W Chapter 13

Chapter 13, Chapter 13: “Okay, Second Brother”

Chapter 13, Chapter 13: “Okay, Second Brother”

It was dark outside, and there was already movement in the east room.

To save on lamp oil and let Shen Lai continue to sleep soundly, Ling Xing didn’t light the lamp. He felt his way in the dark and put on his chilly clothes.

When the warm body temperature touched the clothes, Ling Xing couldn’t help but shudder, thinking that the weather was cold enough to make people tremble sooner or later.

He lifted the door curtain and went out, finding that the latch on the wooden door of the main room had already been opened. Ling Xing gently opened the door and glanced at the stove room, where smoke was coming out of the chimney.

Xu Youfang happened to be poking her head out with a wooden spoon in her hand, which had some batter stuck to it. When she saw Ling Xing, she quickly urged, “I was just about to call you. Hurry up and get ready. Come and have a bowl ofhúhú, thick porridge when it’s ready. It takes more than an hour to walk to the town. If you go late, no one will buy your food.”

Ling Xing knew this was true and didn’t dare to delay. He washed up quickly and went into the stove room, holding a ceramic bowl and blowing on it as he drank.

It had been cooling for a while, so the temperature was just right after blowing on it.

Shen Hui also got up early. He had already finished three bowls of the húhú, thick porridge and brought the stove and steamer he was taking to town into the yard.

Xu Youfang prepared a bamboo basket for Ling Xing, which contained four pounds of tofu filling and ten pounds of proofed dough.

The flour was bought by Shen Chengshan in the town yesterday, and he bought twenty pounds in one go, spending four hundred wén, copper coins.

The proofed dough and tofu filling were placed in separate ceramic basins, plus a small money box. The entire bamboo basket weighed about fifteen or sixteen pounds.

When they were about to leave, Cao Manyue also came out in a hurry and stood with Shen Chengshan and Xu Youfang at the bamboo fence gate to see them off.

Shen Gui couldn’t get up and slept soundly, hugging his wheat husk pillow.

This body was extremely weak and lacked exercise.

The above was Ling Xing’s evaluation of his current physical condition after carrying a bamboo basket full of things for three lǐ, a Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 meters.

Compared to the things on Shen Hui’s body, Ling Xing wasn’t carrying much weight.

But at this time, he was already panting and couldn’t keep up with Shen Hui at all.

You should know that Shen Hui was carrying a mud stove, a ceramic pot, and a steamer in his hands, and a small table was tied to his back with hemp rope. It was newly made by Shen Hui so that Ling Xing could roll out the dough and wrap things on the spot.

All of this together weighed more than three times as much as the things in his bamboo basket.

Especially the mud stove, Ling Xing had lifted it before.

He could lift it off the ground with effort, but the range of movement was within two steps.

Any more than that, and his hands would be useless.

As a result, when this thing got into Shen Hui’s hands, it was like it had no weight at all, and he carried it with ease. Ling Xing couldn’t even catch up.

Seeing that the sky was gradually brightening, Ling Xing couldn’t delay any longer, so he could only endure the discomfort in his chest and move forward with his head down.

“Hiss.”

Because he was walking with his head down, Ling Xing didn’t pay attention to the front and bumped into Shen Hui’s arm.

He couldn’t help but raise his hand to touch his forehead, which he had bumped. Because he was walking too fast, he was still breathing heavily at this moment, his breath disordered. “Second Brother, why did you stop?”

Shen Hui glanced down at Ling Xing’s somewhat flushed face, then quickly frowned and looked away. “Don’t try to be brave if you can’t carry it.”

As he spoke, he stretched out his large hand, and Ling Xing only felt a lightness on his body, and his whole body came alive.

That feeling was like Sun Wukong being rescued from the Five Finger Mountain, his whole body relaxed and refreshed.

“Keep up.”

Shen Hui’s voice was low and cold, and Ling Xing subconsciously listened to the sound and lifted his foot forward.

Along the way, Ling Xing was thinking about how strong Shen Hui must be.

This man had a small table on his back, and the steamers strung together with hemp rope were placed horizontally on the table legs. The ceramic pot was placed on the bamboo basket by him.

