Chapter 12 Black Faced Baozi

  Although it was still an hour before the curfew, there were no people on the main street after the watchman's call. Most of the shops by the roadside had already closed and locked their doors, and there were no street lamps on the road, so they could only borrow the light from the windows of the houses by the roadside to illuminate the way.

  Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, one by one, shining brightly and then dimly in the scattered light, like tiny spirits dancing in the night sky. They fell on Zuo Shao Yang's head and shoulders, and before long, they covered everything.

  Zuǒ shǎo yáng yě bù xiǎng bǎ xuě huā dǒu luò, jǐn guì dòng de yá guān gā gā dǎ jià, ěr duo shēng téng, tā hái méi yǒu pǎo, shèn zhī yě bù kuài zǒu, yī rú wèi jǐn wèi màn kōng zhe yī xiù suō zhé gǔ zi zǒu zhe, yī biān sì xià zhāng wàng, qí zhe yè sè lǐ de chéng tǔn, zài màn tiān xuě huā zhōng, gǔ dài chéng tǔn de yī qiè zài tā yǎn zhōng dōu chōng mǎn le xīn qí.

  At last, he returned to the Guzhi Hall. As soon as he knocked on the door, it opened, and Huixiang said with a worried face: "How come you're back so late? We were all worried to death! Where did you go?" While speaking, she helped him brush off the snowflakes from his shoulders.

  "Just took a stroll." Zuo Shaoyang stood on the steps, stomped his feet, rubbed his hands together, and blew air onto his mouth.

  "You were injured earlier, if the pain strikes again and you fall somewhere, what will happen! Hurry up and go inside!"

  Zuo Shaoyang walked into the main hall, and the main hall was still lit by that solitary oil lamp, a round table was placed in the center, with four bowls on it, a large ceramic plate and a large sea bowl in the middle. The plate had some salty dishes, and the sea bowl had a bowl of soup with a few green leaves floating on it.

  Zuo Gui was still sitting behind the long table, his hands wrapped in his sleeves, his head lowered as if thinking about something. Liang Shi sat beside the round table, wiping away tears, and when she saw him come in, she hastily wiped her eyes again, patted her waist with both hands, stood up and said: "Zhong Er, what are you wandering around for on this dark and stormy night? Hurry over to eat! —— Old Master, it's time to eat!"

  Although life was difficult and bitter in the pharmacy, Zuo Gui always regarded himself as a descendant of an official family with a scholarly fragrance, so Liang's family had always called him "Old Master" with reverence.

  Zuo Gui finally lifted his head and slowly walked over to sit down at the table, giving Zuo Shao Yang a glance.

  Zuo Shaoyang also sat down at the table, took a glance at the bowl, and saw that there were two black-faced buns. He reached out to pinch them, and they felt a bit hard. Just as he was about to take a bite, "slap" - his hand was hit with a chopstick, and it stung. He looked up to see his mother, Liang Shi, staring at him with wide eyes: "Zhong Er! What's gotten into you? Your father hasn't even picked up his chopsticks yet, what's the hurry? You never used to be like this, what's wrong today?"

  "Oh!" Zuo Shaoyang hastily put down the bun and glanced at Zuo Gui.

  Zuo Gui was also staring at him, slowly saying: "Just now I heard your sister say that you fell off the cliff of Qianren Mountain this afternoon and hit your head badly, so you can't remember anything, right?"

  Zuo Shaoyang nodded slightly.

  "What symptoms do you have now? Is your head still hurting?"

  "It doesn't hurt anymore."

  Zuo Gui stretched out his thin fingers and said, "Put out your hand, I'll take another pulse for you."

  After feeling the pulse carefully, Zuigui said thoughtfully: "The pulse is normal, but can you remember things from before now?"

  "Some I remember, some I don't."

  Zuo Gui's white eyebrows furrowed together, and after a moment of contemplation, he said: "Your pulse is fine, but judging from the wound on the back of your head, such a long wound shouldn't have this kind of pulse. And now you can't even remember past events, this is truly strange."

  Li looked at her son with concern and said, "It'll be okay in a few days. Let's eat first, the food is cold."

  "Yes, let's eat." Zuo Shaoyang chuckled: "I'm really hungry." Just now his mother, Liang Shi, had reminded him, and as he spoke, he didn't dare to move his chopsticks.

  Zuo Gui slowly picked up a bun, put it in his mouth, took a bite, and then pinched some pickled vegetables into his mouth, still thinking about his troubles with his head down.

  He saw Dongzi move his chopsticks, and then Liang said to Xiang and Zuo Shao Yang: "Eat! Eat quickly!"

  Zuo Shaoyang took a bite of the bun, and a bitter taste filled his mouth, along with what felt like sand-like particles. He scrunched up his face as he chewed, bringing the half-eaten black bun to the light to examine it closer. Inside, he found some yellowish strips added in. He picked one out and examined it on his fingertip, quickly recognizing it as the white skin of the mulberry tree root that he and his sister Xiang had brought back from Mount Qianren earlier that day.

