Can people live in this place?
Imagawa Yoshimoto's resentment began to ferment from the first step into the hotel - out of etiquette, he tried to maintain a normal expression when the owner was around - but as soon as the boss left, his resentment almost disappeared Reflected on the face.
The tatami is moldy, and in some places there is no tatami but only thatch.
The dry toilet that serves as the hut has not been cleaned for an unknown amount of time, and it smells of the same sticky smell as when Imagawa Yoshimoto last dug into a cesspool in Kyoto.
There was serious water leakage in the walls, and water was actually seeping from the ceiling.
The kitchen in the back was so dirty that it was hard to look straight at it. The slop bucket and cutting board were almost touching each other.
Although Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't speak, Ginkgo could see the grief and anger in her mysophobic husband's heart at a glance, so she smiled evilly and spread her hands: "There is really no way, our husband will suffer again."
After that, he took out the mattress from the closet, spread it on a relatively clean tatami, got into bed and fell asleep - it was obviously not time for dinner yet.
"Tora Chiyo, I regret it." Imagawa Yoshimoto turned around and came out to find Takeda Harunobu, "I really shouldn't have promised you to sleep here for one night. Furuno Castle is obviously so prosperous, why did it become like this? ?”
"Those who are rich go to Furuno Castle to enjoy themselves, and those who have the strength go to Furuno Castle to work hard in exchange for some money. Aren't the rest just the old, weak, sick and disabled? How do you expect this place to be so good?" Takeda Harunobu pointed to the slightly shabby people nearby. The deserted farmland is cultivated by elderly farmers and women with children.
"They are all poor people." Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the poor people struggling in the mud, and then remembered his complaint about the pickiness of the best hotel in the village, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Wander around?" Takeda Harunobu suggested.
"good."
·
The desolate street has no people and no life. After spinning around, Takeda Harunobu's old habit relapsed, and he had to climb up to the second floor of an empty house to look at the nearby terrain. Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't resist him, so he wandered around the streets casually. After rounding a street corner, I found a hawker setting up a stall beside a half-height wall. After taking a closer look, I realized that "hawker" was a bit of an overstatement - he was just a half-grown child of six or seven years old - but he was really small.
There was a rag in front of him, with some sewing tools scattered on it, all of which were very rough in workmanship. The cold wind blew, shivering the naked man, and his exposed palms, neck, and ankles were all red from the cold - reminding Yoshimoto Imagawa of his appearance when he first met Koichiro Hayasaka.
Many pedestrians passed by, but no one looked at him seriously. It seemed that they had long been accustomed to the vendors setting up stalls here. But even so, the hawker still shouted hard and promoted his business, which only attracted more people's eyes - a few people even spit in front of his shop and cursed a few words, "Hey, isn't this a stinky monkey?" "The hawker dared not speak out in anger.
Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the child in front of him - he was very thin and dark-skinned. At first glance, he looked like the kind of person who worked for the family at a young age and didn't have enough to eat. Although he is still old enough to grow hair, the hair on his forehead has a faint tendency to recede. The face is very pointed, and both ears are very big - like a little monkey. After Imagawa Yoshimoto had such thoughts in his heart, he immediately felt a little rude - how could he think of a suffering child like this?
"This... sir?" The hawker quietly looked at the clothes and behavior of the person in front of him, and realized that this was either a samurai in casual clothes or a pampered nobleman, so he timidly said: "But do you want to buy needlework? "
"Yes." Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded subconsciously.
"The villain's needlework is of good quality and cheap. Adults can have as much as they want!" The vendor immediately praised his goods like a monkey offering treasures. Although he is young, he is already more skillful in complimenting than ordinary vendors. " I did a divination before I went out today, and I said it was going to be very auspicious. As expected, I met such an honored guest as my lord. I am really lucky for you! My lord, you can take your pick, but I will give you a cheaper price!"
"Why did you start doing business at such a young age?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was still moved by sympathy and couldn't help but asked in a low voice, "Where are the family members?"
"My father is seriously ill, and my mother can't do it alone. I'm going to help out a little and earn some money for my father's medicine." The hawker still maintained the smile on his face, but when he mentioned his father's illness, his smile changed. It has to be a little bitter.
Seeing the child in front of him trying his best to flatter him for his livelihood and his father's illness, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a little sad. He took out a silver ingot from his arms, then slightly bent his knees, bent down, and handed the silver ingot to the vendor. The hawker had never seen such a big piece of silver in his life. His eyes suddenly widened. He was stunned for a long time before he realized what he was doing. He hurriedly stretched out his two dirty dark hands to take the silver ingot. He didn't mind that his hands were dirty, so he took the silver ingot. Put it in your mouth, as if you are afraid that the silver ingot will fly away. He took a small bite and was immediately stunned - it was the finest silver.
Imagawa Yoshimoto picked up the needles and threads on the ground, picked a small handful of copper needles with the worst workmanship and the least likely to be sold at first glance, put them in his arms, and then whispered: "I wish your father a speedy recovery."
