It was eighteen miles from Fenglai Village to the county town. Mingyue and the children walked for more than an hour before they finally entered the bustling county town.
Even the brave Mu Zhi slowed down unconsciously and hid behind his mother. He grasped the corner of his mother's clothes with his little hands and looked around curiously with his eyes.
Xingzhi and Yizhi were even more timid. They didn't even dare to raise their heads, let alone look at what was happening on the street. They just stared at their mother's footsteps. When their mother stopped, they stopped; when their mother walked, they walked.
Mingyue looked carefully at the small town called Tianfeng County and saw that all the people coming and going on the streets were women. The vendors setting up stalls and shouting were women, the people buying things and strolling around were women, and even the yamen runners patrolling the streets were women.
If Mingyue hadn't come from Fenglai Village, everyone would have thought they had entered the Kingdom of Women.
When Jiang Xingzhi and the other two appeared on the street, even though they still looked like children, they still attracted a lot of attention.
Some people communicated with their companions with strange eyes, and from their mouth shapes and eyes, you could tell that what they said were not nice.
Some even shouted in dissatisfaction, "Since when can men go out on the streets?"
After seeing Jiang Xingzhi's face, some people even deliberately muttered words like "ugly", "so ugly", "I can't eat after seeing him", "where did this stinky beggar come from".
Some people also saw Mingyue bringing three boys, and they all looked at Mingyue with contempt.
Even though this is just a small county town, a bright moon can reveal a lot. Just from the behavior of the women in this small county town, one can see the contempt and injustice of this entire place towards men.
Mingyue looked back at her three timid sons, and suddenly a sentence she had heard in some dimension before emerged in her mind: Put a man in the position of a woman, and he will become a woman.
Looking at it this way, it seems that this statement is correct.
Women’s strengths and weaknesses never come from themselves, but are determined by the rules.
This world is really strange, with a sense of weirdness everywhere, as if someone deliberately created such a situation and is waiting to see how latecomers will break through.
What exactly did the first empress named Jiang Wan want to do...
But Mingyue didn't have the energy to think so much at this time. The problem she was facing now was that there were still two days before the royal test, and she had to find a place for her family of four to rest first.
And when the aroma of food wafted from various stalls on the street, not only did Xingzhi and the other three's stomachs growl, but even Mingyue herself couldn't help swallowing.
The family has already eaten several meals of wild vegetable soup, but wild vegetable soup is the kind of thing that makes people more greedy the more they eat it.
Mingyue pinched the silver coin on her sleeve, thought for a while and stood in front of the bun shop with her sons. She said to the boss, "Big sister, give me four big meat buns."
"Meat buns are eight cents each, and four are thirty-two cents." The boss glanced at Mingyue and just said it without making any movements with his hands.
Obviously the boss thought Mingyue couldn't afford it, so he wouldn't pack the buns until he got the money.
Mingyue was really not annoyed. The original owner had been bedridden for a long time and was already frighteningly thin. What's more, she and Xingzhi were wearing shabby clothes, and Muzhi's clothes were patched up with several patches because his two brothers couldn't wear them. It was no wonder that the family was looked down upon.
"Okay, please give me four big meat buns." Mingyue said, and was about to pay when she was stopped by Xingzhi. Jiang Xingzhi didn't look at the white, plump and tempting buns, but just lowered his head and said in a muffled voice: "Mom, we are not hungry, we don't need to buy this."
Jiang Yizi bit his lip and followed suit, "Yes, Mom. We ate very well when we came out. Now I'm not hungry at all, and I don't want to eat buns at all." But just as he finished speaking, his stomach made a rumbling sound.
Jiang Muzhi's eyes were almost on the buns. He kept touching his stomach and swallowing his saliva, but he didn't have the heart to say anything.
The boss of the bun shop couldn't help showing a sarcastic expression when he saw the family's appearance. He waved his hand at Mingyue and the others in annoyance and said, "Where did this poor family come from? Go away. If you don't want to buy anything, stand aside and don't block my way."
Mingyue ignored the boss's sarcasm, patted the back of Xingzhi's hand, smiled at Yizhi, and said softly, "Don't worry, mother knows her limits."
Jiang Xingzhi pursed his lips and obediently let go of his hand. It was okay, it was just this time, at most he could save some food for himself in the future.
Jiang Yizi's ears turned red because of his rumbling stomach, and he was too embarrassed to stop his mother.
Mingyue then took out the silver coin that Jiang Qingyue had given her from her sleeve and handed it to the bun shop owner: "Four big meat buns."
The boss took the change and looked at it carefully, muttering something. Then he got up to pack the buns and gave Mingyue the change.
Mingyue put the things away and distributed the buns to her sons. After she saw them start eating, she took a bite of her own bun.
Mingyue finished a fist-sized bun in just four or five bites.
She turned her head and saw that her sons had only nibbled a small corner of the buns in their hands. They were eating the buns with great cherishment on their faces, as if they were eating delicacies from land and sea. The scene was indescribably funny and pitiful.
Mingyue took a deep breath and didn't say much. She just took her sons for a stroll around the streets, and from time to time she went into some shops to ask if they were hiring.
She thought that if she could find a job with food and accommodation, she could at least settle the children down.
Unfortunately, even if the shop was looking for workers, when they heard that Mingyue wanted to live with her three sons, the good-tempered ones immediately waved their hands and told her to find another place. The bad-tempered ones scolded her on the spot, saying that she didn't know the rules and how could she let an unlucky man follow her into the shop...
Xingzhi and the others were scolded so badly that they couldn't even raise their heads, and Mingyue was also furious.
But considering that the children were still there, Mingyue could not vent her anger and just left with her sons.
After touring the entire county, Mingyue still couldn't find a shop that was willing to let Xingzhi and his friends follow her.
All women have a contemptuous attitude towards men. This contempt does not refer to the look in their eyes or their expressions, but to the contempt and disdain that comes from their bones.
This day was undoubtedly a huge blow to Jiang Xingzhi and his friends from the outside world, making them realize anew how cruel the world is to men.
Even Jiang Muzhi, who was usually lively, seemed to understand something and gradually became silent.
(End of this chapter)