13 Liu Dating in the West City Market
◎Here, the chicken you asked for.◎
Ye Yunzhao felt refreshed after eating this bowl of water spinach and pork wontons. She drank up the clear broth naturally. She stood up and was about to leave when she faintly heard the sound of drums coming from not far away.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Ye Yunzhao had never heard such a high frequency of drumming before, and asked curiously, "Auntie, what is this drumming sound for? Why are there so many beats?"
"Young lady, you are from another place, right?" asked the wonton lady.
"Aunt has good eyesight." Ye Yunzhao smiled embarrassedly.
"There are two markets in Yuezhou City, the East and the West. Every morning, the market opens with 300 drum beats, and at noon, the drum is beaten dozens of times to indicate that half of the time has passed." The wonton woman explained with a smile.
Hearing this, Ye Yunzhao nodded slightly thoughtfully, thinking about buying hens.
"Auntie, do you know where I can buy chicken?"
“If you want to get it cheaper, go to the market in the west of the city. If you’re lucky, you’ll probably find someone selling chickens. If you don’t want to go home empty-handed, go to the east of the city. There are stalls selling chickens every day.” Seeing her young age, the wonton lady couldn’t help but think of her own daughter, and she spoke with much more patience.
"Okay, thank you, auntie." Ye Yunzhao smiled and walked towards the general market in the west of the city.
The reason is simple: Ye Yunzhao has no money. If he didn't have it, it would be a wasted trip.
Ye Yunzhao walked westward with a bag of vegetable seeds in his arms. In a narrow open space surrounded by houses on two main streets, he saw the sign for the West City Market. There were wooden doors at both ends, which were wide open.
After walking a few steps into the market, you will see small stalls on both sides. There are many women dressed as farmers with dried wild grass and fruits in front of them, or men dressed as farmers carrying shoulder poles, and no one knows what is inside.
Maybe because it was noon, there were not many people buying things, and the hawking in the market was not loud. Most of the vendors were eating mixed flour buns for lunch.
Ye Yunzhao walked around and looked around. No wonder it was called a mixed market. There were wild vegetables and fruits, of course, as well as homemade flatbreads, dried straw, medicinal herbs, ordinary-made pottery bowls, wine vessels... It really had everything.
There just wasn't the big hen she wanted.
"Auntie, how much is this clay pot?" Ye Yunzhao wanted to make some cured fish before winter came.
"Thirteen cents." The vendor seemed afraid she wouldn't want it. "Look, young lady, this pot is so sturdy. Take it home and use it. It won't break!"
Ye Yunzhao looked left and right. The pottery jar was not small and it looked like it could pickle three or five fish at a time.
"Sell it to me for twelve coins. My family needs a lot. It's just that I didn't bring enough money today. I'll definitely ask you for it next time!"
The vendor said with a pained look on his face, "Take it, take it! Just consider it a friendship. If there's anything you want to buy, just come find me. Everyone in Yuezhou City knows me!"
Seeing that he replied so quickly, Ye Yunzhao felt regretful.
Oops! I cut too little!
"Okay." Ye Yunzhao took the pottery jar and consoled himself that twelve coins were not expensive. He casually asked, "Brother Liu, do you know who sells hens?"
"How many do you want?"
"Two."
"Okay, come and get it at this time tomorrow." Liu Dating looked up at her.
"Brother Liu, are you available today? My sister-in-law gave birth to a little niece a few days ago, and I'm anxious to stew a few hens for her to nourish her body." Ye Yunzhao couldn't come tomorrow, so he made up a lie.
Liu Da Ting hesitated for a moment and said, "Go straight along this road, out of the city, turn west at the second bend, and count seven houses along the road. Tell me your name and you'll save two cents."
Ye Yunzhao thanked him in surprise and walked in the direction he said. He was not far away, but the door was closed. Ye Yunzhao knocked three times lightly.
After a while, the door opened a crack, and a boy of about twelve or thirteen poked his head in and asked, "Who are you?"
"Little brother, I was introduced by Brother Liu to buy chickens." Ye Yunzhao said with a smile.
"How many?"
"Two, I want the female..."
Before Ye Yunzhao could finish her words, the door suddenly closed, blocking her outside.
"chicken……"
She touched her nose helplessly and was stunned for a moment, wondering if this was the rule of Yuezhou City.
"Here." The door suddenly opened again, and the boy handed out a chicken wing. "This is the chicken you wanted."
Ye Yunzhao looked at the chicken handed to him and did not take it.
The combs of the two old hens have turned slightly white and now look like pink combs. More importantly, both hens are not in good spirits and look a little listless.
"Hurry up and take it." The young man was anxious.
"These two are a bit big. I want to pick two smaller ones." Ye Yunzhao said.
"There's so much to do, just waiting..."
The young man was about to close the door again, but Ye Yunzhao raised his foot to block it.
"Little brother, can you let me choose for myself?"
"You are so picky about chickens?" The young man looked at the young lady in front of him and said in disbelief.
"I know a thing or two." Ye Yunzhao smiled.
In this way, she was able to enter smoothly. There was a large chicken coop in the backyard. At a glance, there were at least twenty chickens in it.
A fellow villager that Ye Yunzhao knew in her previous life specialized in supplying free-range chickens to supermarkets in the city. At that time, she had a lot of dealings with chickens because of the fermentation bed project.