He held the mud stove in his right hand, and the bamboo basket on his chest. Because his legs were long and he took big steps, he was still not red-faced or panting, and he was steady as could be.

Ling Xing couldn’t do it. Even without carrying anything, keeping up with Shen Hui’s pace had already exhausted all of his strength.

He felt like his heart was about to jump out, and he couldn’t even say a polite word about taking some of the things.

He couldn’t be polite at all. He would help Shen Hui share the load after he had trained for a while.

In the second half of the journey, Ling Xing’s physical strength was greatly depleted. Shen Hui glanced at the sky, and found a tree branch from somewhere, and stuffed it into Ling Xing’s hand.

“Hold the branch, don’t let go, I’ll take you.”

Shen Hui’s empty left hand held the other end of the branch, pulling Ling Xing forward.

With someone pulling in front, Ling Xing had some strength. He endured the discomfort and persisted with gritted teeth without saying a word.

After walking for more than an hour, there was already a faint light on the horizon.

The small city gate of Yunxia Town was slightly dilapidated, and there were many stalls on both sides of the city gate.

However, there were no food stalls, only herb stalls, tea stalls, and fortune-telling stalls.

Ling Xing’s entire head was buzzing. He stared at the herb stall for a while, but before he could think about anything, Shen Hui pulled him forward with the branch.

There was no city entry fee to enter the town, so the people in the surrounding villages were willing to come to the town to buy things.

Entering the county seat required paying a five wén, copper coins city entry fee, so under normal circumstances, the villagers would basically not go to the county.

Under the arched hole of the city gate, there was a young man who looked like a petty official. He saw the things Shen Hui was carrying on his back and in his hands, and then saw Ling Xing, who was beside Shen Hui, panting with a flushed face. Finally, he focused his gaze on the wooden stick between the two of them, and for a moment, he didn’t react.

“Shen Erlang, are you bringing all these things to set up a stall in town?”

Shen Hui often came to town. He was tall and mighty. He had helped this petty official catch a few thieves, and the two were considered acquaintances.

“Brother Xu Qi is right. What stalls are still available in town now?” Shen Hui let go of the branch and walked closer to Xu Qi to ask.

Whether going to town or to the county, as long as you set up a stall to make money, you have to pay a stall fee.

The amount of money paid depends on the location.

The more foot traffic there is, the more money you pay. It is calculated by the hour, ranging from five wén, copper coins to twenty wén, copper coins per hour.

The five wén, copper coins locations are very remote, but they still have some customers. However, those places have more local ruffians and those who do shady business. Setting up a stall there will inevitably lead to being cheated out of food.

Shen Hui understood this and didn’t even think about choosing a five wén, copper coins location.

He asked Xu Qi, “Are there any stalls that cost ten wén, copper coins an hour?”

Xu Qi glanced at the stall area map on the dilapidated small table, pointed to a spot and said, “There’s one on Sugar Workshop Street. If Shen Erlang wants it, I’ll have someone clear out the best spot.”

“No need.” Shen Hui replied briefly.

Xu Qi didn’t feel anything because of Shen Hui’s cold attitude. This person had been like this since he met him. It was due to his personality, not intentional.

Knowing that Shen Hui didn’t want to ask someone who already had a good stall to leave because of him, Xu Qi nodded, raised his hand and beckoned, and a younger petty official came over from not far away.

After instructing the other person to watch over the small table, he led Shen Hui and Ling Xing towards the town.

On the way, Xu Qi couldn’t help but look at Ling Xing several times.

He looked like a ge’er.

“Hey, Erlang, who is this? Don’t you want to introduce him?” Xu Qi thought that Ling Xing and Shen Hui had an unusual relationship. Look at the mountain of things Shen Erlang was carrying, not even letting the other party carry a piece of cloth, and even pulling him along while walking.

Because he misunderstood, Xu Qi was winking and making faces while speaking at this time.

Shen Hui walked a little slower, no longer pulling the branch. Ling Xing followed, not as strenuous as before, and his breathing was gradually stabilizing.

“He is my ge’er husband.”

