Chapter 73 Hot Soup!
A voice as crisp and sweet as a nightingale drew Wu Youliang's wandering eyes back to Shen Yuanruan.
Wu Youliang's eyes first swept over Shen Yuanruan's eyes, then unabashedly moved downwards, from her slightly protruding breasts to her slender waist. Thinking of the young lady's smooth, tofu-like hands and face yesterday, he quickly wiped away his drool.
“Little sister Ruan, come here quickly and sit down with your brother for a while~” Wu Youliang chuckled and patted his leg.
A fleeting look of disgust crossed Shen Yuanruan's eyes, but her face remained adorned with a sweet smile.
"No, my family is eating over there. It wouldn't be good if they saw us!"
Thinking of the empty silver pouch, Wu Youliang was eager to eat this tender meat.
"You've been with me these past few days, so your family must have already tacitly approved of our relationship. Once we get to Dongchuan, I'll write to the capital and ask my family to send me more money. Then I'll buy a big house, hire some servants, and marry you as my principal wife!"
Shen Yuanruan's eyes flashed, and she quickly pretended to be shy and awkward, taking two steps forward.
"Brother Wu, they're all eating. When are you going to buy some food?"
Wu Youliang's eyes darted around for a moment, then he immediately said, "I've been eating too much rich food lately and I'm feeling a bit overheated, so I won't eat this meal to cleanse my stomach."
Shen Yuanruan was hungry and cursed Wu Youliang in her heart. What a feast! It wasn't even as good as what the servants ate when she was in the capital.
"Brother Wu, go buy me some hot soup, I'll drink it like hot water!"
Wu Youliang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, you wait here!"
Shen Yuanruan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he had actually gone. Since he had gone, he certainly wouldn't just buy soup. She had just suspected that Wu Youliang was out of money, but now it seemed he still had some!
As soon as Wu Youliang arrived in front of the yamen runner, he immediately changed his attitude and bowed obsequiously to the runner.
"Sir, I see there's still some hot soup in the pot. Could you please fill a bowl with it?"
Without even looking up, Liu Laohu said, "Two taels of silver!"
Wu Youliang gasped, "I only want the soup, I don't want the vegetables inside!"
"I'm talking about the soup price. If you want vegetables, it'll be five taels!" Liu Laohu had long disliked Wu Youliang. When he left the capital, no one saw the kid off, and he didn't know where the silver came from. Lazy and good-for-nothing, he didn't do anything, yet he wanted to drink soup for free. Who gave him the nerve?
He used to only care about money!
Wu Youliang was secretly furious, but dared not show it on his face. He only had a few taels of silver left in his bag. If he used it all to buy soup, he would have no money for the carriage when he set off tomorrow.
"Are you going to buy it or not? If not, get out!" Liu Laohu shouted impatiently.
Thinking of that sweet "Brother Wu," Wu Youliang finally gritted his teeth and took out the money.
Just wait, his money isn't something anyone can use for free.
Shen Yuanruan waited and waited, and finally Wu Youliang returned. She happily took a few steps forward, expecting to see a sumptuous meal, but instead she saw only a bowl of white soup with two scallions floating on top.
Where's the meat, the vegetables, and the steamed buns?
While cooking, she saw the women cut a lot of salted meat into the pot, but there wasn't a single piece of salted meat in the pot.
Wu Youliang acted as if he hadn't noticed Shen Yuanruan's bad expression and said, "We're too late, this is all that's left. Didn't you say you wanted hot soup? It's still quite hot, hurry up and drink it!"
Shen Yuanruan was furious. She meant hot soup, but she didn't mean it. Wu Youliang had already brought it back, so she couldn't explain. She could only put the soup aside and drink it with a long face, without even glancing at Wu Youliang.
Wu Youliang watched Shen Yuanruan's retreating figure, a sinister glint in his eyes. When he had money, he was a big shot; when he didn't, he wouldn't even glance at her. What kind of young lady was she? She was just a prostitute sold in the brothel.
Because Liu Yanhui traded grain for vegetables, the villagers, remembering their kindness, vacated several rooms for them.
After discussing it with Shen Lanxi, Liu Yanhui arranged a separate courtyard for her, separated from the place where the exiled prisoners lived. The prisoners wouldn't make any noise, and if there was an emergency, Shen Lanxi could hear her immediately if she shouted.
Shen Lanxi appropriately restored some authority to Liu Yan, mainly by having Chunxue formally inform Liu Laohu that Liu Yan had been hired as an accountant.
It was emphasized that anyone who needed to purchase should contact Liu Yanhui to get the money.
Actually, there was no need to explain it so clearly, but she was worried that Liu Laohu wouldn't understand.
Based on this point alone, Liu Yanhui will have second only to Liu Laohu in terms of freedom when walking among prisoners!
With their departure planned for tomorrow morning, Wang's mother and her family prepared to make a lot of pastries. Most of the Shen family members were now practicing martial arts, resulting in a high consumption of pastries.
While resting that evening, Wu Youliang gave Shen Yuanruan several meaningful glances, but Shen Yuanruan pretended not to understand. Furious, Wu Youliang stormed out, grumbling.
"You little slut, I'll get my hands on you sooner or later, you worthless thing..."
The prisoners were all resting in one courtyard. When Wu Youliang went out, everyone assumed he was going to relieve himself and didn't pay any attention.
As Wu Youliang reached the corner, he immediately turned around and hid in the corner to peek back.
Seeing that no one was following him, the idea of sneaking away suddenly popped into his head.
Then I thought, no, putting aside his household registration, there's a disaster going on right now, where can he run to? If he goes with the prisoners, at least he can get a black cornbread for a meal.
Furthermore, what if he encountered cannibalistic refugees? The fat he had gained along the way would be no different from a piece of fatty meat in the eyes of starving refugees.
He can't run away; he has to find a way to make money! As long as he has money, he can still live a life of luxury!
After figuring this out, Wu Youliang looked at Gulan Village again and thought it was just like a treasure village.
In the stillness of the night, all was quiet. The villagers, exhausted from a long day, went to bed early.
Wu Youliang felt his opportunity had come, so he used the excuse of needing to urinate to sneak into Gulan Village.
After searching five or six houses, Wu Youliang only found some copper coins and a blackened silver hairpin in three of them. Disappointed, he was about to search one more house before heading back when he suddenly heard a noise coming from the chicken coop.
His eyes lit up, and he immediately crept into the chicken coop. When he left, he was holding a big, fat chicken in each hand.
He had already broken the chicken's neck. He hadn't eaten dinner and was so hungry that his stomach was churning with acid. He didn't care about going to another house anymore and immediately found a dilapidated, uninhabited house to start a fire and kill the chicken!
He was experienced; he would wrap the chicken in mud and then bury it with a smoldering fire. Since there was no visible flame, the smell of the meat wouldn't escape, and even the most sensitive neighbor wouldn't be able to smell it!
Two fat chickens are enough for him to have a good meal. After he's full, he can go back and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, he'll still take the car and set off!
Wu Youliang was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a bright fire erupting behind him until the flames burned his back. Only then did he turn around to look.
I was so scared I almost lost my mind!
"Fire! Help! Help put out the fire..."
The villagers came out quickly, each carrying a bucket of water, but they didn't rush to put out the fire.
They were all persuaded to stay by the village chief.
"Many places are experiencing water shortages right now. Although our situation isn't as severe, we can't afford to waste water!"
"This house has been abandoned for a long time. There's not much food left to burn, and with no wind, the fire won't spread to other houses. Let's not try to save it and conserve water!"
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