Chapter 2 Finding refuge in a dilapidated temple, sleeping alongside others
The local temple was located in the western suburbs, and it took the group about half an hour to reach it.
The dilapidated temple had clearly been abandoned for a long time. Pushing open the door, the dust inside burst out, and Zhu Mingyue, standing at the back of the line, was also choked by several mouthfuls of dust.
The group placed the packages at the door and began cleaning the dust and cobwebs. Zhu Mingyue grabbed a handful of cobwebs that were smeared on his face and stepped in to help, but was blocked by a young man.
Zhu Mingyue tilted her head and winked at him in confusion.
The young man gave him a friendly smile and then explained, "It's very dusty inside. My mother just said that you're still unwell, so it's better for you to rest outside until the temple is cleaned up before going in."
Although the man looked gentle, his tone left no room for argument, and Zhu Mingyue agreed without thinking.
"May I ask who your mother is?" Zhu Mingyue asked cautiously.
The man looked toward the stream in the distance. Zhu Mingyue followed his gaze and saw Aunt Huayi squatting by the stream washing rags.
Zhu Mingyue suddenly realized that he had been wondering why the other party would take such good care of him. It turned out that the other party was Aunt Huayi's son, so it was no wonder.
Looking at the man again, his eyes held gratitude and affection, but also a deep sense of embarrassment, as he was still wearing the man's clothes!
Zhu Mingyue clutched her trouser leg and said softly, "My aunt lent me your clothes."
"It's alright, you can wear it." The man didn't seem to care at all and continued, "My name is Cui Jian. If you need any help in the future, feel free to come to me."
Cui Jian… Zhu Mingyue silently repeated to herself, and finally a strange feeling arose in her heart.
Although the other person was dressed plainly, Cui Jian was more outstanding than those around him in both appearance and demeanor, especially the tone that made him subconsciously obey just now, which could not be raised by an ordinary commoner family.
He turned his gaze to Aunt Huayi again, and upon closer inspection, he realized that compared to the other refugees, she was indeed much more robust, looking like she came from a wealthy family.
What's even stranger is that the two women referred to each other as mother and son, yet they didn't resemble each other at all.
Cui Jian had refined features and a gentle, aloof air about him. Even dressed in hemp clothing to conceal his noble bearing, he couldn't hide it. Aunt Huayi, on the other hand, had kind, gentle features, with round eyes and a fleshy nose, exuding a friendly and approachable demeanor. Both their features and their overall demeanor suggested that they might not actually be mother and son.
Zhu Mingyue was usually a bit naive, but not stupid. She vaguely guessed the relationship in just a few words.
But he had no intention of exposing it. He figured that the person who had given up a life of luxury to live among refugees must have had some unspeakable difficulties. Besides, the other party had taken good care of him, so he had to accept the favor no matter what.
With that in mind, he stopped dwelling on the matter and introduced himself: "My name is Zhu Mingyue. The 'yue' in 'pleasing to the eye' is not the 'yue' in 'bright moon'."
A faint smile, barely perceptible to most, appeared on Cui Jian's face; it was indeed quite pleasing to the eye.
Once the room was tidied up, those people, clearly regarding Cui Jian as the backbone of their group, immediately invited him inside to inspect it.
Cui Jianchao nodded slightly to him and then went into the temple.
Zhu Mingyue sat under the tree, curled up with his knees drawn up to his chest, watching people go in and out carrying packages. When everyone had finished packing, he got up, dusted himself off, and went inside with his bare hands.
He arrived suddenly, and apart from the clothes he was wearing, he was practically naked. These refugees didn't bring much either; there weren't enough blankets, so they laid out a thick layer of dry leaves and straw inside the house.
He decided to spend the night buried in straw with these people.
The temple is not large. The area behind the altar is the women's area, while the area in front, leading to the main gate, is the men's area.
As darkness fell outside, everyone yawned and found their preferred spots to rest. Zhu Mingyue lay down near the corner of the wall and spread a thin layer of straw over herself.
