The calico cat was also following Song You, taking small steps. Every time her foot poked into the mud, there was a small hole, with small plum blossom-like footprints in the hole. The mud put a pair of shoes on her feet.
"ah!"
The calico cat blinked, it was Song You who stepped down and splashed muddy water on her face, so she ran diagonally with small steps, a little further away from Song You, and continued to move forward together.
There is a household in front.
The city gradually became visible in the morning mist after the rain.
Song You suddenly stopped.
The calico cat followed him to a stop, looked up at him, and then followed his gaze to look at the people in the distance with confusion.
There are several thatched houses, with fields in front and dirt behind, and cherry trees next to them.
Several children are stealing cherries.
Cherries are known as "the first branch of a hundred fruits". It is only March, but they are already ripe. Strings of red pearls among the green leaves are hanging all over the branches. Two children climbed up the tree.
Two other children were holding their clothes and walking around under the tree, and another child was looking out for the wind.
The Taoist stopped and looked at them, and they looked at the Taoist too.
It was because of this oversight that a figure emerged from the thatched hut behind him, but the child watching the wind did not notice it.
"Which baby!"
A shout shocked the children out of their wits.
The three people under the tree turned around and ran away, and the two people on the tree also jumped down from the tree in a hurry. Fortunately, they didn't have any shoes on, otherwise they would definitely have run away.
The old man chased after him using his crutch as a stick.
Song You looked at this scene with a smile.
Suddenly I remembered the countryside in my previous life. It was like this when I was a child. When the fruits were ripe, it was the time for the children to show off their skills. Here, I didn’t delve into the right and wrong consequences of this behavior, but later it seemed like a different world.
The trees were full of fruits, and no children came to steal them anymore. Even the birds that came to peck the fruits were much fewer. Only the old man was left sitting under the fruit tree, lamenting the time and years.
A child ran onto the road and passed him.
The old man did not pursue him too far, he only stopped and scolded him.
The children shrank their heads, feeling guilty and not daring to answer. They avoided the old man's eyes and the Taoist's eyes, and only glanced at the calico cat next to the Taoist.
Unexpectedly, the Taoist smiled and asked them to eat cherries.
A child was bold and walked over with cherries in his pocket. He stretched out his dark and dirty hands and grabbed a large handful. After thinking about it, he loosened his fingers and let some of them slip out before putting them in the Taoist's hand.
inside.
"Thank you guys."
"Is this the cat you feed?"
"It's the cat that's with me."
"It won't run?"
"She's with me."
"Where are you going?"
"Nan Hua County."
"It's right in front."
"Thank you."
"Hahaha……"
The children swarmed and walked onto a path. Their footsteps were unusually brisk on the dirt floor, and they jumped as they walked.
Song You lowered his head and looked at the cherry in his hand.
It had just rained and it was still wet.
No matter whether it is rain or dew, there is no need to remove it. No matter whether it is dirty or not, there is no need to wash it. Just spread it through the mouth.
Completely ripe cherries, you have to be careful even when pinching them with your fingertips. You can feel them trembling in your palms. When you put them in your mouth, you don’t have to use force. They break with a slight sip. There is no sourness at all.
It's not very sweet, it has the fragrance of juicy cherries, you can barely feel the presence of the pulp, it's very refreshing.
Song You naturally did not forget Empress Sanhua:
"Miss Sanhua, do you want to eat?"
"Cats don't eat fruit."
"This is called cherry."
"Cherry~"
"Want to eat?"
The calico cat wanted to say that cats don't eat fruit, but suddenly remembered that he had eaten fruit, so he thought about it and asked:
"Is it tasty?"
"delicious."
"Is it the same as Hawthorn?"
"Of course it's different."
"Is there anything special?"
"The special thing is it's a cherry."
"It's a stolen cherry."
"I asked for it."
"They stole it."
"yes."
"This is wrong!"
"Of course, Sanhua Empress should not do such a thing."
Song You sipped the cherry until there was only one seed left, then vomited it to the side of the road and continued to say to the calico cat: "But the calico cat is an upright lady and knows right from wrong. There is no need to remind me if I think about it."
"Yes!"
"Want to eat then?"
"Don't eat!"
“Very delicious.”
"Then try one."
"Is it tasty?"
"It's not as delicious as a mouse."
"Forget it."
"You seem to be very powerful..."
One person and one cat slowly walked towards Nanhua County, still walking in the mud, but neither one person nor one cat cared.
If the mind is calm, there will be no worries; if the mind is pure, there will be no impurities.
…
Nanhua County is built on a flat land, and the streets are paved with stone slabs. Except for a small section of the road just entering the city that is muddy, the rest of the city is easy to walk. In addition, it is not very big, so it doesn't take long to go around in a circle.
Song You inquired about two inns, found one that was more satisfactory, and booked a room for five days.
The store owner found water and washed their feet.
Song You washed it himself first and asked the shop next to him: "I'm new to Nanhua and I'm not familiar with the place. I wonder if there are any delicious or interesting things here? Or are there any taboos that need to be paid attention to?"
"Where are you from, sir?"
"Come from Xuzhou."
"Our place is next to Xuzhou, which is actually about the same. What's special about it is that our soup cakes are quite good, but they are available in small shops and they are very good. In addition, our Nanhua is rich in cloth, and our Nanhua's cloth
They are the best in the whole of Pingzhou and even in Dayan. If you are willing, sir, you can buy some." The store owner thought, "I can't think of anything interesting at the moment."
"What's the taboo about that? I'm afraid I'll offend someone if I'm new here."
