Chapter 367 A family full of corpses at home [6000 words]
After all, Yoshiwara is not a city in the true sense. Although there are residential areas for ordinary people to live and there are also small markets, the area they occupy is not large.
Occupying most of the land in Yoshiwara are the densely packed houses of wandering girls.
"The avenue in the center of Yoshiwara is called 'Nakanomachi'. It is the broadest street in Yoshiwara. Almost all important activities are held in Nakanomachi."
After taking Ogata to briefly visit Yoshiwara's residential areas and markets, Kuwao led Ogata back to the avenue that neatly cut Yoshihara into two halves - Nakano-machi.
I plan to take Ogata on a brief tour of the large number of tourist houses with Nakano-machi as the center.
"The closer to Nakano-machi, the higher the yūnyōya will be. On the other hand, the further away from Nakano-machi, the higher the yūnyōya."
"The 'Rashomon Riverbank' where sick and elderly wandering girls gathered that I told you about last night is located at the far west of Yoshiwara."
"The 'Rashomon River Bank' is also the key supervision area of our Shirobei Club."
"That place is the messiest place in Yoshiwara."
"Because the wandering girls who live on the banks of the Rashomon River are basically sick or elderly."
"So there are always some beasts who take advantage of the physical weakness of the wandering girls there, and go to the 'Rashomon River Bank' to rob them of their wealth and sex."
Gua Sheng was very eloquent and good at preaching. Ogata felt that she might be qualified to be a teacher.
After coming out of Gua Sheng's house, Gua Sheng never stopped talking, and kept introducing all the details of Yoshihara to Ogata.
But Gua Sheng can always use the shortest and funniest words to summarize these supposedly complex knowledge.
Thanks to Guasheng's continuous popularization of various knowledge about Yoshiwara, Ogata did not feel bored when touring various places in Yoshiwara.
Unknowingly, the two of them returned to Nakano-machi, the thoroughfare in the center of Yoshiwara.
The current time is probably around 9 o'clock in the morning.
Because it was past the early morning hours when the sun had just risen, more and more people were walking around the streets of Yoshiwara.
The lifestyle of wandering girls is the opposite of that of ordinary people.
Ordinary people work during the day and sleep and rest at night.
The wandering girls sleep and rest during the day and start working at night.
At this time, many wandering girls are still sleeping and resting in bed.
Of course, there are also some very energetic wandering girls who sneak out of their wandering girls' houses and play around.
After returning to Nakano Town, Oubono found that compared to when he arrived in Yoshiwara just now, there were many more wandering girls sneaking out to play in Nakano Town.
However, because there were not many entertainment activities in this era, they could not leave Yoshiwara freely, so the only way for these wandering girls to choose entertainment and relaxation was to get together and talk.
Some of these wandering girls who sneaked out to play were still combing their hair and putting on makeup in a proper manner.
Some are very casual, not only without makeup, but also without combing their hair, dragging their long hair.
Ogata and Kua Sheng had just appeared in Nakano Town. Ogata saw three wandering girls not far away who were chatting together and suddenly waved to them.
After seeing the three wandering girls waving to them, Guasheng immediately walked towards the three wandering girls while holding on to the wooden knife at his waist.
Although he had no idea why these three wandering girls suddenly waved to them, Ogata hurriedly followed them.
Among the three wandering girls, two wore regular Shimada buns, and only one had her hair loose, with her long, straight black hair hanging down her back.
After Gua Sheng saw the three of them waving and walked over quickly, the only wandering girl without a bun smiled and said to Gua Sheng:
"Yoshiwara Toshin! Did you start patrolling so early?"
"Well... it can be considered a patrol." Gua Sheng said with a smile, "I am now taking this newcomer who just joined our club today to familiarize himself with Yoshihara. I will also patrol Yoshiwara by the way."
After saying that, Guasheng turned sideways and introduced to Ogata who was standing behind him:
"This is the new person who joined our club today - Majima Goro."
"Gui'an." Ogata bowed to the three wandering girls in front of him, "I'm Majima Goro."
"Ho~~" This long-haired wandering girl looked at Ogata several times with curious eyes, "He looks like a very reliable samurai! I leave the security of Yoshiwara to you!"
"I'm going to be in a state of death."
"The number of foreigners who have flocked to Edo has increased a lot recently." Another petite wandering girl standing next to the wandering girl with loose hair suddenly sighed softly, "As a result, we in Yoshiwara are now
It’s a lot messier than before, it’s really unbearable6”
"Don't worry!" Gua Sheng raised his hand and patted his small chest hard, "Anyone who dares to cause trouble in Yoshiwara, our Shirobei Club will bring these people to justice!"
