CH 12

May 04 2022

Tongshan City is located on the south bank of the Qinghe River. It happens that this section of the river is relatively gentle and convenient for boating. It has always been an important dock for people to cross the river. After long-term development, it became a major port for traveling from south to north. The next port of this size id hundreds of miles away.

With this convenient transportation location, as well as huge business opportunities and information from the outside world brought by businessmen who travel south and north, Tongshan City has developed rapidly and is very prosperous, much larger than the average county town. There are eight or nine main streets, and there are many shops. The place is packed with a lot of traffic, pedestrians, and the stream is endless.

Yu Qingze wishes you the best for reading on hololonovels.

Yu Qingze chatted with Grandpa Chang last night, especially about this Tongshan City, and learned that Tongshan City is so prosperous now because it was less affected by the war, and this was all due to the young county magistrate Cai Wendong, the prefect of Yunzhou, who is in office at this time.

Before, the war first broke out in the north, and it also continued to spread to the south. In the later period, there was a tendency to cross the Qinghe River and develop in the south. At that time, Cai Wendong, the then magistrate of Tongshan County, made a decisive decision and ordered the port to be temporarily closed, and to strictly control the entry and exit of the city. Later, the war spread to the north bank of the Qinghe River, and a large number of refugees fled. Many people tried to cross the Qinghe River and escape to the south.

Cai Wendong did not let the refugees enter the city. Instead, he established a refugee area outside the city, temporarily sheltering them and managing them in a centralized manner. However, there were still many refugees scattered to various places, thankfully there was no major turmoil.

Fortunately, half a year later, the war ended and the Dasheng Dynasty was established. The court issued a decree in time to resettle and repatriate the refugees, and they passed the troubled period smoothly.

This is how the current Tongshan City became as prosperous as ever.

Yu Qingze followed the two brothers, observing while walking. They entered the city from the west gate, passed through two alleys halfway from West Street, and then came to a specially designed market.

This is a vegetable market designated by the government. Vegetables, fruits, poultry, meat, fish, etc. are to be sold here. There are also some other shops and hawkers. There is also such a centralized market in the east area. Except for these two places, selling vegetables in other places is not allowed. Other small vendors can move around though.

They arrived at a shed at the street entrance. Chang Le paid two cents to the clerk in charge of the market. Then the clerk put a stamp on his arm with today’s date, indicating that the fee had been paid and they could now sell produce legally.

To Yu Qingze’s surprise, there are also some small functional areas in this market. The poultry sellers are concentrated in one section, and the meat sellers are in another section. Of course, there are also mixed sellers, such as Chang Le, which sells vegetables and fish, which are basically concentrated in the places where vegetables are sold.

At this time, there are already many farmers selling vegetables in the market, and there are also some small stalls and hawkers who are busy setting up their shops. The market is full of fireworks and vitality.

They found a vacant spot near the exit in the vegetable area and stopped. Chang Le took out a small bench and let Yu Qingze and Chang Hao sit down. Then he put the bucket away, took out a small piece of bamboo mat and spread it on the ground, and then sorted all kinds of vegetables. He sat down on a small handful of straw rope and some scattered straws.

Just after setting up the stall, a middle-aged ger stopped in front of them with a load of vegetables. He looked left and right, and then said to Chang Le, who was burying his head in arranging vegetables: “Hey, this little brother, move over a little bit and let me share the space.”

Hearing this, Chang Le raised his head, glanced at the man, and then looked at the distance between himself and the stall owners on the left and right sides. The distance between him and the stall owners on the sides was only about three or four inches. He waved his hand, indicating that he couldn’t move.

The man stretched his neck and looked around. At this time, the good spots in front were basically full, and only the back row spots were vacant. If they were placed there, the flow of people would be much less. Yu Qingze wishes you the best for reading on hololonovels.

The middle-aged ger reluctantly said again: “You see, you don’t even have much here, but you take up so much space, you can move a bit or move over there, let me stay here.”

There are so many vacancies, but they are less than a foot wide. Not even a dung pan can fit. Chang Le looked at him embarrassedly, stretched out his hand to indicate the distance between the two sides, and shook his head.

Usually, people would just leave after being rejected. Who would have guessed that the middle-aged ger not only didn’t leave, but put down his products, directly squatted down, stretched out his hand and pulled Chang Le’s mat and started to move the setup.

