When the people passed by, he hurriedly closed up the stalls, put a mule cart in the place where the carriages and horses were stored, and drove the covered one out after them.
After a while, I saw the people strolling in front of me, so I slowed down and followed them leisurely.
Although he didn't know what the girl was doing, his duty was to protect her, so he would be right to follow.
Liu Dahua looked at Song Qiu, a country girl who had rarely come to the town and didn't know where she was. She said she was going for a lively stroll, but she only took her to Pingkangfang Food Stall Street.
This street is indeed lively in the morning.
After shopping around for a while, I hurriedly led people home.
Huangkou Alley is not far from the market, and is inhabited by people from the lowest level of the town. There are also many outsiders who work here for rent. The alleys are a mixed bag of people, making it extremely chaotic.
The alley where Liu Dahua's mother-in-law lives is relatively better, at least the small courtyards with single-family houses next to each other look like that.
Song Qiu followed Liu Dahua as he walked into the alley, as if he had never seen the world before, asking questions now and then that.
Liu Dahua was worried about the matchmaker's money. Although she was a little impatient when she was asked, she secretly scolded this country girl for being so ignorant and asking questions about everything, but she still endured it and responded one by one.
"Auntie, look, your alley is really busy! Why are there so many people surrounding that house so early in the morning?"
Just after finishing the previous sentence, the next one came again. Liu Dahua frowned and looked impatiently in the direction Song Qiu pointed.
Seeing this, her eyes lit up. She loved to join in the fun, but there were so many people there this early in the morning, so the excitement was definitely huge!
He quickly jumped up and headed over there.
Song Qiu followed up calmly, and from a distance he could smell the smell of various rouges and gouache that lingered in the alley. There was also an indescribable smell, and the two smells were mixed together.
Very unpleasant smell.
She subconsciously held her breath and followed Liu Dahua to watch the excitement.
But Liu Dahua was obviously good at watching the excitement. With his neat figure, he quickly squeezed to the front. Song Qiu didn't have time to keep up. Looking at the dense crowd of people, including men and women, old and young, it was really not good.
After squeezing in, he simply stopped and stood at the back, listening to the noise and barely able to see clearly what was in front of him through the cracks in the crowd.
After listening to it for a while, I probably figured it out. What this courtyard does is that dirty stall business. Several women rent together and specialize in receiving low-class patrons.
Because the charges are cheap, it is much easier to sleep for one night than to go to those brothels outside.
Many coolies who can't afford to visit brothels and want to do so come here.
This is no secret in this alley, everyone knows it.
What happened now was precisely because two women were fighting among themselves. One blamed the other for taking away her business.
The beating was brutal, with scolding and pinching. The promiscuous woman didn't pay attention to her appearance. Her clothes and skirts were torn, which made the men watch it very hot.
The quarrel was almost over by now, and the two women were tired from the beating. They were persuaded and pulled by their companions, and they quickly stopped.
The door was closed, there was no excitement to be seen, and everyone dispersed.
There was also a woman who was spitting in a low voice.
"They are all shameless! They are dirty things! They really think they are a flower!"
"You are like a flower, but how can you compare with others? They can make you a month's worth of money in one night! Look at the excitement of others, well, let's think about our own family. The New Year is coming soon, and we don't have money to buy new year's goods.
It’s been a tough year!”
"Hey! You're so envious, just go ahead!"
"I'm not so shameless! If you like, sell it!"
"Bah! This Huaji Hutong is located in our Huangkou Lane. It ruins our reputation. You think the town office doesn't care about it! These men and women are all shameless. My grandson can't talk about his wife.
They were harmed by them!”
"That's right! When there is a temple fair at Songshan Temple in the twelfth lunar month, we will go to worship the Buddha and let the Buddha punish them. It's best if they all get sores on their butts! Let's see what else they sell!"
"Okay, okay, call me when the time comes! Let's go together!"
"..."
Liu Dahua rushed forward to take a look at the second half of the lively scene. He could clearly see the two women fighting each other. Their clothes had collapsed, revealing a patch of white flowers with stamps on them.
Now that the fun was over, she still had some lingering feelings, so she reluctantly turned around and came back.
Only then did I remember that I was just here to watch the fun, and there was someone else there!
He looked around hurriedly and saw Song Qiu standing motionless behind him, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Girl, let's go, we've finished watching the fun."
Song Qiu nodded and followed, curiously asking: "Auntie, what kind of place is this? Are you really from the town? Why are the two eldest sisters tearing off their clothes when they are fighting? This is too shameful, we can't do it in the countryside.
Such a thing."
When Liu Dahua heard this, he became anxious, "Who are you from this town? That kind of thing can't be considered a town citizen. Girl, don't think that our town people are so shameless!"
As he spoke, he lowered his voice and said: "The people living in this Huaji Hutong are not serious town people. They are all shameless sellouts. For a small amount of money, they will serve even a beggar!"
Song Qiu's eyes widened when he heard this, and he said with shame: "Oh, so that's it. I just heard those aunties pouting and saying something about both men and women. They are all shameless. I haven't gone there yet.
That’s what I’m thinking about.”
Liu Dahua snorted and pointed to the other side, "Look, look at those two houses. There are several little butt sellers living there. The old one is almost forty, so he is not ashamed."
Song Qiu was stunned for a moment after hearing this, "This man... also has a woman?"
Liu Dahua was not surprised, "You little girl has never seen the world, what are you doing now? Those two families usually have a lot of patrons! They were all in the dark, sneaking in, and they were covered up tightly.
Yes, no one recognizes her! Well, Pan lives in the alley where my house is. Her husband often goes out with the boat and doesn’t come home several times throughout the year. She often comes to Huaji Hutong.
Her man just doesn’t know!”
Song Qiu covered his mouth with a look of disbelief.
Liu Dahua felt proud when she saw her unseen appearance. Look, this country girl.
It was true that she went through all the trouble to get married in the town. Although her life was still poor, the excitement every day was not comparable to that in the countryside!
She really enjoyed the fact that she knew that others didn't know that Baba was listening to her words. Seeing this, she continued: "Not to mention the married women, there are so many of them, and there are also the yellow-haired little ones who are not married.
Girl, this shameless thing went secretly!"
Song Qiu's eyebrows twitched, with a look of disbelief, "Is there such a thing? Which girl is so unafraid?"