"It's really reliable." The girl with long hair said with a smile, "You are indeed our Yoshihara Doshin."
"Please don't call me Yoshihara Toxin." There was a strong sense of helplessness in Gua Sheng's tone. "The word 'Yoshihara Toxin' has so many syllables. Don't you find it troublesome to pronounce it?"
"I don't think so." As she said this, the wandering girl with long hair put her hand into her collar, and then took out a small paper bag from inside her collar, "Here, here's this for you."
"Huh? What is this?" Gua Sheng looked puzzled as he reached out and took the small paper package handed over by the girl with hair.
"This is the yokan given to me by one of my guests last night."
"According to him, this yokan comes from a very popular shop in Edo."
"Although I heard the customer tell me what the name of the store is, I forgot it. I tried the yokan and it was quite delicious."
"He sent too much yokan, and my friends and I couldn't eat it together, so I'll give the rest to you!"
"Ah! Thank you!" Gua Sheng was not polite and said thank you loudly. Then he looked at the small paper bag in his hand expectantly, and his throat moved as he swallowed his saliva.
After bidding farewell to the three travel girls, Gua Sheng couldn't wait to open the paper bag containing food that the travel girl had just given them.
There are 6 yokan lying quietly inside the paper bag.
Although it has the word "sheep" in it, Japanese yokan does not contain mutton and is a dessert.
The original yokan did contain sheep. It was a soup made with mutton added during the Tang Dynasty.
After this delicacy was introduced to Japan, it was transformed.
There are many sects of Buddhism in Japan. Some sects adhere to strict precepts and do not eat alcohol or meat and do not take wives or concubines.
Some factions are no different from ordinary people, they can eat wine and meat and have three wives and four concubines.
Because those monks who held strict precepts did not eat meat, they modified the delicacy "yokan".
Use red beans, arrowroot powder and flour to make the shape of sheep liver. The Japanese words "liver" and "gen" are similar in pronunciation, so "sheep liver" is said to be "yokan".
Later, it gradually became popular in tea ceremonies and became a famous tea snack.
By the Edo period, yokan, which originally had only a single flavor of red bean, evolved into different flavors such as sweet potato and chestnut.
Ogata glanced at the yokan inside the paper bag—it was chestnut flavored.
Since there were 6 yokan in total, which could be divided in half between two people, Kuasheng handed 3 of them to Ogata's hands.
Ogata went straight to Yoshiwara as soon as he got up today, without even eating breakfast.
At the moment when he was feeling a little hungry, Ogata was not polite and generously accepted the three yokans from Guasheng, and then ate them with Guasheng.
The two of them had just said goodbye to the three wandering girls. Before they had walked a few steps further, they saw several wandering girls waving to them on the street not far away.
"Xiao Guasheng! Good morning!"
"Good morning! Don't call me Xiao Guasheng! Why don't you two call me by my name properly..."
"Isn't it too serious to just call you Guasheng? Xiao Guasheng, who is this behind you?"
These wandering girls are the same as the three wandering girls just now. They just came to say hello to Gua Sheng and ask Ogata who this stranger is.
"Come on, Xiao Guasheng, these are steamed buns given to me by one of my customers. I know you like steamed buns the most, so I specially left a few for you."
"Ah! Thank you!"
After bidding farewell to Guasheng, these wandering girls gave them some food just like the three wandering girls just did.
What Ogata and his wife received this time were a few steamed buns.
…
…
"Gua Sheng! Good morning!"
…
"Little Tongxin, come here, I'll give this to you. Thank you for helping me recover the guy who stole my money when I wasn't paying attention a few days ago!"
…
"I can't eat any of these, so I'll give them to you."
…
Following Gua Sheng in the "Young Women's House Area" is a true "stop and go"...
Every time they walked a certain distance, Ogata and Gua Sheng would be stopped by a wandering girl who had sneaked out to play outside the wandering girl's house.
These wandering girls have different names for melons.
Some politely called Gua Sheng's surname.
Some people call Guasheng’s nickname “Yoshihara Tongxin”.
Some people call them "Xiao Guasheng" or "Xiao Gua" very affectionately.
Although they have different names, these wandering girls are all very enthusiastic about melons.
They either exchanged simple greetings with Gua Sheng, or gave him some food while greeting him.
Thanks to the melons, Ogata tasted yokan, steamed buns, daifuku, glutinous rice dumplings, and other delicacies in less than an hour.
Ogata himself can't remember how many wandering girls he and Gua Sheng have gone through so far.
