Chapter 70 Chapter 70 Get Drunk and Run Away
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the county town is more lively than ever.
Early in the morning, yamen runners patrolled the streets to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the festival to cause trouble.
If something happened on such a special day and it was reported to the county magistrate, who would not be able to celebrate the holiday, I'm afraid no one would suffer.
During every festival, everyone is on edge and would rather be a little tired.
The yamen runners rarely asked for leave at times like this, unless they were too sick to get up.
Therefore, even though Ge Yayi and the other two were feeling very unwell, they did not dare to ask for leave at will. Otherwise, if they asked for leave for all three of them, it would definitely leave a bad impression on their superiors, and they would not be called upon for any matter in the future, making them marginal figures.
Even if something happens today, their superiors might vent their anger on them.
Last night, Ge Yayi and his two companions returned to the county town around midnight.
Under normal circumstances, it would only take two hours to walk this short distance at a slow pace. But at that time, they had just been beaten up and their whole bodies were sore that they couldn't even walk. The three of them had to support each other to get back. You can't even describe how pitiful they looked.
Fortunately, the moonlight allowed them to see the road clearly, otherwise, in their current condition, it would be unknown whether they could successfully return to the county town.
After returning to the county town, the three men felt so uncomfortable that they knocked on the door of the clinic at night.
The doctor was shocked to see their miserable appearance and asked them quickly if they were chasing some vicious criminals, otherwise why were they beaten like this?
Look at Zhu, the yamen runner. The clothes on his upper body were torn, with only a few pieces of cloth hanging there. There were criss-crossing scars on his exposed chest, and it was obvious that he had been severely beaten.
The three men had no way of expressing their grievances, and could only shamelessly say that they encountered "vicious criminals" outside the city.
This scared the doctor very much. It seemed that it was not safe outside the city. He had to warn his family not to leave the city casually recently to avoid encountering some vicious criminals.
Those were villains who even dared to beat up yamen runners. If ordinary people encountered them, they would suffer a bad end.
After treating their wounds, the three men went home and fell into a deep sleep exhausted with a complicated and fearful mood.
The next day, they were woken up by their families before dawn.
Their families all knew that during the holidays, these yamen runners would be very busy, so they would wake them up early to prevent them from oversleeping and wasting time.
Their family went to bed early last night, and around midnight they heard the three people returning.
They have all gotten used to this. After all, sometimes when they are busy, the three of them will come back late at night, or go out to play somewhere and sometimes not come back the whole night.
Anyway, the county town is their territory, so there is no need to worry about them.
Therefore, the families of the three people did not know that they were injured.
When they came out of the room, in the slightly hazy sky, we were shocked to see the red and swollen marks on their faces and necks, and we hurriedly asked them what happened.
The three did not want to tell them what happened last night, and continued to perfunctorily explain that they had met "villains" outside the city.
It was okay when facing their family, but it became difficult when they arrived at the county government office and faced their colleagues who were watching the fun.
"What did you do? Why are you beaten like this?"
"Was he beaten with a whip? Who is so bold as to hit an official?"
"Were you all beaten together? All three of you combined couldn't beat him?"
“…”
All three of them answered that they had encountered villains.
Even the county lieutenant made a special inquiry when he heard about this. After all, a government official was beaten so badly, so he had to inquire about the situation.
Faced with the county lieutenant's questions, they naturally had to explain in more detail.
"...We went out of town to visit friends last night, but we ran into a few bandits coming out of the mountains. When they saw us, they attacked us without saying a word. Because they were outnumbered, we were no match for them..."
This was also the excuse the three of them came up with last night. Anyway, they didn't dare to drag Yu Li into it.
After returning to the county town, Zhu Yayi finally calmed down and really wanted to take revenge on Yu Li. He felt that she was just an ordinary citizen. Could she really go against the government?
Upon hearing this, Ge Yayi and his two companions quickly pinned him down.
They told him about Yu Li's previous threats. This was related to the man's dignity and the inheritance of his family's offspring. Each of these touched the man's soft spot, making the man dare not ignore it.
"You don't really want your Zhu family to be extinct, do you? You'd better not count on luck, otherwise if all the males in your family are killed...you won't even have time to cry then!" Ge Yayi said seriously.
Peng Yayi said in the same serious tone: "You don't think she can't do it, do you?"
Zhu the yamen runner also hesitated. Thinking that Yu Li beat them like his grandsons and it seemed that he didn't use much strength, he finally decided to suppress the thought of revenge.
He also didn't dare to test the issue of his family's continuation.
-
After hearing this, the county lieutenant was shocked and angry.
