Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Shen Xuan had already collected...
Shen Xuan had already purchased a lot of things yesterday, so he didn't need to buy anything today. He collected the silver notes and rode his mule home.
He came home early today. Before he even reached the gate, he could see from afar the front yard filled with washed clothes and sheets.
Shen Xuan pushed the door open with some surprise and looked at the sheets. After a day of sun drying, all these things are now dry, giving off a faint scent of soapberries, and looking clean and tidy.
I didn't expect that although Lin Ye looked precious, he was actually an expert at his job! In the modern world, he is considered a good man.
Shen Xuan naturally didn't know that these things were washed by Zhong Ge'er, so he put the things away and took them into the house.
Only then did Xue Fenglin bring a pile of cut hay from behind the house to feed the mule. He saw Shen Xuan do it yesterday, so he followed suit today and did a pretty good job.
"I didn't expect you to take apart and wash all the sheets at home today. Thank you! It helped me a lot." Shen Xuan thanked Xue Fenglin with a smile.
"It's my duty. I'm free anyway." Xue Fenglin nodded and accepted Shen Xuan's compliment with a smile, without even mentioning that Zhong Ge'er came over today.
As for the fresh bamboo shoots and wild vegetables that Zhong Ge'er brought, he ate some of them at noon and threw away the rest.
Shen Xuan made a lot of money and was in a good mood. He brought out the shrimps and fish he had raised yesterday and said he would make a good meal.
There is enough vegetable oil at home now, so Shen Xuan simply fried all the small fish and shrimps.
He first beat two eggs, added a small amount of salt, and mixed some flour with the egg liquid. Then he coated the fish and shrimp with the egg liquid and prepared them.
Then heat the oil in a pan and throw the onion, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and star anise into the hot oil and stir-fry until fragrant.
When the pot of hot oil was already fragrant, Shen Xuan finally threw the fish and shrimp coated with egg liquid into the hot oil pan for frying.
After a while, the golden and crispy fried shrimps and fried fish were ready, and Shen Xuan scooped them out and put them on a plate.
After the meat dishes were ready, Shen Xuan steamed the rice. After that, I casually stir-fried some garlic greens and a black bean eggplant.
Soon, three dishes, one meat and two vegetable dishes, plus fragrant white rice were ready.
The fried shrimp is crispy, the eggplant goes well with rice, and the green vegetables are fresh. Every dish is delicious. Shen Xuan and Xue Fenglin had a delicious meal and their stomachs were full.
Seeing Shen Xuan standing up to collect the bowls, Xue Fenglin quickly took the bowls away and said, "Let me do it."
Shen Xuan didn't fight with him for it, but took the fishing trap and went out before it got dark.
Today's fried shrimp is really good. It's a good time to go to the river to set up a trap and catch some eels and loaches to send to Chen Caimai.
Although he has made money from writing petitions in the past two days, it is only a temporary business and will not last long.
The road to Guiyun Tower can be sustained for a long time and should not be interrupted.
When Shen Xuan reached the river, it was already quite late. He quickly put down the fishing trap and returned home before it was completely dark. He didn't notice that someone was hiding in the dark in the woods not far from the river and secretly watching him.
It turned out that after crying, Zhong Ge'er was still unwilling to give up. After dinner, he ran to the yard of Shen Xuan's house to peek.
When he looked over, he happened to see Shen Xuan taking out a fishing trap, so he quietly followed him to see what he was doing.
After Shen Xuan put down the fishing trap. Brother Zhong waited for a while before running to the river to see.
He pulled up the fishing trap and took a closer look, and found that it was a fishing net used to catch fish. However, the net looked quite strange and was different from any he had seen outside.
Zhong Ge'er thought about it, put the fishing trap back into the river, and returned home calmly.
The next morning, he got up early before the rooster crowed. He went out with a lantern in hand to see the trap that Shen Xuan had placed in the river last night.
When they arrived at the river, Zhong Ge'er looked around to see that there was no one around, then he put the lantern aside, squatted down and pulled the trap hard.
After a whole night, he found that the trap was much heavier, obviously it had caught something.
Brother Zhong quickly pulled the trap ashore, and sure enough, he saw it was full of eels, loaches, small fish and shrimps.
So many fish were caught! Zhong Ge'er's heart skipped a beat, and he thought that Shen Xuan had been going to the city every day recently, and he was probably going there to sell these fish and shrimps.
If Shen Xuan can do it, then he can do it too! Brother Zhong thought to himself.
He poured the fishing trap and its contents into his backpack and hurried out of the village. I stopped a bullock cart on the official road and went to the city...
Shen Xuan woke up, had breakfast and went to the river to see that the fishing trap he put down last night had disappeared!
He looked at the shore and found a wet mark on the soil, and he knew that someone must have stolen his fishing trap!
Most of the villagers in Yunshui Village are eager to take advantage of any opportunity they get, and petty thefts occur frequently in the village.
There was no name written on Chen Xuan's fishing trap, so it was normal for someone to find it and take it away after it was placed by the river.
Shen Xuan was helpless and couldn't find the person who stole the trap, so he could only blame himself for not doing it more covertly.