This answer was beyond Xu Qi’s expectation, but thinking about it, it made sense.

That ge’er looked very thin, but his eyes were gentle, and his hands showed no signs of hard work. He heard that some refugees had come from the south some time ago. The ge’er probably went to Xiao Liucun to be a “Wedding to Ward Off Evil” for the Shen family’s eldest son.

“Wedding to Ward Off Evil” was not uncommon. Xu Qi guessed correctly, thinking that it was fortunate that he hadn’t said anything he shouldn’t have said earlier. He then collected his expression and became much more serious, casually asking, “How is your eldest brother now?”

Xu Qi was rotated to the county for a month some time ago, so he didn’t know that Shen Hai had already passed away at this time.

He only heard Shen Hui’s voice was low, suppressing some emotions that he couldn’t hear. In short, it wasn’t good emotions.

“Gone.”

These short words made Xu Qi panic. After reacting, he hurriedly slapped his mouth, apologized and said, “Look at my mouth, opening a can of worms. Brother, I really didn’t know. Don’t blame me, Erlang.”

“Brother Xu Qi doesn’t need to blame himself. It’s also that I didn’t say it beforehand.”

Hearing Shen Hui’s words, Xu Qi felt better, and repeatedly said that he would find him a good location, and also said that he would support his stall.

Ling Xing didn’t speak the entire time, and the fingertips holding the branch were somewhat pale because of the force. There was a fishy sweetness in his throat, and his nasal passages also had a faint pain, which made him very uncomfortable.

Not to mention that his feet were very sore. He was walking too fast, and the road was too long. But it wasn’t cold. He was covered in sweat, and he was hot all over.

Xu Qi led Shen Hui and Ling Xing to the place, where there were already many stalls.

There were those selling meat, those selling noodles, rice cakes, dried fruits, dough figurines, sugar figurines, wood carvings, bamboo weavings, all kinds of hair ties, rouge and powder…

There was also a small stall for face threading, where an elderly woman threaded the faces of women and ge’ers.

There were even peddlers selling goods along the street with full cargo boxes. These didn’t need to pay a stall fee.

After arriving at the place, Shen Hui directly started setting up the stall, and then took the ceramic pot to the nearby well, putting one wén, copper coins in the ceramic bowl placed on the table by the well keeper.

Then, he drew water with a wooden bucket and filled the ceramic pot.

This well was for public use. The vendors could use it as many times as they wanted during their stall time for one wén, copper coins.

This was also one of the reasons why the rent was more expensive.

By the time Shen Hui carried a ceramic pot of water back, Ling Xing had almost recovered.

“Come wash your hands.”

Shen Hui held the ceramic pot, waiting for Ling Xing to come over.

Ling Xing was stunned for a moment, then threw away the branch and tentatively stretched out his hand. Shen Hui saw his somewhat dazed appearance and couldn’t help but chuckle softly. After a moment, he moved his wrist, and the water in the ceramic pot slowly flowed out.

The water flow was small and uniform. Ling Xing carefully rubbed his hands while staring at the water flow, thinking that Shen Hui’s wrist strength was very strong.

After Ling Xing washed his hands clean, he saw Shen Hui deftly light the charcoal in the mud stove, and then put the ceramic pot on it.

The table was also wiped clean by Shen Hui, and the flour and tofu were placed on the table.

After everything was done, Shen Hui then asked Ling Xing, “Do you need to rest for a while longer?”

Ling Xing shook his head, “No need, thank you for your hard work, Second Brother.”

He had indeed worked hard. He hadn’t been able to help at all along the way, and he had only been busy trying to calm his breath when he arrived.

Shen Hui had done everything.

The water was bubbling. Ling Xing had already made the dough into individual pieces of appropriate size.

Before placing the steamer on the ceramic pot, Shen Hui didn’t know where he got a ceramic bowl. He scooped out a bowl of boiled water and placed it aside.

“Remember to drink it when it’s a little cooler.”

Ling Xing glanced at the steaming water and unconsciously stuck out his tongue to lick his lips. He was indeed a little thirsty.

So he nodded gently, smiling slightly at Shen Hui and saying, “Okay, Second Brother.”