After stuffing a piece of Dorayaki that a wandering girl had just given them into their mouths and swallowing it, Ogata said to Kuaou beside him with a tone that contained a hint of helplessness and admiration:
"Miss Guasheng, you are so popular among the traveling girls... Every traveling girl knows you and greets you warmly."
"Not only did I greet you warmly, I also gave you a bunch of food."
The scene where the girls gave food to Gua Sheng just now... Although it may be strange to say this, Ogata really felt like he was "feeding a pet"...
Whenever a wandering girl offers food, Gua Sheng will be filled with excitement and accept it with a bang. In addition, Gua Sheng is particularly short, and most of the wandering girls are taller than Gua Sheng, so
It seems more like "feeding pets"...
"This may be related to the fact that I am also a girl."
Guasheng said in a half-joking tone.
"I am the only woman among all the people in the Shirobei Club who are responsible for maintaining security in Yoshihara, so compared to other men, the wandering girls definitely prefer me, who is also a woman."
After saying that, Gua Sheng handed Ogata the last piece of daifuku left in the paper package in his hand.
"Come on, Majima-kun, I can't eat anymore, so I'll give you this piece of cake."
Ogata didn't make any excuses, took the big blessing from Gua Sheng and started to gnaw it.
Looking at the daifuku in his hand that had been half bitten by him, Ogata asked Gua Sheng beside him in a voice that was somewhat muffled because of the daifuku stuffed in his mouth:
"Why do all the wandering girls have so much to eat?"
"These meals are basically given by the guests." Guasheng replied, "There are very few guests who can lavishly give gold, silver and jewelry to the wandering girls."
"In fact, most of the people who come to visit Yoshihara are ordinary people."
"The only things that ordinary people can give away without looking shabby are delicacies."
"Travel girls usually cannot enter and exit Yoshiwara freely, so if someone brings some food from outside Yoshiwara that they have not usually eaten, the travel girls will be quite happy."
"Sometimes the guests bring too much food, so the girls will share it with their friends, or give it to the official servants of our Shirobei Club."
Speaking of this, Guasheng licked his lips.
"I seem to have eaten too much just now...I'm a little thirsty..."
Hearing what Gua Sheng said, Ogata also felt his throat was a little thirsty.
Ogata looked around: "Is there any teahouse nearby..."
"Ah!" Gua Sheng suddenly shouted softly as if he remembered something, "Mashima-kun, I will take you to a place, you come with me."
"Where to go?" Ogata asked doubtfully.
"Stay in the house."
Gua Sheng said a name that was quite unfamiliar to Ogata.
“Different customers come to Yoshiwara every day.”
"Some of the guests who visit Yoshiwara are ordinary rural people."
"Some are warriors or businessmen with good family backgrounds."
"If you want to entertain these distinguished guests, it is not enough to be beautiful. You must also have good conversation, knowledge, and self-cultivation."
"So our Shirobei club opened a stay room."
"You can think of Liuwu as a school dedicated to teaching wandering girls how to read and write."
"Our Shirobei Club hired teachers to stay in the house to teach."
“Because it’s free, many young girls who can’t read or write or who want to have a deeper education sign up to study in a dormitory.”
"Even our wind chime master went to stay in the house to study."
"Did the oiran also go there to study?" Ogata raised his eyebrows in surprise, "A person who can become an oiran should be better educated than many samurai from well-off families, right?"
"Feng Ling Taifu is a very studious person. He goes to Liuwu's place every day to read and write, and he never slacks off."
After saying that, Guasheng raised his head and glanced at the position of the sun.
"Lectures should have started over at Liuwu now."
After Ogata quietly listened to Kuao's introduction to the details of the school in Touya, he sincerely praised:
"Are you teaching the wandering girls how to read and write for free... This stay is really good. This way, the wandering girls can have a skill after they leave Yoshiwara."
After listening to Gua Sheng's introduction to Touya, Ogata couldn't help but become a little curious about this school specifically open to wandering girls.
"I also think this stay is great."
Guasheng said with a smile.
"Improving the education of wandering girls will give them the opportunity to entertain guests who can spend a lot of money, and they can more quickly raise enough money to redeem themselves."
"It was the idea of the current leader of our Shirobei Club, the Sixth Generation Shirobei, to build this stay that is open to wandering girls for free."
"Although our Shirobei Club is responsible for the cost of building and operating the residence, almost everyone in our club is in favor of Shirobei-sama's idea of teaching wandering girls to read and write for free.
Never stop talking."
"But does this have anything to do with the fact that we are going to stay in the house now?" Ogata nodded and asked.
"There is always a delicious tea in the house."
"I usually patrol Yoshiwara, and when I feel thirsty, I go to Touya's place and drink some of their tea."
"I'll take you to taste Liuwu's tea now."
