I sold snacks in ancient times

The thin sunshine in the morning penetrates Nanshan Town, spring is coming, and everything is full of vitality.

On this day, there was a bad news in the town.

The war between the Great Yin Dynasty and the Goryeo Kingdom came to an end with a heroic defeat.

This is tantamount to a huge blow to Great Yin, who has always regarded itself as a kingdom of heaven.Once upon a time, the Great Yin, which was first established a hundred years ago, was prosperous and powerful, and the emperor's iron hooves traveled across most of East Asia.

Small border countries such as Goryeo and the Huns were willing to bow their heads and proclaim themselves ministers, sending envoys to pay tribute every year.

However, since the national power of Great Yin gradually declined ten years ago, the former glory no longer exists.

Last autumn, almost all the young and middle-aged men in the town were taken away to join the army.It is said that the Great Yin gathered millions of soldiers and marched towards the Goryeo country in mighty way.

How far is the south from Korea in the north?Even with a fast march, it will take nearly a month...

Besides, it was a cold winter, and the plague spread, and perhaps most of the people died before reaching the battlefield.

A notice of martyrs was posted at the gate of the government office, stating that none of the 360 ​​young and strong men in Nanshan Township and nearby villages survived.

Liu Yuanzi's brother was also among them.She rushed to the gate of the yamen early to read the list, and after reading it, she was pale all day long.

The county magistrate of Nanshan Town was considered merciful, and only arrested men who had reached the age of the crown to join the army.Many boys in the town survived.

But the pain that this tragedy has caused people cannot be undone.Food prices rose quietly, and many people sold their houses and land and fled to the countryside for refuge...

And the business of Xia Xing Tavern has also become deserted recently.

Qi Yongfan has reduced the amount of purchases, and recently often goes to Crescent Town to prepare for the new store.

Compared with Nanshan Town, the situation in Crescent Moon Town is even more tragic.Walking on the street, there are almost no men in sight.I heard that even boys aged [-] or [-] were taken away and exiled into the army.

The hired workers quickly refurbished the store.Then put the newly customized tables and chairs inside, hang up the signboard, and the Star Tavern opened in Crescent Town.

Qi Yongfan transferred Ah San to the store here, and hired two other female employees by the way.The goods were also shipped in several boxes at one time.

It is inconvenient to replenish goods in Crescent Town, so the shopkeepers here play hot pot and barbecue, and do not sell things like milk and dried fruits.

What worries Qi Yongfan the most is actually the problem of purchasing goods. In the long run, it is impossible for him to expand his business.Because he couldn't explain the origin of the goods.

The snacks he sells in Nanshan Town have never appeared in this world, so they will naturally arouse suspicion.

Like Liu Yuanzi once asked him, where did so many goods come from.

Qi Yongfan said that he has a businessman from the Western Regions who is in contact with him, and he will ship a batch of new goods every once in a while.

Even if others doubt it, you have to believe it if you don’t believe it.It can't be that he conjured it out of thin air.

……

"Brother Qi!" Yin Xu shouted with a smile.

Qi Yongfan was busy pumping the milk in the wooden barrel into the bamboo tube one by one.Each bamboo tube has a number and is a fixed "milk cup" for private school students. Covered with a bamboo lid, you can hold it and drink slowly all morning.

He squatted halfway in the kitchen without any image, and looked back when he heard the words, and wondered: "Why do you have time to come to the store today?"

Ye Zi stepped forward and helped him beat the milk together.

Yin Xu said: "The sun is shining today, I want to ask you to go outing."

Qi Yongfan waved his hand, "I'll talk about it after I finish my work, business is not doing well recently."

Yin Xu opened his mouth to speak, but in the end he didn't say anything. He stood beside him quietly, watching him keep pumping out a scoop of white milk from the bucket, and carefully poured it into the bamboo tube.

If his classmates knew that the No. [-] scholar in the past had been reduced to the point where he was milking milk in a town... he would be extremely shocked.

I still remember the year when Qi Yong passed the Jinshi examination, the peach blossoms in the capital were in full bloom, and it was also a warm spring season.

The boy was also at the age of early spring, dressed in a flowing white shirt, riding a tall horse through the street, and nimbly dodging the flower sachets dropped by countless women.

And he was wearing a cumbersome and bulky yellow goose woman's attire, combing the most popular hair bun braided by the mother in the palace, sitting by the window of the restaurant, leaning on the wooden railing, looking over from a distance.

The maid who was close to him whispered in his ear, "Princess, that is the son-in-law chosen by the emperor for you. He looks so handsome."

He looked down at everything on the street expressionlessly, and raised the corners of his mouth indifferently, "What a young man in high spirits."

The palace lady couldn't understand the meaning behind his words, and happily echoed: "Yes, yes, it is better than the third son of Huai Shangshu..."

The third son of the Huai family was the last consort selected by the emperor for him.Because it was reported not long ago that he was staying overnight in a brothel, he was quickly crossed off the list of future sons-in-law by his father.

Not long after, the young man passed by the door of the restaurant, his spine straightened, his clothes fluttering, and the scenery was boundless.

He was a little jealous, and some darkness was growing in his heart.Why can a young man go to the golden palace and ride a horse across the long street...but he can only live in the deep palace as a woman?

Yin Xu never thought about getting married.He was originally a man, unwilling to be reconciled to his fate, hoping to find a way out among the thousands of palaces.He was worried that he would be found out pretending to be a woman, so he took medicine since he was a child, concealed his Adam's apple, wore a corset, and shaved his sword-like eyebrows into thin willow-leaf eyebrows...

So the father acted as a matchmaker again and again, and he sabotaged privately again and again.

If this young man hadn't become a son-in-law, he should have been reused by his father, and thus he would rise up and down in the court and rise and fall in the officialdom.

