The cart fell silent on the way to the county town because of Lin Feng’s words. Only the sound of wheels turning could be heard. Later Shen Fulang found another topic to discuss with other brothers and everyone joined in, even Li Conggen joined in, making Tang Chunming admire him for his shamelessness and his skin that was as thick as the city wall, for being able to sit on the cart until he reached his destination.

“ Boy Feng, did your uncle do that back then, why didn’t you say anything after coming back?”

“Uncle, it’s all over now, I got to know more and seen a lot outside for the past few years, thanks to them.”

For Li Feng, it doesn’t make any difference whether he mentions it or not, If he doesn’t say anything people in the village still know that his uncle had used an unscrupulous method to recruit him into the army, but even if they knew, what could they do?

In the past few years, his uncle’s family had grabbed the houses and land left by his parents and no one came forward to propose punishment. He understands the thoughts of the villagers, but it’s better to do less than do more. On the surface it is enough not to mention if anyone went to the north, it was not known whether they could come back alive, so others in the Li family turned a blind eye.

Shen Fulang also knew about the incident in the village. Even though his family head was an upright man, there were still a few elder’s weight on his head. Sometimes his words may not be effective, so the head of the family still had expectations for his two sons. If one of them were to pass the exams, then at least he wouldn’t be suppressed by the elders.

Tang Chunming saw that Li Feng was unwilling to talk much about the past events, and felt a little sympathetic toward him. Of course, looking at his current situation, he didn’t need to be pitied, So he took the initiative to ask Mr. Shen about the situation in the county town.

They entered the city from the west gate. According to Shen Fulang, the common people are concentrated in the west and the northern parts of the town. While the east and south are where the dignitaries and rich people live.

According to this distribution, there are two large markets in the county, known as the East market and the West market, and because they target different groups of people, the grades of the two needs are quite different.

The school where the two boys from Shen Fulang’s family attend is located on South Street. It is very famous in Anping County because not just anyone can enter if they want to. The fact that the two boys from Li Zhen’s family can enter this school shows that they are good at studying, and are well cultivated by Li Feng.

Shen Fulang’s original intention was to let Tang Chunming go with him to meet his son, then return to the Western market to go shopping and buy some things. But how could Tang Chunming agree with Shen Fulang and the sharp-eyed Li Feng around, how could he find opportunities to make money by selling his vegetables, so could only refuse firmly?

Shen Fulang observed Tang Chunming’s face and thought maybe due to the bumps on the road his weak body couldn’t bear it so he had to give up the arrangement.

“ Look around then we’ll meet at Liangji Restaurant in an hour and have lunch together, but in such a crowded place be careful when taking Ah-Lin with you. Mr. Feng and I will be back soon.”

“Don’t worry Ah-Lin and I will wait for you at the restaurant, Don’t be in haste. Your son will have a lot to say after not seeing each other for so long.” Tang Chunming advised thinking that one to two hours would be enough for him to get everything done.

Shen Fulang gave Tang Chunming a strange look. He was still worried about the two of them, but Brother Ming now had more ideas than in the past. He gave a few more instructions, stressing that he would keep his money safe so it wouldn’t be stolen. Shen Fulang then got in the cart.

“Be careful when you take Ah-Lin with you, and…I’m sorry.”

 Unexpectedly Li Feng, who had never spoken to Tang Chunming suddenly turned around and said such a sentence to him. Tang Chunming was stunned for a moment and when he realized why Li Feng had said sorry to him, the ox-cart was already gone.

It seems that this person thought that the gossip was all caused by him, especially since the people who spread the gossip were his uncle’s family.

Tang Chunming couldn’t help laughing, he thought Li Conggen’s family character was just like that, Even without Li Feng, they would still be gossiping about him saying that he had gotten together with someone else. They would probably get sores in their mouth if they didn’t speak.

When Tang Chunming was having trouble with the Zhao family the other day, Li Conggen’s family joined in saying some weird things about him. He didn’t take such people’s words to heart, If he had to quibble with the middle-aged thug, could it be a self-degradation? In his mind, a middle-aged thug is equivalent to a thug, although Tang Chunming has the body of a ger he still mentally thinks he is a grown man.

“Mom, there are so many people.”

Ah-Lin had been tightly grabbing his mother’s hand when they got off the cart. He was afraid he might get separated from her and get lost, but his dark eyes curiously stared at the crowd in front as well as the street vendors by the roadside.

“Let’s go, Mother will buy you something delicious.”