The last time Manager Cui was injured by the thugs roaming around the county, Magistrate Zhang was furious and caused them all to be scolded by Magistrate Zhang and fined their monthly salary. But they didn't expect that bandits from outside would cause trouble again.
The county lieutenant did not doubt their words because this kind of thing was very common.
Shanping County is adjacent to the Yi tribe, and across the mountain is the Nanzhao Kingdom. Although the two countries maintain superficial calm, there are often frictions in secret. Fortunately, there are troops stationed nearby to intimidate the Yi and Nanzhao people, allowing Shanping County to maintain peace and stability.
But things outside Shanping County were not so peaceful.
The environment here is special. There are many vicious bandits living in the surrounding mountains and forests. These bandits include people from Daqing, Yi people, and even people from Nanzhao.
Anyway, it is hard to tell where they are from. They are all a bunch of vicious people who do all kinds of evil.
It would be fine during normal times, but whenever an important festival is approaching, bandits will cause trouble nearby, specifically targeting lone civilians. Some murderous bandits will even attack innocent civilians, killing, robbing, and committing murder.
It was also in recent years that General Xuan, who was stationed here, took ruthless measures to crack down on the bandits, which made them behave themselves.
Upon learning that the three men had encountered bandits, the county lieutenant felt quite sympathetic and generously allowed them to go back and rest, and come back to the yamen after they had recovered from their injuries.
The three men thanked the county lieutenant, but did not go back to rest, indicating that they could continue.
Although they were in severe pain all over their bodies, it was not so painful that they could not move. The pain was like ants gnawing at their bones, dense and intense. As long as they held on, they could hold on.
It can only be said that Yu Li knew when to stop beating them. She would never beat them to the point of being bedridden and delaying their work. Even if she beat them, they still had to do what they were supposed to do.
The yamen runners did not dare to rest and even hoped to work hard in this state, so that she could see that they had really turned over a new leaf and turned over a new leaf.
The county lieutenant was very pleased and went to Magistrate Zhang to praise them. He then told Magistrate Zhang about the bandits roaming around the county town.
Upon learning that the bandits dared to attack government officials, County Magistrate Zhang was indeed very angry.
He quickly sent people to patrol around the county town to prevent the people living nearby from being harmed by the bandits. If too many people died and the higher-ups found out, he, as the county magistrate, would definitely be blamed.
The yamen runners were sent out to patrol the city, which indeed deterred the bandits who wanted to come down the mountain to cause chaos during the festival.
They complained in their hearts that they had never seen the government do anything in the past, so why did they send so many yamen runners to patrol during the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Originally they just wanted to go down the mountain to grab some supplies during the festival, but now they decided to go back.
Because of their injuries, the three yamen runners of Ge were not sent out of the city, but were instead patrolling the county town.
The three of them were busy for most of the day. They went to eat at noon and gathered together. When there was no one around, they discussed when to tie Chen Zhongxun and the Yu brothers up in front of Yu Li and make them kneel down and apologize to her.
"Let's wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival." Ge Yayi said hesitantly, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I don't think she would want to see them."
It’s a nice holiday, who wants to meet some nasty people?
Peng Yayi agreed, "Indeed, if it were me, I wouldn't want to see him either. Let's wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival and then take him there." After saying that, he turned to look at Zhu Yayi, "Then it's up to you, Old Zhu."
Zhu Yamen was stunned. "Why are you looking at me?"
"They are your relatives. Who else are you looking at?" Peng said unhappily. "Call them out when the time comes. Then we will tie them up and send them to Boss Li."
The servant Zhu was stunned and said nothing.
The yamen runner Ge narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter? Are you planning to back out?"
Peng, the yamen runner, gritted his teeth. If Zhu, the yamen runner, dared to say that he would not do it, he would definitely take him to Boss Li and let Boss Li beat him up again.
After a beating he will know what to do.
"Of course not." Zhu Yayi said, "They made me encounter this kind of thing. How can I still regard them as relatives? I will definitely not back down."
Compared to those relatives, Yu Li is definitely more terrifying.
He sighed in his heart, knowing that if he really did it, his family would be at odds with the Chen family and would really be cut off. He had originally thought of sending his son to the Chen family's private school when he was older.
However, since the death of his grandmother, the Chen family, who prided themselves on being a farming and scholar family with a noble family tradition, actually looked down on him as a yamen runner, and the two families did not interact much...
Forget it, just take care of yourself first.
**
Yu Li was busy the whole morning and didn't even have time to drink a sip of water.
After delivering all the goods, she was finally able to stop and rest, as she was hungry.
