Chapter 122

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Although Xiang Yuan still had the heart to discipline his son, departure was imminent; after a chaotic uproar, in the end he still picked him up high and set him down gently.

By the time they left the courtyard, quite a few people had already gathered outside to see them off.

A major merchant naturally has extensive social connections.

He had the steward arrange for the caravan to go ahead, while he himself stepped forward to exchange courtesies with the crowd.

Those who were familiar asked, "Where has the young master of the house gone?"

Xiang Yuan turned and called Liang Yan and Xiang Lin down from the carriage.

Close acquaintances mostly knew Liang Yan's background; those less familiar couldn't help but ask when another one had been added.

Xiang Yuan said, "That year I went to Hejian Fu on business; on the road I ran into bandits, and a biaoshi saved my life. Later he retired, leaving only a son, who still had his mother looking after him. Last year his mother passed away; I saw the child alone and it wasn't right, so I simply acknowledged him as my son."

They were all merchants, so they naturally knew how rare such a biaoshi was; they couldn't help but sigh, and then praised Xiang Yuan for his righteousness.

Xiang Yuan sighed, "He saved my life; whatever I do is never enough! Only, I am ultimately a rough old man, afraid there will be things I cannot look after, and in the end I cannot raise him well."

As he spoke, the two boys stepped forward to greet people.

Xiang Lin had just been beaten and dared not throw a tantrum; his mouth was pouted so high it could hang an oil bottle. As he walked, he deliberately pretended to slip, grabbed Liang Yan's arm with one hand, and stomped hard on his foot.

Liang Yan couldn't dodge in time; the little fatty pressed half his weight onto his foot, a dull pain like no other, yet he couldn't cry out, only endure it forcibly.

The people up front were busy talking, so naturally no one noticed the two children squabbling.

When the two came forward, everyone praised them again — spirited looks, fine features, and so on — and gave meeting gifts.

Some gave qianzi, bracelets; some gave changming suo; others gave small knives, small swords, and the like, mostly made of gold and silver, very presentable.

Business relationships are reciprocal; Xiang Yuan declined a few times, then let the two children accept them.

Liang Yan had just received the things when he turned and saw Xiang Lin staring viciously at the various items in his hand; he simply handed everything to a servant at his side, emptied his hands, and stepped aside.

Seeing more new arrivals entering the courtyard one after another, afraid they would give him more gifts, and even more afraid he would have to hear Xiang Yuan speak of his father's past again, he used the excuse of needing the toilet and withdrew.

The nearest toilet was in a side courtyard.

But Liang Yan naturally had no intention of going to the toilet.

He entered the courtyard, and for some reason, unconsciously, he walked toward the kitchen at the rear. Just as he neared the kitchen door, he heard voices inside — soft, gentle, very tender — it was Song Miao telling Xiao Lian to dry the wet clothes before leaving.

Liang Yan's footsteps halted at once; he did not go forward, but looked left and right, found a corner, and dared not make a sound, covering his mouth, silently shedding tears.

Because his foot had just been stomped hard by Xiang Lin, the pain now became even more unbearable; he limped to a stone and sat down, took off his shoes and socks to examine the injury.

Thus when Song Miao came out to check the weather, she saw a child crouching in the corner by the room, eyes red, tears streaming, shoulders heaving with sobs, several times trying to reach his little foot but unable to.

She walked over quickly, called softly, "Liang Yan," and asked, "What's wrong? Did you hurt your foot? Why didn't you call someone?"

But on a second look, a very clear wet footprint was printed on the cloth shoe upper, and the foot from the middle toe to the little toe had already turned red and swollen.

"Who bullied you?" she asked gently.

Liang Yan had been weeping silently; hearing Song Miao ask this, he hurriedly wiped his tears a few times, but the tears only increased, and he gradually cried aloud. After a long while, sobbing, he said, "No one bul... bullied me, I... I just miss my mother, miss my grandma!"

Those words sounded not quite right, but the child was so proud; Song Miao could neither ask further nor force him.

Going out to work, the kitchen involved knives and fire; she naturally carried some useful medicine on her person, so she simply took out medicated oil and said, "I have medicine for bruises and swelling; you apply some, it'll heal faster. Otherwise the pain is hard to bear, and if it swells more, I'm afraid you won't be able to wear your shoes and socks."

Saying this, she took a small wad of cotton, dipped it in the medicated oil, and handed it to Liang Yan.

The latter took it and honestly applied the medicine properly.

Song Miao's medicated oil was in a gourd slightly larger than a walnut; there wasn't much to begin with, so she simply recapped it, stooped, and held it out to Liang Yan, saying, "You take it back and use it; best to apply seven or eight times a day. If your foot can't fit in your shoe, don't force it..."

She had just heard the grief in Liang Yan's tone, and thinking of the socks she'd seen yesterday and today, she guessed his family had likely met with misfortune, that his birth mother and grandmother might well both be gone; her heart softened, and she couldn't help adding a few more instructions.