“You see, if you move forward a little bit like this, and a little bit back there later, won’t you be free…”

Before Chang Le could react, the man dragged things around on his own. Chang Le’s neatly arranged vegetables were yanked by him and became a mess. A few fell to the ground, and some were scattered on the mat of the stall owner in front.

Chang Le hurried to block the man’s hand.

Yu Qingze was about to step forward to help when he saw this, but the small figure beside him was faster, and rushed to the front with a swish.

“Hey, ama, why are you messing around with other people’s things? If our food is damaged, will you pay? It’s so narrow, you can’t even put your feet down. Don’t you see that even if our stuff is moved, it won’t fit half of your dung pan! There are so many places in the back, you go to the back! “Chang Hao went out across the food stall, squeezed in front of the man, and went to hold his hand.

The stall owner in front was also dissatisfied, and said: “You old man, you are so arrogant. Everyone here is to sell vegetables. It’s already so tight here. Go to the back.”

Chang Hao nodded, and his small mouth rumbled righteously: “That’s right, if you want to get a good seat, come earlier next time, I woke up before you woke up, and you still squeezed my seat, you are bullying children.”

He raised his head, his big eyes turned red in the blink of an eye, and he looked pitiful.

The middle-aged ger didn’t care when he was told off, he didn’t even blush, but instead said: “Oh, you child, I didn’t rob your spot, just wanted to squeeze in a little. You’ll have a seat, there’s no one behind you. Ah! Hey, don’t move too much, just need some space to tell whose products are whose, that’s all, lest I have to move again later.”

Seeing that Chang Le was going to move the mat back to its original place again, the man hurried to stop it, and then he went to a few stall owners in the back to talk. There were two people who had a wider position, and they moved it a little bit. The middle-aged ger shuffled in, and finally got himself a spot on the right hand side of Chang Le. He set down his entire load of dung pan.

This time, you can’t even put one foot down. If you want to go out, you can only jump out of the vegetables, or go out from the side of other people’s stalls.

Chang Hao rolled his eyes, Chang Le tapped him on the head and told him to sit down quickly. They have seen a lot of such people, and it is a waste of their own strength to talk too much for those that are shameless.

Yu Qingze was dumbfounded.

This person is really…a thick-skinned person, but what he didn’t expect was that Chang Hao’s fighting ability is quite strong. Generally, children of this age are really not able to speak out nor are they so bold.

“Young man, your wife and son are amazing! “The middle-aged ger said to Yu Qingze who was sitting behind after putting away the mess.

Wife?

Chang Le, who was bowing his head to sort vegetables, blushed when he heard this, and quickly waved his hand. Yu Qingze wishes you the best for reading on hololonovels.

Yu Qingze was also stunned for a moment. Did this middle-aged ger see him and Chang Le as a husband and wife? He even thought of Chang Hao as their son?

However, it’s funny how Brother Le’s face blushed…

He couldn’t help but think of the slender arms around his waist yesterday and the thin chest behind him, and he still seems to be able to feel their temperature…

“This is my brother.” Chang Hao glared at the middle-aged ger and muttered angrily, “What kind of eyes!.”

Not only are you thick-skinned, your eyesight also bad.

“Oh, no, hahaha, it’s just that you are very handsome.” Seeing that he made a mistake, the middle-aged ger finally felt a little embarrassed, an said something to justify his words, turned around and stopped talking.

Husband and wife?

Last night, he had a dream of rippling in the water all night. When he heard the words ‘husband and wife’, Yu Qingze’s heart swayed again, and his eyes glimpsed at Chang Le’s face inadvertently.

In his previous life, same-sex marriage has not been legalized in his country. Homosexuality was not accepted well, and the circumstances in their circle was messy, so he has always kept himself clean and only relied on his five fingers to accompany him in his single status.

In fact, he doesn’t have high requirements for his partner. The other just has to look pleasing to the eye, is diligent and filial, and can live with him in peace. It’s a pity that he hasn’t had a chance to meet such a down-to-earth person before he died.

But now he is here, after thinking about it, Chang Le’s conditions in all aspects are quite in line with his significant other selection criteria.

Yu Qingze squinted slightly at Chang Le, thinking about the events of the past few days, and found that this person in front of him had accidentally grown into his ideal partner.

He suddenly fell into his own thoughts, staring blankly at Chang Le for a long time without realizing it.

Chang Le was even more embarrassed, how could such a capable person as Big Brother Yu have a relationship with him? He simply pretended not to hear and looked down at his vegetables, his ears dripping red.

