Chapter 187: Meet Again

Perhaps the medicine given by Taoist Master Qingyi really worked. When Song Yuzhu woke up the next day, he felt that he had never felt so relaxed!

Walking with the wind!

The two said goodbye to the Taoist priest, carried their bags and walked down the mountain along the path. The big black dog followed Song Yuzhu reluctantly and accompanied her halfway up the mountain before returning to the mountain, turning back every step.

On the way here, Song Yuzhu could not walk anymore after walking for one incense stick, but on the way back, he actually walked down the mountain in one breath.

Song Yuzhu wiped the sweat from his head and thought that even if he only had half a year left, it would be worth it. At least he wouldn't have to stay in bed and endure the pain.

"Where are we going next?"

Zhao Xiao said in high spirits: "I will accompany you wherever you want to go!"

"Then spend a few days in Hangzhou. I heard the scenery there is very pleasant."

"good!"

The two walked along the path towards the county town. There was a Linshui County nearby, more than ten miles away. They bought a carriage there and went to Hangzhou City for sightseeing.

It was the end of May, a good time to visit West Lake. His mood was different from when he came here. At that time, Song Yuzhu was weak and Zhao Xiao had no interest in sightseeing. Now that Song Yuzhu's health had improved, the burden on him was lifted, and he naturally felt much more relaxed.

The two men first went to Linshui County to buy a carriage. An ordinary carriage with rubber wheels cost two hundred taels of silver, which would be equivalent to 200,000 coins in paper money. It was really not cheap, and this did not include the horse.

If you want to buy a better horse, it usually costs five or six hundred taels of silver. The cheapest old horse costs two or three hundred taels of silver. Zhao Xiao's mount, Heifeng, is the first horse tributed by the Jin Kingdom. It is worth a thousand gold coins and there is no market for it, so not many ordinary people can afford a horse-drawn carriage.

Since ancient times, the price of horses has been very expensive. In the previous dynasty, horses were in short supply for war, so the government issued a clear order to prohibit the private sale of horses. If the people killed their own horses privately, they would be punished with 50 strokes of the cane and exile 500 miles away.

Although Daqi did not prohibit the people from raising horses, few people did so. As the old saying goes, a fortune with fur does not count. If you accidentally kill a horse, you may not be able to make back your money in a few years.

Following the guidance of the city residents, the two came to the livestock market in the county town, where most of the people were selling pigs, cattle and sheep, and there were also people selling chicks, ducklings and puppies.

There was no guard for the animals, and the smell was very strong. If you were not careful, you could step into a puddle. After searching for a long time, I finally found a place where horses were sold. There were more than ten horses tied up here.

Buying a horse is also a technical job. You can tell the quality of a horse by looking at its skin from a distance and its limbs and hooves from a close distance. A healthy horse has smooth fur, a well-proportioned body, and a tall head.

Next, look at the limbs. The legs are one of the most important parts of a horse. A horse's legs must be strong and its hooves must be intact to be considered a qualified horse. Then take the horse for a walk or ride it for a while, and you can basically tell whether the horse is good or not.

Zhao Xiao is an expert in horses and he deals with horses almost every day in the military camp.

I immediately fell in love with a chestnut mare. The whole body of the horse was chestnut, with only some white hairs on its mane, which looked very elegant.

The two approached to ask, and the horse dealer immediately gave Zhao Xiao a thumbs up. "You have a good eye, this horse is not an ordinary horse, its father is a stallion from Dayuan, and it has the bloodline of the Ferghana horse."

Zhao Xiao stroked the horse's nose, and the little horse rubbed his palm affectionately, and its personality was very gentle.

"How old is it?"

"It's just two years old! If I didn't have so many livestock at home, I wouldn't be willing to sell it!" Mares can be bred at the age of two and a half. Usually horse dealers will breed once before selling them, which can increase their income a lot.

Song Yuzhu also touched the horse's back. He didn't know much about horses, but this horse was indeed more beautiful than the ones next to it.

"Do you like it?" Zhao Xiao asked.

"Well, that's it."

The horse dealer was smiling from ear to ear. He didn't expect to make such a big deal just as he set up his stall.

"My Lords, this horse is a bit more expensive. It costs seven hundred taels of silver."

Seven hundred taels is not expensive. If this horse is pulled to the capital, it can be sold for at least a thousand taels of silver.

Zhao Xiao opened the package, took out the silver note and handed it to the horse dealer.

The horse dealer was a little worried after paying with the banknote. After all, the two men looked unfamiliar, their accents didn't seem like locals, and their clothes were rather shabby, which didn't seem like the type of people who could come up with so much silver at once.

Song Yuzhu saw his concerns and said, "If you don't believe it, you can go to a nearby bank to verify its authenticity, and then I will give you a written receipt."

"Oh, that's great!" The horse dealer quickly called his servants to come over to look after the stall, and he followed Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao to a nearby bank.

It was Song Yuzhu's first time to visit a bank. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary business, with a wooden plaque with the four big characters "Daqi Commercial Bank" engraved on it and the number "Branch 148" below it.

When you walk in, what comes into view is a clean and spacious reception room with five or six chairs placed nearby for people waiting to rest.

On the side is the bank counter, which is similar to modern banks, with a special room separated by iron fences and large glass windows. Business or cash withdrawals are done outside the glass window. This method effectively prevents robbers from robbing the bank. Even if the other party smashes the glass, there are iron railings blocking them and the robbers cannot get in.