Passing by a stall selling sesame cakes, she smelled the unique aroma of sesame and bought a few sesame cakes.
After buying the cakes, she ate them while walking towards the pier. When she passed a busy street intersection, someone called her.
"Lee Boss!"
Yu Li turned around and saw Wu Shouzi squatting on the side of the road. Next to him was a toolbox filled with bricklayer's tools. He looked like he was waiting for business to come.
Seeing that he was working seriously, Yu Li handed him a sesame cake and asked, "Want to eat?"
Wu Shouzi was flattered and took it with tears of gratitude, looking at her as if she were his second parent.
"Boss Li, you've been so good to me. I, I can't repay you..."
He didn't expect that someone as scary as Li Lao Da would actually invite him to eat cake. He was afraid that among all people, he was the only one who had this blessing, which moved him very much.
Seeing him crying while eating, Yu Li silently moved aside, wondering if he was sick.
Did I beat him too hard, so he is so grateful just because I gave him something to eat?
Although she thought so, she still decided not to change. She would still beat him when she needed to, so she asked, "What do you want from me?"
While eating the fragrant sesame cake, Wu Shouzi moved aside and whispered to her when no one was paying attention: "Boss Li, I saw the yamen runners Zhu and Ge today. They seemed to have been beaten up. They were beaten pretty badly..."
As he said this, he looked at her cautiously.
Yu Li munched on the sesame cake calmly with a cold expression.
As soon as Wu Shouzi saw it, he knew who had beaten the three people, and he immediately laughed with glee.
Although he didn't understand either, both Ge and Peng had been beaten by Boss Li and must know how powerful Boss Li was. Why didn't they learn their lesson and continued to get beaten?
Tsk tsk tsk, could this be the legendary fool who doesn’t count when he’s beaten?
"I heard from the patrolling yamen runners that they went out of the city to look for friends last night, and encountered some roving bandits on the road, and were beaten up like this by the bandits..."
As Wu Shouzi spoke, he looked at the "bandits" in front of him and felt more and more sympathetic.
They could have offend anyone else, but they had to offend Boss Li. They really deserve it.
The "bandit" himself was unmoved, and even had the leisure to ask: "Are there many bandits here?"
"There are many." Wu Shouzi pointed to a green mountain outside the county town. "You see, there are many mountains and rivers here, so there are naturally many bandits. Shanping County is not so bad because it is close to the army. Generally, bandits dare not roam around here. I heard that there are more bandits in Dalu County and Yuqing County, especially Dalu County, which is very close to the sea. Japanese pirates from the sea often come ashore..."
Yu Li listened thoughtfully while chewing on a sesame cake.
After Wu Shouzi finished speaking, he was shocked when he saw the expression on her face. Was she thinking about fighting bandits?
But he soon comforted himself that even if she wanted to fight the bandits, it was none of his business. He was just an insignificant idler in the county town. In the past, he had at most oppressed the people. It was impossible for him to ask them to fight the bandits.
After Yu Li finished eating the sesame cake, he left.
Wu Shouzi watched her walk away, then collected his things and went to find Gao Sheng and the others.
Soon, a group of idle people gathered under the banyan tree in Luoyu Lane, and Wu Shouzi shared with them the news he had received today.
Because Wu Shouzi often waited for work at the entrance of a busy market street, where there were many people and information was well-informed.
Every time he got some news, he would come back and tell them. What everyone liked to hear most was related to Yu Li, such as who had fallen into her hands again.
At this moment, hearing that three yamen runners had already fallen into her hands, they all felt extremely happy.
They like to hear this kind of thing, so you can talk more about it.
Li Wulang, who was the most timid, suddenly said, "Compared to them, I suddenly feel that we are not that miserable."
Wang Sanlang agreed, "Yes, at least we weren't beaten twice by Boss Li."
"Aren't we getting scared quickly?"
These last words choked everyone and left them speechless.
In fact, they were very glad that they turned over a new leaf early. If they had fought her to death...
Alas, didn’t you see what happened to those three yamen runners?
**
Yu Li didn't know that those reformed idlers were gathering together to gloat over someone else's misfortune, so she went to the dock to find Yu Jin and go shopping with her.
"Sister, what do you want to buy?" Yu Jin asked curiously.
They had already bought most of the things for today's festival yesterday, so Yu Jin didn't plan to buy anything today.
Yu Li said: "Buy some ingredients for making mooncakes."
"Ah?" Yu Jin was surprised. "Making mooncakes? Are you going to make them yourself? Why do you want to make them yourself? Didn't you buy a lot of mooncakes yesterday?"