This meager item offered no protection against the cold, and Zhu Mingyue shivered uncontrollably.
A stream of clear snot slowly trickled down her face. Zhu Mingyue couldn't stop it in time, and there wasn't even any tissue to wipe it with. She miserably wiped the snot away with the back of her hand, but dared not wipe it on her clothes, so she endured the nausea and rubbed it against the wall.
After completing this series of actions, his eyes grew increasingly hot, and sorrow welled up within him. Yesterday he was thirsty and hot, and now he was hungry and cold. What sins had he committed to deserve such a double whammy of extreme heat and cold?
He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep quickly, hoping that once he was asleep he wouldn't feel the cold.
But the more he tried to sleep, the less he could. The chaotic voices in the small space rose and fell like flies buzzing around his ears.
"Still not asleep?"
Although the words didn't have a subject, Zhu Mingyue inexplicably felt that they were being spoken to him. He opened his eyes and looked in the dim candlelight, and sure enough, Cui Jian was standing in front of him holding a quilt.
"Hmm, not sleepy yet."
Seeing that the other person was still standing there and had no intention of leaving, Zhu Mingyue understood and quickly moved to the side to make room for one person, and then spread some straw on top.
Cui Jian took the opportunity to spread the quilt on the grass, lifted a corner, and lay down inside.
Are you cold?
"Hmm, it's alright, not too cold." Zhu Mingyue felt that her mouth was even harder than her feet, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to say such self-deceiving words.
Hehe, in the darkness, the other party let out a low chuckle, then stopped, seemingly realizing it was inappropriate.
Zhu Mingyue knew the other person was making fun of him, his face turned red, and he closed his eyes again to pretend to be asleep.
The next moment, a rustling sound rang out, and the straw spread over him was pushed aside. Before he could react, a solid and heavy quilt fell on him, carrying a slight warmth, making Zhu Mingyue squint his eyes comfortably.
Straw is nothing compared to a quilt. In his previous life, he was often dissatisfied. Only now did he realize that having a warm quilt was a great blessing in life.
Zhu Mingyue felt his stiff body gradually warming up. He craved the warmth and comfort of the blanket, wishing he could sleep soundly until the end. But reason told him he couldn't. This was Cui Jian's blanket; if he took half, Cui Jian would have half less. It's always more comfortable for one person to share a blanket than for two.
Zhu Mingyue hesitated for a moment, but finally put the blanket back on. "Thank you for your kindness, Brother Cui, but I'm not actually that cold. You can keep the blanket for yourself!"
The other party seemed stunned and didn't answer for a long time, so Zhu Mingyue wrapped her clothes tighter and prepared to continue the forced hibernation.
But the blanket was put back on him, and this time the other person interrupted his refusal, saying, "It's warmer for two people to sleep together. If you're not cold, Brother Zhu, just consider it helping me keep warm."
Brother Zhu? Zhu Mingyue was stunned by this address, but after a moment's thought, she readily accepted it. She was not yet eighteen years old and was indeed younger than the other person. It seemed that it was acceptable for her to call him Brother Cui and for him to call her Brother.
"Then thank you, Brother Cui."
Since Cui Jian had put it this way, it would be rather tactless for him to refuse.
Besides, he didn't want to refuse anymore. He had already made a huge decision to return the quilt once, and he couldn't possibly do it a second time.
It was so comfortable in bed. Cui Jian was like a giant hand warmer, constantly sending heat into his body. Zhu Mingyue shamelessly moved closer to him, wishing she could just cling to him and absorb all the warmth.
As drowsiness washed over her, Zhu Mingyue mumbled sleepily, "It's so warm," and "Brother Cui, you're such a kind person," before drifting off to a deep sleep.
The night wind howled, and a gust of cold air seeped in through the crack in the door, extinguishing the last flame on the candlestick. The whispers inside the room ceased abruptly with the flame, and all was silent.