The horse dealer handed the seven silver bills to the teller who stood by and said, "Can you please help me check if these silver bills are real or fake?"

The person inside took the banknote, checked it, and handed it back: "They are all real."

"Thank you, thank you!" The horse dealer quickly took the banknote and walked out of the bank.

After signing a document, the deal was completed. Just as they were walking back, they suddenly heard a noise coming from not far ahead.

"Oh no! Someone's dead!"

Song Yuzhu couldn't just sit back and watch something like this happen. "Go and see what happened?"

The group hurriedly ran forward. The crowd of onlookers blocked the path tightly. Zhao Xiao relied on his brute force to make way for Song Yuzhu.

When I walked in, I saw a middle-aged woman lying on the ground, with a half-grown child kneeling beside her, crying.

Coincidentally, these two people were exactly the mother and son they met on the train that day, except that last time they rescued children, this time they rescued adults.

Song Yuzhu walked forward and checked the woman's breathing, then flipped her eyelids. She must have fainted due to being too worried and not having eaten anything, and she was too weak.

The child recognized Song Yuzhu and pulled his sleeve and begged, "My benefactor, please save my mother!"

Song Yuzhu said, "Don't worry, your mother is fine. Help her to go to a nearby inn to rest first."

The child hesitated for a while and shook his head: "I...we don't have any money."

"It's okay, we'll help you get the money first."

Zhao Xiao helped the woman up and carried her to a nearby inn. He gave her some water. The woman's breathing became more stable, and she must have fallen asleep.

After returning to the lobby, Song Yuzhu asked the shopkeeper for four more bowls of noodles. It just so happened that he and Zhao Xiao hadn't eaten for a long time.

The child followed the two of them, looking at the noodles on the table and swallowing his saliva: "Can I eat it?"

"Of course, this is for you and your mother."

"Thank you, benefactor brother." The child stood up politely and saluted the two of them, then picked up the chopsticks and started eating. It was obvious that the child was very hungry, and he finished the big bowl of noodles in no time.

Song Yuzhu said, "Are you full? If not, eat this bowl as well."

The child shook his head: "I'm not hungry anymore, save this bowl of noodles for mom."

He is a good and filial child. Song Yuzhu patted his shoulder and said, "It's okay. Eat first. I'll ask the store to make her a hot bowl of food when your mother wakes up."

He then picked up the bowl hesitantly and finished it in a short while. He must have been full this time, as he covered his mouth and burped, lowering his head embarrassedly.

"Thank you, my two benefactors, brothers."

Song Yuzhu looked the child up and down. She remembered that when they were on the train, the mother and son were wearing silk clothes, and they looked like they came from a well-off family. But now they were wearing cloth clothes covered in dust.

"What difficulties have you encountered?"

The child was very articulate despite his young age and narrated everything that happened after he got off the bus that day.

"My name is Deng Zhong. This time I came to Hangzhou with my mother to look for my father, Deng Fangyuan. He has been away doing business for three years and has not returned home. Although he sends money back every year, I really miss my father too much, so my mother decided to bring me to find him."

When the mother and son came, they brought enough money with them. After getting off the train, they took a horse carriage to look for their father according to the address he had left.

Finally, he found the place, but discovered that his father was not there, but a villa for a girl.

The woman went forward to ask, but the man said he didn't know any Deng Fangyuan, and then locked the door.

The woman stood at the door with her son for a long time, unable to recover. It was the first time for them to go on a long journey, and they were unfamiliar with the place. They had already given up when they couldn't find her husband. Seeing that it was getting late, the woman decided to stay here with her son for one night, and buy tickets to go back home tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, while staying overnight in the inn, all the money they had was stolen!

The woman felt like the sky was falling. How could they return home without the money?

She went to the innkeeper to argue, but he said she didn't manage the money well and couldn't blame others. The woman took her son to report to the authorities, but the authorities said they had no evidence and refused to file a case.

With no other options left, the woman took her son to a pawnshop and pawned her silk clothes in exchange for ordinary cotton clothes.

A few hundred coins were just a drop in the bucket and were not enough to buy the ticket back home. She had no choice but to take her son with her to continue looking for her husband.

The woman only knew that her husband was in the tea business, so she went to teahouses and tea stalls in the city to ask. More than half a month passed, and her money was almost gone, but she still couldn't find her father.

To make matters worse, when the two were walking around the streets asking people, they were also targeted by others.

Even if strangers, weak women and children were kidnapped, no one would report to the police.

One night, they were resting in the dilapidated temple, and the gang was about to attack. Little Deng Zhong happened to get up to urinate in the middle of the night, and after hearing the noise, he quietly woke up his mother, and the two of them escaped through the window.

They didn't dare to stay in Hangzhou any longer, so at dawn the next day, they left the city and ran along the official road like headless flies, and finally came here.

After arriving in the city, his mother was too worried and hadn't eaten for several days. She fell to the ground unconscious. Deng Zhong was so scared that he burst into tears, and someone nearby shouted for help.

It was fate that I met Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao both times when I was in the most dangerous situation.

Song Yuzhu touched the top of his head and said, "Good boy, don't cry, I will help you find your father." Save people to the end, and send Buddha to the west. Anyway, they have nothing to do, so just help him find his father.

"Zhong'er! Zhong'er!" A hoarse shout suddenly came from behind.

(End of this chapter)