Not only the shops, but also the families who have lived in the town for generations are empty.

No wonder the streets are no longer bustling, there are so many people missing, how bustling is it.

Shen Tong had never been to Xiaqiao Town, and he didn't know that Xiaqiao Town was prosperous in the past. But she heard Fang Fei say that because there is a Guan family in Shangqiao Town, everyone comes and goes is a scholar, and Xia Qiao Town is different, Xia Qiao Town has Qiao River Wharf, so they are all merchants who come and go, therefore, although Shang Qiao Town and Xia Qiao Town are separated by water, Xia Qiao Town is far richer than Shang Qiao Town.

Last time, Shen Tong and Fang Fei didn't enter the town, and went directly to Liujiawan, although Liujiawan belongs to Xiaqiao Town, it is not in the town, and they can go from outside the town.

She thought for a while and said, "It must not be because of the matter of Liujiawan, the small Liujiawan can't affect Xiaqiao Town, there must be something else." ”

Speaking of inquiring about the news, the cute little girl is far more convenient than Xu An and road friends.

Shen Tong also went outside for a walk, and then inquired about some news.

The Guan family in Shangqiao Town went to the water, and the Guan family's house died completely. The Guan family still has side branches and in-laws in Shangqiao Town and Xia Qiao Town, originally outsiders thought that the ancestral property of the Guan family might fall to the side branches, but no one thought that within ten days, those side branches and in-laws of the Guan family died, and they walked, this time everyone understood that the fire of the Guan family was not an ordinary natural and man-made disaster, but an annihilation!

In the past few months, all the people who have a relationship with the Guan family have moved out of Xiaqiao Town one after another, and at the same time, a new wharf has been built in Xiaohe Town, which is separated from Xiaqiao Town by a water, and many merchants have stopped their boats at the wharf of Xiaohe Town, and many families in Xiaqiao Town have simply moved to Xiaohe Town.

"When people leave their hometowns and move to new places, don't they ask in the yamen?" Xu An was puzzled.

Shen Tong said with a smile: "I heard that Xiaohe Town is very easy to settle down, and the land price and housing prices are also cheap, as long as the people who move from other places, the yamen will give a settlement fee according to the population, regardless of men and women, old and young, two taels of silver per person." Those who want to do business do not have to pay taxes for three years, and those who want to farm also have fields for them to cultivate, and the imperial court exempts and exempts taxes for three years, and in less than three years, they can take root in Xiaohe Town, which is only a day away from Xiaqiao Town, and it is not difficult to go home. ”

It is no wonder that many families have moved away, and Xiaohe Town has invested enough money to let the people move there.

"What about the people before Creek?" Lu Friendly asked curiously, if there is such a good thing, he will also move his family over.

"Little River Town didn't have it before, it wasn't a town, and it was a wasteland before." Shen Tong said.

I see.

The three of them talked and laughed for a while, and the next day they left for Wild Boar Ridge.

After crossing the Qiao River, you have to walk three or four miles to enter the mountain, and the Wild Boar Ridge is in the mountain.

While resting in the roadside tea house, a merchant sat on a table next to him, with a load full of miscellaneous goods.

Shen Tong walked over curiously, fiddling with the gadgets on his burden.

"Little girl, that's Gui Fangzhai's incense powder, it's easy to use, you smell the fragrance, buy a box." The merchant smiled widely.

Shen Tong opened the lid, and immediately there was a strong aroma of osmanthus on his face.

"It's too fragrant, is there anything that doesn't smell too fragrant?" She asked.

"Yes, it's also Guifangzhai's, there is lotus fragrance, and the taste should be light." The merchant's voice is light and brittle, and he is not very old.

"Is Gui Fangzhai famous? Are all the fat powders you sell from Guifangzhai? "The little girl hasn't kept her head yet, and at first glance she has never used incense powder, and she wants to apply grease and powder to the sisters in the school, and I don't know if the pocket money in the little purse is enough.

"Gui Fangzhai is a time-honored brand in Xia Qiao Town, his family's incense powder is the most famous of this osmanthus, I just came back from Xiaohe Town, Gui Fangzhai also opened a branch in Xiaohe Town, these boxes of incense powder are purchased from Gui Fangzhai in Xiaohe Town, such as a fake package." The merchant's eyebrows fluttered as he spoke, his lips became more and more red and his teeth white, and his face was also powdered, white, as if it had come out of a flour bag.

"Does Gui Fangzhai have a semicolon in many towns?" The little girl's eyes sparkled, no woman could resist rouge gouache, even such a small child.

The merchant said with a smile: "Gui Fangzhai originally only shopped in Shangqiao Town and Xiaqiao Town, and it was only opened in Xiaohe Town not long ago. ”

Shen Tong understood, it turned out that he could only buy Gui Fangzhai's incense powder in Shangqiao Town and Xiaqiao Town before.

When she met Yang Jincheng on the boat that time, she thought that she didn't show any flaws, but it turned out that the flaws were in the box of incense powder, and she remembered that Yang Jincheng took the incense powder and looked at it carefully.

The meticulousness of this man can be seen.

"Thank you, uncle, I'll buy a box." Shen Tong took out the broken silver from his small purse and wanted to take the box of lotus-scented fat powder, but when he picked it up, he put it down again, and he still took the box of osmanthus fragrant.

When he returned to his seat, the merchant had already picked up his burden and walked out of the tea house singing a small song.

Xu An kept staring at the back of the merchant until he couldn't see it.

"Uncle Xu An, what do you see?" Shen Tong asked.

Xu An said: "This merchant seems to be a little familiar. ”

"You may have seen him when you were in Liujiawan." Shen Tong reminded.

Xu An suddenly realized that that time in Liujiawan, he and the shrimp head were going to keep an eye on it, not at the wife of the Xu family, but at the flying fish guard sent to get people.

That time, he had seen this merchant.

Liujiawan is a small place, and the appearance of a merchant is very eye-catching, but wherever there is a merchant, there will always be a group of big daughters-in-law and little daughters-in-law. But something happened in Liujiawan that day, and even the merchant seemed lonely.

This merchant is crowded in the crowd to watch the excitement, he still remembers what the shrimp head bought from the merchant, for which he also glared at the shrimp head, thinking that he does not care about priorities, such an important time, there is still leisure to buy things.

"What did you buy for shrimp heads?" Shen Tong asked.

Xu An thought about it, but couldn't remember it.

That day, his attention was on Mrs. Xu, and he only saw the shrimp head talking to the merchant, but he didn't see what the shrimp head bought, and then the situation took a sharp turn, Mrs. Xu burned the house, helped fight the fire and watched the lively people returned home, and found that their children were also lost, Xu An of course did not ask the shrimp head carefully about this little thing, if it wasn't for Shen Tong to mention it at this time, he would have forgotten it all long ago.

Shen Tong said: "On the day I went to Liujiawan, there was also a merchant who came, and that merchant also sold Guifangzhai's fat powder. ”

Gui Fangzhai is a time-honored brand in Xia Qiao Town, and it is not strange that there are merchants selling Gui Fangzhai's fat powder, but it is strange that Shen Tong saw a piece of cloth.

Just under the burden of the merchant, there is a cushion basket cloth, this is a blue background white flower cloth, in Liujiawan, Shen Tong has seen a piece of the same flower cloth, don't dare to use that piece of flower cloth to wrap a lot of bits and pieces of small things, including a box of Gui Fangzhai's incense powder.