C58

Chapter 58 Nameless Dining Hall (8)

During the entire April, the business at the restaurant did not seem surprising, but it slowly accumulated a group of stable customers. Furthermore, more and more laborers on the dock were willing to give the Three Coins a taste of its full stomach. From two to three hundred coins a day, the price of the store gradually increased to four or five hundred coins a day. There were also some customers from further away who would come every few days to give a tooth sacrifice.

Li Yannian also discussed with the people from the Rice Bank regarding the medium and low level rice that they would use to deceive people. Every three to five days, Li Yannian would head to their store for a few rounds of rice. The price of a single fight was only around twenty to thirty gold coins. After returning and bringing the goods back with Black Bean, Li Yannian placed the rice back into the warehouse and transferred the good rice out of the warehouse. Although it was a bit troublesome, at least it would make people less suspicious.

Li Yannian asked Auntie Li to collect the eggs. Auntie Li also asked everywhere in the village, for a total of 67 eggs. The Auntie Li was happy to tell Li Yannian that she should prepare the person who raised the chicken as soon as possible. This was because by the ninth day of the next month, these young chicken s would also come out of their shells. By that time, the old hen would have another month or two and her bones would have grown stronger.

The days passed by busily like this, and it was soon to the end of the month. Xu Zijun, who had sold the pepper at her place, did not have any news of his at all, and was pondering if he should save the three thousand that he had saved up to save for the next month when Xu Zijun appeared. He was leaning on a walking stick, with his mouth open, but he did not even manage to say a word when he fainted in front of her.

Li Yannian saw that he was dressed in tattered robes, and it was already so dirty that her original color couldn't be seen. Her face was mottled, and her toes were rotten, she didn't even look like a scholar anymore.

In reality, Xu Zijun had really become a beggar.

As a result, when he returned home with the fifteen kilograms of pepper, Xu Zijun's heart was always in the air. As long as he thought of this trip home, not only would he be able to get his wife's forgiveness, and have his family rebuild their relationship, he would also be able to suppress the price of Liu Yungui's goods.

But what Xu Zijun did not expect was that Liu Yungui's heart was darker than ink, he did not know where the rumors came from, but he had already known that Xu Zijun had ten or more kilograms of pepper up for sale, and falsely accused him of not being in the same group as him. He had the intention of stealing from him, and brought Xu Zijun to the yamen in one go.

Xu Zijun was naturally unwilling to admit it, but he did not know where the goods came from, so he could not be tactful with Liu Yungui, and knew that he had to make a deal. A few reputable people in the village all received his promise, and once the lawsuit ended, other than the promised silver taels, half of the fifteen catties of pepper in Xu Zijun's hands would be split with the old master and the servants.

Under this kind of collusion, Xu Zijun was merely a rich village man with no power or reputation. Not only was he punished, he was even punished as a thief who had been imprisoned for almost a month, and all the silver on his body had been cleared by the guards. In the end, he really had no money, and the guards could be considered as having some conscience as they reported a message to his family on his behalf. After his wife's family had spent enough money, Xu Zijun finally came out.

He was unwilling to let his daughter go through hardships, so he was willing to give up on a abandoned house to let Xu Zijun continue living in. After a year or two, Xu Zijun would earn enough money to support himself and his family before reuniting with them.

He was also someone who had the determination to bring his wife home, so he was willing to let go of his face. After thinking about it, other than bringing out his calligraphy and painting, he had nothing else to offer, so he asked his father-in-law for ten silver coins. He set up a calligraphy and painting stall outside the city temple, and also sold calligraphy and calligraphy, and also accepted books for people to copy.

However, the good times didn't last long.

It was unknown where Liu Yungui heard about him setting up a calligraphy shop, but every day he would order money to hire some local thugs, and not beat him up, he would sit by the side of Xu Zijun's stall, and when people came over, he would go and cause trouble, and in a few days, Xu Zijun's calligraphy shop would no longer be able to set them up.

Xu Zijun did not ask for help from his father-in-law due to his lack of face, instead, he did not give up and went to someone else's shop to be a literacy shopkeeper. But Liu Yungui still kept on coming, not only did he disrupt his work, he was even forced by his boss to compensate him with 10 taels of silver.

This time, Xu Zijun really had no other choice but to shut his doors tight and brazenly beg the three great families. When he asked his neighbors, he found out that his father-in-law had brought his family a few days ago. He packed up their belongings and headed to Yuhang Province by boat. It would take them eight to ten years before they would return.

Only now did Xu Zijun realize that he had been tricked. The ten silver taels that his father-in-law had given him were not the capital to do business with. He had just given them away so that they could live far away and have a good dream.

Xu Zijun was filled with resentment, hating himself for treating jackals as relatives and friends, and for angering a black-hearted bastard like Liu Yungui; he also hated himself for being hot-headed and having a soft spot for money. He also hated himself for thinking of taking back things that he did not know where he came from, as if they were treasures, causing him to be stuck in a trap with no words to say clearly.

Under the fire that struck his heart, Xu Zijun coughed out a mouthful of blood, and fell in front of his father-in-law's door. Although his neighbors pitied him, they did not dare to drag him back home. They were afraid that he might really have some mishap, and that their family might get into some sort of trouble.

He had no money, so he had to turn his back on his relatives.

The moment when Xu Zijun woke up from his bed in the abandoned house, he had a sense of death in his heart. The moment he tied his neck into the hemp rope and tied it into a knot, he suddenly remembered the expression on Li Yannian's face when he turned around to look at himself on the ox-cart. He had fallen to such a state today, but that girl who was unwilling to have his name unknown was still able to live on in such a carefree and carefree manner, wantonly smiling …

Why!

