The people nearby responded: "Yes, the food you sell is really cheap..."
Another citizen nodded and said, "I have many children in my family, so I always let them eat first. As for me, I am lucky if I can eat until I am 50% full. My mother is reluctant to eat too much because food is really expensive nowadays... Until you came out to buy steamed buns, I don't know why they are so cheap and delicious. It feels like a dream..."
"Well, my family's situation is a little better. We have hens at home, but every time we boil eggs, we save them for the children. I didn't expect to get free boiled eggs when I bought steamed buns today. Although I don't understand why the eggs are peeled and broken into pieces, I am really happy. I will let my parents eat these boiled eggs when I go back! They have suffered all their lives, and it is rare that I can buy so much food today. I must make sure they are full."
"One penny can buy a big bowl of food, and it's white flour buns. Just looking at this bowl, I feel so happy... Thank you so much."
There were smiles on the faces of the people.
Widow Yan's heart softened when she saw this. She had been used to a hard life before, and it was not until she believed in the immortals that her life got better day by day. She said, "Don't worry, I will start kneading the dough when I get back. I will make more and bring it back to sell tomorrow."
One of the people asked curiously: "Big sister, are you from a wealthy family? You specially made delicious food to help us..."
Another citizen said: "Of course. For a poor person like me, my own food is not enough to eat, so how can I have any extra to sell?"
Widow Yan said, "I used to live the same life as you did. We were very poor and had nothing to eat... To be honest, you are lucky to live in a town. Although the food here is a bit expensive, at least you can buy food. I couldn't buy anything even if I wanted to before. I was so desperate that I wanted to bite my fingers. Fortunately..."
"Luckily what?"
The people's curiosity was aroused.
Widow Yan shook her head, "Forget it, I can't talk about this for now."
"How can you only say half of what you are saying? You've whetted our appetite."
Widow Yan still shook her head. Village Chief Jiang did not allow people to talk nonsense outside or spread their beliefs at will. Widow Yan felt that she had said enough today, so she kept silent. The people stopped asking questions and everyone was busy buying food and going home.
In addition to giving away boiled eggs today, a spoonful of broccoli is also given away. However, many people grow a small vegetable plot in their yard and can eat vegetables themselves, so they are not very enthusiastic about broccoli and prefer boiled eggs.
During this time, a few people wanted to cut in line, but Widow Yan and others were only responsible for selling food and had no time to take care of such things.
Ye Keke was watching from the horizon. She had nothing to do, so she reached out and pulled a few people who had cut in line to the back of the line.
These civilians were all strong and obviously martial artists. At first they thought someone was plotting against them from behind, but when they turned around, they found that there was no one behind them and no one had touched them. They were scared to death.
One of the men became incontinent on the spot. His expression was extremely embarrassed, and he felt like he had lost all face. He was dragged to the end of the team with his stiff body. Only when he felt the force at the back of his neck disappear did he quickly stuff the basin into his companion's arms, turn around and run away.
Now, no one dared to cut in line and cause trouble again, but most people didn't understand what was going on, because they couldn't see the hand in the sky. They could only see that the queue cutters spontaneously stood at the back of the line, and their faces were pale, as if they had been greatly frightened.
The people were puzzled, but they did not dare to ask too many questions, because these men who cut in line were thugs in the area and ordinary people did not want to provoke them.
Soon, the food in the carriage was emptied bucket by bucket. Widow Yan wiped the sweat from her forehead. When it was almost over, she saw a tall and thin young man running towards her with a basin in his hand.
Widow Yan recognized him and greeted him with a smile, "Why are you so late? You're the last one again."
There was still sweat on the tall and thin young man's forehead, and he was slightly out of breath. Fang Yurong had introduced him last time, saying that his name was Zhao Bao, and he was a filial son in the town. He was burdened with his brother's debts and had to support his elderly parents. His wife had also taken the children back to her parents' home. He was a poor man.
Zhao Bao brought two basins this time. He took out two copper coins from his pocket, handed them to Widow Yan, and said, "I'll buy two this time..."
Widow Yan returned a copper coin and said, "It just so happens that the rest can't be sold. If you don't mind that it's the bottom of the barrel, I'll sell it to you."