Yu Li said calmly: "I have almost eaten everything I bought yesterday, so I have to buy some more today."
So, not only did she have to buy the ingredients to make mooncakes for Zhou, she also had to buy some more mooncakes.
There was no way. This was her first time eating mooncakes. No matter what kind of filling it was, she thought it was delicious. She hadn’t had enough and wanted to continue eating.
Yu Jin was speechless.
She saw how many mooncakes her sister bought yesterday, but she actually ate them all?
Yu Jin had a new understanding of her sister's appetite and asked, "Sister, you eat so many mooncakes at once, don't you feel sick?"
That’s half a basket of mooncakes. No matter how delicious the food is, you can’t eat so much in one day. I feel sick just thinking about it.
"No, I don't feel sick of it." Yu Li said as a matter of course, "You eat every day, will you feel sick of it?"
Yu Jin: “…That’s different. They can’t be compared.”
Eating a meal is different from eating mooncakes, right?
Yu Li felt that there was no difference. Isn't it all food that goes into the stomach? Once you eat it, it's yours. You have to eat it every day. It's the same.
Yu Jin was confused by her plausible arguments and had no way to refute them.
After they finished shopping, Yu Li's backpack was full again, and even Yu Jin's backpack was half filled with things for her.
After returning to the butcher shop, Yu Li changed his clothes and prepared to go home.
Zhang Fu paid her today's wages. Because it was a holiday, she slaughtered two more pigs than usual and delivered more goods, so the wages she received today were particularly considerable.
Not only that, Zhang Fu also gave each of the two sisters a piece of pork so that they could take it home as a snack.
"Mother Li, thank you for your hard work. This is a reward for you." Zhang Fu smiled at Yu Li. Hiring one Yu Li was equivalent to hiring four or five people to do the work. It was really a good deal.
Therefore, if there was any meat left in the butcher shop, some would be given to Yu Li as a reward for her.
Yu Li accepted it with peace of mind.
Yu Jin quickly refused, "Brother Zhang, no thanks, I didn't do anything."
"Take it." Zhang Fu pointed at Liu who was sweeping the floor nearby and said, "Auntie comes to help me clean the yard every day. I haven't paid her yet, so I have no choice but to cut some meat for you to take back. And today is Mid-Autumn Festival, you can take it back to add to your dishes, so don't refuse."
Hearing what he said, Yu Jin had no choice but to accept it.
Today is a holiday, and it's really not good to push it back and forth, so it's better to accept it.
Liu was also a little at a loss. She didn't know how to say anything nice. She decided in her heart that she would work hard to help with the work in the future. After all, these tasks were not a big deal, so she would do more to repay Zhang the Butcher.
-
When Yu Li returned home, Zhou was already waiting there. Seeing that she was carrying a basket on her back and holding something in the basket in her hands, she looked very calm.
She helped put things away and found that Yu Li had bought quite a lot of things, and even bought some wine.
"I heard that you can drink some wine during festivals to liven things up, so I bought some." Yu Li said, then turned around and asked, "Mom, do you drink?"
Zhou waved her hand, "I don't drink."
"Would you like to drink, brother?"
"Xiao'er's body cannot handle drinking alcohol."
Upon hearing this, Yu Li said, "It's okay, I'll drink it myself." She had never drunk alcohol before, so this was a good opportunity to try it.
Zhou: “…”
Suddenly I had a bad feeling.
After lunch, Yu Li went to take a nap to catch up on his sleep.
When she woke up in the afternoon, she smelled the rich aroma of food in the air.
She was still a little dazed at first, but when she smelled the fragrance, she became completely awake and hurriedly threw off the quilt and got out of bed.
Fu Wenxiao had already woken up and was sitting there drinking water. When he saw her get up, he also poured her a glass of water.
Autumn is dry, so drink more water.
Yu Li finished the drink in one gulp, looked at him with sparkling eyes, and said, "I don't know what mother is doing, it smells so good."
Fu Wenxiao couldn't help laughing when he saw that she couldn't sit still. "She must be baking mooncakes and making braised meat..."
Before he could finish his words, he saw her rushing out impatiently.
She didn't even comb her hair. Her figure passed by, and only the ends of her hair were seen floating in the air. She left a message: "I'll go take a look and bring some back for you later."
Fu Wenxiao: “…” Like a little child.
Yu Li came to the kitchen and found that Fu Yanhui and his sister were also there, following Zhou like a shadow, their eyes fixed on the stove.
"Mom, are the mooncakes baked?" Yu Li asked as soon as he came in.
