Chapter 152: Sent Back, Return, Holiday
After using the toilet, Lai led Manler to wash his hands and picked some grapes for him to eat.
Have you had breakfast?
"have eaten."
Ray tried to distract Manler by bringing up some topics. Manler was a lively person by nature, but he was a little scared when he first arrived in the new environment. However, he quickly adapted and calmed himself down.
"Ray, this is for you."
Lai took the thing that Gugu handed him; it was a letter with an address written on it.
“Mangle’s father had someone bring him here when he was born.”
Gug explained something, and Lai read the address to Manler.
"Is this the place, Manler?"
"This is it!"
“Okay, Manler, please sit down first. I need to say a few words to my great-grandfather.”
"Um."
Lai and Gug came outside.
"Aren't you going to let him stay here to finish the harvest festival before he leaves?"
Lai looked out the window at Manler, who was sitting obediently in the chair, and Gug also looked at the child.
“I won’t keep him. My old bones don’t have the energy to coax a child. Even if I kept him, it would only cause more trouble. His parents must be very worried about him.”
"Then I'll set off today."
"Hey, Ray, here you go. Buy some good food on the way."
Guge slipped a few gold leaves to Laiyi, but Laiyi refused to accept them.
“Good boy, take this. If you still consider me your grandpa, then accept it. I have to go on a long trip tomorrow for the holiday, and I really feel bad about it.”
"What are you saying? I already feel bad enough having Neil come over to stay when I'm out, it's not a big deal for such a small thing."
"Haha, it's not me taking care of Neil, it's more like Neil taking care of me. Listen to Grandpa, accept it. It's a long journey, and you've finally made it out, how can you come back empty-handed? Consider it Grandpa's treat."
Gug was always so meticulous in his actions; he forced the gold leaf onto Lai, not allowing Lai to refuse.
"Then I'll go back and prepare first, and then come to pick up Manle later."
"Okay. Thank you, Lei."
Guge finally smiled.
"You don't need to be so polite with me. This is what we juniors should do."
The matter of Lian here has not been fully resolved, and then this kind of thing happened in Guge. When things happen all at once, we can only deal with them one by one.
When Ray returned home to pack his things, he found that Lamb had already arrived and was sitting in the living room talking to Neil.
"Brother, can we still set up our stall today? I heard from Neil that something happened to Grandpa Gugge's family."
"Something has happened. I'm going on a long trip in the next couple of days and won't be able to go to town."
Lai took the bow and arrows down from the wooden shelf in the living room, thought for a moment, and then put them back.
"Huh? What's so serious?"
Lamb asked casually, and Neil, sitting in his chair, listened intently.
"It's nothing serious."
While answering Lamb's questions, Ray packed his things. Actually, there wasn't much to take; just weapons and money were enough.
The Manler family lived in another town, and it would take several days to get there by mule cart. It would be better to just rent a horse-drawn carriage in town. Lai quickly decided on his mode of transportation.
"Lamb, I'm going to the next town to take Gug's great-grandson back. The mule cart will stay at home. If you want to go to town to sell nuts, take Neil with you. It doesn't matter how much or how little you sell, the important thing is not to get into any conflicts with others. If things go smoothly, I should be back in the next day or two."
"Oh, okay. Um... bro."
"What's wrong?"
Lamb stammered, and it was unclear what he was up to.
"Brother, can I come with you?"
Lamb also wanted to go out and see the world with Ray, and Neil watched from the side, secretly eager to try it out as well.
"No, this isn't a trip. I'll take you out separately another time."
Ray glanced at Lamb, then at Neil.
Neil's little scheme was discovered, which made him a little embarrassed.
"Alright, brother, I'll take Neil with me to sell chestnuts. We can't let our business fall apart."
"Yes, Neil."
"elder brother."
Neil was a little upset because he had finally gotten a break, but two days of time with his brother were gone in an instant.
“I’ll be staying at Grandpa Guge’s house for the next couple of days. I’ll be worried about your safety if you’re home alone.”