Liang Yan listened to a sentence, then hurriedly agreed to a sentence; when he'd heard it all, he thanked her, then said, "Jiejie, I came with Uncle; we're leaving now. If I ever enter the Capital again..."

He spoke to here, then suddenly paused, thanked her again, and said, "I have to go back!"

Saying this, he pulled the socks on whole, put on his shoes, and was about to leave.

Song Miao hesitated a moment, called him back, returned to the kitchen, took out a small cloth bundle, handed it over, and said, "If you're hungry, tell an adult; if there's really no way, here's a bit of Meat gan, you can take it to pad your stomach."

She also told him not to keep it long, lest it spoil.

Seeing the child embarrassed to accept, Song Miao smiled and said, "Next time you come to the Capital, remember to come peel garlic and rub beans for me again."

Liang Yan nodded very solemnly, then hugged the small cloth bundle and left.

He reached the front and waited a moment at the side; only then did Xiang Yuan finish exchanging pleasantries. Xiang Yuan rode his horse, had the two children board the mule cart, and the party set off toward the city outskirts.

Inside the mule cart body, Liang Yan hid in a corner.

Xiang Lin, however, "hmph"ed, stood up, chased after him, and said, "You eat my family's food, use my family's things; gifts others give are for my father's children. You don't even bear the surname Xiang — how can you have the face to accept them!"

Liang Yan said, "I didn't accept any!"

Xiang Lin then said, "That day Zhu Bobo gave candy — you dare say you didn't take it?!"

Liang Yan had long anticipated this; he immediately untied the small cloth pouch from his waist and said, "I didn't eat any. Eighteen pieces total; that's how many there were when I received them, all still here."

Saying this, he opened the pouch for Xiang Lin to see.

Xiang Lin pressed relentlessly, "How do I know how many there were originally? Maybe there were nineteen, twenty, or even many more, and you secretly ate them all!"

Liang Yan swallowed his anger and said, "Look, this bag is only this big; it already can't fit..."

He was explaining here, but Xiang Lin simply couldn't be bothered to listen; his eyes, however, rolled around, and when he saw something else hanging at Liang Yan's waist, his eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed and shouted, "What's that?"

Liang Yan looked down, saw it was the cloth bundle Song Miao had given him, his face instantly changed, he turned his body sideways, and used his hand to block.

But this movement was already too late.

"What thing? Hand it over for me to see!"

Xiang Lin shouted as he lunged forward, snatching the cloth bundle.

Liang Yan failed to guard against it, and the bundle was yanked from his waist; he immediately lunged back to snatch it.

Xiang Lin turned his back to dodge, tore it open in two or three pulls, and dumped out whatever was inside the oil paper.

Seeing so much Meat gan, he instantly looked proud and demanded, "What is this? Where did it come from? Did you steal it?!"

Liang Yan was so anxious that veins bulged on his forehead, shouting, "Someone gave it to me, give it back quickly!"

Speaking, he reached out to snatch it.

Xiang Lin grabbed a handful, threw it out the carriage window with a backhand, made a ghostly face, and laughed baring his teeth, saying, "Someone else? Father said not to casually take things from others!"

Thin, dried by the sun, fragrant Meat gan, sprinkled with grain after grain of white sesame on top, was what that Song family sister had given him to fill his belly.

She had even praised his green bean skin as cleanly removed, his garlic cloves as beautifully peeled, and given him a big, fragrant, sweet, hot red bean roll to eat, and today had also sent medicine oil...

Liang Yan only felt a surge of heat rush straight to the top of his head, his whole body smoking with fire, unable to control himself, almost instinctively lunging forward, pressing Xiang Lin to the ground, raising his fist to smash down on him, shouting, "You threw my things! You threw my things! Pick them up for me! Give them back to me!"

Seeing Liang Yan lunge over, Xiang Lin had not yet reacted, with only one thought in his mind—this Liang Yan had never minded being bullied before, why was he possessed by a ghost today?

But soon, the fist landed on him, hurting him so much he cried out, "Save me! Save me!! Liang Yan is hitting people! He's going to beat me to death!"

When people outside heard the noise and came in to look, the two children inside were already rolling into a ball, both with bruised noses and swollen faces.

While they were fighting inside the mule cart body, Song Miao's group had already ridden the carriage back to Suanzao Alley.

As soon as they got off, they saw an acquaintance standing outside the food shop, holding a scroll and looking down at it.

She was stunned for a moment, quickly stepped forward a few steps, and called out, "Young Master Han!"

She also said, "Gongzi, why did you come so early? Have you been waiting long? Is there some urgent matter?"

While speaking, she went to open the door, and gave money to Cheng Erniang to settle the bill.

Han Li put away the book in his hand, smiling, "I only arrived a moment ago, I didn't expect Stall Owner Song to be away from home, it is somewhat urgent—because I have other matters to attend to this afternoon, but I heard that the food shop is going to hold a banquet in two days, probably around twenty people."

"There are only those two tables and chairs at home, how can they host a banquet? Also, it has been raining heavily these days, I'm afraid carpenters outside are hard to find, so I thought I'd take advantage of the free time this morning to put together two tables to use first."