Zhao Bao quickly said: "I don't mind, I don't mind."
Grandma Chen also heard about Zhao Bao's family situation last time, so she filled the steamed buns full and filled the empty space with crushed eggs.
Grandpa Song said, "Hey, go back and get another basin. When you buy steamed buns here, we give you vegetables for free. I have a lot of vegetables left. I'll give them all to you."
"Need not."
Zhao Bao's face turned red. "I've already bought a lot of things with this penny. I don't want the vegetables..."
Grandma Chen said, "Where is your home? We are about to close the stall, so Xiaoyan and I will go shopping, and I will ask Lao Song to take the horse to take you home."
"Really, there's no need..."
Zhao Bao's refusal was in vain because Grandma Chen placed his other basin directly on the carriage.
Although Grandpa Song is a grandfather, he is actually only in his forties and is still in good health. He pulled the carriage and followed behind Zhao Bao.
Zhao Bao seemed to be hesitant to speak all the way. He led the way in silence and came to a low bungalow.
The wooden door looked very shabby. When I pushed it open, I saw a thin old lady sitting in the yard.
The old lady's face was covered with wrinkles. She sat in the sun with cloudy and sad eyes. No one knew what she was thinking.
Zhao Bao called out, "Mom."
The old lady suddenly became energetic, she stood up and said, "Bao'er, you're back..."
Zhao Bao said, "Mom, please sit down first. I brought a guest back today. I will go and pour a cup of tea for the guest."
"well..."
Grandpa Song helped bring in a rice bowl, and immediately discovered that Zhao Bao's family was really poor. They could almost be described as bare-bones. The entire room only had a bed, a table, chairs and a cabinet, and nothing else. The mother and son's clothes were patched, and even the window paper in the room was torn. It was okay in the summer, but I didn't know how the mother and son would survive in the winter.
Zhao Bao took out a few empty bowls and said repeatedly, "Thank you, please come with me."
Grandpa Song said, "It's no trouble. I'm not busy anyway."
He scooped out the broccoli with a spoon and went back to the carriage to get a bowl of steamed buns.
The old lady was surprised to see so much food. She said in a panic: "Bao'er, why did you buy so much food? We...we don't have so many copper coins. The weather is hot and it will go bad if we don't eat it..."
Grandpa Song said, "Then you can share some with your neighbors, exchange the food for some money, or exchange it for something else, to improve your life."
The old lady seemed to be very vigilant. She stared at Grandpa Song and asked, "Who are you and why are you so kind to my Bao'er?"
The "Bao'er" she called out sounded the same as "Bao'er". Zhao Bao came out with water and his face turned green when he heard these words. He said, "Mom, please go back to the house! Eat more steamed buns while they are still hot."
Then she turned to Grandpa Song and said, "I'm sorry, uncle. My mother didn't mean to question you. It's mainly because my eldest brother made some bad friends. These friends gave my eldest brother food and drinks at first... Later, they tricked my eldest brother into gambling and lost all the family property... So my mother is very sensitive about this. She is afraid that I will follow my eldest brother's old path, so she is very emotional."
Grandpa Song originally thought that the old lady had a bad attitude and questioned him as soon as he entered the door, but he didn't expect there was such a reason. He immediately lost his temper and said, "It's understandable. After all, we are not related. If I suddenly treat you too well, normal people will be suspicious, not to mention that your family has been cheated once..."
Grandpa Song took the water, which was at room temperature, and felt that it did not taste as good as the water in the "White Porcelain Fairy Pond" bestowed by the immortals, so he took a few sips and put it down, saying, "Young man, don't worry, I never gamble either."
Zhao Bao nodded vigorously, "Well, you are different from my eldest brother's group of bad friends. You are sent by God to save us."
"Um?"
Hearing this, Grandpa Song couldn't help but look at Zhao Bao in surprise, because when the Mojia Village people came out to set up stalls, they never claimed to be immortals. The people of Hulu Town would only think that Widow Yan and others were helping everyone because they had too much food, but they would not think of heaven. So... what did Zhao Bao mean by this?
Grandpa Song pondered for a moment and asked, "Can you see something that others can't see?"
