Part 1: Intertwined Time and Space Chapter 4: Trip to Li Country
Chapter 350 Travel (2)
Yue Qing and his party walked aimlessly on the street for a long time. Their team was very strange. The carriage was very big, but the number of people accompanying them was very small. Moreover, such two-headed carriages were rare. As long as they show up, they must be someone with status. These are all okay, mainly because there are female relatives boldly looking out from the car curtain, which is very eye-catching.
But no one dared to keep staring blatantly. After all, the four men in this team were not easy to mess with.
Today is not a holiday. Although there are many people on the street, most of them are doing business or sitting in groups drinking tea and chatting. The people walking on the road are also walking in a hurry as if they have something to do. There are many shops on the street, and I don’t know what they sell there. There are different kinds of small stalls on the roadside from time to time. Yue Qing looked over but didn’t find anything interesting. The flowers don’t look good, the food looks bad, and the accessories, toys, and the like don’t look good either. Even if it was really fun, she wouldn't understand it.
The carriage moved very slowly, and Chang Rong hardly drove the horse, letting it go slowly by itself so that Yue Qing could see the scenery outside.
Yue Qing held her chin, looking bored, what's so fun about this. He sighed and said, "Chang Rong, I don't want to ride in the carriage anymore. I want to go down for a walk."
Chang Rong stopped the carriage.
Qiaoer was startled: "Miss, look outside, there is no girl walking on the street."
There really aren't many women on the road, but that doesn't mean there aren't any at all, just a few.
Yue Qing pointed to a shop selling sesame cakes and tea on one side, "Isn't that a woman?"
Qiaoer looked over and saw that there was really a little girl there helping her father sell sesame seeds. "Miss, this girl looks like she is a child from a poor family. She works here to help her family and doesn't play on the street."
Yue Qing scolded and said, "Oh, it's fine if there's a woman. Let's just go there and sit."
Saying that, Yue Qing was about to get off the car.
Chang Rong got out of the car and helped her put down the step stool. "Miss, do you want to eat sesame cakes?"
"Go and have a taste." She said and walked down holding his arm.
Jiao and Shen dismounted and looked at this inconspicuous stall.
They attracted more attention as soon as they got off the horse, and people around them pointed and looked over.
Qi Jiao glanced over, and everyone immediately dispersed.
Everyone walked towards the sesame cake stall, and the customers immediately dispersed without giving any money.
The old man selling sesame seed cakes yelled anxiously, but when he saw them, he immediately stopped talking. He was so frightened that he took a few steps back before standing still.
Chang Shen stepped forward with a smile, handed out a small piece of silver and said: "Old man, we are a little tired from walking, and we want to rest here for the convenience of our trip."
When the old man saw the money, he immediately took it and said happily: "Hey, okay, please sit down quickly. I will bring some sesame seed cakes to the uncles."
Qi Jiao looked at Yue Qing who was already sitting on the old bench and said, "Miss, do you want to eat?"
"Take one and try it." Yue Qing replied, holding her chin.
Chang Shen smiled and said: "Then please bring me a piece and try it."
The old man said: "Here, I can't find this money."
Chang Shen said: "There's no need to look for it. It's our apology for disturbing my father-in-law's business."
The old man nodded and called to his granddaughter: "Tui'er, quickly bring this noble lady a piece of sesame cake and a bowl of tea."
The girl glanced here timidly and went to get the sesame seeds. The old man stood next to him with a silly smile on his face.
The girl worked very quickly and brought it in a moment. "Miss Guiren, you can eat sesame cakes." He handed it over with both hands, and Qiaoer stepped forward to take it. The girl brought tea again.
Yue Qing smiled and looked at the thing in front of her. Seeing how many people were eating it just now, it must be delicious. However, it looked like it was just a pancake for water.
"Well, are there no side dishes?"
The girl didn't understand: "My dear lady, what is a side dish?"
The old man said from the side: "Miss noble lady, we don't have food here. If you want to eat food, please go to the restaurant opposite."
Yue Qing looked in the direction he pointed, and there was indeed an attic. Was it a restaurant?
"Oh, it's okay. I'm not hungry either. I'm just curious. Come here and try it. Are you just going to eat this pancake and this water?"
The old man nodded and bowed and said, "My lord, yes, yes, we only sell these here."
Yue Qing smiled and said: "Don't always call me noble. Just call me um. Call me Miss Qing. Sit down quickly and I'll chat with you."
The old man looked at the mountains of Qi Jiao, hesitated and sat down.
Yue Qing said to Qi Jiao and the others: "You should also sit down. Don't stand all the time."
Several people looked at each other and sat at the table next to them.
Chang Yuxiao and Qiaoer sat next to Yue Qing.
Yue Qing asked the girl to sit down too, but the girl was too shy to sit down and stood behind her grandfather.
Yue Qing said with a smile: "Don't be restrained. We don't come to the capital often. We are very curious about this place and just wanted to come and see what it has to offer."
The old man touched his head and said: "So that's it. So you are not from the capital. Have you just arrived in the capital? Where did you come from?"
The old man felt more at ease seeing her being so kind.
"Yes, we are not from Li Jing. We came from far away. We just arrived in Li Jing not long ago."
"Oh, no wonder. Yes, a lot of outsiders have come to the capital recently. I heard that something big is going to happen."
"What's the big deal?"
