Liu Mang took the ultimatum to enter the city and went to the kitchen.
"Hello, Brother Mang!"
"Good morning, Brother Mang!"
When the cooks in the kitchen saw Liu Mang coming in, they greeted him warmly.
Liu Mang nodded and walked to the end, where he found the little fat man Liu Shu secretly eating dumplings.
Seeing Liu Mang coming over, Liu Shu said with a smile: "Brother Mang, why did you come to see me when you have time? Do you want to eat leek and egg dumplings together? They were just made."
Looking at Liu Shu, whose mouth was full of oil, and his body that had gained a lot of weight not long after arriving, Liu Mang was a little silent: "The document has been processed, come with me to the city tomorrow."
"Really? That's great!" Liu Shu jumped up excitedly.
Entering the inner city requires a written document, and ordinary people do not have the channels and money to do so. Therefore, Liu Mang and Liu Shu had not entered the inner city for more than ten years.
As the largest gang in the outer city, the Golden Tiger Gang naturally has the means to handle ultimatums, and Zifengtang, which handles affairs in the inner city, is in charge.
But for Liu Mang now, this is just a matter of words.
"Are you still used to staying in the kitchen? Do you want me to move you to another place?"
Liu Shu shook his head like a rattle, completely different from his initial reluctance: "It doesn't matter, I find it's pretty good here. Everyone is nice to me, the conversation is interesting, and the work is easy."
"It's mainly because I eat a lot." Liu Mang thought.
…
evening.
Liu Mang walked to Liujia Village and met Wang Sun at the entrance of the village, who was going to dig wild vegetables in the Black Bear Forest.
Just as Liu Mang was about to say hello, he saw the other party give him a fierce look, and then left without looking back.
Liu Mang was a little stunned: "This woman is quite vindictive."
When he returned home, as soon as he entered the house, a salty smell hit his face.
"Mom, what does this smell like?"
"I marinated the chicken. You bring so much chicken back every day, how can you eat it? I'm afraid it will spoil, so I have to marinate it."
"I'm going to the inner city tomorrow, and I just happened to cash the banknote. If there's anything you want, I'll bring it to you."
"I'm quite old, what can I want?" Mother Liu advised while wiping the table, "You should pay attention to safety when you go to the inner city, don't argue with others in everything, and don't act out of emotion. There are many big people in the inner city.
, take a step back and the sky will be brighter.”
"I know." Liu Mang replied nonchalantly.
"Oh, by the way, I may go to Qigou Bridge in the next few days." Mother Liu said.
Qigouqiao is not close to Liujia Village. It is seven or eight miles away, so it is a far away village.
"What's going so far?"
"Your Aunt Lu is not in good health. I want to go and check on her."
Liu Mang didn't take it to heart after hearing this. This Aunt Lu still remained in the memory of her predecessor when she was a child. She was a relative separated by who knows how many generations.
Seeing Liu's mother going out to the river, Liu Mang was doing nothing and suddenly thought of the Wang Sun family he had just met.
How dangerous is it for a woman to go out so late at night?
But he is not qualified to take care of others.
Liu Mang felt a little irritable for no reason.
After thinking about it, Liu Mang picked up a whole salted chicken that Mother Liu had marinated, and shouted loudly at the door: "I hate eating salted chicken! Mom, please don't do it again next time!"
Then he threw the salted chicken forward, and with a 'bang', it landed right at the junction of Liu's house and Wang Laizi's house.
Half an hour later, the door of Wang Laizi's house was gently opened, and a short body limped forward carefully.
He looked around cautiously and found no one, then he quickly picked up the salted chicken on the ground and hurried back.
"Such a good chicken, what a waste!" Wang Laizi said angrily at home, and then his face showed joy, "There is meat to eat these days!"
…
The second day.
Liu Mang took Qi Quan, Ban Yang, and Liu Shu on one of the trucks transporting goods at the dock, and rushed to the inner city of Jiangcheng.
An hour later, the tall tower in the inner city appeared in the eyes of several people.
The gray-white city wall is about ten feet high and made of a large number of bricks and stones.
Above the city wall is a three-story archery tower with cornices. Many armored guards patrol the upper floors, staring closely at the crowds coming and going below, holding bows and arrows in their hands to prepare for emergencies at any time.
At this time, the city gate was wide open. The arched entrance was two feet high and more than one foot wide. There were a row of red-clad guards on both sides of the city gate, checking and asking about the comings and goings.
When it was Liu Mang's turn, the gang's steward in charge of transportation walked forward with a smile and handed the guard a folded yellow paper: "Sir, we are from the Jinhu Gang, transporting a batch of porcelain to the Li family's old shop.
This is the general document for my gang, and everyone else in the car has also completed their paperwork."
After the guard opened the yellow paper, his expression softened slightly.
Then he came over to check everyone's documents and let him go easily.
After the cart entered the city, Liu Mang and the four of them separated from the convoy.
What greets you is the breath of life.
"Selling candied haws on a stick, selling candied haws on a stick, no money if it's not sweet, no money if it's not sweet, just five cents a bunch!"
"Miao's tofu, the most delicious tofu in Jiangcheng! Fresh, white and tender, even tenderer than your mother-in-law!"
"The art of blowing sugar has been passed down from our ancestors for three generations! Whether it's flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the water, whatever you want can be blown out for you!"
In front of us is a spacious white stone road, with pedestrians constantly on the street and vendors trying their best to sell their products. On both sides are various teahouses, restaurants, rice shops, inns, and pawn shops, a prosperous scene.
These are hard to see in the outer city. Even the most prosperous Fugui Street in the outer city pales in comparison to this one.
"It's hot and cold outside, but there are flowers blooming inside. No wonder everyone wants to come to the inner city," Liu Mang said with emotion.
"The little lady here is so beautiful." Liu Shu sighed in a different way, looking around with a look like Brother Pig.
Ban Yang smiled and said: "The young ladies in the inner city have extraordinary temperament. They are indeed not comparable to those rustic village women."
Liu Mang took a look and found that the girl in the inner city was wearing silk brocade clothes, jade hairpins, light makeup and heavy makeup, and she was very good at dressing up.
But if you want to say that the real appearance must be better than the one in the outer city, that's not necessarily true. The appearance of Wang Sun's family appeared in Liu Mang's mind at the right time.
Seeing Liu Shu's expression as if Grandma Liu had entered the Grand View Garden, Liu Mang thought, "This will make you lose your place? Have you ever seen a uniform? Have you ever seen a cosplay?"
"Do business first," Liu Mang said.
He went to Sihai Commercial Bank and exchanged all the banknotes into silver.
Then he said to Qi Quan: "Take us to sit in Jizhilou."
Liu Mang was very interested in this teahouse, which could increase his knowledge, and in the storyteller Old Man Gao, who knew everything from astronomy to geography.
But he saw Liu Shu squirming and saying with a red face: "Brother Mang, Ban Yang and I want to go somewhere else to play, why don't we split up?"
"Where are you going?" Liu Mang frowned.
"I'll take Xiaoshu to the Red Mansion to learn more." Ban Yang said with a smile.