Chapter 303 Beggar
Xie Yunqi took the things, carried them into the carriage, and began to eat heartily. He casually instructed Xiao Quanzi, "Oh, by the way, I also ordered seven days' worth of herbal tea with Shengsheng. You and Zijuan can help arrange this."
"ah?"
Xiao Quanzi was unaware of what had happened until Zijuan explained it to him.
But that's all for tomorrow. Right now, everyone still needs to go to Tonghua Village. Xiao Quanzi said with two "ohs," "Okay, no problem. Let's take these to Tonghua Village now?"
Zijuan nodded, then turned to look at the woman who was still in a daze. The woman then realized what was happening and said, "Oh, oh."
The woman hurriedly began packing up the herbal tea and bamboo tubes for them to take away, and even called her daughter to help.
After everything was settled, the carriage continued along the main road. The mother and daughter kept chasing after the carriage, thanking it and promising to deliver the herbal tea to the palace on time, while waving to them from the window.
Sheng Sheng saw a glimmer of light in the little girl's eyes, and when she met Sheng Sheng's gaze, her eyes curved into a smile with a hint of shyness.
Sheng Sheng smiled, her lips pursed, and her heart felt warm.
Xie Yunqi happily ate the beef shumai. Seeing that Shengsheng had sat up straight again, he immediately handed her a shumai: "It's so delicious, but the beef is too small. When we get back to the palace, I'll ask the imperial chef to make a shumai that's all beef."
Sheng Sheng took a bite, and just as Xie Yunqi had said, there was only a small piece of beef in the large shumai filling.
Sheng Sheng had a full breakfast and wasn't hungry yet, so she only ate this one bite and didn't touch it anymore.
But seeing Xie Yunqi eat one dish after another, Sheng Sheng began to suspect that he might not have eaten breakfast.
However, she clearly remembered that Xie Yunqi had already eaten.
"Fifth brother, didn't you have breakfast?"
"Yeah, I've eaten." Xie Yunqi mumbled, taking a bite of a steamed bun in the left hand and a bite of a sesame seed cake in the right.
"Why are you still eating so much? You should eat less, or you'll get indigestion and a stomachache."
"Oh dear, the Spring Banquet doesn't start until the afternoon. Everyone else goes after lunch. If we go to Tonghua Village so early, we might not get to eat lunch. We should eat as much as we can now." Xie Yunqi held out the sesame seed cake in his hand to her. "You should eat some too, so you won't be hungry later."
"Oh, that makes sense." Sheng Sheng shook her head. "Sheng Sheng isn't going to eat anymore, she's still full."
"Alright."
Xie Yunqi ate a few more bites, then suddenly remembered the question she had originally wanted to ask.
Xie Yunqi slapped his forehead. "Look at my brain, I almost forgot to ask you."
"Hmm? What do you want to ask?"
Xie Yunqi put down the sesame seed cake in his hand and stared intently at Shengsheng.
Sheng Sheng couldn't help but sit up straight as well.
Hmm, Xie Yunqi even put down the sesame seed cake, so it seems the matter is indeed very serious.
Xie Yunqi kept a straight face and remained silent for a long time, waiting for him to speak with a serious expression.
Sheng Sheng thought he was pondering how to start the conversation, which was why he was looking serious and considering his words.
Sheng Sheng waited for a long time but Xie Yunqi didn't speak. Sheng Sheng was a little confused. What was it? Was it so hard to say?
Sheng Sheng was about to speak when she saw Xie Yunqi suddenly start shaking his back.
A moment later, as if struck by a sudden illness, he glared angrily at Sheng Sheng, his hands began to tremble, and he made a sound that resembled a cough but wasn't quite a cough, like a large crab struggling with something stuck in its throat.
Sheng Sheng froze for a moment, then saw Xie Yunqi clutching his throat with one hand and raising his other hand tremblingly to try and clear his throat. Only then did Sheng Sheng realize, "Oh no, Fifth Brother, you're choking!"
Xie Yunqi remained silent. Oh, not silent, but because he didn't know French, he could only keep trying to understand it.
Sheng Sheng poured him tea and patted his back. After a flurry of activity, Xie Yunqi finally managed to swallow the sesame seed cake in his mouth.
Xie Yunqi's face was still flushed red from lack of oxygen. With a look of utter despair, she slammed the remaining half of the sesame seed cake onto the table: "Damn sesame seed cake!"
He was so embarrassed! He choked on a pancake in front of his sister!
Xie Yunqi grew angrier the more she looked at the sesame seed cake. She flung open the curtain and saw a carriage passing by a ragged, emaciated beggar lying by the roadside. In front of the beggar was a broken bowl, empty of any coins.
Xie Yunqi picked up the half-eaten sesame seed cake and accurately tossed it into the broken bowl.
The bowl made a loud clattering sound, but it didn't sound like a sesame seed cake hitting the bowl; it sounded more like silver hitting the bowl's rim.
Hearing the commotion, the beggar weakly glanced in this direction, but Xie Yunqi had already angrily sat back down after throwing away the sesame cake, so the beggar only saw the pink carriage pass by.
"Well……"
After the carriage had traveled quite a distance, the beggar finally sat up, belatedly, and started rummaging through the bowl, wanting to eat the half-eaten sesame seed cake inside.
To everyone's surprise, the beggar struggled for a long time but still couldn't pick up the sesame seed cake. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the beggar's tendons had been severed. No wonder he couldn't lift anything and could only keep struggling!
The beggar was so anxious that he made "ah ah" sounds, but he could only manage a few incoherent syllables after a long time.
It turned out that not only had the tendons in the beggar's hands been severed, but his voice had also been poisoned and rendered mute.
The beggar struggled for a while, sweating profusely, but in the end he still couldn't pick up the half-eaten sesame seed cake. He could only lie on the ground and nibble at it bit by bit.
When the still-warm sesame seed cake touched his tongue, and the long-awaited meat was swallowed, the beggar was moved to tears.
He hadn't eaten for a very long time and almost thought he was going to starve to death on the street.
The beggar shakily ate a bite of the sesame seed cake, and suddenly noticed a silver ingot at the bottom of the bowl.
The beggar, recalling the crisp sound he had just heard, paused for a moment, then looked sharply in the direction the carriage had gone, but the carriage was already far away, leaving only a trail of wheels.
He remembered that carriage!
Two months ago, when he was being beaten by people from the gambling den on the street, it was the people in that carriage who intervened and stopped the beating.
That's right, this half-dead beggar is none other than Steward Wang, whom Sheng Sheng accidentally met two months ago when she went to Yunshan Farm with the others.
Steward Wang and the thugs who beat people were taken away by the Dali Temple and imprisoned for a month before being released, but they suffered a lot in prison.
Steward Wang's tendons and his hoarse voice, caused by poisoning, were from when he was kicked out of the Duke of Jing's mansion earlier. It was the Duke of Jing's mansion that made him like this.
After he was released from prison, he still had to beg for a living. However, he was tortured to the point of near death in prison, and was also targeted and driven away by other beggars. He could not beg for anything at all. Just a few minutes ago, he almost thought he was going to starve to death on this street corner.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com