My eunuch godfather

The day before the nunnery was besieged.

The young man clutched the copper coins in his hand and walked down the street with his head hanging low.

Last night, the roof of a shack collapsed. A young man went over to help collect the body and found two copper coins.

Passing by the porridge distribution point, the young man instinctively wanted to go in and ask for a bowl, but then, remembering the copper coins in his hand, he turned around and walked away.

Two burly peddlers were selling grain there; one carried it on a shoulder pole, while the other played with a short knife.

The young man approached, and the other person looked at him warily. "Buying grain?"

"purchase."

The young man took out a copper coin and carefully showed it to the other person.

"Today we only have mixed noodles, about six-tenths of an ounce of sorghum, mixed with wheat bran, rice bran, and bean dregs, without any sand or soil."

The peddler carrying the load didn't reach out to take the copper coins, but pointed to the wooden box on his shoulder:

"If you want to buy, it'll cost one copper coin for three spoonfuls."

"purchase."

The young man took out a rough earthenware bowl and a piece of silk from his pocket and put the copper coins into the wooden box.

The peddler, who was playing with a short knife, picked up the copper coins and stuffed them into his pocket, then told the young man to put the earthenware bowl on his carrying pole.

He took a large spoon and a chopstick from the carrying pole and smoothed the tip of the spoon with the chopstick.

"Give."

The young man wrapped the ceramic bowl in silk cloth, tied it carefully, and held it in his arms.

On the silk cloth was a flower embroidered by his betrothed wife.

While fleeing the disaster, his fiancée's family disappeared; they may have already died.

The young man no longer cares about his fiancée; he only regrets that he gave the betrothal gifts too early.

When they fled the disaster, they had very few valuables left at home, so his mother, who had raised him with great difficulty, was always hungry.

Protecting the noodles in his arms, the young man walked back to the shack at a leisurely pace, so as not to attract attention.

He lives with only his mother, who is only in her fifties, but she broke her leg while fleeing the disaster.

Unable to afford medical treatment, he became partially disabled and unable to work.

"Mother, I went to work for the river work camp and bought some mixed noodles."

"My son, I heard from them that the river works camp is no longer hiring?"

"...We're still hiring, just not as many as before."

After hiding the mixed noodles, the young man forced a smile at his mother, "I'm going to work."

The old man nodded, closed his eyes tightly, and clasped his hands together, saying, "Buddha, please bless my son..."

Mother, Buddha won't protect you. Those lowly nuns who don't follow the precepts have already angered Buddha!

Before stepping out of the shack, the young man looked up and carefully examined the shack he had built himself.

It's not sturdy, but since there are no solid beams or other strong objects, a roof collapse is unlikely to kill anyone.

I hadn’t walked a few steps when I suddenly heard crying. It was a father and daughter from the same village, embracing each other and sobbing.

Beside them stood a wealthy man dressed in silk, two burly men with swords at their sides, and a half-full sack lying on the ground.

Young people have seen too much of this kind of separation and death in recent months and are no longer affected by it.

The young man came to a tea stall he frequented.

The tea stalls sold food; for just one coin, you could drink as much tea as you wanted. The tea was all low-quality tea meant to be preserved.

A one-cent mixed flour pancake, eaten bit by bit with a bowl of bitter tea, was enough to stave off hunger.

At this tea stall, someone used to tell stories, extolling how wonderful the river work camp was after just a few recitations.

Unfortunately, the young man still harbored some feelings for his fiancée and didn't register in time.

Now, seeing those river workers well-fed and full of energy, and with the river worker camp ceasing recruitment and work, it's clear that they're doing just that.

The young man was very jealous and resentful, and even hated his fiancée because of it, even though he knew in his heart that he was in the wrong.

Who knows, maybe his fiancée didn't die, but was bought by some rich man to be his concubine?

They're all sluts, they all deserve to die!

Unexpectedly, the storyteller came to tell stories again today.

"Hey, isn't this Xiao Wu?"

The storyteller, carrying a teacup, walked over and sat down in front of the young man, introducing him to Zuo Liangyu, who was standing beside him:

"Left sergeant, Xiao Wu escaped from Binzhou. He and the supervisor are practically from the same hometown. He worked in the river works camp."