  This medicine is the bark of the mulberry tree, dug up in winter, scraped off the coarse skin, and dried in the sun. It's a common medicine for relieving coughs and asthma. However, when I was studying, my teacher told me that during the famine years of 1960, many ordinary people used it as food to survive, saving countless lives. My teacher even ate it himself. Who would have thought that after crossing over into the Tang Dynasty, I would also end up eating this life-saving grain?

  He now understands why his and Angelica's backpacks were filled with mulberry roots in the afternoon. It turned out that Angelica followed him up the mountain, and collecting medicine was secondary. The main purpose was to dig up mulberry roots and peel off the white skin as food! He felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

  He glanced at Zuo Gui and the other two, not feeling any discomfort or difficulty swallowing, on the contrary, they were eating with gusto. Very soon, everyone's bowl of black noodles with white radish skin had been eaten clean, while Zuo Shao Yang still had one left untouched in his bowl, and the one in his hand was only half-eaten.

  Li saw him struggling to swallow and said lovingly, "Zhong'er, have some soup!" She took the spoon and ladled some soup into Zhaoyang's bowl. "Soak the bread in the soup and eat it, it'll be easier to swallow."

  The left Shǎo Yáng's stomach was growling with hunger, but the black-faced and white-skinned buns were too difficult to eat. However, he was very clear in his mind that this might be the staple food of his future life, and even if it didn't taste good, he would have to eat it. Thinking about this made him feel a chill run down his spine. He scrunched up his face, put the half bun in his bowl, poked at it with chopsticks, and forced himself to take a bite.

  As expected, after soaking, although it was still so unpalatable, swallowing became much easier. He buried his head and finished the buns in one breath, finally filling his stomach, even though the taste was really not good.

  "Zhong Er, you told San Shu earlier to give you a few more days to gather the money. Where are you going to get so much money?" asked Liang Shi.

  Zuō Shǎo Yáng's idea at the time was to sell the musk and estimate that he could raise enough money, but now this beautiful dream has been shattered, and he doesn't know where to raise this money. He smiled bitterly: "I... I'm just a temporary measure. Anyway, when you reach the mountain, there will be a way, and when you reach the bridge, it will naturally go straight!"

  Li's eyes, which had been filled with some hope, suddenly dimmed again. He let out a light sigh and said to Zuogui: "Sir, what can we do? We could rent land to farm or even open up new land for cultivation. I heard from Hou Pu that the imperial court has announced that those who open up new land for cultivation will be exempt from taxes for three years, and then pay half of the normal tax rate for the next three years!"

  On the left Shao Yang road, listening to Ai Xiang help him recall that he said the situation of his relatives at home, knowing that Hou Pu is actually his sister Ai Xiang's husband, who works as a clerk in the county government office.

  "Farm the land?" Zuo Gui sighed, rolled up his sleeves and waved his arm like a flail, "Do I look like someone who farms? Besides, it's still winter now, can't farm until spring arrives, and harvest won't be until autumn. What are we going to do for half a year, drink the northwest wind?"

  Actually, Liang also knew this was unrealistic, it's just that he had reached a dead end and had no other choice but to say so.

  "Father, mother, if it's really not possible, then just move in with me. Hou Pu won't say anything."

  "Where can we go? Your whole family is already crowded in a small hut, and if we add our family to that, where will we sleep? Moreover, your life isn't easy either, relying on Hou Pu's meager salary. It's already very difficult for you, if we join you, I'm afraid it'll be too much for Hou Pu to handle!"

  "It's all right, he won't die! I help the yamen prison with laundry and sewing, and earn some money too..."

  "I won't go!" Zuo Gui muttered to himself, "Rather than follow my daughter's husband, I'd rather hang myself with a rope in this room! - Go to sleep!" After saying that, Zuo Gui stood up, put his hands behind his back, and hunched over as he walked into the bedroom on the left side of the main hall.

  Angelica helped Liang's family collect bowls and chopsticks. Xiao Shiyang wanted to help, but was pushed away by Liang's family, saying that the hot water had already been boiled, asking him to pour some for himself to scald his feet and sleep well.

  Zuo Shaoyang had already known that the kitchen was in a room on the right side, and he fumbled his way into it. The stove was lit, and by its light, he found the foot basin. He picked up half of a calabaza ladle from the stove and opened the lid of the pot, scooping out half a ladle of hot water and pouring it into the foot basin. Then, he scooped another ladle of water from the large water vat and poured it into the foot basin. Finding that there was not much water left in the vat, and seeing two water buckets beside it, he loudly asked: "Sister! Where can I go to fetch water? The water in the vat is almost gone, I'll go fetch some!"