"By the way, I'll take you to note where the house is."
"Okay." After listening to Gua Sheng's introduction to Touya, Ogata, who was already somewhat curious about Touya, nodded without any hesitation.
"Then let's go." Gua Sheng held onto the wooden sword on his waist, and then led Ogata to turn towards the next intersection.
Turning this intersection, Ogata and Guasheng suddenly found three wandering girls gathering on the side of the road not far away, looking sneaky.
Gua Sheng, who felt a little confused, walked forward:
"What are you doing?"
When the three tourist girls saw Gua Sheng coming, they did not show any panic and greeted Gua Sheng warmly.
"I didn't do anything." A very tall wandering girl among the three people said, "It's just that a customer gave me an interesting thing last night, and I was showing it to these two friends of mine."
"Oh? Something interesting?" Gua Sheng looked curious, "What is it?"
"This... Miss Guasheng, you'd better not know what this is." The tall wandering girl smiled bitterly, "I don't think you will like this kind of thing, Miss Guasheng. So I won't show it to you.
I'm sorry."
"That's it, it doesn't matter." Although he was rejected by the tall wandering girl, Gua Sheng, who was not a gossip, did not show any signs of frustration or dissatisfaction.
After waving his hands cheerfully, he said: "Then I'll leave first. You three can chat slowly."
…
…
After Ogata and Gua Sheng left, the three wandering girls hurriedly gathered back together side by side.
"Look." The tall wandering girl took out a thick paper bag from her arms. After unwrapping the paper bag, she revealed what was inside - a ball as thick as an adult's thumb that exuded a strange smell.
of pills.
"This is the 'Rendan Pill'." The tall wandering girl said word by word.
The other two wandering girls looked at the black pill and swallowed.
"Is this the 'Human Dan Pill'..." one of the wandering girls murmured.
"Is this really a genuine product from the Yamada Asemon family?" another wandering girl asked.
"It should be so..." the tall wandering girl said, "Anyway, the customer who gave me this pill said it was genuine. As for whether it is genuine, I don't know."
"The customer who gave you this pill is really strange... Why should I give you a pill specially used to treat lung diseases?"
"He is a medicine dealer." The tall wandering girl said, "He can't give away gold, silver and jewelry, so he always gives me medicine."
"I told him a few days ago that I have been coughing recently. This is probably the reason why he gave me the 'Rendan Pills', but he delivered the medicine late... My cough has been cured."
"This is the first time I have seen...'Human gallbladder pills' made from human gallbladder...Doesn't it taste very bitter...By the way, why didn't you show Guasheng your gallbladder pill just now?"
Maru'ah?"
"I've heard someone say before - Miss Guasheng doesn't like this kind of medicine made from human internal organs, so it's better not to show her this 'Human Gallbladder Pill', otherwise Miss Guasheng will be unhappy.
It’s not going to be good.”
After that, the tall wandering girl rewrapped the human gallbladder pill and put it back in her arms.
"Now that your cough is gone, what are you going to do with this 'Jindan Pill'? Do you want to sell it? If this pill is really from the Yamada Asaemon family, it should still be able to sell it.
It's a lot of money." The wandering girl standing on the left side of the tall wandering girl asked.
"I don't like that little money." The tall wandering girl said with a wry smile, "Anyway, let's keep it first. Maybe we will need this medicine one day in the future."
"The Yamada Asaemon family..." Yume, who was standing on the right side of the tall Yume, seemed to have remembered something terrible and trembled, "I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see this in my lifetime.
Go to the medicine made by the Yamada Asaemon family."
"Me too." The tall wandering girl nodded in agreement. "I have always heard that the Yamada Asaemon family's mansion is full of dead bodies... It's scary to think about it..."
"I have also heard that the mansion of the Yamada Asemon family is full of corpses, and new corpses will be sent to their mansion every once in a while... I have always been curious about how their family members sleep with corpses every day.
Together, won’t you feel like you can’t eat or sleep?”
"They may have been used to it for a long time." The tall wandering girl responded, "Anyway, I can't imagine what their normal life is like... Forget it, let's not talk about this scary topic. Let's talk about something more relaxed.
, interesting things."
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Let me tell you the readers of QQ Reading - I can’t post pictures for short comments on QQ Reading. I can’t even post them even if I want to…
So you can't see any of the pictures I posted at the end of the previous chapters. You can only look at the starting point.
As for the Easter egg chapter, you probably won’t be able to see it either.
There is no way, the reading experience of QQ Reading is so bad, so I strongly recommend readers of QQ Reading to go to the main site of QQ Reading. Anyway, both QQ Reading and QQ Reading have it.