kingnovel Chapter 453 Entering the City
Chapter 453 Entering the City
The old man didn't have any coarse cloth clothes. He was wearing only cotton clothes when he was fleeing. Since he wasn't required to help with any rough work, Li didn't make any for him. Coarse cloth clothes were worn by country people like them. The old man was a person of such status, and if he was made to wear coarse cloth, if the old village head and his group of people knew about it, they would definitely look down on them.
After having breakfast, a few people took some food and drinks for the journey, lit torches, and set off towards the city with a cart of pine mushrooms. The ruts of the wheels made a squeaking sound, which was particularly loud in the silent night as the villagers were still asleep.
After walking for more than half an hour, there was a rustling sound suddenly coming from the rear of the carriage. Several people stared and turned to look. After a moment, they saw a black head slowly popping out from behind the basket. A pair of eyes on the head glowed in the dark, and it was sticking out a long tongue.
"Hei Dadan!!" several people exclaimed, not knowing when Hei Dadan got on the carriage.
Zhou Guo was both angry and amused, and cursed, "You idiot, you knew we were going on a long trip, and I asked you to stay home but you didn't. You insisted on going with us, and even got in the car secretly."
Zhou Su was very happy. He hugged Heidadan in his arms and rolled into a ball.
The old man smiled slightly and said, "It is loyal."
Although it was not very far from home at the moment, Zhou Guo still couldn't bear to let it go back. Firstly, it was dark. Secondly, she had only walked this road with it two or three times, both times by horse or car. She didn't know if it knew the road. It would be difficult to deal with it if it got lost. If it was caught and eaten by someone, where would she find it?
Just take it with you.
Three people and a dog sat in a carriage and slowly drove towards the city.
After all, they got up too early. Despite the bumpy road, Zhou Su fell asleep in the swaying motion and fell on Hei Dadan. The man and the dog slept soundly.
The old man couldn't help but close his eyes and said to Zhou Guo: "You hurry up, I'll sleep for a while, call me if anything happens."
He closed his eyes as he spoke.
Everyone was asleep, and there was no one to talk to. The sound of rumbling cars could be heard, and Zhou Guo's eyelids soon began to feel heavy. If it hadn't been too dark to see the road clearly and she hadn't been worried that the horse might walk into the ditch, she would have fallen asleep long ago.
I felt groggy, but luckily everything went smoothly and nothing happened.
After finally holding on until the sky was slightly bright, she finally couldn't hold on any longer. She touched the old man and said with her eyes closed: "Master, you stay here for a while. I'll sleep first..."
As soon as the last word came out of his mouth, he leaned to the side and fell asleep.
The old man woke up and saw that it was almost dawn. He estimated that it would take more than an hour to reach the destination.
More than an hour later.
The sun has risen high, and by now the villagers have probably already gone into the mountains and picked up half a basket of mushrooms.
It’s just that I didn’t sell them yesterday, and I don’t know if everyone is still willing to go into the mountains to pick them up. I think most people are willing to do so, but there is no need for the elderly and children to go up the mountain.
Zhou Su had been awakened by the sunlight. Seeing Zhou Guo still sleeping beside him, he refrained from making a sound and held Hei Dadan in his arms without even moving.
Zhou Guo opened her eyes and saw that the sun had risen. There were noisy voices ahead. She stood up and saw the city tower in front of her that seemed familiar yet strange. She felt dazed. The last time they came here, they were still a group of refugees. They only stayed at the city gate for a few days and had never entered the city.
Now, after a year, I am here to do business. My identity is very different, and my state of mind is naturally different as well.
She looked at the roadside and saw some refugees still gathered in groups of two or three. However, there were far fewer of them than there were back then. She had not been out for more than six months and did not know what the situation was like outside.
There are currently no refugees settled in their village, and they probably won't be allowed in. They don't have any land, so how would they eat or drink if they were allowed in?
Zhou Su crawled over, sat with her, and also looked around.
Zhou Guo said, "Look, this is where we first came last year, Yunzhou Prefecture. We stayed at the city gate for a few days and then were divided. Let's go in and take a look today."
Zhou Su nodded repeatedly.
There were many people entering the city at this moment. They lined up in a long queue at the back. Some were selling vegetables, some were carrying food, and some had nothing but a bag.
They were carrying vegetables into the city at this time. Perhaps these people were like them, and their homes were far away from here. Zhou Guo looked at the mud on their feet and thought that they had started their journey early in the morning.
The soldiers at the city gate asked them why they were there, took a look at their cart full of wild mushrooms and let them in. They entered the city quite smoothly. Zhou Guo thought he would have to pay again, so he didn't even use the money in his hand.
The provincial capital is very large, much larger than the county town. The street at the city gate alone is paved with bluestone slabs, and four carriages can go side by side at once. Not far ahead is a fork in the road, and the flow of people is much greater than that of the county town. There are usually few people at the city gate of the county town, and only on the main street.
This is different. There are already people at the city gate, and there are shops a dozen feet away. Zhou Su couldn't see enough with his eyes, and said with his mouth open: "The city is different!"
Zhou Guo nodded. When she went south to find him, she also went to several provincial capitals. The prosperity of those cities was no less than that over there. But this was a border area, and the way it was governed didn't look like a border area at all!
The old man was driving the cart in front. It was his first time coming in, and he couldn’t find where the vegetable market was. He just followed the few people in front carrying vegetables.
Sure enough, after turning a few streets, we arrived at a bustling vegetable market.
Zhou Guo sat on the edge of the car, staring at the crowded vegetable market in front of him in amazement, "Why are there still so many people here?"
The old man and Zhou Suli were already looking around for a place to set up their stall. Both sides were full of stalls. They walked from the beginning to the end of the street and finally found an empty space. Although the location was not very good, it was good that they had space.
There are a few vegetable vendors next to us. If you come late, you can only sit in the corner.
A few people pulled the cart to the back, carried down two baskets of pine mushrooms, spread a few green banana leaves on the ground, and placed the three grades of pine mushrooms, namely upper, middle and lower, in each of the three piles.
After doing all this, Zhou Guo looked around and said, "I'll go buy some food."
Finished talking and left.
There is a food stall not far from the next door. There are some small stalls on the roadside, selling wontons, noodles, sesame cakes, buns...
Zhou Guo bought six sesame cakes, ten meat buns, two steamed buns for Heidadan, and ordered three bowls of wontons. She told the stall owner that she was selling vegetables at the nearby market and would bring them to him after he finished eating.
The stall owner was also very easy to talk to. I guess many people do this often. He even asked his wife to help her. She had so many things in her hands, and it would be impossible for her to carry three bowls of wontons. She just happened to see if there was anyone selling vegetables nearby.
Zhou Guo returned to the stall with a bunch of food, but the pine mushrooms were not yet ready for serving.