However, because of his one mistake, the boy's fate changed.

……

The sky in spring is like the face of a witch, ups and downs, changing as soon as it changes.In the blink of an eye, it began to rain heavily, and after Qi Yongfan finished his work in the store, he had no choice but to give up on the outing.

In the drowsy afternoon, the store was empty.Yin Xu found a corner and sat down, bought a plate of snacks and a jug of wine, and drank leisurely.

Qi Yongfan wiped his hands with a towel and sat down opposite him.

Yin Xu looked around the store and said, "Brother Qi, I'm afraid your business will not be easy in the future."

Qi Yongfan didn't know the current affairs, and still had a little luck, "I heard that the emperor will conquer Korea again next year. If he wins this time, he won't mobilize people like that again, right?"

Yin Xu shook his head and said, "No. Brother Qi, don't you know that there are Goryeo in the north and barbarian slaves in the west, and the Huns on the border often harass and plunder. Besides, the national strength of the Great Yin can no longer support another war."

These words were like throwing stones into the lake, Qi Yongfan's heart skipped a beat, wondering if troubled times are coming?

Hey, wouldn't his dream of getting rich just go to waste...

"However, the foundation of the Great Yin is still there, so it won't be torn apart immediately." Yin Xu changed the subject and said, "Besides, there are still able ministers and generals in the government and the opposition, maybe there will be a turning point."

Qi Yongfan's face paled, he picked up the wine glass on the table and took a sip, "I really hope that I can change to a Mingjun and return to the prosperity of Yin."

Only in this way can he open branches all over the world and make a lot of money.

Yin Xu stroked the wine glass, not knowing what he was thinking.

Qi Yongfan thought for a while, and felt a little distressed.Since the emperor wants to fight Goryeo again, he will definitely conscript again.And this time the young and middle-aged people have been arrested almost, and the next time it will probably fall on them, the underage flowers of the motherland...

He didn't spend a lot of money to come to ancient times to serve as a soldier!

He tentatively said: "Brother Yin, if you are recruited again, will you and I be..."

"I have my own way." Yin Xu interrupted him, and said lightly: "I can let you escape military service."

Although Yin Xu's speech was always so flat, as if he had no emotional ups and downs, but in Qi Yongfan's ears, it added a little warmth for no reason.

He said gratefully, "If that's the case, I will cover all your meals in the future."

Yin Xu smiled and said, "Why do you think about eating every day?"

Qi Yongfan was confident, "The desire to eat and drink is the pursuit of a person's life, why not?"

"That's true." Yin Xu laughed it off.

In the evening, Qi Yongfan rolled up his sleeves and cooked a sumptuous dinner in the shop.All the fresh ingredients purchased from the vegetable market are used, such as roast beef, whole chicken stewed with mushroom soup, and a plate of freshly fried spicy spring bamboo shoots.

The spring bamboo shoots are extremely fresh and crisp in the mouth.The three of them settled a large plate in a few strokes.Yin Xu especially loves this dish, perhaps because he is addicted to spicy food, he doesn't even change his face when he eats the abnormally spicy spicy noodles.

There were no guests at night, so Qi Yongfan closed the business early and let Liu Yuanzi and the others go home early.

After closing the door, he sat down and had a great meal with Yin Xu and Ye Zi around a table.

After dinner, Yin Xu said he wanted to go out for a walk.Last time his wind-cold was not fully healed, so he had to go to the pharmacy to get some more medicines.

Qi Yongfan waved him away and left alone in the store to clean up the dishes.

Outside it was raining harder and harder.He went out to throw out the trash with an umbrella, and accidentally saw a boy digging through the trash, looking for some leftover food, and desperately stuffing it into his mouth.

Those leftovers were probably dropped by Longyou Tavern yesterday, and they were rotten and smelly, exuding an unpleasant rotten smell.While eating, the boy scooped up the dirty rice and stuffed it into his pocket.

Qi Yongfan put the wrapped leftovers beside him, bent down and asked, "Where are your parents?"

The per capita income of residents in Nanshan Town is considerable, so it stands to reason that there is no such embarrassing beggar.

The worst time has not yet come, and even the villagers in the south have hot food to eat.

The boy choked, and coughed loudly: "They are in the ruined temple in the east of the city. We escaped from the north and haven't eaten for a long time..."

The boy smelled the aroma, and immediately reached out to grab the steaming leftovers, the rain mixed with the stains on his fingers, he ate quickly, and then cried out.

"It's delicious..." He began to cry loudly.

Qi Yongfan's heart was as cold as if he had been drenched by a torrential rain.A trace of coolness spread from head to toe, spreading all over the body.He could only try his best to put an umbrella on the boy, took a deep breath, and asked, "...do you know how many refugees there are?"

"I saw so many, I can't count...but some of them died on the road..."

……

In the continuous drizzle, Miao Medicine Shop.

Amidst the pattering rain came Lao Miao's sigh, "A letter from the palace urging you to return to Beijing."

Yin Xu stood under the eaves with his hands behind his back, staring at the vast rain and mist, and said: "It's not yet the time for my father's grace, and besides the capital is in turmoil now, it's even more inappropriate for me to go back."

"Madam concealed your whereabouts, but the spies of the Eighth and Ninth Princes will find this place soon, in case your identity is revealed..."

Lao Miao felt anxious.

"Go back to Beijing in early summer." Yin Xu said, "As for the Eighth and Ninth Princes, I will take care of them."

"Do you want to take the son-in-law too?"

"En." The corners of Yin Xu's lips curled up in a subtle arc, looking at the gray misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River in the distance, and the emerald green mountains were shrouded in grayness.

He murmured: "Da Yin, the sky is about to change."