Chapter 49 As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhengyang, holding...
No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Zhengyang returned carrying a clean, empty bucket.
He An exclaimed in surprise, "You're back so soon? I've told you so many times, don't take my work, just let me wash the buckets, why did you wash the buckets too?"
Li Zhengyang is good in every way, except that he has too much energy. He works even harder than Li Zhengyang, and after finishing his own work, he always tries to take over Li Zhengyang's work. Faced with a ox or horse that has more potential than Li Zhengyang, Li Zhengyang felt a sense of crisis.
To his surprise, Li Zhengyang glanced at him, looking somewhat speechless, and tossed the wooden bucket to He An: "Take a good look at this bucket yourself, does it look like it's been washed?"
He An looked closely and saw that there were still light oil stains in the bucket, which were not visible at all unless you looked closely at it in the light.
"I had just opened the back gate when those kids swarmed in and devoured the whole pot of soup in the blink of an eye. You didn't see it, their eyes were practically bulging with hunger for me." Li Zhengyang still felt a pang of fear when he talked about it.
Zhu Mingyue nodded: "They must all be orphans. Their parents died while they were fleeing." He had noticed earlier that the children looked completely different, so they probably weren't siblings. The fact that they were begging together meant that their parents were gone, and they had to fend for themselves. He pondered for a moment and then said: "From now on, cook more dumplings every day and mix them with some cabbage, like today, and chop them up and take them outside to the backyard."
Li Zhengyang immediately agreed. Looking at the children, he felt a pang of guilt. "I'll eat less tomorrow and give the rest to them."
"No need."
"Why?" Li Zhengyang asked, puzzled. This little bit of soup and broth was definitely not enough to fill their stomachs. If they were going to help, why not go all the way?
"Are you stupid!" He An retorted, "Do you know how many refugees there are in our town? People's stomachs are bottomless pits; you can't possibly help them all."
Li Zhengyang muttered, "They're just a few kids, it can't be that serious!"
He An: "How could it not be? If you feed them well, what if someone turns around and tells the starving refugees outside? Even if they don't say anything, the difference between those who are well-fed and those who are starving is obvious. If they are targeted by someone with ulterior motives, not only will it harm them, but we will also be surrounded by refugees. When hundreds or thousands of people come over, the little bit of food you save won't even be enough to fill their teeth."
“When I was eight or nine years old, our area was flooded, and many houses were destroyed, leaving people homeless. A wealthy family in our town wanted to build a reputation, so they announced that they would open their doors to distribute porridge. The news spread like wildfire, and refugees from all over the county came to help. They ate there for more than ten days. Perhaps the wealthy family felt that they had made a good reputation, or perhaps they didn’t have enough food. Anyway, the porridge became thinner and thinner. Some people then had evil intentions and conspired to massacre the family in one night. They didn’t even spare the infants in their swaddling clothes, and they also looted all the valuables in the house.”
Upon hearing this, Li Zhengyang suddenly recalled the massacre of his family. After fully realizing what had happened, he was horrified and had no way to refute it.
In ancient times, when security technology was underdeveloped, poverty and hunger bred endless greed and malice, which could eventually devour a person. Therefore, when one lacked the power to do good, one often couldn't even do good deeds.
Zhu Mingyue asked him, "Now you know why I called clean food swill, right?"
Li Zhengyang was completely convinced: "I understand. Mingyue, you've thought of everything." If they call it swill, others will only think it's something they don't want anyway. If they eat it, they'll only feel like they've gotten a good deal. Because the quantity is small, even with the soup and water, it's only enough to keep a few children from starving. In this way, their shop won't attract the attention of anyone with ulterior motives.
He An smiled and shook his head as he walked out of the kitchen. Zhu Mingyue was still too soft-hearted. In this world, it's good enough to be able to keep oneself pure. If it were him, he would never bother to do such a thing.
...
In the following days, the children seemed to become regular NPCs in the backyard that would refresh at certain times, thinking that they would have swill to eat whenever the dumpling shop closed.
The children didn't know what else was in the swill besides vegetable leaves. They only knew that the swill from the handsome older brother's house had oil droplets and bits of dough floating in it, and that it tasted delicious, a million times better than the swill from other restaurants. After that day, they went to many other restaurants, but were either threatened or chased away. When they finally found a swill bucket, it was so smelly and fishy that they couldn't eat it at all.
They had received the porridge distributed by the government, but some people, seeing that they had no parents to protect them, began to snatch it without restraint. This phenomenon happened every day, and everyone was used to it and didn't care.
From that day on, the children pinned their hopes for survival on that small bucket of swill, which was not enough to fill them up but would keep them from starving.
While delivering swill, Li Zhengyang observed the group of children for several days and discovered that they were very clever. They would never wander around the backyard and arouse suspicion. Only one of them was assigned to keep watch not far from the shop, and they would only run to the backyard after the shop had hung up the closing sign. After they finished eating, the little girl in charge would also teach them to carefully wipe the oil off their lips to prevent others from noticing.
Before we knew it, it was the end of November, and the cold was getting stronger.
In a few days it will be the Festival of Sacrificing to the Underworld, and the streets of the town are busier than usual. Many families are starting to prepare winter clothes and shoes, as well as offerings for their ancestors. Zhu Mingyue guessed that this Festival of Sacrificing to the Underworld was similar to the Cold Clothes Festival he knew.
