Chapter 3434: Revisiting the Old Place 4
They walked along the long street for a while. For them, who were used to the bitter cold weather in Beijing, the winter in Yongzhou was a little colder than usual, but they did not feel uncomfortable. Xinping even broke out in a sweat after a while.
But she didn't say anything, she just kept wiping her sweat with her handkerchief.
At this time, Zhu Feng stopped and looked at a tall banyan tree not far ahead.
This banyan tree looks to be at least a hundred years old, with lush branches and leaves, like a big open umbrella covering the front. A young couple set up a tea stall under the tree. They don’t even need a shed, just two or three small tables and a few bamboo stools. The porters who come and go get tired and stop to sit by the roadside to drink tea and chat loudly.
Zhu Feng turned his head and asked Nan Yan, "Are you going?"
“……?”
Nan Yan was stunned for a moment. She didn't say she was thirsty, so why was he asking her about it? But when she turned around and saw Xinping's expression, she immediately understood.
She smiled and said, "Of course I'll go. I've been thirsty for a long time."
Zhu Feng snorted lightly, put his hands behind his back and led them over.
Naturally, he would not say anything more to the stall owner. Xiao Shunzi and Ruoshui immediately went over to the stall owner and bought three bowls of tea. Ruoshui wanted to take out a handkerchief to wipe the table and chairs, but Nan Yan raised her hand to stop her.
Now that you're out, there's no need to be so picky. Being picky in front of these hard-working people will only make others unhappy.
Sure enough, Zhu Feng lifted his robe and sat down.
Seeing him like this, Nan Yan and Xin Ping naturally sat on the creaking bamboo stool.
The stall owner's wife brought up cups of tea and said attentively, "Master and Madam, please have some tea."
Zhu Feng nodded, without saying anything more, picked up the teacup and started drinking.
The tea served outside wasn't as good as the palace tea, and the water wasn't nearly as good, but sitting under a banyan tree on the street, surrounded by people dressed in shorts and talking loudly, drinking tea was a completely different experience. Xinping didn't complain, sipping from the teacup with both hands, his eyes wide open as he looked around.
Everything here was so new to her, even the velvet flower on her head made her feel happy.
She looked around, and at this moment, a few more porters came over.
They were clearly already familiar with the stall owner; they didn't even sit on the stools nearby, but sat directly beside the stone altar under the banyan tree, scooping half a bowl of tea from the teapot and began to drink. The stall owner's wife also smiled and brought the kettle over to refill their hot water.
One of the middle-aged men laughed and said, "Mrs. Zhou, why are you still setting up a stall in such cold weather? Don't you want to take a break?"
Madam Zhou laughed and said, "Why rest? Resting for a day means missing a day's meal. Who dares to rest? Do you dare?"
The porters looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Who dares?
For people like them who work hard and honestly, they can only earn a day's food by working a day. If they don't move, they will go hungry. In this world, not many people dare to rest easily.
At this time, a young man among the porters sneered and said, "We dare not rest, but people in front of us are living on piles of rice. That's what we call comfortable."
Everyone was stunned.
Madam Zhou asked, "Xiao Ding, who are you talking about?"
Xiao Ding said angrily, "Who else could it be? Someone from the Kingdom of Yue."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Feng raised his eyebrows slightly, but sat there calmly, drinking tea and listening quietly. Nan Yan glanced at him and also pricked up her ears quietly.
Seeing the young man's indignant look, the middle-aged man next to him laughed and said, "What did you see?"
The young man asked, "Do you know the temple built by the Yue people on the mountain ahead?"
The middle-aged man said, "Who doesn't know? Even in that small temple, the Arhats they worship aren't even golden Arhats. Who would go there to burn incense?"
The young man said angrily, "The other day I passed by the foot of the mountain and saw that the temple's sewer was full of white rice!"
When everyone heard this, they were all shocked: "What? Rice?"
The young man said, "Isn't it? They said they couldn't eat all the good rice, and the temple's rice jars couldn't hold it. If they kept it, it would only infest the rats, so they just threw it away."
Everyone was heartbroken when they heard this.
A customer drinking tea at another table heard this and turned around, saying with regret, "That's right! I went there a while ago to sell some fruits and vegetables, and I heard that the people of Yue use fine millet to feed their horses. They say it's cheaper than hay."
The porters became even more angry after hearing this.
"Damn it! We work hard all day and can't even eat white rice, but they either throw away the best rice or feed it to the horses. How can this be tolerated?"
"We live worse than even the animals of Yue State."
"Isn't it? In Yan Country, rice costs two taels per stone, but I heard that in Yue Country, a stone of rice costs less than one tael of silver. The rice in Daluo City is even cheaper!"
"What can we do? If this continues, we'll have to ship all the high-quality rice and grain there by the truckload."
"We worked so hard to grow the food, and they just wasted it..."
Everyone was very angry, but despite their anger, they had no idea what to do.
Just then, they suddenly heard a clang.
Looking back, the sound came from another table on the tea stall. There were three people in gorgeous clothes sitting by the low table. They seemed to be a master and his wife with their daughter. It was obvious that they were either rich or noble. The young lady was pretty, but at this time she was full of anger. She threw the tea bowl in her hand and stared at the calm master in front of her with red eyes, as if she was resentful of something.
The lady sitting next to her, who had an elegant and graceful demeanor, frowned and scolded her daughter: "What are you doing?!"
The young lady didn't know what kind of injustice she had suffered, or who she was angry with. She glared at the master, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say it. She stomped her feet hard, turned around and ran away.
The servant and maidservant following them shouted anxiously: "Grand Duke—Miss!"
The servant hurriedly chased after him.
The lady turned around and said, "Master..."
The master remained calm and didn't even get angry at his daughter's behavior. He just took out a piece of silver from his purse and put it on the table, paid for the tea and compensated for the broken bowl, then stood up and walked forward. The lady had no choice but to follow him.
The customers at the tea stall were left looking at each other in bewilderment.
This incident was just a small episode for them. They were still discussing how the Vietnamese people were living a good life now and did not have to worry about having enough food, but they could only do hard labor in fear to barely make a living.
Madam Zhou couldn't help but sigh, "When will days like this end?"
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