Chapter 32 The Fool Sells Beef
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Liu Ye and Bai Zilin had passed through two cities and were one step closer to the south. During these two weeks, their journey went very smoothly, and no one dared to mess with them again.
At noon that day, Liu Ye pulled Bai Zilin into Taicheng on a cart. As soon as they entered the city, a large number of disaster victims were shouting that someone was distributing porridge at the entrance of the government office and that the government was also distributing disaster relief grain. Each person could receive 2 jin of mixed grains.
Liu Ye pulled her cart and followed the crowd to the yamen gate. She saw that there were indeed people distributing porridge. On the left side of the yamen gate, people were distributing porridge, and on the right side, government officials were distributing disaster relief grain. But there were too many people. There must have been several thousand people. There were several hundred people in front of the queue, and even more people behind who were not in line. They were all pushing and shoving, and their heads were squeezed together like dog heads.
She quickly parked the cart far away, and Bai Zilin also got off the cart, leaning on his cane: "The government is really distributing disaster relief grain, let's hurry up and get it."
Liu Ye pointed to the crowd in front of her and said, "Look at all these people, how are we supposed to get them? We might not even get a turn until midnight. Maybe we should just forget about it. Each person gets two jin of mixed grains, and the two of us only get four jin. Let's not bother with that."
Bai Zilin thought about it and realized it made sense. Liu Ye still had ten taels of gold on her, and with silver, she could buy food: "Alright, let's find a place to rest first. The government is cooking porridge, which means there is water. Let me find out where there is water."
Bai Zilin got back onto the cart, and Liu Ye pushed it around the crowded yamen and onto another street, hoping to find a quiet place to rest. However, after pushing the cart through several alleys, she found that every alley was full of disaster victims, every household had people, and the streets were also full of people sitting against the walls.
"Brother Bai, why are there so many people in Taicheng? It seems like all the disaster victims have gathered here. Are they not planning to go south?"
Bai Zilin said uncertainly, "It's hard to say. Taicheng has water, but if it doesn't rain, it will run out of water sooner or later. Giving each person 2 jin of disaster relief food isn't enough to do much. If the government doesn't provide more food after we run out, the disaster victims will have to run south again. So we have to keep going."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye realized it was true. Suddenly, she saw a narrow alley with few people. She quickly pushed her cart in and walked all the way to the very end, where it turned into a dead end. She parked the cart right next to the wall of the dead end and said, "Brother Bai, this place is nice. Let's rest here today and continue our journey tomorrow."
Bai Zilin, leaning on his cane, got off the cart and walked up to a family that was relatively close to them. He politely asked the old man, "Uncle, may I ask you if there is a place in town where I can fetch water?"
The old man smiled and said, "There are many wells in Taicheng with water. The well across the street also has water. We all get our water from there. It costs two coins for half a bucket of water, which is not expensive."
"Thank you for letting me know, sir. Have you received the disaster relief supplies yet?"
The old man nodded and said, "I've received it. Sigh, what are you staring at now? Each person will only receive two catties of coarse rice, and each person can only receive it once. The disaster relief food will not be distributed tomorrow. The disaster relief food will only be distributed for five days. Today is already the fourth day. If you've received it, you've received it; if you haven't, then so be it. You haven't received it yet, have you? You might not be able to receive it."
"Thank you, Uncle." Bai Zilin, leaning on his cane, sat down on the bamboo mat that Liu Ye had laid out. "You heard what I said, Uncle. There is still water in the wells of Taicheng, but we can't do without food. We still have to head south."
Liu Ye grumbled with a bitter face, "Ugh, why isn't it raining yet? I've really had enough of walking. When are we going to get to the South? The South is so far away!"
The old man stood up from the wall, walked up to the two men with his hands behind his back, and said with a smile, "The south isn't actually that far. After passing Xiancheng and Chuncheng, you'll reach Liuzhou. Liuzhou is in the south. The climate will be different when you get to Chuncheng. It might even rain."
"But it's too late to plant crops after the rain. Autumn will be here in three days. Sigh, just hang in there. Life is about getting through the days. If you can just get through them, you'll be able to enjoy life. Hehehe."
Bai Zilin nodded with an awkward smile, unsure how to respond. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
The old man's son, a middle-aged man, quickly helped his father back inside, saying, "Dad, can't you rest in this heat? What if you faint again? I won't be able to get you any medicine!"
"Beef, beef for sale! Anyone want to buy beef? Freshly slaughtered beef."
Liu Ye looked at Bai Zilin excitedly: "Brother Bai, there's even beef for sale! I'll go buy some, we'll cook beef for dinner tonight."
Bai Zilin swallowed hard and craned his neck to look at the alley entrance: "If someone is still selling beef at this hour, it must be ridiculously expensive. Go take a look, but don't buy anything that isn't fresh."
Liu Ye happily ran out of the alley and onto the street. She saw that the beef seller was not a single person, but a group of men dressed as servants, each holding a knife. They were surrounding an oxcart with two large slabs of beef on it. Not far from the oxcart, there were two luxurious carriages, each surrounded by a dozen servants dressed in the same style as the beef seller. They were clearly from the same family.
The surrounding disaster victims just watched longingly, but not a single one stepped forward to buy. Liu Ye touched her nose, wondering why no one was asking the price. Since no one was asking, she cautiously approached and asked, "How much is the beef?"
Steward Qin glanced at Liu Ye with disdain and said dismissively, "Two taels of silver for one pound of beef!"
Liu Ye exclaimed, "What?! Two taels of silver for a pound of beef? Who can afford that?! It's too expensive for her. No wonder no one asked the price. Good heavens! Why aren't they robbing it?"
She turned around and went back into the alley, sitting down next to Bai Zilin with a frustrated look on her face: "Beef is too expensive, I didn't buy any. Two taels of silver for a pound of beef, who can afford that? I think the beef seller is crazy!"
Bai Zilin had expected this, but he was quite puzzled. What was the beef seller thinking? Selling beef at this time, wasn't he afraid of being robbed by the disaster victims?
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the street outside. People in the alley rushed out to see what was happening, and Liu Ye followed. What she saw was a group of disaster victims frantically looting beef from an oxcart. The man selling the beef tried to scare them with a knife, but it was no use. In the blink of an eye, all the beef was gone, and the oxcart was stolen by the disaster victims.
Liu Ye ran back to the alley with a smug look on her face: "Hahaha, this is hilarious, Brother Bai! The beef outside has been stolen by the disaster victims, and even the oxcart that sells beef has been taken away! Hahaha, this is so funny! They deserve it, who told them to sell it for so high prices? If they had sold it cheaper, maybe no one would have stolen it."
Bai Zilin shook his head speechlessly and said, "I already guessed it. You're craving meat, aren't you? I want to go hunting in the mountains. I just stood up and walked around for a while, and I feel perfectly fine. My legs are incredibly strong, and I feel more powerful. It's like I've caught your strength."
Liu Ye thought to herself, "How could strength be contagious? You got it from drinking my spiritual spring water: Hahaha, maybe. I've heard people say before that intelligence can be contagious. If you spend a lot of time with smart people, you'll become smarter. I even feel like I've become smarter from spending time with Brother Bai, hehehe..." (ω) Hey.
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