North and South groceries

When Apu and the others entered the city, they attracted many Changle people to watch.

The curfew in this small place of Changle County is still ineffective. Most of the people in the city work in workshops during the day.

Especially now that it is summer again, what are you doing at home on a hot day, and there is no TV to watch these days, let alone computers and smartphones.

The people of Apu's tribe walked on the streets of Changle County, and they felt very novel. When they were in Gaochang City, although it was quite lively and prosperous, they were not very stable at that time, and they stayed in the city all day long. I don't dare to hang out outside my own residence.

When I came to Changle County at this time, I knew that this place was under the management of Apu’s master, and the people here seemed to be more friendly. Looking at the shops with lanterns hanging on the street, and the scattered stalls in the streets and alleys, everything was fine. Make them feel fresh.

A child on the side of the road was sipping a piece of malt candy in his mouth, eating it with relish, and the eyes of several black children passing by were straightened, but they did not make noise like ordinary children. Step by step and turn back three times, he followed his clansmen and walked forward.

Cross the street, turn a corner on the concrete road ahead, climb a gentle slope, and soon see rows of low houses.

"This is a rented house in the county. The Er tribe donated food and seeds to the Khan of Heaven. It is a merit. I ordered the officials in the county not to charge your rent for a year. You can just live here with peace of mind."

Luo used these words not only to Apu, but also to others and those renters.

Apu is his disciple. Luo Yong should take care of the people he brought with him, but if he favors too much, it will easily arouse dissatisfaction from others, which will intensify the conflict and make Apu's people even worse. Difficult to be accepted by the locals.

Apu naturally had no objection, and after hearing Luo Yong's arrangement, he asked his clansmen to choose a house to live in.

The people of his tribe half understood what the master and apprentice said, vaguely seemed to understand that this house seemed to be suitable for them to live in temporarily, but it seemed only for one year, so what about after one year?

...Why does it feel like the master of their leader is a bit stingy?

This house is indeed very good. The houses are built squarely, the ground is very smooth, the walls are also very smooth, and the roof is covered with thick thatch, so it will definitely not leak.

There is a raised place in the innermost part of the house. They know it is for sleeping. They have seen it on the way here. They heard that they can still light a fire under it in winter. I don’t know what the people here think, don’t they? Will it roast people?

After a while, someone came over with a load of food, and it was said that Luo Yong ordered it from various restaurants in the county. These Kunlun people came out of the house one after another, and gathered around the yard to eat by the light of the fire.

The food is very delicious, but they can't help but turn their heads to look at Luo Yong. Apu's master is a bit different from what they used to imagine. He is too young and not strong enough. Such a powerful character.

After eating, Luo Yong asked them to rest tonight, and he would send someone to bring food over tomorrow morning, telling them not to worry about food.

The clansmen were moved after hearing this, and those who said he was stingy in their hearts before felt a little ashamed. Although Apu’s master didn’t seem like a particularly great person, he was really kind to the people of his clan. of.

In this way, these Kunlun people lived in Changle County with peace of mind. Luo Yong sent food to their residences every day, and arranged for doctors to check up on all of them and treat the sick.

It has only been two or three days since the grain donation team from Gaochang passed through their Changle County, and Apu, as the grain donor, wanted to go to Chang'an City with them.

The night before leaving, Apu and his tribe told them to stay in Changle County and listen to Luo Yong's arrangements, not to leave here to go to other places without authorization, and not to listen to anyone except Luo Yong.

In the early morning of the second day, Apu wore the robe prepared for him by Luo Yong, carried a new bag on his back, stepped on a tall horse, and left with the grain offering team.

The clansmen sent their leader away eagerly, and then looked back at Changle County, where they had lived for only two days, feeling a little at a loss for a while.

In the blink of an eye, two or three days passed. In the early morning of this day, there was a lot of noise in Changle County, and people from Kunlun went to the intersection below to see what happened.

I heard from those city people that they were going to the county government to collect sweet potato vines, and many people planned to watch the excitement.

It turned out that the sweet potatoes that Apu presented to Luo Yong alone, after Luo Yong received them, he did not plant them himself, but after they were germinated, each Baochang went to the county government to receive a sweet potato in units of [-] households. Rattan.

These guarantors took the sweet potato vines back and planted them carefully. In autumn, sweet potatoes will be produced. All households in the insurance will share them equally. After the next spring, they will germinate and then divide them equally, so as to ensure that all households can get sweet potato vines and plant sweet potatoes in the coming year. .

County magistrate Luo told the people in the city that this was a gift from the Kunlun people. After they ate sweet potatoes in the future, they should remember the goodness of these Kunlun people and not bully them, foreigners.

There was a Kunlun man who spoke Chinese relatively well. After figuring out the ins and outs of the incident, he hurried to the place where they lived and told the incident to other people in the tribe. The Kunlun people heard about it. Surprised and happy.

They stood on the slope, looking at the intersection with some curiosity and some restraint. When some Changle people passed this intersection, they would stop and say hello to them, with a very friendly attitude.

In this way, these Kunlun people were hardly rejected, and they naturally integrated into the life of Changle County.

