Chapter 5: Entering the City
"Peter, you're early. Are you heading to town?"
"Peter, are you going to walk there?"
It was just getting light, and Peter was already up, carefully placing a jar of wine in his backpack. After putting it on, he left the house. Today, Peter was going to the city to exchange wine for money.
Along the way, the caring villagers greeted Peter when they saw him.
"Yeah, I'm going to town to have a look."
Walking into the town wasn't a big deal for the villagers. After greeting everyone, Peter strode toward the county.
Actually, Peter didn't sleep well last night. Hiding in bed, his mind was filled with Mrs. Collins' figure. For the first time, Peter had such a curiosity about women after drinking the medicinal wine, which made him a bit restless.
However, due to the cultivation, Peter didn't feel tired when he got up early in the morning, and he was still full of energy on the way.
In fact, it wasn't too far to the town. After more than two hours of walking, Peter entered the county town as the sun rose.
After strolling around in the town for a morning, Peter started to make contact with people when it was almost noon.
Pulling out two coins from his clothes bag, Peter came to a roadside phone booth and dialed a number in his memory.
After the phone rang for a while, a not-so-energetic voice came from the other end, "This is Daniel Pangbourne, who are you?"
"Daniel, it's Peter Brown."
"Peter Brown? Oh, Peter! You're out?"
"Yes, I just got out. I'm in the county now."
"That's right, you should have told me when you arrived in the county. Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."
Peter told him the location.
Daniel Pangbourne was the one who had crippled the man who had tried to steal his wife and ended up in prison. If Peter hadn't rescued him during a labor assignment inside, he would have been crushed to death by a huge stone that fell from the mountain. Since Peter's release, Daniel had been loyal to him, helping him out for a while and, with the help of a few comrades in prison, Peter was able to get out so quickly.
After standing on the side of the road for a while, a Mercedes-Benz car drove over.
Daniel poked his head out of the car and said, "Get in quickly."
Seeing that Daniel personally came to pick him up, Peter nodded secretly, thinking that Daniel was indeed a loyal person.
Getting into the car, Daniel laughed heartily, "You're finally out. Let's eat first, then I'll show you around."
At this point, seeing Peter with a backpack, he laughed, "Why did you bring this?"
"I was able to get out thanks to the help of our comrades. My family has some good wine, so I brought it along to share with you."
Daniel laughed heartily. "Great, Alex is a wine lover. As long as they know, they'll be here right away." With that, he picked up the phone and notified the others.
After a few calls, Daniel. "Alright, everyone's coming when they hear you're out. Let's go and wait for them."
"Alright."
Peter was, of course, happy to see his friends from prison.
"Charles, we'll eat here today."
Just as the car stopped, the two saw a middle-aged man coming over to greet them.
"Hi, Charles."
"Peter, it's good that you're out! That's great!"
Charles Carter was once a civil servant who embezzled public funds to help his brother pay off debts and ended up in prison. Charles played no small part in helping Peter get out so quickly, and Peter was grateful to him from the bottom of his heart.
The three went into the luxurious restaurant, and Daniel laughed, "Your business is really expanding. Not bad at all!"
"Nah, it's just alright."
Charles laughed.
At this moment, a young man slightly older than Peter walked in, with his arm around a dazzlingly beautiful woman.
"Peter!"
In an instant, the young man laughed and walked towards Peter.
"Reuben!"
The two greeted each other with handshakes and hugs.
"This is my bro." Reuben Taylor told the beautiful woman.
The beautiful woman didn't seem very enthusiastic and looked Peter up and down.
Slap!
At that moment, Reuben slapped the woman's face and cursed, "Why the fuck are you looking at my brother with that kind of gaze? Fucking bitch! Introducing you to my brother is showing you face, and you have the nerve to look at him like that? Get out!"
As he spoke, he moved forward to hit her again.
Peter couldn't help but say, "Is this... your girlfriend?"
"She's not worthy!"
With that, Reuben turned to the woman and said, "Get out of here, don't disturb our meal."
The woman fled in fear.
Daniel Pang laughed, "You punk, you still have the same nasty temper!"
Charles shook his head with a bitter smile, "Jeez!"
"Don't worry about it. If it weren't for Peter, I would have died long ago in there!" Reuben said.
Peter thought back to the factions in prison, and how they had fought against each other in secret. Once, Reuben clashed with another group, and if it hadn't been for Peter protecting him, Reuben would have lost a leg or even died.
Reuben was quite extraordinary, and his grandfather was now the deputy county head, so he was quite a powerful and influential figure.
"Peter, I had someone check the file for your case and found some of the witnesses involved. You really took the blame for someone else, and that has nothing to do with you. I checked it out, and the girl you helped is now someone else's woman!" Reuben had made some effort, reviewing Peter's case and investigating it.
Charles said, "The key to this matter is Peter. If he wants to turn things around, it's not impossible. I checked, and the Owen family isn't up to par. Their father didn't help Peter's father follow the rules, and he even slept with the girl Peter intended to help."
"Deal with them! Deal with them!" Reuben said solemnly.
Peter sighed, "Forget it. At that time, my dad needed money. If it weren't for that money, my dad wouldn't have been able to have surgery. It was a mutually beneficial situation."
"Even so, the Owen family didn't fulfill their promise. Peter, don't worry about this. I must help you. The Owen family's small factory doesn't meet my standards, and I'll make sure they know what justice is!" Daniel snorted.
After chatting for a while, they all sat down.
Then a middle-aged man rushed in, saying, "I'm late! I'm late!"
"Alex, can't you run faster when you hear there's wine?" Daniel laughed heartily.
Peter saw his former cellmate Alex Williams and greeted him warmly.
"Where's the wine? Let me see."
Alex Williams eagerly asked about the wine.
Everyone laughed at his eagerness.