Ever since Huo Erhuai had two new people in his family, he knew that he had to earn money urgently.
Originally, he only soaked in the rivers every day, lowering the nets at dawn and closing the nets at sunset. He only caught some fish and shrimps every day and sold them for money. If he had any spare time, he would rest on the boat or mend the fishing nets, or think about it.
Go to any water area and catch more nets.
But now he is starting to think of other ways to make money.
At this time, he was about to rush to the pier in the outer city when he heard the two children muttering and couldn't help but tell him: "You can't go to the pier. You are still young and your bodies can't bear it. It's okay for dad to go. Why don't you go back to accompany your mother and Nian'er first?"
Why don't you go to the outer city for a walk and come back with dad later?"
"Dad, we're waiting for you to come back together. Let's go to the outer city for a walk first, and then we'll wait for you at Uncle Gao's place before sunset."
"That's okay too."
Huo Erzhun grabbed a few copper coins from his small satchel and handed them to them.
Huo Xi looked at it and didn't want to take it. When he saw him forcing it, he only took two coins and pushed the rest back. She pulled Yang Fu and separated from him.
"Xi'er, where are we going?"
"Go to the tea shop."
"Tea shop? Xi'er, are you thirsty?"
Huo Xi didn't reply to him, but passed him quickly: "Uncle, hurry up, the sun will set in a moment."
"Hey, here we come."
Jinling City was originally a fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River, with abundant food and supplies. Now it has become the capital of the Wei Dynasty, and its popularity is even more prosperous. The entire capital has a population of one million, and because of the developed water system, goods traveling from south to north gather in the capital, and more and more people gather in the capital.
Increase wealth.
The Jiangdong Gate of the outer city is only more than an hour away from the Shicheng Gate of the inner city, so the largest number of people live between these two gates.
And because Mochou Lake, one of the two lakes in the capital, is located between the two city gates, this place attracted a large number of literati and scholars to come to the lake for boating and exchanging poems and articles.
Even though the old and new dynasties changed and King Yan took control of the imperial city, the chaos did not last long, and now there is peace and prosperity again.
Huo Xi looked around to see if there was no one around, wiped it on a gray wall with her hand, then quickly wiped it on her face a few more times, then clapped her hands together and patted it clean.
Yang Fu was stunned.
"Xi'er, why are you..."
"I'm so good-looking, what if I get kidnapped by a flower girl? I won't be able to see my parents."
When Yang Fu heard this, he felt that it made sense. Although his sister always yelled at him, there were no better people in the world than his sister and brother-in-law. If he couldn't see them, he would cry to death.
Huo Xi was speechless when she saw that Yang Fu had used both hands to smear his face like a black-faced Mr. Bao.
"What, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
"Going to a tea shop? We only have two cents, is that enough for tea? Why didn't you get a few more copper coins just now?"
Huo Xi was silent. She didn't want to take it. She didn't want to owe too much and was afraid she wouldn't be able to pay it back.
When Yang Fu saw that she didn't speak, he didn't take it seriously. He just watched her all the way.
Although this is an outer city, it is more lively than other places. The closer to the inner city, the more lively it becomes, with people coming and going. The signs of various shops are buzzing in the wind, including cloth shops, jewelry shops, pastry shops, embroidery shops, grocery shops, and craftsmen's shops.
Shops, medical clinics, drug stores, teahouses...it's dazzling.
The outer city is so lively, but I wonder what the inner city is like.
Yang Fu kept shouting all the way, but Huo Xi didn't dare to raise his head.
Don't dare to be careless.
"Xi'er, if we act like this, we're afraid we'll be driven away before we even get close."
Yang Fu looked at the neatly dressed people on the street, and then looked at himself, patched and patched, and many people looked at them strangely. Yang Fu stretched out his clothes and felt a little embarrassed.
Huo Xi comforted him: "We don't steal or rob. If we don't give in, we won't give in. We're afraid. Besides, it's not like there are no poor people."
Yang Fu took another look and found that there were indeed many poor people like them. He felt a little relieved, but his heart dropped a bit from entering the inner city.
Huo Xi pulled him along, walking and stopping, looking and listening, with no destination in mind, just casually.
It wasn't until he reached a teahouse built in a straw hut near the inner city wall that he pulled Yang Fu inside.