"Ah...ah! Thank you, sir! Your kindness is so great that I will never forget it!" Imagawa Yoshimoto's voice made the hawker wake up from a dream, recover from the shock of a sudden windfall, and hurriedly prostrate himself before him. He kept banging his head against the cold and hard ground.
"Go back early, it will get cold in a while." Imagawa Yoshimoto himself felt that the temperature had dropped a bit, not to mention the ragged children in front of him.
·
After a brief farewell, Imagawa Yoshimoto took a detour to find Takeda Harunobu, who had just climbed down from that house. After Takeda Harunobu listened to Imagawa Yoshimoto's story, he immediately laughed and mocked Imagawa Yoshimoto:
"You must have been deceived again, kind-hearted Wulang. Have you forgotten that when we first went to Luo a few years ago, someone said, 'I want to see my father for the last time, and I don't care if you borrow the horse'? In the end, it wasn't stolen. Your horse is resold to someone else. The same goes for this hawker. Everyone can weave a set of tear-jerking and sad past events, like the stories of the girls in the Whale House, and you still believe it? "
"Haha, as sharp and ruthless as ever." Imagawa Yoshimoto just smiled, seemingly no longer interested in arguing with Takeda Harunobu.
"What did you buy?" Takeda Harunobu looked at the things in Imagawa Yoshimoto's arms with some curiosity.
"Needle and thread." Imagawa Yoshimoto took out a pair of copper needles he just bought from his clothes, "I gave him an ingot of silver."
Takeda Harunobu was stunned and stared blankly at the handful of copper needles.
"Are you going to laugh at me, 'This thing is worth a piece of silver'?" Imagawa Yoshimoto seemed to have guessed Takeda Harunobu's lines.
"Why don't we follow over and have a look?" However, Takeda Harunobu did not answer. Instead, he looked around eagerly, "Where did you meet the vendor just now?"
"Over there." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hand and pointed, and Takeda Harunobu took Imagawa Yoshimoto's raised hand and walked in that direction.
"What's wrong?" Imagawa Yoshimoto laughed dumbly.
"Go and see if that vendor went to get medicine for his father after getting the money, and see if he lied to you." Takeda Harunobu replied with a smile, walking faster and faster, and Imagawa Yoshimoto almost followed. Not on.
"Okay, okay, why don't I admit that I was deceived? Do you have to let me be exposed on the spot and lose all face?" Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled as if he was admitting defeat, "Why do you have to go see it? Come back quickly Let’s stay overnight.”
"Go and have a look. Only by letting you see with your own eyes how badly you were deceived can you learn a lesson next time." However, this time Takeda Harunobu refused to listen and dragged Imagawa Yoshimoto away without looking back. Taking a step forward, "Quick, lead the way!"
"There is really no way..." Imagawa Yoshimoto's face was full of reluctance.
·
Hurrying slowly, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu finally caught up with the vendor - he was hunched over, carrying a small package on his shoulders, and walking quickly westward. Just beside the street he passed, there was a pharmacy - he obviously had no intention of stopping, but walked straight over.
"Okay, okay, I was deceived. There is no seriously ill father at all. My compassion is overflowing again. I regret it. Can we go back?" Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled begging for mercy, but Takeda Harunobu still insisted. , but in turn defended Imagawa Yoshimoto:
"Maybe there are other pharmacies ahead, keep following and taking a look!"
"Don't you think our lines are reversed?" Imagawa Yoshimoto protested angrily.
"It's not important, come quickly." Takeda Harunobu couldn't help but retorted and made up his mind again, "If you go back now, you will definitely be lucky again. I must let Goro repent for hitting the wall in person."
·
Imagawa Yoshimoto was held by Takeda Harunobu's hand and walked under the evening of the first month of the year. The more he thought about it, the more awkward he became - if he and Ginkgo were walking together under the full moon, it would be a kind of romance - and what kind of a man could he be with Takeda Harunobu? Not to mention that Kai has always had a tradition of being a good man.
So the two grown men followed the hawker in a sneaky way. The road became more desolate and remote, and the security situation was not very good. At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto felt that it was not bad to go with Takeda Harunobu - at least he would not be stared at.
Even the two grown men felt that the road at night was a bit eerie, but the child vendor was familiar with the road and was not afraid at all - it seemed that he was used to it. Even at such a young age, she is already so capable of enduring hardships - this reminds Imagawa Yoshimoto of the ginkgo biloba in her childhood - but now she can enjoy the blessings. Of course, this vendor does not have such a good life.
Who told him to be born in a poor peasant family? There is nothing he can do about it.
However, the hawker did not feel any sadness. On the contrary, he was happily walking in front of him, and you could vaguely hear the song he was humming - it was probably because of the happiness brought by this windfall.
Next to the pile of straw beside the road, there were several farmhouses. Imagawa Yoshimoto saw another group of children playing there. They seemed to know the vendor. After seeing him from a distance, they started to wave and say hello - to be precise, it was not a greeting. — but mocking.
"Hey, isn't this the monkey setting up a stall? The monkey is here! Hahaha..."
