Chapter 906: Do I Have to Pay for Noodles?

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Chapter 906: Do I Have to Pay for Noodles?

Zhebu was just a child, and couldn't really introduce anything substantial. After the usual flurry of introductions, the three boys were "acquainted."

Liu Maopao immediately unleashed his legendary charm, patting E'zhe's shoulder. "Little E'zhe, you've traveled a long way, so you probably don't know anything yet. But don't worry, Big Brother Maopao is here to teach you. If there's anything you don't understand, just come to me. I may not have much else, but I do have plenty of pocket money. If there's anything you want, you can also come to your big brother."

E'zhe, new to this place, was initially filled with trepidation. Hearing Liu Maopao's seemingly heartfelt words, he was instantly moved to tears, just like Zhebu before him, easily falling into the trap. "Oh? Big Brother Maopao, you're such a good person!"

Liu Maopao had happily gained another sworn brother. He took both boys by the hand. "Come on! Big Brother will treat you to good food and drinks. Let's have a blast!" —

Meanwhile, Zao Ying strode into the main keep of Gao Family Village and approached Gao Yiye.

Gao Yiye was currently writing a draft—a news script, to be precise!

Every day now, she had to prepare the foundation for the evening's Gaojia News. After a quick memorization, her delivery during the news recording was akin to an address from a national leader, which demanded utmost gravity.

It simply wouldn't do to accidentally miscommunicate the Heavenly Lord's meaning during an important news segment, resulting in a "compositional fallacy" that could skew everyone's understanding of political and economic matters.

Seeing Zao Ying enter, Gao Yiye put down her pen and said, delighted, "Sister Zao Ying, long time no see."

Zao Ying smiled, taking out a bag. She opened it to reveal a box, which, when opened, contained a beautiful jade tablet.

Gao Yiye gasped, "Ah? The Yuan Dynasty's Imperial Seal?"

Zao Ying nodded. "Indeed! This item is, in essence, the Yuan Dynasty itself. As long as the Mongols hold it, the Yuan Dynasty endures. If it falls into other hands, the Yuan Dynasty is considered fallen."

Hearing this, Gao Yiye's expression grew solemn. "How should we handle this item?"

Zao Ying replied, "That's not for me to say."

Gao Yiye smiled knowingly. "That's true. We'll have to ask the Heavenly Lord."

Zao Ying asked, "Is the Heavenly Lord here?"

Gao Yiye pointed to the "Puppet Heavenly Lord" sitting motionless in the corner, smiling softly. "The Heavenly Lord is not here at the moment; he's off experiencing the mortal world in Luoyang."

At this very moment, on a snack street in Luoyang...

The Puppet Heavenly Lord was holding a sweet sesame pastry, stuffing it into its silicone mouth, sampling the taste, then furtively spitting it out when no one was looking. Its movements were so secretive and muffled, it hardly looked like a good person.

Since the Heavenly Lord wasn't available, there was no rush to deal with the Imperial Seal. Gao Yiye placed it respectfully before the Puppet Heavenly Lord, like an offering for Li Daoxuan, perfectly arranged and quite pleasing to the eye.

—

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, during the transition from spring to summer, The bandit Ma Guangyu rose in Shangzhou and Luoyang, leading his forces to raid the outskirts of Luoyang.

He Renlong led Gao Jie to intercept them. Gao Jie deliberately held back, while He Renlong's reckless, solitary charge led to a crushing defeat for the imperial forces.

Fortunately, they were close to Luoyang, and Bai Yuan arrived with the Gao Family Village Militia. Ma Guangyu was routed and fled into the mountains.

Not long after, the Chuǎng Wang and the Eight Great Kings looted Nanyang and Tanghe.

He Renlong, along with Gao Jie and Zhang Quanchang, went to meet them. After a fierce battle, the imperial forces suffered a loss, and commanders such as Tian Yinglong died in combat. He Renlong and Gao Jie hastily retreated.

Cao Wenzhao arrived with reinforcements, finally pushing back the bandit army.

The fighting within Henan province was brutal!

It was summer now.

The weather was starting to heat up.

Li Daoxuan was sitting on the side of a small street in Luoyang, eating duck blood vermicelli soup.

The number of refugees on the street was visibly increasing.

This year was another year of severe drought...

Henan had suffered consecutive years of disaster, and the lives of the common people grew harder by the day. People from various villages were either coerced by bandit armies or fled to large cities like Luoyang for refuge.

Two gaunt and pale children stood at a distance, secretly watching Li Daoxuan's bowl, occasionally swallowing hard.

Li Daoxuan sighed and waved to the two children, doing his best to show a gentle expression. "Children, come here, come here."

The two children timidly approached.

Li Daoxuan offered them his bowl.

The children were overjoyed, quickly grabbing the duck blood vermicelli with their hands and stuffing it into their mouths. In an instant, the bowl was completely empty.

Li Daoxuan turned to the shop owner. "Another bowl."

The owner, understanding implicitly, quickly cooked and brought out another bowl.

As soon as he placed it before the children, they again dove in with their hands, and it was gone in a flash.

Li Daoxuan spread his hands. "Shop owner, just make five more bowls."

The owner, cooking the vermicelli, said, "Customer, you have a kind heart. But the refugees are increasing every day; you can't help them all."

Li Daoxuan smiled. "Can't help them all? That might not be true."

He began to ponder. His field of view had expanded to Luoyang, so it was time to make a move here, just like in Xi'an. However, development around Luoyang was a bit difficult right now. There were too many bandits constantly running rampant; Bai Yuan and the militia kept fighting them, but they just couldn't eliminate them all.

If he wanted to build factories outside Luoyang, they could only be in the northwest, which was already within his field of view and safe from bandits. But the area east of Luoyang was still a bit troublesome.

As he was thinking, the owner had finished the third bowl of vermicelli and placed it before the two children.

The two children began to share the vermicelli again...

A group of men, looking rather unsavory, came walking down the street. They were burly and imposing, dressed in martial artist garb, and carried weapons, like roving toughs from the jianghu.

There were ten of them in total. They sat down in the shop and slapped the table. "Shop owner, duck blood vermicelli soup, one bowl for each of us!"

The owner responded, "Coming right up!"

However, he didn't immediately start cooking the vermicelli. Instead, he first said, "That will be ten coppers a bowl."

Li Daoxuan inwardly thought, "Huh? When I came into this shop and asked for vermicelli, he just started cooking it for me and hasn't collected payment yet. But these jianghu men walk in, and the shop owner immediately tries to collect money first."

"Aha! It is called... I'm handsome, and clearly a good person, hahahaha."

The men shot dissatisfied glances at the owner. "What's the meaning of this?"

The owner replied, "Good sirs, you didn't settle your bill for the duck blood vermicelli soup last time. If you don't pay first this time, this humble shop owner doesn't dare to cook for you again."

Li Daoxuan thought: "Damn! So it wasn't because I'm handsome; it's because they have a history?"

The men sneered. "Are you trying to go out of business, shop owner? Don't you know who we are? We were hired by the Prince of Fu's Residence with a lot of money to protect you useless folk. And you dare to ask us for money?"