Zhou smiled and said, "It's better now. Go and have a taste."
Yu Li saw the mooncakes placed in a bamboo basket on the table in the kitchen. They were freshly baked, golden in color, with the heat well controlled. They were emitting steam and were fragrant, making them particularly tempting.
The aroma emitted by this kind of food during the baking process is particularly charming, so fragrant that it makes people dizzy.
Yu Li stood there, picked up a mooncake that was still warm and started eating.
This is ham stuffing, it's really delicious.
She has no preference for the flavor of mooncakes, she loves them both, whether salty or sweet. After all, she has never eaten them before, so she wants to eat everything.
Yu Li did not forget Fu Wenxiao in the room. After eating a few, he brought a plate of freshly baked mooncakes back to the room for Fu Wenxiao to taste.
Fu Wenxiao ate a small piece with a smile and said, "It's really delicious."
He didn't have much of an appetite, so he just tasted the food, and the rest went into Yu Li's stomach.
In the evening, the family sat together to have the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner.
Because we are going to enjoy the moon tonight, we will eat earlier than usual.
Fu Wenxiao felt well today, and knowing that it was all thanks to her, he came out to eat with them, which made Zhou very happy, and she kept picking up food for them.
There is a kind of hunger that makes the elders think you are hungry and want to feed them like feeding pigs.
Yu Li said happily, "Thank you, Mom. These are all my favorites."
Fu Wenxiao looked at the food piled high in the bowl. With his appetite, he couldn't eat so much. He looked at Yu Li and said, "Mother Li, I can't eat so much."
He hadn't picked up his chopsticks yet, wanting her to take some away.
Yu Li moved his bowl full of food in front of him and gave him an empty bowl again, "It's okay, I'll help you eat!"
Fu Wenxiao: "..."
When Zhou saw this scene, she almost couldn't hold back the smile on her face.
If you let Li Niang help you eat, she will take your bowl away and give you an empty bowl.
So never share food with Yu Li. The way she shares with others is to eat up all your food and then give you an empty bowl.
After dinner, the sky gradually darkened.
Everyone in the village started to appreciate the moon.
Following Zhou's instructions, Yu Li moved a table to the open space in the yard, then carried a few stools over. He then placed moon cakes, sugar cakes, fresh fruits and other food on the table, filling it up.
The moon on the fifteenth is very round.
The moonlight was like water, splashing down. The yard was exceptionally bright in the moonlight, and every scene and object was clearly visible.
They sat under the moon, each of them casting a dark shadow, which made the moonlight even brighter.
Yu Li picked up a mooncake and ate it, looking at the sky and said, "The moon is so round and bright."
There was surprise in these words, as if it was the first time that he had seen such a round and bright moon.
Fu Wenxiao couldn't help but look at her, thinking to himself, was there no moon this round and this bright in her previous world?
Zhou smiled and said, "The moon on the 15th is fuller on the 16th. It will be brighter and fuller tomorrow night."
Yu Li hummed, and looked at the silver plate in the night sky for a few more times. He held up a mooncake towards the moon, overlapping it with the moon, and nodded, "No wonder we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This moon is round and looks like a mooncake."
Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng found it very interesting and raised the mooncakes in their hands, screaming with joy.
Yu Li had a good appetite. Although she had eaten dinner before, it did not prevent her from continuing to eat moon cakes, sugar cakes and fruits.
After eating all this, she felt a little thirsty and her eyes fell on the wine jug on the table.
The wine is stored in a rough little jar, which costs two cents each. You buy it at the winery when you go to buy wine, otherwise there is no container to store the wine.
Yu Li poured himself a glass of wine and tasted it carefully.
She bought osmanthus wine, which had a soft taste and a little sweetness, and seemed quite delicious.
I heard that before the end of the world, humans liked to drink a variety of beverages, and wine was one of them.
Yu Li drank it sip by sip, and before he knew it, he had finished the pot of wine.
Fu Wenxiao didn't notice at first that she was drinking alcohol, but when she suddenly stood up and started punching in the moonlight, he finally reacted.
Zhou was stunned for a moment, "What is Li Niang doing?"
Why are they fighting in the yard out of the blue?
Fu Wenxiao picked up the empty jar on the table and sniffed it, then said, "She must be drunk."
Zhou suddenly became nervous, "Hey, what should I do? Otherwise..."
Before he could finish his words, Yu Li suddenly came to the other side of the courtyard wall, hooked his fingers on the wall, flew up, jumped over the wall and disappeared behind the wall.
Two children: "Wow, little auntie can fly!"
Zhou: “…”
Fu Wenxiao: "..."
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