"All right."
"Sweethearts, I'll bring you delicious food and fun toys when I come back."
"Brother, I want one too!"
Yes, we have both.
Lai hurriedly packed his bags, and the two of them took their family's mule cart to town.
Gug was somewhat soft-hearted after all. When Lai came to pick up Manler, he gave him a bag of various dried fruits and some grapes for them to eat on the way.
Ray had a vague feeling that these were meant for Manler, but he didn't say anything.
Aside from his emotional outburst in the morning, Manler was very well-behaved while staying next to Rae, which saved Rae a lot of trouble.
Although transportation here isn't very convenient, long-distance carriages are still available. Lai, along with Manler and two other people, shared a cargo carriage, and once the goods were loaded, they set off.
The journey to the neighboring town was neither short nor long, mostly along dirt roads. The horse-drawn carriage inevitably bumped and stumbled along the way, and the four people crammed into the carriage with the goods were hardly comfortable.
But this was the earliest carriage that Lei could find to depart, so it meant that the two of them would have to make do with their backsides.
Fearing attacks from exiles and wild animals, they only made two brief stops along the way, when the driver gave them time to use the toilet; otherwise, they ate and ate in the carriage.
Ray shared the fresh grapes he had brought with the coachman and the other two men, who in turn gave Manler a few candies. The journey finally became less boring, and Ray started chatting with them.
They said they were visiting their uncle and returning a bag of grain they had borrowed last year.
Many villages in the town of Rosen have had a bumper harvest this year, which is exciting news.
Two consecutive years of bumper harvests, coupled with the ascension of a new emperor, have given this uncertain event of a bountiful harvest a different kind of meaning.
From their conversation, Lai learned that although they lived in the border region, everyone still had a great interest in what was happening in the royal city.
It can only be said that in the era before mobile phones, people had very limited ways to pass the time. Regardless of time or place, royal gossip can always arouse great interest.
Manler listened quietly to Ray and their conversation, sometimes frowning, sometimes laughing along, it was unclear what he was thinking.
As evening approached, they finally arrived at their destination.
It was very late, so Ray took Manle to a small hotel to stay in. Ray decided to take Manle home the next morning when it was light.
Manler had no objection to this; after this day's journey, he trusted Ray completely.
The carriage trip cost a total of fifteen silver coins. The gold leaf that Guge gave to Laiyi was definitely worth more than one gold coin. In reality, the carriage trip was still paid for by Guge.
Tomorrow is the harvest festival, and Ray is unsure if he can catch a ride back by carriage. He needs to send Manler back as soon as possible and then find a carriage to take him back to town.
The next day arrived quickly. Lai got up early, had breakfast with Manler, rented a mule cart, and asked for directions along the way before finally getting Manler back to his home.
Through their conversation, Lai learned that Manle's mother knew that Manle had been taken away by his grandfather, but she did not expect that Manle's grandfather would be so crazy as to abandon a child of only a few years old in Guge.
"Thank you, Mr. Lei. I hope you will accept these travel expenses."
The Manler family was relatively wealthy. His mother wanted to invite Lai to stay for dinner, but Lai refused. So she found him a carriage to go back to Rosen Town, which saved him a lot of trouble.
After this experience, I believe Manler's mother has learned her lesson and will not easily entrust her child to Manler's grandfather again.
Lai didn't stay long; he bought some local delicacies and a few trinkets before heading back. Today was the harvest festival, and the coachman also hoped to return to Rosen Town soon to reunite with his family.
The wagon returned empty of cargo, several hundred pounds lighter, making the journey much faster than the way there. However, it was still evening when they reached Rosen town. They couldn't find a single mule or oxcart to take them back to the small mountain village.
The coachman dropped Lay off on a street in Rosen town. After a whole afternoon in the carriage, Lay dragged his tired legs as he wandered the streets.
The town of Rosen is especially lively tonight, with bright lights illuminating the streets and people coming and going.