"This little old man doesn't know. I just know that a lot of people have come to the city recently, and there are more guards patrolling. The business of this biscuit stall has also improved a lot."
"Oh, so were there foreigners among those guests just now?"
"Yes, they are mostly businessmen. The little old man's stall is not on the market, and the big shots don't come either."
Yue Qing nodded, looked at the sesame seed cake in front of her, tore off a small piece with her hands, put it in her mouth and tasted it.
I stopped after taking two bites. It was very bland and a bit dry. There was no taste at all, not even oil or water. Looking at the water on the table, he picked it up and took a sip. It was a bit sweet.
Yue Qing swallowed the piece of cake and laughed twice: "It's a little bland."
The old man scratched his head and said with an honest smile: "The noble man must not be used to the likes of us."
Yue Qing commented: "It's okay. It would be nice if I added some salt, some chopped green onion, sesame oil, and some sauce."
The old man said: "I can't afford to sell these. These are the precious things that the noble man said. I don't have enough salt at home to make pancakes and sell them when I have free time. What about the chopped green onions?" They are also expensive things, but I can't afford to sell them. Besides, I've heard of the sesame oil and sauce, I guess they are only found in the homes of high-ranking people."
"Is salt expensive?" Yue Qing looked at Chang Yuxiao and then at Chang Shen.
The old man said: "Oh, you look like a young lady who lives in a wealthy family. She doesn't like the fireworks of the world. Of course, this salt is a precious thing. It's valuable. Ordinary people can only eat it once or twice a month." Okay. Hey, but this is the capital city of Li State. Think about it, there should be a lot of wealthy families who can afford salt."
Yue Qing was stunned. After a while, he came back to his senses and said: "How many years has the old man stayed in Lijing? Who else is there at home? I don't see any women going out on this street. Why does your granddaughter let her work here?"
"Me? Hey, you don't know something, but this little old man has a hard life. I originally had two sons and one daughter, but my eldest son died while hunting in the mountains. He didn't even get a wife. My daughter got married early, and the other party also counts. A wealthy local man became pregnant not long after arriving at her husband's house, but she died of dystocia during childbirth.
The younger son was promising and joined the army. He was praised by the military master and became a soldier commander. After the victory, he followed the team back to the capital and worked under the military master. Later, we got married in the city and gradually bought a house outside the city.
I thought I had hope for this day, but I didn't expect that after a battle, I never came back and died at the border. Alas, my old wife also died of illness, and my daughter-in-law left soon after being overworked and sad.
I only have this little granddaughter left. Fortunately, she is very capable and can help me with some work at such a young age. This day has gone on like this. She was about to reach the age of marriage, so I thought about finding a family to marry her to, which would also give her someone to rely on. "
As he spoke, the old man blinked his eyes, and there were tears in his eyes, and wiped them with the gray clothes he washed.
Yue Qing was speechless. She didn't expect that she would find such a family in a random place. Qiaoer really hit the mark, they were from a poor family.
Yue Qing comforted her: "Grandpa, don't worry, your granddaughter is so capable, she will definitely find a good family."
The old man sighed and said, "I don't want to be rich or wealthy, just having enough to eat and clothing to wear is enough. We have some accumulation. There are many people in this world who are poorer than us, and we are content with that."
Yue Qing nodded. "Thank you, old man, for chatting with me. I'm leaving now. I'll see you another day."
Saying that, Yue Qing stood up.
The old man also quickly stood up, nodded and bowed to see Yueqing.
Not far from the stall, Yue Qing sighed.
Chang Yuxiao asked: "Why are you sighing? Are you unhappy?"
Yue Qing looked at him and said: "Of course not, I just think it's better to go out for a walk. After listening to what the old man said, I just feel like a frog in the well. I don't understand anything. Let's go, let's move forward."
Qiaoer asked from the side: "Miss, do you plan to keep walking on the street like this?"
"Is there anything wrong? Don't think too much. From the look on the old man's face, it's not the first time he's seen a female customer. It's just that it's rare for women to go out on the street. Don't you just think it's too eye-catching? We are here This group of people is already eye-catching. If you pay more attention, it won’t be bad. Let’s go, what can you see just sitting in the carriage?”
After saying that, Yue Qing looked at the restaurant in front of her that the old man was talking about, and walked over there.
The group had no choice but to follow. Chang Rong looked at the carriage and pulled up the reins helplessly. If the lady plans to use it all the time, it would be better to store the carriage somewhere.
Cross the wide street and come to the outside of the restaurant opposite. Yue Qing looked up at this tall building. This restaurant was not small. There were many people coming and going in front of the building, but there were many more people than in front of the old man's stall just now.
There were a lot of customers coming and going in the building, and they became more courageous. Some of them stared at Yue Qing for a long time. Si Hao was not afraid of the gazes of Qi Jiao and others. There were even many people surrounding the young master from the front and back. He was even more bold. He looked at Yue Qing and Qiao'er up and down with a joking expression on his face. After all, I didn't dare to take the initiative to talk to him. Qi Jiao frowned and stood with his arms folded, his face full of displeasure.
A carriage also passed by in front of the building, and most of the people inside were men. There were also people in the car who lifted the curtains and looked over curiously.
Yue Qingsi gritted her teeth and raised her feet to walk in.
A voice stopped her: "Hey, what a coincidence. Why is the lady here?"
Yue Qing turned around and saw Yue Ke sitting in the carriage with the curtain raised and looking at her.