The shop closed early that day, and He An went straight home to take care of his mother. Since the weather turned cold, his mother's health had worsened; she often coughed until midnight. Zhu Mingyue had given him a large sum of money to buy ginseng root from the pharmacy to make soup, which helped a little, but everyone knew her condition was serious; every day she lived was a drain on her savings. He An understood this in his heart; he just wanted to spend as much time as possible with his mother.
As soon as he left, Zhu Mingyue and Li Zhengyang set off for the county town.
It was Zhu Mingyue who suggested going to the county town to buy supplies. Originally, Li Zhengyang planned to just find a reasonably priced shop in town and buy some snacks and fruits, since his father hadn't told him he had to buy anything expensive. But Zhu Mingyue said she wanted to go to Shangyang County to take a look. With things so chaotic outside, how could Li Zhengyang dare let her go alone?
Not only did he not dare to, but he also wanted to call Xie Pei to come and protect him, but Zhu Mingyue stopped him, implying that Xie Pei had no idea that he was going to the county town.
Li Zhengyang thought to himself, "That's true. If Xie Pei knew, he would definitely accompany him with a cold face."
Last week, he ran into Xie Pei and was unexpectedly given a pheasant by the other party. Others might not know its value, but he did. Xie Pei is the kind of person who doesn't even want to say a word to anyone, so why would he take the initiative to give him a pheasant? Even a fool could tell that he wanted Xie Pei to take care of Zhu Mingyue.
He thought to himself that Xie Pei, who seemed cold and indifferent to everyone, was actually quite good to his sister-in-law.
The streets in the county were even more bustling than those in the town, with crowds of people. Peddlers pulled carts loaded with goods, shuttling between the streets and alleys and shouting their wares. Vendors lined both sides of the road, their stalls packed tightly together.
There were vendors selling porcelain, storybooks, headdresses for young women, and paper flowers for ancestral worship—a dazzling array of goods.
Although Shangyang County is close to the town, this is only his second time visiting Shangyang County. The first time was when he came to the county government with his parents to deliver bedding to his brother. Unfortunately, it was not a holiday and there was no such lively scene then. Coming here today is quite an eye-opener.
"Mingyue, look over there! Someone's wielding a big knife!" Li Zhengyang pointed to a group of people performing acrobatics ahead, his tone very excited.
Zhu Mingyue looked over and saw that it was actually no different from the street acrobatic troupes in their later years, but the performances were much more exciting, with people waving knives and spears, twirling jars and balancing bowls, which made everyone cheer with excitement.
The two managed to squeeze into the inner circle, and most of them scattered after the performance ended. Those who had money left threw down some coins.
Zhu Mingyue also threw a few away and left with Li Zhengyang.
"I thought the town was lively enough today, but I never expected the county to be so beautiful." Li Zhengyang dodged an oncoming carriage and said excitedly, "You know what? I've never seen that acrobatic performance before! I've heard Zhengming talk about it before, but I didn't expect it to be so good."
Zhu Mingyue, holding a food box in her arms, scanned the stalls with her eyes. Hearing this, she nodded in agreement: "I haven't seen it before either. It's not far from town, so I can come often."
Li Zhengyang was as happy as a fool. If Zhu Mingyue hadn't asked him to work at his shop, he would rarely even go to town.
He hadn't walked more than a few meters when he was drawn to the snacks at the stall and couldn't move on. The aroma of fried pastries filled his nostrils, and Li Zhengyang suddenly realized he was hungry again.
Zhu Mingyue peeked out from behind him and looked at all kinds of snacks. Apart from glutinous rice balls, there was nothing he liked. However, seeing that Li Zhengyang's eyes were almost glued to them, he still said, "Give me two catties of shortbread, two catties of glutinous rice balls, and four catties of water chestnut cake."
Li Zhengyang assumed he bought them for himself and wanted to order another pound of shortbread, but Zhu Mingyue stopped him before he could say it. "No need to buy any more. You and He An can each have a pound of the shortbread and water chestnut cake I bought."
"That won't do," he said, making a gesture as if to reach into his pocket. "I'll give you the silver!"
"No need, you and He An both have some. Don't be so polite with me, consider it a gift from me for the holiday."
Zhu Mingyue has a good personality, but he is also very stubborn in certain matters. Once he makes up his mind, nothing can change it. Li Zhengyang knows that if he insists on giving him the money, he will definitely be unhappy.
Not wanting to upset Zhu Mingyue, he obediently accepted the pastries, thinking that with so many food and drinks available on the street, he would buy something for Zhu Mingyue with his own money later.
There were so many food vendors on the street that it was dazzling, and Li Zhengyang soon found an opportunity to spend money on Zhu Mingyue.
"Candied hawthorns for sale! Candied hawthorns for sale!" A hawker selling candied hawthorns walked through the streets and alleys, holding a target covered with candied hawthorns.
Zhu Mingyue followed the sound, her gaze lingering on the candied hawthorn for a few seconds. Seeing that the vendor was surrounded by children who were only waist-high to him, she looked away again, only to have her gaze caught by Li Zhengyang.
"Do you want some candied hawthorns?" Li Zhengyang thought to himself that he really only liked to eat things that only children like. "I'll go buy some for you."
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