"Hey, there are so many taboos! Everyone in the world is just human. They are all the same. No matter where you are, just be careful, don't expose your wealth, don't go out at night, and just walk around when you encounter a fool."
“What the store said is very reasonable.”
"Would you like a bowl of soup cake?"
"How much?"
"Twelve coins, soup made from bones."
"Have a bowl."
"okay!"
Song You washed his feet and just stretched out his hand to the calico cat. The calico cat obediently lifted its feet and stretched them into his hand.
"Ah……"
Song You shook his head and washed it carefully, not missing any cracks in the flesh pads: "I would have asked Sanhua Empress to ride on the horse, so there is no need to step on the mud all over her legs. If you look closely, you can see it is all over her body."
"It's just mud."
The calico cat said as he let him wash it.
Although she showed no resistance, she had to stare intently. Even when washing her feet, she had to turn her head and stare with her own eyes. She couldn't help but stare.
"Sir, let me wipe it for you."
The store also brought them footcloths.
"Thank you."
After wiping it clean, I put on my shoes and socks and put the things back in the room upstairs. When I got down, I went out and cut three taels of raw meat to feed the cat. As soon as I came back, the store brought soup cakes.
Soup cakes are noodles, which come in many varieties, wide, thin, and thick. Most of them are called soup cakes.
The soup cakes here are thin and wide noodles, like bed noodles or trouser belt noodles. There are not many other seasonings, just a bowl of soup stock, the soup cakes are spread inside, and some chopped green onion is sprinkled on top.
"Sir, please use it slowly."
"Excuse me."
"ah?"
"I was on my way yesterday and encountered rain. My luggage got wet. I wonder if the store is convenient for washing and drying clothes?"
"Sir, do you want to wash it yourself or ask Huanyi to help?"
"Wash it yourself."
"You can wash and dry them in the backyard. There are many hemp ropes holding them. As long as you see someone who is free, you can just pick them up. I just need to pay more attention to it. Although it is not easy to be stolen, there is nothing you can do if the store is lost.
Compensation." The store owner smiled and said, "I'm just sitting here all the time. People who come in and out can see it, so I will help you pay attention."
"Thank you."
Song You had already picked up his chopsticks and started eating soup cakes.
Thin noodle cubes are added to the soup stock, and the taste is the same anyway, without much to say. The noodles are very tough, thin and wide, and have a great texture, which can be said to be a specialty.
Seeing the shopkeeper sitting in front of the shop, not far from here, Song You asked casually:
"Does the store owner know that there is a Li Daguan in the city?"
"Who is Mr. Li?"
"A very majestic one."
"How do you know, little old man..."
The store owner obviously lowered his voice.
It's not necessarily because of how scary that person is, but more likely because of the store owner's habit of dealing with people. That is to say, ordinary neighbors will subconsciously lower their voices as long as they don't say nice things.
Song You said while eating: "Yesterday I met the official Li on the way. Seeing that I was alone, he took some money from me. He said it was a gambling emergency and asked me to come to the city to get it from him today. I know that this money may be
You didn't borrow it from me, but I'm really at the end of my rope, so I wanted to ask if I can go to that official Li to get the money back, and will I suffer a lot."
"Then sir, don't think about it." The store owner said, "If there are other witnesses, it is still possible to report it to the official."
"Is that official Li very vicious?"
"..."
The store owner came in with a bench and sat down, and whispered: "Sir, the one you are talking about is the tall one with the mole at the corner of his eye?"
"Exactly."
"That guy is not easy to mess with."
"How to say?"
"It's hard to say, hard to say..."
"That official Li has already obtained my wealth, so he can't possibly kill me again, right?"
"That's not the case! It's easy to kill people, so what's the law?" the shopkeeper said, "But he is a bully, rich and powerful, tall and powerful, has many friends and friends, and has other abilities.
If you piss him off, you'll have to suffer a bit, so be prepared to take it lightly."
"Tell me carefully."
"There's nothing to talk about..."
"I have three denarii here."
"..."
The store owner sat down in front of Song You with a bench:
"Daguan Li lives in the west of the city. He was originally from a poor family. Later, he curried favor with the government and gained some influence. Now he is a famous bully in the city. He is good at bullying the weak and fears the strong. Many people are either afraid of him or annoy him. If you have power, or
If he has any other abilities, he really doesn't dare to do anything to you. But if Mr. is new here, if he has any other abilities, he will treat it as if he didn't mention it. If not, the money lost is not much, just treat it as stolen.
Come on, otherwise, Officer Li and the thugs under him really don’t dare to beat you to death, but if they try to embarrass you, I’m afraid they’ll suffer a lot.”
"Ever killed anyone?"
"I've never heard of it, but if you've been bullying the market for a long time, what's better than killing people?"
"I heard there is some kind of sensitive immortal."
"That's what they all say."
"That's the rumor."
"Yes, it's a rumor."
"I love hearing rumors the most."
"Whether we are in Nanhua, or it's like this in neighboring counties, there are always people secretly offering sacrifices to some off-the-grid deities, saying they are more powerful than those in the temple." The store owner's voice became softer, and then suddenly became softer again, "These bullies in our city
Most of the people in Pohu worship a great immortal called Sensitive, and I don’t know where they offer it, but with this great immortal around, many nobles don’t want to offend them easily.”
"Elaborate."
"That's all I know."
"Tuk tuk..."
The silver struck the table.
The store owner immediately showed a sad expression: "Aren't you here to ask for money, sir?"
"I want to ask him to do good."
"I'm afraid that's not easy to persuade."
"It's not advice."
"That is……"
"Tuk tuk..."
The shopkeeper showed a sad expression again, squinting at the small piece of silver.