They also sometimes walk around the city, looking here and there, and find it very interesting everywhere.

During the day, these Kunlun people also like to sit on the stone slabs by the side of the road and watch those Changle people who are not going to work sharpen needles and gossip about family affairs.

I couldn't understand it, but seeing those people laughing happily, they laughed too. Some Kunlun children sipped the malt candy given by others, eating with gusto.

Most of these Kunlun people had sharpened arrow stone knives in the tribe before, and they were quick at sharpening needles.

Later, Luo Yong asked the people in the needle workshop to give them some work for grinding needles. Among these Kunlun people, he chose a middle-aged man who could do arithmetic to be in charge of sending and receiving. Generally, give him some subsidies.

The wife of the middle-aged Kunlun man was very happy. Not only did they earn the money, but they also grind the needles every day. The needles they grind are really fine and good. The combined income of the family is more than other families in the tribe. .

The others were very envious, but there was nothing they could do. There were very few people in their tribe who could do arithmetic, and the others were timid. At that time, Luo Yong asked them who could do arithmetic, and only the middle-aged man stood up first. So he earns more.

But even so, they grind needles every day and earn two or three pennies a day. At the stall selling maltose, one penny can buy three pieces of malt candy, and three pennies can buy nine yuan. Take a stoneware bowl Go to fill it up and come back with almost a full bowl.

On this day, Luo used to visit the lives of these Kunlun people, and then told them that the free meals he provided to them would only last until the end of this month, and they would have to support themselves from the first day of next month.

People in Kunlun are now more confident in supporting themselves. They have a general understanding of the prices in the city, and they have also earned money through the work of grinding needles.

The Kunlun people didn't complain about the suspension of food supply. When they lived in their own tribe, they often had to starve because they didn't catch enough prey.

Now there are so many of them, all of them are raised by Luo alone, and the raising lasts for more than a month.People in Kunlun felt that Luo Yong might be a little stronger than they had imagined before, otherwise he would not be able to support so many people for such a long time.

In the days that followed, because the people of Changle had always treated them very friendly, the people of Kunlun really felt that they were safe in this city, so they gradually let go of their lives.

Many Kunlun people want to work in workshops, because the wages in most workshops are much higher than that of grinding needles at home.

As for the warriors in the tribe who are good at hunting, they want to join the guard team in Changle County. He has the most money, walking around the city with a big knife on his back every day, and looks very majestic.

Someone went to Luo Yong and told them about it, saying that they wanted to be servants. Luo Yong told them that they had to wait for a while. laws and regulations, because the guards are to manage others and maintain order in the city.

Luo Yong asked them to get acquainted with the life here first. In a few months, the county government will openly recruit people. At that time, there will be an on-site competition and ability test. As long as they, Kunlun people want to participate, they can sign up.

People in Kunlun probably know what that competition means, isn't it just a fight? In the days when they were not hunting, they would often "compete" with each other, sometimes for women or property, sometimes purely It's just for fun.

As for the ability test, they really didn't know, so they asked the locals.

"Oh, let's take the ability test, it's easy to say." The locals gave them popular science in one go.

"As long as you win the martial arts competition, you can pass without being too stupid."

"Just be careful."

"Last year when the county was recruiting yamen servants, we also went to see it. The topic was really interesting."

On the spot, someone gave these eager Kunlun people a test question for them to answer.

The problem is this:

"A family surnamed Chen raised 22 chickens. They married a new daughter-in-law a few days ago. They killed eleven chickens for a banquet. After a few days, someone came to buy them and sold four more chickens."

"In the early morning of this day, the old man of the Chen family squatted in the yard and counted chickens. After counting, there were only seven chickens, and one was missing. I remembered that Wu Qilang, who was not good at learning, from the next door family, always beat their door. Staring at his chickens, two days ago, there was a smell of chicken from the yard next door. At that time, Chen Weng hadn't noticed that his chickens were missing. At this time, he must have been caught by Wu Qilang next door. go."

"At this time, a group of guards happened to pass by his courtyard, so Weng Chen told the guards about it."

"What would you do if you were the lead guard?"

Those Kunlun people listened to the topic, thought for a while, and hesitated: "Arrest that Wu Qilang?"

"Hahahaha!" Those Changle people laughed loudly and said, "Then Wu Qilang, if he encounters foolish servants like you, he will be in bad luck."

"There are only 22 chickens in total. Eleven of them are killed by the family, and the remaining eleven are sold. There will be seven left. How can you steal chickens?"

"If you want to be an officer, I'm afraid you have to learn arithmetic again."

"Each person has three questions, and if you answer two correctly, you can pass."

"That person didn't answer this question correctly last year. Fortunately, he answered the other two questions correctly."

"If he gets another question wrong, he won't be able to become a servant now."

"That's a salary of [-] wen per month, food and clothing for the four seasons, and subsidies during the holidays, who doesn't want to go."

"You Kunlun people are so tall and strong, the competition ahead will definitely not be a problem."

"The latter things can be learned. Learn arithmetic well, familiarize yourself with the law, and recruit people in the county in a few months. You all have a try."