Chapter 2129 Small Broken Station
Bai Shan lowered the curtain and said to the yawning Man Bao, "You can relax now. Get some sleep first. I'll call you when we get there."
Manbao pulled out a soft pillow from the belly of the car and said, "I'll take a nap. Remember to call me."
Bai Shan nodded and watched her fall asleep on the wooden table with a soft pillow in her arms. The carriage was shaking, which might be uncomfortable at first, but when the speed was not fast, it did not feel bumpy. On the contrary, the shaking was more suitable for sleeping.
Manbao fell asleep quickly.
When she was woken up, they had already arrived at the post station.
The post station was located alone in a forest, next to the official road. The nearby wasteland had traces of carriages and horses, and the land was leveled so that carriages could be parked.
Even the stable was outside the house. It was a random area enclosed with wood and covered with some thatch, which was considered a stable.
Manbao and his companions had taken this road before when they were rushing to Xiazhou, but because they were marching quickly, they missed the post station except when they needed to change horses, so they had no impression of this post station at all.
This was the most shabby post station she had ever seen. Not only were the stables shoddy, but even the post station buildings were a bit shabby.
Bai Shan stared at the roof for a long time, afraid that it would fly away if the wind blew at night.
The others just looked at it, but Liu Huan couldn't help but exclaimed, "Isn't this post station too shabby?"
The postmaster came out of the post station and glanced at Liu Huan. He then looked away, glancing at everyone before turning to Mr. Zhuang and asking, "Sir, are you staying here?"
Mr. Zhuang nodded and introduced himself first, then introduced Manbao, "This is our chief officer on this trip, Mr. Zhou, the editor of Chongwenguan."
The postmaster was startled for a moment, then reacted and immediately stepped forward to greet him. "It's Doctor Zhou, Doctor Zhou. Please come in."
Obviously, as the only female official at the time, the postmaster also knew her.
Manbao nodded and asked everyone to park the carriages and horses, then he and the postmaster went inside and said, "Is there enough room? If not, let's squeeze in."
The postmaster tried hard to force a smile and said, "The station is a bit shabby, and there are not many good rooms, so we need the adults to squeeze in, two to a room."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "There are only five rooms on the second floor, all of them are upper rooms, so..."
Manbao said, "That's enough."
Mr. Zhuang and General Nie will share a room, the two travelers will share a room, Man Bao and Zhou Liru will share a room, Yin Huo and Liu Huan can share a room, and Bai Shan will live with Bai Er.
Fortunately, no other officials were passing by at the same time, otherwise Bai Shan and the others would definitely not have been able to stay in the room, and they would have to choose a room based on its quality.
Bai Shan looked up and down. The tables and chairs inside were all broken. He couldn't help but wonder, "How far is it from here to the town?"
The postmaster said quickly, "From here on down is Yishi County, which is about forty miles away."
"Is there no town on the way?"
The postmaster shook his head. "Let alone a town, there isn't even a big village. If the adults want to live in the village, they have to go a long way from the official road to get there."
He smiled and said, "But few people would stop here. Most people would stop for the night in the village ahead, and then the next day they could reach Yishi County in just one day."
Bai Shan knew that they were so busy rushing to the post station to stay that they missed the news.
He glanced at Manbao, smiled, and said, "It seems this is fate."
"It's fate, it's fate." The postmaster was afraid of offending them, so he bowed repeatedly and responded. Then he asked them to rest first and he immediately went to prepare hot water and hot meals.
Fortunately, his small inn might not have a single guest for ten days or half a month, so the only things on the stove were his own food and hot water.
So many people suddenly came...
The postmaster was a little panicked.
Bai Shan guessed it when he saw sweat on his forehead in the cold weather. He turned around and said to Daji, "Send someone to help, and do what you can do yourself."
Daji agreed, turned around and asked the guards to gather the carriages together and keep them safe, and to prepare food and fodder for the horses and mules themselves.
There were not many people in the post station. There was only one postmaster and two positions for helpers. The postmaster was partial to his wife and son and gave the positions to them.
One was busy in the kitchen, and the other was supporting in the front.
Although the small station had few customers and almost no extra income, they still received a salary from the court every month. It was not much, but it allowed them to live better than ordinary people.
Because there was no preparation, the postmaster not only called his wife and son over, but also asked his daughter and younger son to help, and asked them to boil water and cook.
Then he squatted down and began to worry, "What are we going to eat for so many people?"
His wife hesitated for a moment and then said, "How about we use all the leftover smoked meat from the New Year to make it?"
We are all adults, we can't neglect them.
The postmaster nodded and said, "This is not enough. Let's kill the chickens we raised at home."
His wife was a little unhappy, "It's still small, just over two pounds in total, and there won't be much meat left after removing the hair."
She also wants to raise it for laying eggs.
The postmaster whispered, "What do you know? This time, a high-ranking official is here. This Imperial Physician Zhou is famous. She was the one who treated the epidemic that broke out during the New Year. Even a high-ranking official like this doesn't even have two meat dishes. If she gets angry and tells her superiors, how can I still be the postmaster?"
His wife then walked with a sad face to the shabby shed behind the post station, where their chickens were raised.
Manbao and the others put their luggage in the house, and Keke told her that there was a plant that had not been included behind the post station, so Manbao took her small medicine hoe and went to the back.
Bai Shan followed her and muttered, "If you want to dig flowers and plants, we can go into the woods and look for them later. Now is the time when plants are reviving, and maybe we can find mushrooms."
Manbao: "It's not raining, how come there are mushrooms?"
When they got to the back, they saw a bunch of particularly beautiful plants on the edge of the vegetable garden. They said it was beautiful because it now had green leaves, lush branches and leaves, and was blooming very vigorously. At first glance, it made people feel that it was full of vitality and was also well cared for.
Because of this, the two of them did not take action for a while.
It's obvious that this thing is not wild. If they want to dig it up, they should at least ask the owner, right?
I was squatting and studying when I heard footsteps. I turned around and saw a woman walking towards me with a knife in her hand.
Manbao and Baishan both shrank their necks at the same time and subconsciously moved back a little, away from the plant, to show that they had no bad intentions towards it.
As a result, the woman who came over aggressively did not see the two people squatting by the vegetable field, but went straight to the broken shed next to it.
As soon as she stepped in, they heard the sound of chickens screaming and flapping their wings.
The two of them breathed a sigh of relief together, looked at each other and couldn't help but burst out laughing, then stood up and walked over to talk to the woman.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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