Chapter 873: The 'Mid-Autumn Festival Special' is scattered
On the twenty-eighth day, with a journey of 1100 miles, we arrived in Tongshan County, the nearest town to Yangzhou... Penglang Town.
Three days' walk east from here is the boundary of Yangzhou, Liyang County under the rule of Jinshan Prefecture.
Because it is very close to Yangzhou and is the closest town in Tongshan County to Yangzhou, with convenient transportation, the disaster in Penglang Town was not serious.
Here, I saw long-lost smiles on people’s faces, and these people were not very repellent to us.
The family of three decided not to go further after seeing the scenery here.
After all, everyone knows that Yangzhou is good, but no one has ever been there, so it’s not clear what it’s really like.
At present, Penglang Town has far exceeded everyone's expectations. A family of three pulled me and Xiu Niang and said, "Stay here, it's a good place. You can survive even if you have to eat. We can go home in the spring next year."
.”
I don't know what to choose, but the embroiderer doesn't want to stay.
However, we stayed for the time being because we were hungry and tired and wanted to save up nutrition and adjust our condition.
Penglang Town is very wealthy, and there are many people engaged in ceramic business. If you have money, you will naturally not be affected by the disaster, not to mention that the disaster here is not serious.
I, Xiu Niang, and my family of three have settled in a bridge hole.
I found wooden boards that others did not want and built a windshield in the bridge opening so that the wind would not blow when people were inside. This bridge opening gave my home warmth.
On the first day after settling in Penglang Town, the family of three got up very early and told me they were going out to beg for food.
But on the street, I saw a family of three sitting at a breakfast shop eating sesame cakes.
I never thought that a family of three was rich, but I forgot that old man Xu was also a tenant farmer of Mr. Zhou's family. No matter what, he would never go out with a few pancakes like me.
I don’t know why, I didn’t go begging for food as planned, but secretly followed a family of three.
After breakfast, the family of three went to the pharmacy. From their conversation, I found out that Mr. Xu’s daughter had been taking medicine from this pharmacy. They came here not only to escape the famine, but also to bring their daughter to see a doctor.
When I got here, I understood that Old Man Xu’s goal was not Yangzhou at all. He was afraid that after the famine, he would not be able to buy his daughter’s medicine and delay his daughter’s illness. In addition, there was not much food in stock at home, so he simply put all the things in the house away.
As soon as it was sold, the whole family came here with them.
I was very angry, angry about why old man Xu didn't take the rogue to see a doctor when he was obviously rich, but left him behind.
Every village and town has a bruiser. If it had been treated early, the bruiser's leg injury would not have suppurated at all, and he would not have to be left in the hunting hut to wait for death.
Before, I was very touched that Old Man Xu could leave all the food to the gangsters. Now, all the emotion turned into anger. This should not be like this.
We never leave each other and travel thousands of miles together. Is such a friendship less important than a few coins?
By the way, Old Man Xu’s family is different from me, middle-aged people, rogues, and embroidered ladies.
Everyone is fleeing the famine, others are really panicking, but Old Man Xu and his family are just pretending to be panicking.
No wonder she was very hungry in those days, and her daughter kept urging old man Xu to leave. At that time, she thought these people wanted to hurry up and go to a place where they could eat.
Now it seems that leaving is really leaving. The rich old man Xu will not starve to death like them. If he is rich, he can survive by eating high-priced food.
Only I, a middle-aged, rogue, and embroidered lady are really penniless, just like a beggar on the run.
When I saw the truth, I was disheartened.
Being wandering all the way, in the eyes of Old Man Xu and the others, what is it, is it just a joke?
I don’t know how I left. When I came to my senses, I was sitting in front of a restaurant. The waiter inside was walking out, seemingly trying to drive me away.
"Mother, there is a beggar here!"
A mother and son came to the restaurant for dinner. The younger one, who was about eight or nine years old, pointed at me and said to his mother.
"It's so dirty, what's so good about a beggar!"
Seeing that the little boy was getting closer, the mother took out a few coins from her purse and threw them on the ground: "Get out of here, you stinking beggar!"
What should I do, pick up the coin, give it back to her, and tell her that I am not a beggar?
I lowered my head, looked at the copper plates on the ground, and thought of the family of three sitting on the breakfast table, eating sesame seed cakes and drinking bean juice.
In the bridge cave, Xiu Niang is still waiting for me to go back. She must really want to eat sesame cakes, right?
I picked up the copper plate on the ground, looked at the disgusted lady, and put down my dignity...I am just a beggar.
With five coins in hand, I went to the breakfast shop.
On the door of the breakfast shop is written: "Food prices have risen, sesame seed cakes cost two cents each, and bean juice remains unchanged."
I used the five cents donated by others to buy two sesame seed cakes and a bowl of bean juice. After discussing with the boss for a long time, he agreed that I would take the bean juice with the bowl and return it to him later.
Holding the steaming bean juice and feeling the sesame seed cakes in my arms, I ran to the bridge hole impatiently.
Outside the bridge, the embroiderer was washing clothes by the stream, her expression focused and peaceful.
"Xiu Niang, look what I brought you!"
"Bean juice, sesame cakes!"
The embroiderer looked surprised, and seeing the joy on her face, I felt that everything was worth it.
