Chapter 48 Late autumn has arrived, and the weather is getting cooler. ...
Late autumn has arrived, and the weather is getting cooler.
Zhu Mingyue's hair has recently grown to shoulder length, making it much easier to manage than before.
He tied his hair into a low ponytail. Because his hair was thick and fine, from the back it only looked like a small, round tuft, revealing a large expanse of his fair and delicate nape. He An had even teased him about having a black rabbit tail growing from the back of his head.
Zhu Mingyue secretly looked at herself twice through the reflection in the water vat in the yard. She was a little narcissistic and thought that she would still look good even with a bunny tail hairstyle.
He tucked the stray strands of hair from his forehead behind his ear, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Zhengyang come in carrying a bag.
"Yesterday afternoon, my dad and I went down to the pond and dug up some lotus roots. We couldn't finish them all at home, so my dad asked me to bring some over." Li Zhengyang casually put the sack in the yard, sat down, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Oh, and there are a few water chestnuts too. Not many, but you can have some to try."
Zhu Mingyue stepped forward and untied the bag. Inside were four or five plump white water bamboo shoots. After peeling, they were no longer than his hand and looked quite lovely. These things were best enjoyed fresh; picking one or two to cook was a matter of luck.
Since the water bamboo shoots ripened this month, adults and children in the village love to stroll around the pond. A small patch of wild rice grows on one side of the pond, and if you look carefully, you can find the water bamboo shoots.
Perhaps because everyone has such a great enthusiasm for the free food that nature provides, Zhu Mingyue went to look for it several times but returned empty-handed each time.
Xie Pei probably sensed his resentment, so he went to pick some water chestnuts for him, but instead of bringing back water chestnuts, he picked several large lotus pods.
Lotus pods are also delicious; they have a sweet taste and can clear heat and relieve internal fire. He would take one from the table in the inner room and throw it to Li Zhengyang.
Li Zhengyang caught it. "Did Xie Pei pick it for you?"
Before he could answer, Li Zhengyang nodded to himself, "It must be true. You can't swim, so you can't even touch the edge of a lotus leaf, let alone a lotus seedpod."
Zhu Mingyue: ...As a complete landlubber, he was powerless to refute.
She shook the bag of lotus roots and said, "Xie Pei and I can't possibly eat all these lotus roots. Why don't you take some back with you?"
Li Zhengyang tossed a lotus seed into his mouth, somewhat dismissively saying, "If you can't finish it, take it to the shops in town to sell. With your excellent cooking skills, people will definitely be willing to buy it if you turn it into a dish."
These newly ripened, crisp lotus roots are so tender that they ooze water when gently pinched with a fingernail. They're delicious whether served cold or stir-fried. I've seen them being sold by roadside vendors these past few days, but because they're rare, they're considerably more expensive than regular vegetables.
He thought for a moment. Many of the people who came to his shop to eat dumplings were willing to spend money, so he figured he might as well stir-fry them with pork, which would allow him to sell them for a higher price. Actually, stir-fried lotus root with beef was also delicious, but cows were important for labor, and they wouldn't be slaughtered easily unless they were injured or died of old age. Getting beef was usually a matter of luck.
"Okay, if you can sell them, I'll pay you the price the vendors sell them for."
Li Zhengyang was about to refuse when Zhu Mingyue interrupted him, saying, "You're not allowed to refuse, or you'll have to take the lotus root back with you."
Li Zhengyang's family had so many lotus roots that they couldn't finish them all, and it would be a waste to let them rot, so they had no choice but to agree.
Xie Pei has been hunting in the mountains for some time now, and Er Ya usually goes with him. The two share similar interests and have developed a basic understanding of each other in less than half a month. Er Ya drives or intercepts prey from low altitudes, and Xie Pei seizes the opportunity to strike and kill them with a single blow. They have had quite a few successes so far.
Zhu Mingyue only learned about the strict control over natural resources in this world when she arrived here in the summer. Birds in the sky, animals in the mountains, and fish in the water are all prohibited from being caught. Even firewood on the mountain cannot be picked up at will.
Fortunately, they belonged to Ganyang County in Kangyang Prefecture, a region with few flat areas and continuous mountain streams, making it impossible for the government to maintain comprehensive control. As a result, many hunters like Xie Pei exploited loopholes in the government's control, and the government turned a blind eye to the mountain products circulating in the market.
Some of the game they hunted went to Er Ya as food, while they kept pheasants and other game for their own consumption. The rest they sold in town, and they saved up quite a bit of money during this period.
With Xie Pei absent and the shop short-staffed, Li Zhengyang was brought in to fill the gaps. With the harvest season over, he had plenty of energy to spare, so he could work in the kitchen kneading and rolling dough. He was paid thirty-five coins a day, and Li Zhengyang was extremely happy to do so. His mother even came to thank him in person.
The two carried tender lotus roots through the town. On both sides of the road were emaciated refugees, huddled together in twos and threes, staring wide-eyed at the passersby.
Upon seeing a well-dressed man or woman, they swarm around them, begging for a favor.
Zhu Mingyue was dressed plainly, but her refined and gentle demeanor made her seem like a pampered young master from a wealthy family. As soon as she entered the street, she was stared at like a piece of fat meat, and people immediately surrounded her. Some of them even went so far as to tug at her clothes.
