Chapter 259 - Show
“We don’t have wheat flour but we do have millet flour and corn flour. Do you want them?”
An old man was sitting on a flat piece of stone with a clay bowl. He was selling flours of different kinds and explaining to Lu Zhuangyuan who had been looking to buy some food ingredients.
“Why don’t you have wheat flour? There’s wheat everywhere within the field. We are willing to pay for it,” Lu Zhuangyuan huffed.
While the other kinds of flour were edible, they were coarser and not as refined as wheat flour. Also, since he was not spending his own money, there was no reason to be stingy about it. He wanted to eat something better.
The old man shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t sell it. I have to give the wheat flour to the officials as taxes. If I don’t, my son would be taken by them to be a slave.”
“Young Daoist, what should we do?” Lu Zhuangyuan turned around and looked at Li Huowang, feeling puzzled. The latter was petting Bun at the back.
After getting his approval, Lu Zhuangyuan turned back to the old man. “Alright, we will take it. We will take the coarser flour. Since we are buying in bulk, give us a good price.”
As the bags of food were placed onto the horse carriage, the entire carriage sank slightly deeper into the ground.
There were benefits to buying in bulk. The old man agreed to their request of letting them stay at his place. He had two empty granaries that they could stay the night in.
Even though the flour they bought was coarse, Yang Xiaohai was able to make some delicious meals out of them. He first made some dough before placing it onto the edge of the black pot. The heat cooked the dough into delicious flat cornbreads. He was also using some lamb bones to cook soup in a pot. Their dinner tonight consisted of flat cornbread with hearty lamb soup. It was a simple yet delicious meal.
“Young Daoist, there’s a lot of people in this area. We need to have some people watch over the lambs during the night, or I’m afraid that someone might come and steal them,” reminded Lu Zhuangyuan while drinking the soup.
“Don’t worry. Let Bun sleep amongst the lambs. If someone tries to steal them, Bun will bark loudly,” said Li Huowang as he threw a piece of the lamb bone downward.
Seeing the piece of lamb bone, Bun immediately snatched it up and started happily munching on it.
“It might not be adequate if we only have a dog keeping watch. How about this? I can guard the lambs along with my youngest son. I’ve heard that these lambs become extremely valuable once they're out of Qing Qiu,” suggested Lu Zhuangyuan.
When Li Huowang did not deny his request, Lu Zhuangyuan smiled.
Hehe, the Lu family is having another chance to show its worth!
“Is your daughter-in-law fine? She gave birth out in the wilderness after all. Should we find someone to see if she’s ok?” asked Li Huowang.
“No need. She had already given birth once, and so it should come naturally to her, just like pooping. Oh, I suppose this is not appropriate to say during a meal. Sorry, young Daoist,” said Lu Zhuangyuan.
While they were happily eating within the granary, they heard some commotion outside.
Puppy turned around and gave Li Huowang a knowing look. Then, he grabbed a piece of flat cornbread and curiously walked outside with his bowl of soup.
The granary fell silent, except for the slurping and chewing noises. The flat cornbread was quite chewy after adding in the millet flour so they had to eat it slowly.
Soon, Puppy came back with a happy face, his bowl already empty. “You guys, do you know what I just saw?”
Everyone took one glance at him before continuing with their meal.
“What did you see?” Lu Xiucai asked to dispel the awkwardness surrounding his best friend.
Puppy put down his bowl and clapped his hands. “I just saw someone performing there. There were both men and women. They set up their stage just outside the village.”
Li Huowang and the others did not react to this, but the Lu family was immediately interested. The competition between those in the same field of work was intense.
“Aiyo~” Lu Zhuangyuan placed his bowl onto the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeves. He stood straight and walked out like a proud rooster. “Come, let’s go and see what kind of performance is being shown in the Liang Kingdom!”
Li Huowang stared at them leaving the place as he continued munching on his flat cornbread. He noticed that Lu Zhuangyuan was indifferent toward many things, but he became oddly competitive when he encountered another performance troupe.
While Li Huowang was not interested in it, the others were somewhat attracted to it. After all, they had been traveling for so long and hadn’t had the chance to relax. Thus, when they heard that there was a performance, the others wanted to watch it as well. They ate quickly and kept away their empty bowls without even washing them.
“Senior Li, let’s go!”
“Yeah, let’s go and watch, Daoist. I love performances too.”
“No,” refused Li Huowang.
“Senior Li, please don’t be like that. The performances here are incredible! I used to watch them while getting hugged by my grandmother.” Bai Lingmiao gently pulled on his wrist while trying to persuade him.
“Yeah, let's go! Daoist, I beg you.” Monk’s illusion was also doing his best to persuade Li Huowang.
Li Huowang almost cursed at the illusion, but had to swallow his words so as to not scare Bai Lingmiao.
Li Huowang placed down his bowl and walked outside. As he did, he heard both Bai Lingmiao and Monk cheering from behind him at the same time.
When he walked out of the granary, he saw that the spacious entrance of the village was very crowded. There were even people sitting on the walls and the trees. It seemed that everyone within the village was gathered here, including the Lu family.
Li Huowang carried Bai Lingmiao and jumped up onto a roof. There, they sat down on the solid roof tiles and watched the brightly lit stage.
The troupe had lit numerous lanterns along the stage in order to let the audience have a good view of them.
Jiang jiang jiang jiang~
One of the performers made their entrance along with the rhythm. The performer had a red face, six flags on their back, and wore a crown with two long pheasant tails.
The performer danced briefly while holding a mace in each of his hands. Then, the performer smacked both maces together and the music stopped. Before anyone knew what was going on, the performer started singing in a strong and powerful voice.
“Hear the sound of the golden drum~ Summon your~ Courageous spirit~ Recall your warhorse and your heroic figure! We must uphold our responsibility! We must not lose even an inch of our land to them!”
“Yeah!”
Bai Lingmiao and Monk’s illusion clapped at the same time. Li Huowang looked at Bai Lingmiao having fun before looking back toward the stage.
Li Huowang didn’t know what kind of story it was, who the character in front of him was, nor who they were fighting against. All he could deduce from the lyrics was that the performer was a general from the Liang Kingdom and that he was boosting the morale of his men before the war.
But he didn’t really read too deep into it. Since he was persuaded by Bai Lingmiao to be here, he just sat there with her to make her happy.
At first Li Huowang thought that the performance was the same as the Lu Family Troupe’s, where they just sang on the stage. But, he soon saw what made the performance in the Liang Kingdom incredible.
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