"How much does a cup of tea cost?"
"A cup of fragrant tea costs three cents, a cup of sugar water costs two cents, a cup of ordinary tea costs one cent, a plate of dried fruit costs three to four cents, and a plate of cakes ranges from five cents to six cents to seven to eight cents. The tea can be replenished."
Yang Fu looked at the table full of various dried fruit cakes and licked his lips.
Before he could swallow his saliva, Huo Xi had already pulled him to find a seat in a corner and said, "Brother, here are two cups of ordinary tea."
"Okay, two young waiters, please wait a moment." A young waiter said loudly.
Huo Xi sat down calmly, ignoring the curious glances from left and right.
This poor boy, who was just a little taller than the table, was so calm. He took his brother and sat among a bunch of adults, and his face didn't change. Looking at his brother, he didn't even dare to raise his head.
Everyone was amazed.
Huo Xi squinted his eyes and pretended not to see.
It's not like Yang Fu has never bought tea before. He also drank a lot of one-cent tea, but he just drank it outside the stall and left. How could he order one-cent tea and sit in a tea shop now?
I don’t have the money to order tea and fruit snacks. It still takes up two people’s seats.
But when she turned around and saw Huo Xi's calm expression, he couldn't be too timid as an uncle. He simply gained courage and straightened his chest.
Huo Xi glanced at him and raised his lips.
Hehe, Yang Fu also smiled at her and suddenly let go.
The two poor boys had nothing to look at, and gradually no one looked at them anymore.
Huo Xi pricked up her ears while sipping her tea.
"Do you think we are safe now?" A middle-aged man pointed upward and whispered: "The one who has taken over the capital, can his other brothers watch?"
"What can we do if we don't watch? The late Emperor has almost completely depleted his troops."
"Then it's stable? Don't fight anymore. When I think of so many people being killed every day outside the Jubao Gate, they are bleeding. I don't dare to turn off the lights and go to bed at night, for fear that I will wake up the next day with a wound on my neck.
The brain is gone."
A man shuddered when he remembered that when the new emperor first entered the capital, he went on a killing spree and the dead were piled up in mountains.
"What kind of cards do you have? If you want to be dragged to the execution stand, others will look down upon you."
"Then I have to thank them for looking down upon me." Several people laughed.
"Hey, Mr. Fang, it's a pity. Now students all over the world don't dare to speak. Look at Mochou Lake, there are fewer people there."
"No."
Several people shook their heads and sighed.
"There is an emperor and a courtier. Some time ago, almost every family in the city had a funeral."
I heard someone whisper: "I have a friend who runs a coffin shop. His business was so good some time ago that people were jealous, and he was so busy that he couldn't even touch the ground. He went to and from high-end houses every day, and when he came back he said that there were a lot of strange things happening this year.
Many ladies in the mansion died suddenly. It was said that the wife of the crown prince in Duke Rongguo's mansion also had a difficult delivery in Zhuangzi, killing one and two. Even her daughter was so sad that she went with her..."
"That's such a pity. I heard that the prince followed his father Rong Guogong and participated in the Jingnan campaign with the new emperor. He made many military exploits. Even if he is demoted to the first rank, he is still a marquis. Tsk tsk, what a pity."
"Rongguo Gong is a posthumous title. It cannot be attacked."
"You don't have to be a knight, but you can't get a title just by military merit?"
"Haven't you heard that the eldest son of Duke Rong Guo was awarded the title of Marquis of Xincheng for his military merits? It is hereditary."
"What a pity. She is still a Marquis even today, and when her son is born, he will be a Marquis in the future. Tsk tsk. I heard that his family has renovated the side house. Look at his luck."
A man shook his head and sighed: "It's no wonder that I don't have a reliable mother-in-law. Otherwise, I would have been more protective during the birth, so why would it be like this?"
"I heard that the lady's entire family was exiled, and I don't know how many of them survived to the place of exile."
"Tsk, tsk... I'm dead now. I don't know whose hands the dowry fell into."
"It won't fall into your hands anyway."
Huo Xi listened to the banter and sighs of everyone in the tea shop, clenched her fists, bit her lip, and her eyes were full of hatred.
It turned out that my mother was dead, my brother was dead, and she was also dead.