Xu Zijun immediately didn't want to die. Even if I have to die, I have to find Li Yannian first. "He grabbed her by the neck and asked her," Where did you get that pepper?

With no money in his possession, he grabbed a broken bowl and a walking stick. Relying on his memory, Xu Zijun begged all the way to Du Jia Village.

He couldn't afford to stay at the Eastcoming Inn. He had been asking around for a few days, but he hadn't managed to find anything. It was also because of Xu Zijun's bad luck that he didn't know that ever since the Li siblings offended Du Huichun, he rarely visited the manor. He was dressed like a beggar now, and the only people who could ask others about him were the stable servants, the servants who swept the floor, and the two servants who could not enter the tavern to see the message Li Yannian left behind.

Just as Xu Zijun was about to lose all hope and curled up in the corner to sleep, he heard someone talking about a small restaurant in the Clear Water Town that had become extremely famous recently. The white rice was actually enough for Three Coins s to let go of their stomachs and eat until they were full.

Xu Zijun actually had such a Three Coins in his pocket, but when he looked at his hands that were dirty to the point that their original color couldn't be seen, then looked at the pair of shoes that were worn out long ago, and the few exposed toes, such a person like him, he was afraid that he couldn't even go in to eat?

He was in the midst of mourning when he heard the man with the cooked noodles say to the customer with a smile, "I'm familiar with that shop." The few children who were in charge of the shop were the siblings who had fought with the Doctor Du in the Return of Spring Pavilion before. One was called Black Bean, the other was called Hong Dou, and their hearts were extremely good. They had originally wanted to drive the oxcart home, but now they met a half grown child who had escaped from the hands of a beggar. "Not only did he give her five taels of silver, but he also dragged her down and didn't get back to her family. He stayed in the manor for the night before leaving the next day."

It was as if he was looking at the bowl of Clear Broth Noodle Soup which was delicious, causing Xu Zijun to almost want to eat it. He wiped his mouth and laughed, "I say, Old Wu, it seems like you have seen it with your own eyes. You should know that the two of them haven't been home for a few times."

Hot soup was boiling in the pot. The grayish-black noodles that had just been prepared were already cooked. Old Wu skillfully scooped up a bowl and carefully scooped a pinch of salt into the bowl. She poured some soup into it and sprinkled some green onion and mixed it before passing it to a customer at the other table. Only then did she get the chance and said, "I actually saw it with my own eyes. Those two kids are not from anyone else either. My uncle was working on a cloth farm in the front street, and the moment I said that you two would definitely know each other, it turned out to be that smiling Dabao. My nephew is also doing odd jobs in the shop, I heard that the young lady had just offended Doctor Du and someone from the cloth shop spread the word of the Doctor Du, opening up the shop. She did not even give him any copper coins, and had him pack her bags and return home.

"Is there such a thing? Didn't you say that the cloth shop's shopkeeper thinks highly of Zhang Bao and had him by his side all along to teach him some skills? "

"No. If it wasn't for my nephew who came back with such good intentions, then Zhang Bao would have definitely refused to work at home. I also don't believe that Doctor Du is so narrow-minded that he would insist on going against a family. "

Someone at the stall shushed them, "Since you know, why don't you speak up? We all live our lives in this manor, our families are small and old, and we always have something to do with the Du Family. You guys are chomping on gossip right now. If it gets to other people's ears, then you're in trouble. Is the matter with Zhang Bao not clear enough? "

Old Wu sighed, "Speaking of which, that Zhang Bao is also in Clear Water Town's restaurant. Everyone said that the person behind Zhang Bao had lost his mind after renting a warehouse at the edge of the pier. I didn't expect this store to be so popular. It sounds even better than my noodle store business. "

The brother who had been eating noodles laughed: "It's just the Three Coins's meal, there are many people who go and send out salted vegetables. It's not like your stall, where just a little salt is enough to be on the scale, the salted vegetables in the shop are too real, one chopstick is enough to eat a bowl of rice, how can business not be booming? If it wasn't for the fact that this road is too hard to catch, they wouldn't be allowed to go out to eat, or else I'd be willing to go every day. It's no wonder that those poor bastards who carry big bags are willing to take care of that shop every day. If I don't eat some salt, how will I have the strength to do so? "

"Recently, one catty of crude salt has risen to fifty taels. Can I afford a bowl of noodles with one tael of money …" Old Wu's voice of grievance was still in Xu Zijun's ears, but Xu Zijun did not hear it.

Li siblings, Niu Che, Clear Water Town... Could it be her?

Xu Zijun's stomach had been empty for two days now, so he struggled to support himself on the wall to stand up. When he turned around to feel the bowls in his hands, he realized that during this short period of time, the people who were begging him for food had all been taken away.

The things on Du Jia Village were expensive, and the steamed buns were worth two gold coins each. Xu Zijun was reluctant to buy the noodles because they were cheap, but the stall owner was not willing to sell them to him. After weighing the Three Coins in his pocket again, Xu Zijun made up his mind. He wanted to go to the Clear Water Town's shallow water dock and try his luck.

If it wasn't for her, the Three Coins would have eaten its fill before dying.

If it was her …

Xu Zijun had been walking for an entire afternoon, and seeing the little girl behind the counter collecting money, it would not be exaggerated to call her a lightning bolt. Unfortunately, he hadn't even had the chance to say a single word. His body, which had been pushed to its limit, couldn't hold back so much emotion when Xu Zijun felt his vision go black.