Zhao Bao hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "At first I thought I was hallucinating, but later I found out it wasn't, because the window paper of my house was torn, and I once saw through the window paper a beautiful fairy in the night sky. The fairy put down a lot of things... It looked like a big box, but I couldn't see what was inside. Later, the fairy disappeared for a few days, and a new female fairy appeared in the sky... I thought my hallucinations were getting worse, but I didn't have money to buy medicine and see a doctor, so I worked hard to make money, thinking that while I still had the strength, I could quickly pay off my gambling debts and save some money for my mother, so that even if I am gone one day, she can still live."
After a pause, Zhao Bao continued, "Until today, when I was working, I saw a hand reaching down from the sky. That hand pulled several people who cut in line to the back of the line. Only then did I finally realize that I was not sick before, and the scenes I saw were real."
Grandpa Song said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Zhao Bao scratched his head and said, "Because I found that other people's expressions were very calm, as if they couldn't see the hand in the sky, so I pretended that I couldn't see it and pretended that nothing happened."
Grandpa Song looked disappointed and said, "You...you are really confused. Since you can see the hand in the sky, it means you are qualified to talk to the gods. This is your chance. Do you understand?"
Zhao Bao shook his head, "I don't understand."
Grandpa Song said, "This is a long story, let's go inside and talk about it."
Zhao Bao said, "Okay."
At this time, the old lady came out of the kitchen, holding a steamed bun in her hand, and said, "Bao'er, have you eaten? This is delicious..."
Zhao Bao said, "I'll eat later."
The old lady said stubbornly: "Eat now."
Grandpa Song said, "Auntie, please go inside and get some sleep. Zhao Bao and I have something important to discuss. Don't worry, I will never let him go hungry."
The old lady's expression suddenly changed, because her eldest son's group of friends had said something similar. She picked up the broom from behind the door and said, "Okay, I knew you had the same bad intentions as those people. You want to corrupt my son, don't you?"
Grandpa Song said: "No, I have children to raise, how could I get involved in gambling? I..."
Before he could finish his words, the old lady's broom came hitting him.
Grandpa Song didn't dare to fight back, for fear of hurting the old lady, so he could only quickly flee from the yard.
"mother!"
Zhao Bao shouted and snatched the broom away, "Mom, please stop making trouble. I'm already very tired!"
The old lady looked at her son and her tone suddenly weakened. "Bao'er, are you angry? I have no ill intentions. I am just afraid that you will meet a bad person and be deceived by him, just like your elder brother..."
Zhao Bao said, "I have my own ideas. You should go back to the house."
Seeing his ugly expression, the old lady didn't dare to provoke him anymore and could only go back to her room.
Zhao Bao came to the door and quickly apologized to Grandpa Song.
Grandpa Song was not angry. After all, he ran fast and was not really hit just now. Moreover, in his eyes, Zhao Bao was a potential stock. He wanted to make friends with Zhao Bao, so he smiled and said, "It's okay. The old man's mood is understandable. Let me tell you briefly."
"I'm from Mojia Village. When we were poor and destitute, an immortal sent down auspicious food so that we could fill our stomachs."
"However, there is a difference between immortals and mortals. Not everyone can see immortals. Only children under the age of seven and some adults with immortal affinity can be lucky enough to glimpse the faces of immortals."
"We respectfully call her the Bright Moon Fairy."
"The fairy is compassionate, kind and friendly. She gave us clean water, as well as plenty of food and cloth."
"Now we don't have to worry about food every day. Later, the immortal said that some people in Hulu Town were struggling to survive, so he asked us to bring food and sell it in the town."
Hearing this, Zhao Bao asked: "Why doesn't the immortal appear directly? I have only seen immortals at night before, rarely during the day..."
Grandpa Song first said, "How can we mortals understand the thoughts of the gods?" Then he explained, "I heard from the village chief that the gods think that most of the people in your town are living well. The gods don't want the people to develop a character of getting something for nothing, so they hide in the dark and don't want to interfere too much."
"Moreover, the immortal provided us with flour, boiled eggs, etc. for free, allowing us to try to do business. This can help us improve our abilities and also allow the poor people in your town to eat white flour buns. After all, it is a business with no capital investment. Even if we only sell for one penny, we will not lose money. At most, we will make less money..."