Children on the street wore masks of various animals, while young men and women dressed in nice new clothes chatted and walked together.
The closer you get to the center of town, the more people there are, and the glass lamps illuminate the busiest part of the town.
For this harvest festival, the town mayor lent out all the lamps in his house—this year's harvest festival was particularly lively, with almost all the residents coming to the streets, a sight rarely seen in the past year.
In the square opposite the Mage Association, magicians are performing, and monkey trainers are directing monkeys to perform various acts that are either interesting or difficult.
It turns out there are monkey shows here too.
Ray glanced at it and left. He wasn't interested in the performances; he just wanted to find a place to sleep as soon as possible.
He was oblivious to all the hustle and bustle around him; he seemed like an outsider who had stumbled upon the scene by mistake.
Finally, Ray found a hotel that could provide hot water. Their place was far from the Kako Hotel, which Ray did on purpose, as being away from the Kako Hotel gave him a great sense of security.
The lively atmosphere of the harvest festival lasted very late, and Lai fell asleep to the sounds outside.
The town's harvest festival celebrations last for three whole nights, and there are many more things to do than in the village. So people from nearby villages also come to the town to stay and visit.
For young people in nearby villages, the town offers more opportunities to meet suitable marriage partners than the village.
Ray guessed that Lamb wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to sell his goods in town, and even if Lamb didn't want to, Neil would urge him to come.
Based on Ray's previous observations, he discovered that Neil seemed to have a great passion for making money.
Lai bought a loaf of bread and stood in front of the stall they rented, and sure enough, Lamb and the others arrived about half an hour later.
"Brother, you're back!"
The two rushed over almost simultaneously.
"You're back. Okay, let's put the things out first."
Ray helped Lamb take off the carrying pole.
When did my brother get back?
Neil asked.
"Yesterday evening, there were no more mule carts going back, so I stayed in town for the night. Did you have fun last night?"
"I'm a little unhappy because my brother isn't here."
Neil replied that it was rare for him to act coquettishly towards Rye.
“Yesterday we went to the next village to eat free barbecue, but the barbecue they made wasn’t as good as the one from our village.”
Lamb commented.
"That's true, but my brother's is the best."
Neil chimed in, not forgetting to interject with Qualey whenever he could.
"Brother! Business has been exceptionally good these past two days! I contacted Yiru and asked him to pick several hundred pounds of chestnuts for us, and they've almost all been sold."
"Good, well done."
"Hehe, this was all Neil's idea."
Lamb and his simple-mindedness never faded from the moment they met Lai.
"Okay, let's go back early after we sell these. I bought you some gifts."
"Thank you, brother!"
Lamb was right; their business was indeed doing very well.
There were no more shelled chestnuts left to sell at the stall, so Lamb simply dumped all the unprocessed chestnut balls onto the canvas and let everyone choose for themselves.
Lai remembered that he had more than half a bag of roasted pine nuts left unsold before he left, but now the bag only contained raw pine nuts and whole pine cones.
"Brother, the pine nuts are all sold out these past two days!"
Neil leaned closer to Rye and said.
Pine nuts were more than twice as expensive as the roasted chestnuts processed by Ray, yet they still sold out, which shows that Lamb and Neil have some ability to sell things.
"Did anything happen in the village while I was away?"
"No."
"And what about at home?"
Ray looked at Neil, who of course understood what Ray meant.
"It's very quiet at home."
"good."
Lei finally felt relieved.
Many young men and women came to buy goods, and quite a few pretty girls even took the opportunity to chat up Lai and Lamb.
Ray was uninterested, while Lamb was completely clueless and couldn't understand the hints, which made the girl so angry that she stomped her feet.
Ray and Neil exchanged a smile, neither of them revealing the truth, waiting to see when Lamb would find out.
After shopping all morning, the three of them finally went home.
When Gugge heard the news that Lai brought back, he looked much more relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
I wonder what Manler's grandfather will think when he finds out, but that's a story for another time.
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