At the entrance of Baichuan Academy, before the students had even finished class, neighbors who had heard the commotion had already lined up from the entrance all the way to the very end of the alley. The Su siblings were busy as bees, changing skewers of food in the pot round and round, the sound of coins going into their bags never ceasing.
"Here you go, sir! Here are your four skewers of fish balls, three skewers of shiitake mushrooms, two skewers of duck intestines, and a handful of pea shoots!"
"Three skewers of cilantro, three skewers of chicken, three skewers of fish balls, and three skewers of fried dough sticks, here they come!"
"Here's your order: two skewers of lettuce tips, five skewers of fish balls, and three skewers of chicken!"
"Brother, bring another basket of fish balls over. We also need to add some more bone broth to the pot; the broth is already half empty..."
"Okay, I'll go right now!" Su Dahu immediately agreed and strode towards the carriage.
They prepare several buckets of soup base in their car every day. Yesterday, since they couldn't buy pork bones, they used chicken bones to make broth.
If customers only buy two or three skewers to try, they can just pick up the skewers and start eating. If they buy ten or twenty skewers, the vendors will serve them in bamboo bowls to prevent the skewers from getting too oily and dirtying their clothes.
The bamboo tube bowl is made by Su Sanhu from nan bamboo. The mouth of the bowl is about the size of a regular rice bowl. If customers want to drink some spicy hot pot soup, they will be given a small half spoonful to put in the bamboo tube bowl.
The soup base was quickly used up.
Many locals come without having breakfast. After getting their mala tang (spicy hot pot), they sit down at the nearby wonton or noodle stalls and order a bowl of vegetarian wontons or plain noodles to eat with the mala tang.
Seeing their businesses thriving, the stall owners were all beaming with joy, and temporarily forgot about their worries about Zuixianju causing trouble the day before.
Su Dahu got off the car carrying broth and fish ball skewers, and heard customers at the wonton stall slurping the soup and talking amongst themselves.
"Have you heard? There's a family named Wang who lived just past these three alleys. Yesterday afternoon, just before dark, their woodshed suddenly caught fire, and the entire yard was reduced to ashes!"
"The Wang family? You mean the old Wang family that runs the general store at the entrance of the alley in the west of the city?"
"Yes, it's that old man Wang!" The old woman who had spoken earlier lowered her voice considerably as she said this, "My old man went to the West Street market to buy vegetables this morning, and do you know what he saw? He really had dirty eyes! I've lived for decades and I've never heard of anyone so shameless."
Although the old woman lowered her voice considerably, her enigmatic expression only made people's hearts itch even more.
Every single person at the wonton stall instantly transformed into a hawk in the field, their eyes burning with desire.
"What did your old man see? Tell me quickly!"
"Hurry up and tell me, otherwise I won't be able to eat the duck intestines I finally managed to snatch."
"That's right, that's right, I'm all seated here, just waiting to hear what you have to say next..."
Upon hearing this, Su Dahu frowned and immediately moved a few steps closer to the wonton stall.
All that could be heard was the old woman spitting angrily on the ground, "If you hadn't insisted on hearing it, this old woman would never have talked about such filthy things, as if I had eaten an extra meal of shit this morning!"
You wouldn't believe it, Old Wang and his family look respectable on the surface, but behind your backs they hang out with those animals at the livestock market. This morning when my old man went there, he saw him doing *that* with a mare. When my old man came back, he couldn't even eat..."
Upon hearing this, the customers at the five tables of the wonton stall fell silent, and even the old stall owner's hand trembled as he made the wontons.
"Thump!"
The wontons fell into the pot.
The diners, who had been speechless, gradually came to their senses and silently swallowed.
"This old Wang must be in his forties or fifties, how come he has such heavy tastes?"
"No wonder you said talking about this was like eating shit this morning. I don't even have an appetite for this spicy hot pot now."
"If this old man Wang really can't control himself, why doesn't he buy a horse and take it home? Doing that at the livestock market is disgusting. Does he not plan to stay in the county anymore?"
“I used to have tea with Old Wang. He doesn’t seem like that kind of person. Maybe he was tricked by someone. Didn’t they say his house was burned to the ground?”
"Who knows? I saw Old Lady Wang crying at the door of her house, which was burned to ashes, this morning. She was missing one of her right hands. Her son and daughter-in-law were nowhere to be seen, and their fate is unknown. I'm afraid it's some old enemy coming for revenge..."
Upon hearing this, the diners' initial curiosity quickly faded, replaced by a chill running down their spines.
Some people are curious and can inquire, but they also know what they shouldn't inquire about.
It's better to avoid getting caught up in the gossip yourself.
Su Dahu, who was standing to the side, froze slightly as he lifted the basket.
Yesterday, he only heard Hua'er casually mention that Old Man Wang had been crippled, but he didn't expect that there would be such a move after crippling Old Man Wang.
And, coincidentally, Old Wang's house was burned down!
If he wasn't mistaken, the burning of the house was also Hua'er's doing. However, he clearly remembered that yesterday afternoon, just before dark, Hua'er was fishing with them on the riverbank.
How could the house be burned down so quietly without anyone noticing, when no one was home?
Su Hua had excellent hearing, and the diners' chatter did not escape her ears. She looked up and saw Su Dahu standing by the wonton stall in a daze, so she walked over and took the fish ball basket from his hand.
He said softly, "It's shattered glass."
"Huh?" Su Dahu followed behind her, not understanding her seemingly random words for a moment.
Su Hua smiled, her voice as gentle as a breeze, “Shattered glass has a focusing effect, which can focus the sunlight in the sky into a tiny point. As long as the sunlight lasts long enough, the focused point will reach the ignition point and spontaneously combust. If water is added to the shattered glass, the focusing effect will be even better, and it will burn to ashes in a flash.”
"Is that so?" Su Dahu was shocked.
A mere shard of glass can burn down an entire courtyard?
This is simply too unbelievable.
What Ke Hua'er said must be true.
Moreover, if this method is used properly, wouldn't it be possible to take people's lives at will?
He turned his head slightly and looked at the girl's still immature face. Suddenly, he felt that the one most suitable to go to school was Hua'er, not him!
She could do things with ease, but he couldn't even grasp the intricacies of them.
"This knowledge was just stuffed into my mind when Meng Po woke me up, saying it was recorded in the classics." Su Hua smiled gently at him, "There are golden houses in books. As you read more in the future, you will naturally know this too."
Su Dahu nodded emphatically, and became even more determined to study hard.
Hua'er is so outstanding, so he, as the eldest brother, can't be too far behind.
Su Hua glanced at the sky; the huge sun hung halfway in the sky, it was already early morning. The number of customers queuing at the mala tang stall was gradually decreasing, and Su Erhu and Su Sanhu were able to finish their work. So they decided to drive the carriage to the Qin family with Su Dahu.
However, just as this thought crossed his mind, a loud crash was heard from the crowd.
Then came desperate cries for help.
"Husband!!! What's wrong with you? Wake up!!! You absolutely can't be hurt, if something happens to you, how am I supposed to live? God, help me! Someone save my man..."
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