"Shopkeeper, please add five white flour pancakes and a bowl of meat soup to this table!"

Zuo Liangyu glanced at Xiao Wu a few times, gave an order to the tea shop owner, and then turned to look at the storyteller.

The storyteller understood, drank the coarse tea in one gulp, and got up to leave.

Xiao Wu guessed what was going on, but the aroma of the flour made him unable to move.

"Eat it while it's hot."

After Xiao Wu ate five pancakes with the meat broth, Zuo Liangyu asked the shopkeeper for another serving, smiling slightly:

"Although the river work camp is no longer recruiting, if you follow me to do something, you might be able to work there."

"What are you doing?"

"You only talk the talk, but you don't walk the walk."

"......Do."

"Okay, wait for me here again tomorrow."

After finishing his pancake and meat soup, Xiao Wu got up and left. A moment later, he arrived at a pawn shop.

He pulled a stack of documents from his pocket and asked the shopkeeper behind the iron-barred counter:

Do you accept land deeds?

The shopkeeper didn't touch it, and asked Xiao Wu:

"Where did you come from?"

"Binzhou."

"Could it be the salt fields of the Binle Salt Bureau? The government doesn't collect taxes on its own land."

"No, it's farmland, with a red contract."

"Let me see... It has an official seal, but you're just a nobody!"

After reviewing the land deed, the shopkeeper forcefully pressured Xiao Wu to lower the price:

"It has skin but no bones; it's not irrigated, so it's not worth much. We don't need to ask relatives and neighbors, but have we asked our elders?"

"I asked."

"Five mu and four fen and two li, I'll give you one fen of land and one fen of silver, with a monthly interest of six si."

The shopkeeper presented Xiao Wu with the following conditions:

"If the debt is not cleared after one year, then go to the yamen to draw up a contract to transfer the land, and include the principal and interest in the land price."

After carefully keeping the land deed, the shopkeeper wrote a pawn ticket for Xiao Wu using the shop's pawn code and stamped it with three different seals.

Give him another half tael of silver and thirty-four copper coins.

Back near the shack, Xiao Wu went to the porridge distribution point and begged for a bowl of thin porridge, using it to swallow the torn-up pawn ticket.

The porridge was so hot that it brought tears to Xiao Wu's eyes.

......

"You son of a bitch!" "Open the door!" "Hand over those sluts!"

Thousands of disaster victims surrounded the nunnery from all directions.

Wei Sengteng led several skilled men, while Zuo Liangyu led a dozen or so transport soldiers, mingling among the disaster victims as the backbone of the operation.

Zuo Liangyu's parents died early, and he was raised by his uncle, who was the commander of the Shandong transport army and in charge of the Linqing section of the Grand Canal.

"Master Kun's men will arrive soon."

Feeling that the time was about right, Wei Sengteng instructed Zuo Liangyu, "Let the fighting begin!"

"yes!"

Zuo Liangyu, leading the transport troops, found the disaster victims he had personally recruited over the past few days and said in a deep voice:

"If you want to get into the river works camp, then be at the very front!"

Xiao Wu's palms were sweaty. He wiped them haphazardly on his clothes and took the stick from Yun Jun.

"Charge! Smash down the door of this brothel!"

A skilled individual mingled among the disaster victims raised his arm and gave a shout, which was echoed by the other skilled individuals and transport soldiers, who led the disaster victims toward the nunnery.

"Damn those scoundrels!"

Seeing this scene from the roof of the Guanyin Hall, Protector Qiu shouted in a shrill voice to Qian Laowu, the gang leader below:

"Those troublemakers are going to break down the door!"

"Brothers, follow me!"

Qian Laowu shouldered a large sword weighing several dozen kilograms, led his gang out of the temple gate, and roared at the approaching disaster victims:

"Damn it, who's got a death wish and wants to try their luck with my big knife?!"

Actually, such a heavy broadsword is not good for actual combat, but it is very suitable for intimidating people.

Sure enough, when the disaster victims saw that Qian Laowu was tall and strong, and had a thick and long broadsword, they were so frightened that they all retreated.