Hens shouldn't be too thin, as they need more nutrition and won't be able to get sick. They shouldn't be too fat, as they'll be too oily and won't lay eggs. A larger butt indicates they've started laying, and a bright red comb is naturally the best.
However, Ye Yunzhao just said that he wanted two small ones, so it was not easy to choose an old hen right now.
She looked left and right, picked out two hens that looked four or five months old, and motioned for the boy to catch them.
"How much is one?" Ye Yunzhao asked.
"Twenty-eight cents. You can give fifty-five cents for two."
A hen costs between thirty and thirty-five cents, and the price offered by the young man is quite reasonable. Ye Yunzhao paid the money and took the hen with its feet tied.
Having accomplished two important things, Ye Yunzhao felt very happy. On the way back to the government office with his donkey, he bought three meat buns to eat tomorrow.
In short, this trip to Yuezhou City was worth it.
On the way back to Lingnan County, Ye Yunzhao didn't dare to ride the donkey. It was not because there were too many things this time, but because the two chickens she picked were too lively and kept fluttering in the bamboo basket. She was really worried, so she had to lead the donkey and look back from time to time to check on the hens.
Walking on the mountain path, gazing at the hanging waterfall rushing down from the continuous mountains in the distance, Ye Yunzhao felt as if his internal organs were washed by the clouds and mist.
But she vaguely saw someone at the end of the mountain path. Before she got close, Ye Yunzhao heard heart-wrenching cries.
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault!" The woman's face turned red and she cried out with all her might.
"Aunt."
The woman was standing on the edge of the cliff. Seeing that she was so excited, Ye Yunzhao only spoke softly, but still scared the woman.
"You... who are you..." the woman choked.
"I'm from Lingnan County." Ye Yunzhao smiled and took two steps closer to her. "Where are you from, aunt?"
"I'm from Ling...Nan County..."
As soon as these words came out, Ye Yunzhao's heart moved. These were her people. She saw that the woman looked anxious, and she was just one step away from the cliff. If she slipped and fell, what would happen?
"Auntie, we are from the same hometown!" Ye Yunzhao pretended not to notice her strangeness and said enthusiastically, "Come on, Auntie, it just so happens that the two of us can be companions."
The woman's eyes were filled with tears and she dropped huge tears. She shook her head blankly.
"I'm not... not going home... You... you go..."
"Aunt, it seems to me that it is already two quarters past three in the afternoon. If we don't leave now, we will have to spend the night in this forest."
The woman seemed to understand Ye Yunzhao's intention and cried, "My dear, please go away. I... I don't want to live anymore..."
"Aunt, have you encountered any difficulties?" Ye Yunzhao asked as he walked forward tentatively.
"I..." The woman didn't know what she was thinking about. Her body softened and she fell to her knees, covering her face and crying bitterly.
Ye Yunzhao was quick-witted and quick-handed, and quickly grabbed her and did not let go until they were away from the cliff.
"Aunt, what's wrong? Tell me." Ye Yunzhao squatted down and said softly.
The woman cried for a while before she put down her hands. Her eyes were dim and her face was swollen. She choked and said, "I... I lost the Hu pancakes I bought..."
Just because of this?
"I've been picking wild fruits for several days, and before I left, I promised the children I'd buy them some Hu pancakes." The woman wiped her tears and said regretfully, "I traded a whole basket of wild fruits for a Hu pancake, but now the Hu pancake is lost!"
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault for not being careful..."
"How could I blame you, Auntie?" Ye Yunzhao raised his hand to gently wipe her tears and comforted her, "You picked so many wild fruits and walked such a long mountain road, it's already amazing."
Ye Yunzhao felt mixed emotions, with sadness being the strongest emotion. She had never expected that someone would commit suicide just for a three-cent Hu pancake.
She took her meat bun out of the bamboo basket, unwrapped the oil paper, handed it to the woman, and said softly, "Auntie, take the bun home and eat it."
"How can this be possible? I don't want it."
"It's okay, auntie, just take it, I bought a lot."
"I don't...hiss..."
The woman suddenly gasped. Ye Yunzhao didn't dare to give in anymore. He tried to touch her arm and said, "Are you hurt?"
"No...no..." The woman gathered her sleeves, lowered her head, and tears dripped onto her coarse cloth, quickly soaking it.
Seeing this reaction, Ye Yunzhao hurriedly rolled up her sleeves, and her thin arms were covered with bright red bloodstains.
"Who hit her?" Ye Yunzhao's heart twitched. Looking at the woman's pale face, he asked while suppressing his anger.
"Bandits?"
"Your man?" Ye Yunzhao asked tentatively.
The woman pursed her lips but made no sound.
"Is he really your man? How could he hit you?" Ye Yunzhao frowned and said anxiously.
The woman lowered her head, tears silently falling. Her dark and thin hands showed the signs of years of hard work, and she was currently holding on to her clothes tightly.
It was not until this moment that Ye Yunzhao realized that she was not committing suicide because of the three-cent Hu Bing, but because of her life without light.
The Hu Bing that she accidentally dropped was like a mountain that was about to crush her to death.
But what about before that? How did she survive those days?
Ye Yunzhao didn't dare to think anymore, he lowered his eyes, tears in his eyes were about to fall, after a long while, he raised his head to look at her, and asked in a hoarse voice:
"Aunt, are you willing to divorce him?"
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