Sang Xiaomei quickly made tea, brought a cup of tea with a saucer, and put it on the bamboo table in front of Zuo Shaoyang.

Bai Zhihan took a chair and sat far away by the door, and Huang Qin brought him a cup of tea and put it on the bamboo table next to her: "Brother Bai, please drink tea." ”

Bai Zhihan just nodded slightly and didn't look at her.

Zuo Shaoyang looked at the medicine cabinet and said, "Look at the old man, you are talking and laughing, I thought you were in a good mood." ”

"Alas! If I had a few dozen buckets of grain in my hand now, I would be able to laugh to my heart's content! ”

Zuo Shaoyang hurriedly followed the topic and asked, "What, isn't the old man's family food enough?" ”

Zhu medicine cabinet sighed: "Yes, our medicine store originally stored some grain, but the price of grain was so high at that time, we couldn't all use the money to buy grain and store it, right?" At that time, I didn't know that the rebels would make a ruckus in our poor country. Therefore, there is not much grain stored at home, and I knew that now that the price of grain has skyrocketed to 15 yuan, Lao Tzu will not do anything, and all the money will be hoarded with grain, and he will not make a miserable profit? When the results were known, all the grain in the rice bank was requisitioned and purchased by the officers and soldiers at a low price. Only a dozen buckets of rations were left for the shopkeeper of a few rice rows. These old guys were crying and grabbing the ground, and they almost hanged themselves without a rope. Well, now there is no one in the city who wants to sell grain! - Of course, in addition to Xiao Langzhong, you are willing to take out five buckets of rice in exchange for this broken tea shop. I really don't know whether to live or die. ”

Zuo Shaoyang was taken aback and said, "Why? Don't you want to sell rice? ”

"If you have rice, you can sell it! Now we are blocked by the rebels on both sides of Hezhou, the surrounding mountains are full of rebels, the fleeing people have been driven back, or shot to death by arrows, can conquer Hezhou but do not attack, and hold on to the two roads to the outside world and do not let them out. They are clearly going to starve us to death! The people of the city who don't know that this battle can't be fought in a few months! Maybe it's going to be half a year younger! Everyone covers the grain to death, and this is the food that hangs its life. You are the only one, for fear that you won't be able to eat all the food, and you will use it for a tea shop. Is this broken tea shop worth five buckets of rice? Now you take five buckets of rice to the street and sell it, and the big inns and big shops will change it for you! ”

Zuo Shaoyang sneered and didn't say anything.

Zhu medicine cabinet said: "Alas, I know, you feel sorry for Sang Xiaomei, a little girl, for fear that she will starve to death, so won't it be over if you marry her to the family and provide for her?" also took rice to support her family, and her eyes were so good that she couldn't be better! ”

The shopkeeper Zhu next to him sneered: "What is the name of red face and trouble, when this little Langzhong's family starves to death, he will understand!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled coldly and said, "That day, I'm afraid that you won't be able to see Shopkeeper Zhu." ”

"What did you say?" Shopkeeper Zhu said angrily, but after glancing at the squirrel bag on Zuo Shaoyang's waist, he was busy suppressing his anger again.

Zuo Shaoyang saw that his nose was blue and his face was swollen, and the blood groove bitten by the grass girl just now on his hand was still there, but it was no longer bleeding, so he said lightly: "You are so old, and you don't know how to maintain it, and you don't let go of the little girl who sees people asking for food a little purple, and it is strange to live until the day you see me starving to death!" ”

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shopkeeper Zhu blushed and said with a rough neck.

"Whether it's nonsense or not, you know it in your heart. The scar on your hand seems to have been bitten by a little girl who didn't obey you, right? ”

"You're ......!" Shopkeeper Zhu was not afraid of being said to be lustful and faceless, but he was afraid that he would know that he even wanted to be a beggar girl, so he felt a little embarrassed, and glanced at the medicine cabinet with a blushing face.

Zhu Medicine Cabinet looked at him with disdain: "Zhu Laohan, are you a little promising?" It's not easy for people to flee, and you're still bullying them, it's too embarrassing, right? ”

"I, I changed her bun, can't I?"

Zuo Shaoyang sneered: "You're afraid that there aren't a few pieces of bun that can be used to defile the fleeing woman, right?" ”

"What do you mean?" Shopkeeper Zhu's face changed color.

"I passed by your restaurant just now, and it seems that it has been closed for several days, and the door is full of beggars and refugees. Presumably, the food of your shopkeeper Zhu can't sustain the defeat of the enemy army, right? ”

Shopkeeper Zhu's face changed, and he turned his head to look at the medicine cabinet.

Zhu Medicine Cabinet sighed and said, "Zhu Laohan, don't hide it, anyway, you have no food, and the whole family will starve to death, everyone knows at that time." -- His Jinyu Restaurant has long been closed, and the last time there were hungry people robbing things, the officers and soldiers came, and they killed a few, which scared this lustful old boy enough. Their restaurant was originally a place to eat and drink, there was not much food, and it was a big family, there were several wives and concubines alone, plus more than a dozen guys in the restaurant, he didn't care at first, but later found that the mountain was empty, so he dismissed the guys, and the maids and servants at home were all gone. Now his daughters-in-law take turns cooking for themselves. His family now has food in stock, and the support has been less than half a month! ”

Shopkeeper Zhu sneered: "I wish the old man, you are worse than me!" -- This old man has already dismissed all the men in the medicine shop except for the concoction master, because there is not enough food to eat. It would have been better if he had done this earlier, he would have been dismissed only when the food had been eaten, and it was a little late, and the food in his medicine store could only last for ten days at most, which was worse than me! Shopkeeper Zhu pointed to the other two old tea customers, "The two of them are even worse, the food at home is not enough for five days!" ”

Obviously, these old tea customers have already talked about these many times, not gloating, but sympathizing with each other.

