There are still three days until the autumnal equinox.
At the Heyin boundary monument.
Official road, teahouse.
"Boss, please give me a big bowl of tea."
"Coming soon!"
"Boss, another stack of beans."
"Okay!
"Boss, do you have soup noodles?"
"Yes, sir, please wait a moment."
This simple teahouse was built not far from the official road.
Merchants passing by the boundary marker would stop here to rest, replenish their energy or get some dry food. At a glance, there were more than twenty people.
The teahouse owner and his two assistants were busy running around outside, and they were so busy that they had no time to move their feet and their voices became hoarse.
After being busy for a while, I finally had time to catch my breath.
Just as he was about to wipe the sweat off his face and massage his legs, he caught a glimpse of a middle-aged man leading a mule coming from the official road. His clothes were full of patches. The shopkeeper wanted to take a break, so he sent his assistant over to entertain him.
The helper came forward enthusiastically and asked: "What would you like to order, sir?"
Only when I got closer could I see the middle-aged man's appearance clearly.
He looked honest, with black hair mixed with gray, wrapped in a rough black cloth. His skin was dark, and there were traces of sunburn on his face from the summer, which was obviously caused by years of sun exposure. His hands were rough, his knuckles were rough and swollen, and there was dirt under his unpolished fingernails. If you smelled him closely, you could smell a bit of sweat, and his accent didn't sound like a local.
The middle-aged man rubbed his hands in embarrassment.
He lowered his head, his throat was hoarse from not drinking water for a long time, and he was timid and lowered his voice, so the helper almost didn't hear what he said: "I just, I just want some water..."
He can't afford tea.
He was unfamiliar with the place and didn't know where there was a stream nearby.
When he saw the teahouse, he wanted to ask for a sip of water shamelessly, but the helper came to greet him enthusiastically, leaving him at a loss. He had already prepared himself to say this, which would attract the helper's cold eyes and harsh ridicule, but the helper just smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes!"
He turned around and brought a bowl of warm boiled water with white steam coming out of it from the teahouse. The ceramic bowl didn't even have a crack on it.
"Hey... Xiao Lang, just give me a sip of cold water..."
It's still warm.
The helper handed it over and said with a smile: "We are not allowed to sell cold water here. If you are caught, you will be fined. All water must be boiled."
The middle-aged man was flattered.
He immediately wiped his muddy hands on his clothes and took the ceramic bowl from the helper. As soon as the warm water of moderate temperature touched his dry and cracked lips, he opened his mouth impatiently and swallowed it in big gulps. The water flowed down his mouth and into his throat, like the land that had been dry for a long time and finally got moistened. He breathed a sigh of relief after drinking it, but still felt it was not enough.
I smacked my lips but was too embarrassed to ask for it again.
The helper was busy in the teahouse. What kind of people had he not seen? He had already developed a good ability to read people's expressions and said, "It's not busy now. I'll give you another bowl. Did your mule drink water? How about taking it to the back to feed it?"
The middle-aged man thanked him again and again.
The mule was so hungry that it was almost skin and bones, with its ribs visible. It looked like an old mule.
The mule was thin and old, but it could still work. Its bag was stuffed to the brim, and it also carried Lao Gao's bamboo box on its back.
I don’t know what’s inside.
Out of curiosity, I asked.
The middle-aged man did not hide it either.
"I have some charcoal and straw sandals saved at home. I heard someone here is buying them. If we sell them together, I can get more money..."
Although it is said to be more expensive, it is only four or five cents more expensive.
However, he walked for two days and two nights for the four or five cents, and he had to be careful not to encounter bandits on the road. He was worried that he would encounter wolves and tigers when he slept in the wild at night. No matter how tired or sleepy he was, he dared not close his eyes and stop. He could only find a secluded place to take a nap during the day. He also had to tie the old mule and himself with straw ropes, fearing that someone would steal the mule and charcoal.
Of course, it’s not safe either at night or during the day. I tried not to sleep if I could. I felt haggard and dazed after two days.
At this time, the helper noticed that the straw sandals on the man's feet were almost worn out, with his toes exposed, and the dark red blood mixed with mud had dried up, while there were more than ten pairs of new sandals on one side of the mule's saddlebag.
The mule was fed a small handful of bean dregs.
The middle-aged man looked at it and his eyes turned slightly red.
Turbid tears almost rolled down, and he kept saying thank you. The helper sent the middle-aged man to the road and kindly pointed the way. Following this road, it would take less than a quarter of an hour to get to a smooth road.
His feet would also suffer less.
The middle-aged man didn't think much about it.
I said goodbye to the helper reluctantly.
In his arms was a large pancake given by the helper.