He rode his mule to the city. Today is July 14th, the last day before the Ghost Festival. We must seize the opportunity to earn the money for writing the petition!
At the same time Shen Xuan went to Koi Street, Zhong Ge'er also came to the city on a ox cart.
He had come to the market at the south city wharf with his family several times before, but he always sold his food in a hurry and left, and had never entered the city gate.
It was the first time for Zhong Ge'er to go into the city alone, and he felt a little nervous.
He was not familiar with Lezhou City at all and was afraid of getting lost, so he felt very uneasy standing on the side of the road.
I saw that many people coming and going in the city were dressed very decently, no worse than the gentry in Yunshui Village.
He was dressed in coarse cloth, without even a wooden hairpin on his head, and looked dusty and dirty, making it clear that he was from the country, which made him completely out of place among them.
Zhong Ge'er became more and more timid, fearing that the people in the city would look down on him.
But when he thought of Shen Xuan going out alone, he gritted his teeth again, looked at a kind-looking woman on the dock, and walked over and asked, "Aunt, I want to ask you if there is a place in this city that buys eels and loaches?"
The woman rolled her eyes and looked at Zhong. Seeing that he was a handsome young man, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, she asked with a smile, "Why do you come here alone to ask for directions? You look very capable. Where are your family members?"
When Zhong Ge'er saw that the woman was kind and amiable and even praised him, he felt relieved. He answered, "My family is farming in the village. I caught some river fish and wanted to sell them to supplement the family income."
The woman smiled even more brightly after hearing this. She took his hand affectionately and said, "You are such a sensible child. You are really lovable."
"How about this, my boat just needs some loaches and yellow eels to cook, why don't I take your stuff and I will definitely give you a good price, just come with me."
Zhong Ge'er was surprised and happy when he heard this. He didn't expect that his first time going into the city to sell things would be so smooth.
He thought to himself that this was not difficult. If Shen Xuan could do it, he could do it too. Then he followed the woman to the river and entered a double-decker cargo ship.
Zhong Ge'er followed the woman onto the boat and was taken to the cabin at the bottom.
"It's right here." The woman asked him to take down the backpack.
Brother Zhong had just taken down the backpack and had not yet had time to ask where the eels and loaches inside were. Suddenly, several burly men rushed in from outside the cabin door, closed the cabin door, and tied up Zhong Ge'er with a hemp rope.
"What are you going to do?" Zhong Ge'er was so scared that he burst into tears. Looking at the woman again, there was no trace of kindness in her face. He just covered his mouth with a handkerchief and smiled at himself, his eyes full of cruelty.
It turned out that the woman was an old human trafficker who was very good at disguising herself and deceiving people.
Seeing that Zhong Ge'er could not escape, he revealed his true form. He only said to him: "Don't worry, there are many people on this ship who share the same fate as you. But this is the first time I have seen someone like you come to me on your own."
"I see that you have a pretty face and are sensible and obedient. Wouldn't it be a pity for you to stay in this small mountain village? Why don't you follow me and I will teach you well? I will send you to a good place in the future to enjoy wealth and glory. Isn't that better than now?"
At this moment, Zhong Ge'er was filled with regret and hatred, and begged the woman to let him go. However, the woman was very hard-hearted and would never listen to him.
After getting tired of hearing Zhong Ge'er crying, she gagged him and threw him into a darkroom where there were many other girls and boys of the same age. Some of them were sold by their families, and some were deceived like him.
Not long after, the boat sailed away from the shore and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.
Shen Xuan wrote another 62 petitions today and earned 55 strings of cash. This time he exchanged the copper coins for four silver ingots weighing ten taels each before returning home.
As soon as I arrived at the village gate, I saw the Zhong family looking for someone everywhere. It is said that Brother Zhong went out early in the morning and was nowhere to be seen for the whole day. He did not even come back for breakfast or lunch. I wonder where he went?
Seeing that Zhong Xiaomei was looking for him anxiously, Shen Xuan took her around the village on a mule. However, until dark, he still couldn't find any trace of Zhong Ge'er, so he had to give up and go home.
Tomorrow is the Ghost Festival, and it has always been said that the gates of hell will open.
When Zhong Ge'er suddenly disappeared, the villagers began to talk about it. They all said that he might have run into the King of Hell who was coming to take him away, and they didn't know whether he was in danger or not.
Chen Xuan has been writing memorials for several days in a row, and tomorrow will be the last day.
There are more customers today than yesterday, but tomorrow is the day of the Ghost Festival and every family will be busy preparing for the sacrifice. There will be fewer people coming to write petitions, and we won’t be able to earn that much.
After the Ghost Festival, no one will write petitions anymore, and those selling sacrificial paper will have to close their stalls and take a few days off.
Shen Xuan had already prepared to change to another business, and he wanted to continue to stay on Koi Street.
There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in Dajin. In Lezhou City, the business of the rich is much easier to do than that of ordinary people, Shen Xuan thought to himself.
Although he has been writing petitions these days, he has also been observing other stalls nearby.
Now Chen Xuan had an idea of the flow of customers on Jinli Street, and with the first pot of gold he earned from writing petitions, he could strike while the iron was hot and open a stall of his own.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