Fortunately, Li Zhengyang was a big, burly man. With a raised eyebrow and a loud shout, he intimidated everyone, giving Zhu Mingyue a chance to clutch her chest and escape unscathed.
After walking a bit further, he looked back and was still a little shocked. "So many refugees are not being resettled. This can't go on forever."
He even wondered if he was lucky to have come here at that time. He happened to meet Aunt Huayi and Brother Cui, who took good care of him. Although he had been through a lot of ups and downs, at least he had a place to stay and could barely make ends meet. Now he and Xie Pei were living a relatively comfortable life, depending on each other for survival.
If he had arrived a year later, given the current situation, he would not even be as good as those refugees huddled on both sides of the street; he would have starved to death outside the city gates.
The atmosphere in Ganyang County has become increasingly tense recently, with a large influx of refugees causing considerable chaos. Since that day, Li Zhengming has visited again privately, taking the opportunity to see his brother. He mentioned that the imperial court had issued an order to close the city gates and restrict refugees from entering the city. In other words, there are still a large number of displaced people outside the city gates who are unable to enter.
Li Zhengyang sighed: "The government has set up porridge distribution points, providing two meals of thin porridge every day, but there's nothing else they can do. Our Kangyang County simply doesn't have the space to accommodate so many people."
"To be honest, these people might as well not have fled here. To be frank, they might be conscripted to go south soon. At that time, even the men of ordinary families like us won't be able to escape, let alone these refugees. They might even have to go back to their hometowns and fight those southern barbarians."
Zhu Mingyue had been a refugee himself, and he understood the hardships involved. In chaotic times, no matter which path ordinary people took, it was an uncertain one. Heading north was nothing but a gamble. If you won, you could at least find a place to stay; if you lost, you would either eke out a living like those people, or even lose your life.
He parted his lips slightly, as if to say something, but a strange emotion welled up in his heart, as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat.
Almost a year has passed. If nothing unexpected happens, Brother Cui should have arrived in the capital by now. I wonder if he and Aunt Huayi have settled down completely and if they are doing well...
When they arrived at the dumpling shop, He An was already cleaning the shop.
To prevent refugees from looting the food, he locked the door from the inside after entering, only daring to open it to guests after confirming that Zhu Mingyue and Li Zhengyang had both arrived.
Their shop has always been very busy. As soon as Zhu Mingyue started preparing, several tables of customers began to settle in.
Besides dumplings, the stir-fried lotus root slices with pork, priced at fifteen yuan a small plate, also sold out very quickly. By noon, only two lotus roots remained from the bag they had brought. The three of them shared one raw, and the larger one was given to He An. He An thought that his mother might not have tried it before, so he gladly accepted.
Of the three, only He An lived in town. During this chaotic period, he was the one who worried the most about the safety of the shop. Zhu Mingyue felt both guilty and grateful, and would give him some employee benefits whenever she had the chance.
Zhu Mingyue went to hang up the "Closed" sign outside the door and almost tripped over a small head that suddenly peeked out from the door frame.
He stumbled forward two steps, barely managing to avoid it. When he looked back, he saw that there were not just one small head, but five in total, both boys and girls.
They were all so thin they were just skeletons; their empty robes could fit watermelons inside.
The other four children were very shy and hurriedly lowered their heads when they saw him. Only the little girl in the lead was not afraid of him at all and dared to look him in the eye, but she lost her confidence after looking at him for a while.
Zhu Mingyue noticed that they were all biting their fingers and sucking on them, with saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.
He thought to himself, "Looks like he's starving."
"Wait in the backyard."
The little girl's eyes lit up, and she and a few other children took off running towards his backyard.
He went to the kitchen, took ten vegetarian dumplings and put them in the pot. After thinking for a moment, he added two meat dumplings and half a cabbage left over from lunch.
Li Zhengyang walked over, munching on lotus root, and was a little surprised to see him cooking something. "Didn't we just have lunch? Are you hungry again?"
"It's not for me to eat," Zhu Mingyue explained, picking up a large spoon and stirring it haphazardly in the pot.
Li Zhengyang felt sorry for him and tried to stop him, saying, "You can't just waste food even if you don't want to eat it! These dumplings were perfectly fine, but you've turned them into pig swill."
Zhu Mingyue stared at the pot of unidentified objects and fell into a suspicious silence.
It did look rather appalling, not like normal food, but that was exactly the effect he wanted.
"Take this pot of soup to the backyard. There should be a few children waiting outside the backyard gate. Just tell them it's swill from our shop."
Li Zhengyang didn't understand. "Why do you say it's swill? Although it doesn't look appetizing, it's all cooked with good ingredients. If you say it's swill, they won't even appreciate it."
Zhu Mingyue sighed and asked, "Brother Zhengyang, let me ask you a question: are they some kind of high-ranking officials or nobles?"
Li Zhengyang shook his head, puzzled.
Zhu Mingyue poured the dumpling soup into the bucket and continued, "Even if they appreciate my kindness, what real benefit can it bring me?"
Li Zhengyang shook his head again.
"That's good. I'm just giving them alms and don't expect them to repay me."
Li Zhengyang: "But..." How can one do good deeds without leaving a name? If he does good deeds, he will definitely let the recipients know.
Zhu Mingyue urged, "Stop with the 'buts,' or the soup will turn into mush."
As Li Zhengyang hurriedly carried the wooden bucket to the backyard, He An followed closely behind into the kitchen.
"Shopkeeper, I think you did the right thing."
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