The shopkeeper had seen all of this and smiled, saying, "The water doesn't count. The rest will be deducted from your wages..."
The helper said, "Of course, of course."
In fact, he only had a few months of good life.
Seeing the middle-aged man like this, he felt the same way and couldn't help but want to help. The helper was a refugee who had fled to Heyin because he had nowhere else to go. He thought this place would be his burial place, but he was saved by the kind-hearted shopkeeper.
I help out in the teahouse every day.
Food, accommodation and money are provided.
The helper didn't dare to accept it at first. How could the little work he did deserve so much? But after listening to the shopkeeper's words, he realized that it was not much. If he went to the government office to find a job, the treatment would be good. In this teahouse, at most he could survive.
Because the helper was the only one left in his family, he managed to save some money over the past few months - only about thirty or forty cents, or a dozen or so cakes - it didn't matter if the shopkeeper deducted his wages, as he was provided with food and lodging anyway, so the helper didn't care much.
The shopkeeper smiled and shook his head when he saw it.
No deductions were made in the wages settled that day.
Inside and outside the teahouse, passers-by were talking in low voices, and sometimes laughter and teasing could be heard, and the air was filled with a happy atmosphere. At the same time, the middle-aged man walked along a bumpy, rugged and muddy road, and then he was stunned.
No other
The road ahead is too wide and smooth.
He almost thought he was hallucinating.
I was afraid to step on it.
He looked left and right, and finally, with the old mule's gentle push, he took a step forward like a guilty thief. This road stretched to the end of the sight, and could accommodate three chariots running side by side! It was completely different from the previous dog-eaten road.
The road is easier to walk on and the pace is faster.
After walking for less than half an hour, we saw a neatly arranged field.
The middle-aged man was stunned again.
Looking around, the corn in the field almost turned into golden waves, and each plant was full of heavy, plump fruits. Each plant was forced to bend, and it seemed that it could fall to the ground at any time when the wind blew. He was also a good farmer, and his family also had two acres of thin land, but after a year of farming, he could only feed his family with water in a good year...
These, these were things he had never seen in his dreams.
I have heard about it from some old people in the village.
If you have good farmland and it's a good year with good weather and good harvests, you might be able to compare the yield per mu with what you have now.
"What are you looking at? What are you looking at?"
Perhaps he had stood there for too long, and his suspicious look around as if he had never seen the world before, the tenants working in the fields were immediately alarmed, pointing their poles and hatchets at him, and shouting at him. He was mistaken for a thief by the common people...
The middle-aged man finally explained it clearly after much persuasion.
The expressions of several tenant farmers finally relaxed.
The middle-aged man said a few auspicious words to celebrate the harvest, which made people feel very comfortable and they looked at him more favorably. Some people even wanted to give him a pair of half-worn straw sandals.
The middle-aged man was a little confused.
He had heard of the place called He Yin.
It's nothing but poverty, with poor mountains and bad water.
It is said that even the best grain varieties will have reduced yields here.
Refugees fleeing would avoid this place, lest they not be unable to find food and be caught and eaten by the local villains.
Now it seems that this is not the case.
I don't understand why there is such a big gap between rumors and reality!
Everyone started chatting, and the middle-aged man shamelessly asked for the secret of farming, but someone waved his hand.
"Where is this thing?"
"It's all thanks to Mr. Shen's blessing!"
"These are nothing. Go to Fugu's place and you will know what a good harvest is. Oh, I am so greedy."
"Fugu's fields are fertile..."
"That's right, how can I not gain weight after being touched by Shen Jun's immortal energy?"
Everyone was talking at once and having a great time.
The middle-aged man listened for a long time but didn't understand.
I only know that there is a new governor in Heyin, who took office last year. He is very young, handsome, and has no airs of a high official. If you are lucky enough to go to Fugu, you may see Shen Jun in person. The changes in Heyin in the past year are the result of the hard work of Shen Jun and his subordinates.
The middle-aged man even saw an old woman with her hair wrapped up, tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke. She then sobbed and bowed again and again in a certain direction, and other people were also infected.
Middle-aged man: “…”
He still didn't understand.
Walking down this road, which is flatter and more comfortable than the best official roads, the villages along the way are similar in condition. Every household is busy with farming and preparing for the autumn harvest. Their faces are full of smiles, their steps are brisk, and their clothes are clean.
There were only two or three people with patches among a dozen people, and even if they were patched, the patches were not many, which was completely different from the old clothes with patches all over them. The people here were simple and honest, and they were warm and hospitable. There were always a few common people who would give him a half cake when they saw that he was thin and tired, and that the old mule was shriveled and weak.