While speaking, he lifted a large bundle of tools from the ground into his hand, and also picked up a large wooden bucket with a lid.

"Gongzi is truly..." Song Miao sighed, "This isn't your business at all, and besides you're busy, just asking someone to say a word would do, there's really no need to work so hard..."

Han Li smiled, "I finally managed to grab this job, how could there be a reason to abandon it halfway just because something is done?"

He first took his personal belongings into the main hall, then helped carry down various kitchen utensils and things from the carriage, not delaying at all, immediately turning to the back courtyard.

I don't know if it was because he had become familiar with the situation last time and gotten the hang of it, but this time Han Li's movements were especially fast; in half a morning, he had put together quite a few benches and wooden stools, and began making the large table.

Song Miao served tea and water twice, and seeing that the time was not early, she asked him what he wanted to eat at noon.

Han Li put down the hammer in his hand and said with a serious expression, "Han Mou, whenever I come to knock teeth for a meal, always brings only the mouth, not the brain—Stall Owner Song wants to make whatever, I want to eat whatever."

Song Miao found it very hard not to laugh.

She first asked Han Li what time he would leave in the afternoon, then seriously thought about the ingredients at home and said, "Make a fish?"

She also said, "I saw that Gongzi ate those sour bamboo shoots quite well the other day, and said they were appetizing; just right that yesterday I bought live fish to keep at home, today I'll stew the fish with sour bamboo shoots and sour radish, add some evodia crumbs, sour and spicy flavor, how about it?"

Hearing the two words "sour bamboo shoots," and thinking of the taste of the sour bamboo shoots in the snail rice noodles and sour spicy powder from the other day, Han Li, although not thirsty now, already felt very personally how vivid the idiom "quenching thirst by thinking of plums" was.

He hurriedly agreed, then suddenly remembered something, saying, "Stall Owner Song, wait a moment."

Speaking, he went to the corner and lifted the wooden bucket out, opened the lid on top, and placed it in front of Song Miao.

Song Miao looked closely, but saw that the wooden bucket had another partition on top, inside which was some water, and ten or so small fish were shaking their heads and wagging their tails, swimming very happily.

To call them small fish was still giving them some face; better to say they were fish fry—not even as big as a little finger, gray-black and black in color.

She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "This is?"

Han Li then went up to introduce to Song Miao what breed this one was, what breed that one was, even helping to first give them temporary names one by one, waiting for her to give them formal names—all were qingliao and the like commonly found in rivers, ponds, and small streams.

He said, "Last time I came, I heard Stall Owner Song wanted to raise fish to trade for something heart-pleasing and eye-pleasing, but because you had no time to go find them, it was delayed, but I have already prepared even the stones."

While speaking, he pointed to a small vat placed in a corner and the many e lian shi inside it.

Song Miao immediately realized, this was the stone Xiao Lian had given her when she met her the second time.

Because she wanted to raise green moss, she had originally placed it under the eaves, watering it whenever she passed by every now and then; recently there had been too much rain, so she brought it into the room.

She thought that this big one and small one must have seen it somehow last time, so Xiao Lian simply repeated verbatim what she herself had said that day about wanting to raise fish, and Young Master Han in front of her had taken it seriously, actually bringing many small fish.

Han Li said, "I've read books and asked people; these few kinds of fish swim fast and are lively, very comfortable to look at, most importantly they don't grow big and are hardy; throw them in and no need to manage them, no need to feed them much—when I have free time another day, I'll bring back some water weeds from wherever, and they can live on their own."

Song Miao had raised fish when she was young, all brought back specially for her by people from the mountain when they came down; hearing they were all rare varieties, with graceful postures and colorful, brilliant hues, but often after raising them for a while, they would all float belly-up and die.

Every time she would be heartbroken.

The adults, to comfort her, would bring new ones again.

After this cycle happened several times, she dared not raise fish anymore.

Seeing these gray-black, blue-black, variously colored fish right now, even though they were just ordinary small fish from mountain streams, one moment she was proud and self-satisfied, one moment she went wild on the spot wagging her tail, one moment breaking free of the reins, one moment stopping, she could put on a great play by herself, and they could put on many plays with each other, with a unique sense of pride in it.

Song Miao looked at this bucket for a good while, then said, "So interesting, a pity they look too alike, very hard to tell who is who."

Han Li said, "Anyway I come often, you can just ask me."

?? Thank you to Book City Ao Te Man Xiao Jie for the small gift of 4^_^

? Thank you to Book City JINGJING~, Snowy, My Cat Is Called Egg Egg, KyokuKin, five dear ones for sending one small gift each: ）

? Finally, I just found out that monthly tickets need to reach three thousand sheets to get operating funds, but this number is too big; with Xiao Miao's current size, it's almost impossible to reach, so we won't force it, and can't force it either, hehe~ Food Friends, if you have extra tickets, just stick one for Xiao Miao, for good luck and to join the fun, thank you thank you thank you~