Chang Hao accidentally saw his brother’s red ears and blinked, why is his brother so embarrassed? After thinking about it, he turned his head to look at Yu Qingze. Oh, brother Yu has been looking at my brother!

The little boy’s thoughts were racing, and he was happy in his heart.

If Big Brother Yu can be his brother’s husband, hehehe…

Just at this time, there are people shopping for vegetables. “How do you sell these beans?”

One sentence brought the several people back to reality.

Yu Qingze shook his head, it’s too early to think about these things, making money is the most important thing.

Chang Le heard the inquiry and quickly raised his head, stretched out his hand to compare five.

“Five coppers a pound?”

Chang Hao was sitting next to Chang Le, and when he saw the business coming, his eyes brightened. He smiled and answered skillfully: “Yes, customer, five coppers a pound, do you want a pound? I just picked these in the morning, they’re very fresh.”

The customer thought it was a little expensive, so he hesitated, and glanced at the beans in the dung pan next to him. Yu Qingze wishes you the best for reading on hololonovels.

The middle-aged ger saw that and immediately said: “Hey, customer, do you want to buy beans, four coppers a pound, very good beans.”

The customer heard four coppers a pound and took another step to look at the beans in the dung pan.

That middle-aged ger’s entire dung pan was filled with beans, but probably because of the busy farming season, many of them are a little old and not as fresh as Chang Le’s beans.

Chang Hao glared at the middle-aged ger when he saw that the man was robbing business at a lower price.

Cheeky! Lame! Also stealing business!

Then he noticed the customer comparing the beans from the two dung pans, so he opened his mouth and began chattering once more.

“Customer, the beans are still tender and delicious. You also know that if the beans are old, it will be troublesome to cook them. If you eat them, you will have to pull the thread out. Isn’t it troublesome? Look at my beans. They are so tender and fresh, and the threads haven’t even grown out yet…”

When the middle-aged ger heard it, he hurriedly said: Where are the old beans, mine are not old at all, this is called plump! Customer, look at how firm my beans are, and I only charge four coppers…”

The customer obviously didn’t want to eat the beans that the threads had to be pulled out of his mouth. He was persuaded by the little boy, and he didn’t listen to the middle-aged ger any more. He moved back and picked up a handful and handed it to Chang Le, “I’ll take these.”

Chang Le took over and weighed them neatly, and then gave a number.

Chang Hao immediately translated with a smile, “Customer, a total of eight coppers.”

Seeing that the customer didn’t bring the vegetable basket, Chang Le quickly packaged the beans with straw.

The customer was very satisfied, so he gave the money and left with the beans.

Chang Hao didn’t forget to see off the shopper, “please go carefully, come and buy again from my stall when you want something to make delicious food!”

After the person walked away, Chang Hao smiled and gave the middle-aged ger a disdainful look.

Hmmmph, what’s the use of low prices, my beans are tender!

The middle-aged ger almost cocked his nose in anger, this little brat has a sharp tongue!

Chang Le was amused and patted his brother on the shoulder in a funny way, indicating that it was already over, and don’t provoke others, coz it might not going to end well.

Only then did Chang Hao switched his attention and turn his head to look at Yu Qingze, “Look, I’m amazing”.

Yu Qingze silently gave a thumbs up; this mouth is a useful business tool!

He was praised, and Chang Hao went on to sell vegetables contentedly.

After watching it for about ten minutes, Yu Qingze saw that the brothers were very capable, and he was relieved, so he got up and prepared to go do his own business.

He told them he was going to walk around, and the brothers were a little worried.

“Brother Yu, do you want me to accompany you? I have been to most places in the county, so I can show you the way.”

“No, you help your brother sell vegetables here. I may not be able to go back until the evening. You don’t have to wait for me when you sell out. Go back first.” The vegetable market usually closes after noon.

“Ah? Evening, can you find your way back?”

Yu Qingze smiled, “I can, don’t worry.”

Under the worried eyes of the two brothers, Yu Qingze left.

He walked around the vegetable market, asked questions about the layout, the price of the food, and so on. He had a good idea. Then he came upon a snack vendor; he bought and tried some and thought the taste was okay, so he bought some for the two brothers to let them filled their belly a bit before lunch. Yu Qingze wishes you the best for reading on hololonovels.

He went out of the market area after visiting the vegetable market, watching, asking questions, and taking notes as he walked down the street.

Yu Qingze went out early and returned late every day for a few days after that. After he walked through the entire city, he finally decided on the business he wanted to do next.