By the way, he was kind enough to show him the way.
When it was dusk, he was wondering whether he should find a stone bridge to sleep on, when a commoner enthusiastically invited him to his home. Although the house was not big and had only one room, he could sleep in the yard, which was safer than sleeping in the wild.
The middle-aged man agreed hesitantly.
The host gave me another bowl of warm water.
The middle-aged man finally couldn't help it.
"Boil it and drink it. Oh, how much firewood does it take..."
The host said, "If you don't boil the water before drinking, you will be fined."
The middle-aged man vaguely remembered that the teahouse helper had said the same thing, and for a moment, he was speechless for a long time. The lives of ordinary people were so difficult that it was good enough to have a mouthful of clean water to drink. You know, in drought years, you can't even drink a mouthful of muddy water.
What kind of family background...
Do you need to boil water to drink
The middle-aged man couldn't help but speak out his inner doubts, and the host laughed: "Well, it's said that our Mr. Shen heard from the gods that unboiled water has some kind of pestilence, and if you drink it, your body will not be so healthy and you will get sick..."
All orders from the government office are enforced.
If you are caught once, twice or three times you will be fined.
If there is a fourth time...
Haha, just kick Ha Yin out.
The common people are not afraid of anything else but being driven out.
They also know what the world is like outside. They know that they can stay in Heyin because of the good fortune they accumulated in their previous life. They have enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear, and they have work to do and land to farm. Even gods don't have such a good life.
In addition, the Fugu government was willing to buy charcoal from each household at a relatively high price, so everyone was willing to take the trouble to boil some hot water for drinking. Not only for drinking hot water, they would also gather together to raise cats to catch mice.
If the cat catches more mice, it will get a reward.
The cat slave in their village won three pounds of pork, two big fish and a piece of cloth by relying on his mouse catching skills!
The middle-aged man listened with fascination.
I even thought about leaving my hometown and moving here.
The host knew that the middle-aged man had this idea, and kept repeating it to him, and the core idea he kept repeating was - "Mr. Shen is a good man and a good official!"
You can have a full stomach by following Mr. Shen!
On the second day, the middle-aged man set off with the well-rested old mule, and the experience along the way was almost the same as yesterday.
No, there is one thing that is different.
The old mule was fed more.
After asking, I found out that Shen Jun's mount was a beautiful snow-white mule without a single strand of hair. It was said to be called something like "motorcycle". The common people in Heyin gradually became fond of the mule. Although they still had to work, the food and treatment were much better than before.
The old mule was so thin that its ribs were visible, and it walked unsteadily. The common people felt pity for it and could not help but feed it.
After walking and stopping many times, we finally arrived at the nearby market.
Every market has a coal collection point set up by the government.
Upon asking, he found out that the prices were indeed higher than in his hometown.
In addition to the charcoal he had saved, he also had straw sandals and small bamboo baskets. He sat on the roadside and hawked them for half a day and sold most of them out.
At this time, a man asked the price and threw down a bamboo stick as payment. He was so angry that he grabbed the man's hand and clenched his fist to hit him. The nearby stall owners were frightened and there was a commotion. Passers-by retreated and the caught thief was furious.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you arresting me?"
"You stole my things!" The middle-aged man was so angry that his eyes turned red, and the grown man almost cried on the spot.
Passers-by and stall owners came over to watch the fun.
Finally, the market clerk was alarmed.
The clerk came over and asked what was going on.
The thief was angry and said, "How should I know? He's crazy!"
The middle-aged man held the bamboo stick and said angrily: "He, he dropped this thing and wanted to steal my things..."
Everyone: “…”
Market clerk: “…”
I immediately understood what was going on.
The market clerk pressed the throbbing veins on his forehead and said angrily, "Don't you know that these notes can't be paid to outsiders?"
The "thief" was scolded so much that he dared not say a word.
He took back his bamboo stick from the middle-aged man, threw a copper coin back, and muttered, "What bad luck! How did I know he was from another place?" The market clerk told the onlookers to "go away." Only the middle-aged man was left at a loss.
Why don't you catch the thief
At this time, the stall owner next door asked with a smile.
"You're from out of town?"
The middle-aged man nodded.
The moisture in her eyes had not yet faded, and she wiped the tears with the back of her hand in grievance. The money was not much, but it was the lifeblood of the family.
How could anyone rob people in the street
Why doesn’t Mr. Shen deal with these lunatics
The stall owner smiled kindly and said, "Ah, it's a common thing. If you don't want those notes, just tell them you're from another place. You'll understand after a few more visits. I'm also from another place doing business, and it was the same as your first time. Don't panic, don't rush."
Middle-aged man: “…”
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