Zhu Medicine Cabinet smiled bitterly: "Okay, everyone is about the same, but it's fifty steps and a hundred steps." - Xiao Langzhong, you just said that you have something to do with me, what's the matter? Don't you have grain to sell me? ”

As soon as they heard this, Shopkeeper Zhu and the three old tea guests immediately stared at Zuo Shaoyang with bright eyes.

Zuo Shaoyang also smiled bitterly: "My family's food is only enough for a few days, and I'm also worried." ”

I heard just now that these old tea customers didn't have any food, Zuo Shaoyang didn't dare to tell the medicine cabinet directly about selling grain, and he didn't dare to sell grain to unfamiliar people, so as not to get burned. Especially the shopkeeper Zhu, although this old pervert has a straightforward surname, Zuo Shaoyang doesn't like him very much, so he is even more reluctant to sell him food.

All four of them looked disappointed. Shopkeeper Zhu sneered: "I'll just say, their family is so poor that they don't have money to pay off their debts, and they still have money to buy rice?" ”

"Don't say that," Zhu Yaojie bought his aconitum concoction method for one hundred taels of silver, knowing that his family is rich now, but he doesn't want to say this, and said, "Didn't he exchange five buckets of rice for this tea shop?" Five buckets of rice, if you change your Jinyu Restaurant, what you have to eat now may not be dry, and in more than half a month, your remaining food will be eaten up, and the family will be hungry with green eyes, I see if you can do it! ”

Shopkeeper Zhu's face changed, and he said with a dry smile: "This little man is a lust fan!" This Sang Xiaomei does have some beauty, but it is not to the extent of beauty, to be honest, it is not much stronger than my wives and concubines, Xiaolang is not fatal! ”

Zuo Shaoyang was too lazy to chat with them, and said to the medicine cabinet: "Uncle Zhu, if you have time, wait for a while to finish the tea, please come to my pharmacy and sit for a while, I have a new medicinal herb, concocted with a new method, maybe you will be interested." ”

Shopkeeper Zhu laughed: "How can he still think about medicinal materials in this time, let's think about how to survive first." ”

Zhu Medicine Cabinet glanced at Zuo Shaoyang and nodded: "Okay, I'll go later." -- Life and death are fateful, what does he do? Business still has to be done in the same way. I've already thought about it, my wife and I, the two of us who are old and immortal, will only eat one porridge a day and drink some ginseng soup to hang ourselves from tomorrow. Save food for your son and grandson, and as long as your son is alive, we wish the family hope! ”

Zuo Shaoyang said movingly: "I wish the old man to sacrifice himself as a man and admire him." However, there is no end to it! ”

"Okay, the whole city is starving to death, and I haven't seen a fart move from God, so I don't care what he does! You go, I'll come over later. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said goodbye and took Bai Zhihan out of the tea shop.

On both sides of the road were the victims, many of whom had died, stiff and covered with a straw mat, or nothing, except for the snow that had fallen for a long time.

Some of them also have family members sitting next to them, crying twice from time to time, but the crying has no strength. And some, only a few lonely corpses lie there, maybe the family is starving to death, or perhaps, the surviving ones can't afford to bury the corpses, and go away to find food by themselves.

The corpse trucks of the Yamen are all out of the morning to clean and transport the corpses away, and the people of the Yamen are also fainting with hunger, where is there more strength to transport the corpses out of the city in time to deal with them, so the corpses that died during the day, or the corpses that were not found in time in the more hidden places, lay down in the cold wind like this. Let the cold wind blow wildly, and the rain and snow will erode.

Beside them, there may be a dying hungry man, looking at the corpses with empty eyes, perhaps calculating in his mind how many hours he will be, and he will become such a stiff corpse.

The tragic scene along the way made Zuo Shaoyang unbearable, lowered his head and thought about his thoughts, and walked quickly to the pharmacy.

At this moment, he saw a large group of officers and soldiers coming from a distance and headed for the east of the city. Zuo Shaoyang and Bai Zhihan hurriedly stood on the side of the street and watched, and saw that the street was full of officers and soldiers, walking out neatly.

Hearing the movement, many people went out to take a look, and there were people on both sides of the road.

An officer shouted at the onlookers: "Folks, we are going to attack Shuanghuai County, don't worry, this time we will definitely be able to recapture Shuanghuai County!" After eliminating the rebels in Shuanghuai County, the food will be transported in quickly, and at that time, everyone will be able to live a peaceful and good life! ”

The onlookers on both sides of the street cheered and applauded. There were also many people who brought warm water from their homes for the officers and men to drink, but of course, they did not take anything to eat. Who knows if they can defeat the rebels, they have to keep a hand.

The officers and soldiers kept walking, and they didn't know how much had passed. Zuo Shaoyang and Bai Zhihan returned to the pharmacy, and Zuo Gui and the others also stood at the door and watched, their faces full of excitement.

A few wounded soldiers were so depressed that they lay crooked on their beds and didn't bother to move. And there was a look of despair on his face. I didn't have anything to eat, and I didn't bother to get out of bed and go to the door to send my comrades on the journey. It's better to save some effort and survive first.

(To be continued)