"Have you eaten?" Xiu Niang said to me while swallowing her saliva while looking at the hot sesame cakes.
I took a breath, puffed up my shriveled belly, and said, "Eat, three of them, it's enough for me."
"Where did you get the money?"
The embroiderer took the bean juice, took a sip, and narrowed her eyes because it was so hot.
I didn't say it was charity from others. For the sake of my worthless dignity, I lied: "The waiter in the restaurant unloaded the wine, and I helped him. The shopkeeper felt sorry for me and gave me a few copper coins as wages."
"You are so capable!" The embroiderer smiled beautifully, and the dirt on her face had been washed away with stream water.
At first glance, she has the fragility of a young girl and the heroic temperament she has honed all the way. She looks like a fairy in the sky.
Seeing the silly smile on my face, Xiu Niang slowly stopped her smile and whispered: "Zhang Qing, you are a good person."
"Are you a good person?" I didn't know how to answer, but I still felt inevitably disappointed.
People, maybe we should accept our fate. What gave me such unrealistic illusions, from a country boy who felt ashamed of his appearance at the first glance to the embroidered lady, to the one who feels that he is worthy of the embroidered lady?
Is it a journey of wandering, or is it more than twenty days of getting along day and night?
It seems that it is not the family of three that has changed, nor the embroiderer, but me.
The person who is worthy of being an embroiderer should be a scholar or a landlord. How can a beggar like me have such evil thoughts?
Day 30...
After that incident, I sobered up a lot and became more distant from Xiu Niang.
On this day, Mr. Xu’s daughter got up very early and took the initiative to help me clean the bridge opening. She looked very happy.
Xiu Niang thought I was angry and wanted to ease the relationship with me, so she took the initiative and said to me: "Tell me, is the Xu family girl's illness serious? Is she pretending to be ill?"
Actually, I'm not angry, I just don't want to get too close and get hurt.
But when I saw Xiu Niang's face, I couldn't help but be obsessed with it, and couldn't help but reply: "It's probably not pretending. When we are on the road, she sometimes suddenly covers her chest, and it takes a while to calm down.
Come. And these days, I see old man Xu often running to the drug store. The medicine is so bitter, who would like to take medicine?"
After hearing my answer, the embroiderer nodded noncommittally.
Although the daughter of the Xu family is in her thirties and sick, she is very arrogant and doesn't talk to us very much.
Today, she had a lot to say. After helping me clean the bridge hole, she even took the initiative to chat with the embroiderer. Compared with the past, she was a completely different person.
That night, the embroiderer told me that the Xu family's daughter was so happy because she met a carpenter who fell in love with her when she went out the day before yesterday.
The carpenter has been asking people about her these days, as if he wants to marry her.
I was skeptical when I heard this. A carpenter is a craftsman. How can he fall in love with a daughter of the Xu family?
As a result, the embroiderer said that the carpenter was over fifty years old and had two sons and one daughter. His wife died of illness a few years ago.
The daughter of the Xu family looks very much like his late wife. The daughter of the Xu family is happy with it. The town of Penglang is prosperous and the carpenter is a decent person. If she marries her, she will enjoy happiness.
The old couple had some scruples and felt that their daughter's illness was not suitable for marriage, so they were still hanging on.
But looking at the appearance of the daughter of the Xu family, this matter is probably justified, and old man Xu can't control this girl.
Three days later, the matchmaker from the town came. As soon as they met, she remarked that the bridge cave was not a place for people to live. She also said how easy it was for the carpenter's family to have fifty acres of fertile land. She also said that as long as Old Man Xu nodded, he would immediately have three acres of land.
The land deed is given as a betrothal gift.
I looked at Old Man Xu and heard that the carpenter's family owned fifty acres of land and was willing to give out three acres of land as a betrothal gift. Old Man Xu's attitude was no longer firm.
After all, for country people, fields are the roots of farmers. If your family has fifty acres of fertile land, you are a very wealthy family. With so much land, how much food can be produced? How will your daughter eat after she gets married? She will eat it every day.
I can’t finish the noodles!
Soon, the marriage was decided, and Old Man Xu's family also moved into the carpenter's house.
Because it was my second marriage and I was from the country, the wedding was not arranged with any fanfare.
On the day of the wedding, eighteen tables of flowing banquets were set up at the carpenter's house, but the embroiderer and I were not invited.
The embroiderer said that maybe the carpenter's family took care of it and didn't notice us.
But I know that Mr. Xu’s family has their own plans in mind, and there is always a layer of veil between them and us.
Otherwise, the family of three would not have secretly gone out to eat sesame seed cakes without telling everyone, and would not have said anything when they came back.
However, I still wish them well and wish them a good life, with the spirit of a naughty and middle-aged person.
After the family of three moved away, the bridge became deserted, and only Xiu Niang and I were left.
Xiu Niang has had enough of staying here. She wants to see what Yangzhou is like. No matter how nice it is here, it is still Jiaozhou after all.
On the thirty-eighth day after leaving Daokou Village, we set off again towards Yangzhou.
There were seven of us when we came out, and we all walked together, hoping that no one would be left behind.
Now, there are only two left, a naughty, middle-aged man, a family of three, who can no longer keep up...