Zhu Mingyue slept soundly through the night. When he woke up, it was already bright daylight. The spot where Cui Jian had slept the night before was empty. Before leaving, Cui Jian had even thoughtfully tucked the blanket around him.
He yawned, quickly got up, folded the quilt into a neat square, tied it with a rope, and hid it behind a pile of straw to avoid attracting the attention of anyone with malicious intent.
There was a pot set up at the temple entrance. The firewood underneath had burned out, but the pot was still steaming. A woman of not-so-old age was standing guard beside it. When she saw him come out, she tiptoed and ladled out more than half a bowl of vegetable porridge for him.
Zhu Mingyue took the bowl and chopsticks and thanked her, but the woman waved her hand dismissively and said, "No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Fu Yuexiang and her son. You are lucky to have met such kind-hearted people on your escape route. They are even willing to give you their food."
Zhu Mingyue didn't need to think too much to understand that the Fu Yuexiang mother and son she mentioned referred to Aunt Huayi and Cui Jian. He sighed inwardly without showing any emotion. In just one day, he already owed them a lot, and if he continued to owe them favors, he would never be able to repay them.
He held the bowl and carefully sipped from the rim. It was mostly vegetable leaves he couldn't name, with a few grains of rice floating at the bottom. After finishing the bowl, although there wasn't much oil or fat, his stomach felt better.
Zhu Mingyue went to the river to wash the bowls and chopsticks and returned them to the woman, while also inquiring about the whereabouts of the others.
“They’ve all gone to town,” the woman said, stacking all the bowls together. “Everyone’s food is running out. When we were fleeing famine, we had no choice, but now that we’re in the city, we can’t afford to be idle for even a day. We have to find work as soon as possible, or we’ll all starve to death.”
“My two sons went to the city a long time ago, and I don’t know how they are doing. I have to go and check on them now.”
Zhu Mingyue quickly said, "Auntie, I'll go with you too."
The woman stared at his face for a long time, seemingly lost in thought, before finally saying, "Never mind, I can't worry about that now. If I don't find work, I'll starve to death sooner or later."
Zhu Mingyue agreed, as he couldn't possibly live entirely on the charity of others.
Half an hour later, Zhu Mingyue stood alone in the center of Shangyang County. Along the way, he had roughly figured out some things through various questions.
For example, the current dynasty is one that has never appeared in history before, hence the name "Chen Chao" (参朝). The place he is currently in is called Shangyang County, located in the southern part of Kangyang Prefecture, which is under the jurisdiction of Ganzhou. Ganzhou has two other prefectures besides Kangyang.
Kangyang County, with its abundant water resources and well-developed waterway transportation, quickly became the wealthiest county in Ganzhou and even in the north, apart from the capital.
However, according to Zhu Mingyue's observation, this so-called wealth was probably limited to high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants. Although ordinary people cultivated more land and had higher yields, their tax burden also increased. In addition to the taxes levied by the imperial court, local taxes were also added every year. With these two burdens, they were probably only slightly better off than the people of other counties.
He wandered around the streets for a long time. The shopkeepers were all nice to him, but after hearing his purpose, they all just said they weren't hiring and told him to look at other shops.
Having wasted a lot of time, Zhu Mingyue was almost discouraged. Hearing that the south of the city was repairing a river and needed laborers, he decided to try his luck. To be honest, he had no confidence in his own physique, but he still decided to try his luck, just in case they needed someone like him.
It was already noon, and the aroma of food wafted from the restaurants on the street. He took a few deep breaths and quickened his pace.
"Hey you, you bastard, can't you watch where you're going?!"
Zhu Mingyue's shoulder was hit hard from behind, and the pain made her nose sting. Before she could even rub her shoulder, she was stunned by the other person's ability to turn the tables and curse her.
Turning to the side, I saw it was the same "old acquaintance" from yesterday.
A note from the author:
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