There were candid haws which were bright red and very pleasing to the eye. In his memory, Ah-Lin has never eaten such snacks and rarely eaten the other snacks.

There were many children around the vendor, some adults saw this and bought one for their children.

The child happily chewed on it, causing the children who didn’t have any to stare at him with envy and longing, and then turn to look at their parents.

Some adults ruthlessly took their children away, while those who were not looked at by adults remained gathered around having a good time just smelling the fragrance.

“Mom… Ah-Lin doesn’t want…” Ah-Lin was greedy, but seeing that he had to spend money to eat, he still swallowed his saliva and wanted to refuse against his desire.

“Listen to Mother,” he said as he walked, the vendor called out “Bother give me some candied haws.”

“Hey, here it is, it’s for the little ger.” The vendor responded enthusiastically and put a candied haw into Ah-Lin’s hand.

Ah-Lin looked as his mother handed out the money and felt happy and confused. The chickens he had raised had not grown up yet and he still had not earned money for his mother, did his mother have money?

Tang Chunming took a deep breath, grabbed Ah-Lin’s hand, and started walking. He had thought of what he wanted to do several times in his mind. Although it was a bit risky, it was something he had to do given his situation, and no one would know, thinking of his hidden space. 

Ah-Lin was tugging at his hand, he turned around and saw Alin trying hard to hold up the candied haws in his hand, and said with bright eyes: “Mom, eat.”

The child was still thinking of his mother and hadn’t yet taken a bite. Tang Chunming felt soft-hearted and said, “ Okay, Mother will eat it, and Ah-Lin should also eat.”

He then bent down and took a small bite of the syrup on top of the candied haws. Well, the sweetness was overwhelming. Ah-Lin smiled happily, then bit onto the place his mother had just bitten, and then narrowed his eyes.

A quarter of an hour later, Tang Chunming and Ah-Lin arrived at the East market. Since the shops at the East market belonged to wealthy people, it was the only place he could sell his space dishes at a high price. At this time of the year, except the greenhouses of wealthy families, where can one get fresh green vegetables, when ordinary people cannot even afford them?

To save time, he especially found a bullock cart to take them there. He chatted with the cart driver for a while along the way inquiring about which big restaurants there were, and which ones had kind-hearted owners. In the town, the driver who traveled on the streets knows the situation better than anyone else…

Tang Chunming has tentatively set his target on two restaurants. One is Minglannju on the left and the other is Tingjing Pavillion on the right. They both have very prestigious names and both have official backgrounds, they are the two largest restaurants in town.

They had come out early in the morning before dawn and spent another two hours on the road. Now it should be around ten o’clock in the morning, not yet lunchtime. So there were not many guests coming in and out of the restaurant at this time. Tang Chunming looked at the old clothes that he and his son had worn, worried that he might not be allowed in later.

“Mom…” Ah-Lin slowly nibbled on the piece of candied haw on his hand, he couldn’t bear to finish it all at once while sharing it with his mother. When his mother stopped walking, he tagged on her hand curiously.

Tang Chunming squatted down, pointed at the two restaurants while hugging Ah-Lin’s little body, and asked:

 “ Ah-Lin which of these two places do you like? Choose one for Mother and we will sell vegetables to him which can be exchanged for a lot of money.”

While Ah-Lin was contemplating and struggling to decide on the the great task given to him by his mother, in Tingjing Pavillion, the shopkeeper was sighing. This season was tough for restaurants, The boss had originally ordered a batch of green vegetables to be delivered, but he was intercepted halfway by their archrival, the Minglanju Pavillion. Who made Minglanju’s background higher than that of their bosses, the boss had no choice but to continue to look for alternative sources of vegetables.

At this time, the shopkeeper heard the voice of the waiter who was waiting at the door: “ Go, go, I told you that our boss is not here! we won’t accept it.” We only listen to Jingge’s words.”

“Xiao Shuanzi, what are you talking about?” The shopkeeper was upset, and became even more irritated, and angrily scolded.

“Shopkeeper,” the waiter walked in and said with a grimace, “The scholar is here again, didn’t the boss say last time that his calligraphy was not up to standard and he couldn’t enter our Tingjing Pavillion? He still didn’t believe it and wants to ask our boss to take another look.”

 To create an elegant atmosphere, Tingjing Pavillion collected a lot of poems, calligraphy, and paintings, hanging them on the wall for people to appreciate. Some wealthy diners feel that they can meet some literari by just walking around. The good atmosphere makes them feel that the quality of this restaurant is good and worthy of their status.