly became at a loss.
Zuo Ruotong frowned as she looked at the scene before her, and finally said:
"I asked them to save you, so you should thank me."
If Li Cunzhen and Li Muxuan continue to pass the buck like this, Ah Zhen won't live long even if she goes to the Li family.