Chapter 12: Looking Down on People with Dog Eyes?

  Yang Bo and Tie Niu turned halfway, if they followed the main road, they should have entered Shandong province, but now they came to Jiangsu province.

  From casual conversations with the coachman, it was learned that the local county magistrate had almost turned white-haired over this matter. If these people were allowed to enter the city unchecked, wouldn't they devour this small county town? After several discussions, urgent letters were sent out one after another, ordering the expulsion of the refugees. Providing disaster relief has always been a thankless task; if mishandled, it could provoke an uprising among the people, and that would be a case of losing more than you gain.

  At the city gate, under the indication of a leading soldier, a mule cart loaded with wood swayed to a stop. The soldier stepped forward and scrutinized it cautiously. On the cart sat two young people, dressed in simple but spotlessly clean clothes despite being heavily patched, distinct from the disheveled refugees outside.

  Jun Han still didn't dare to be careless, and Liu Lao Han, who was in a hurry to catch the bus, asked: "How come there are two more people today?"

  Liu the old man hastily bowed and replied: "The military officer doesn't know, yesterday I accidentally strained my waist, today I had to bring two nephews from my hometown to help with unloading goods"

  Jun Han took a glance at the top of the car and saw Tie Niu's face full of foolishness, Yang Bo's face full of smiles, plus Liu Lao Han entering the city every day to sell hay, Jun Han didn't suspect anything else. He waved his hand to signal the cart to enter the city while laughing loudly at Liu Lao Han: "What's wrong with your waist? I think you old dog overexerted yourself last night!" The surrounding soldiers burst into loud laughter upon hearing this.

  Liu the old man dared to be angry but not speak, venting his anger on the whip instead. Yang Bo, who had been tense all along, finally relaxed, fortunately with a hemp cloth wrapped around his head, or else who knows what would have happened. The three of them stared blankly at the tattered and dirty refugees, their faces pale from hunger, as they argued and begged with the soldiers recruited from nearby camps. The refugees, who had struggled to get here with great difficulty, were originally full of hope, but the cruel reality had left them stunned.

  In the past two days, the county still had a pot of mouth, simmering some wild vegetables and thin porridge, but it couldn't withstand the increasing number of refugees. The wealthy households that donated grain for disaster relief also lost their kindness, now replaced by hastily summoned soldiers to maintain order.

  A scholar dressed as a teacher loudly said: "Fellow villagers, our county is poor and weak, and we can't afford to accommodate... I heard that nearby Fengxian, Peixian, Xiaoxian and other places are opening their doors to offer porridge, let's hurry up and go there to find some food, if you're late, you won't be able to eat..."

  Yang Bo hummed and turned his face away, this kind of trick can only deceive three-year-old children, if these refugees really believed it, they would either die on the way or starve to death at the gate of those few county towns.

  Those refugees, upon hearing that they were not being accepted here, suddenly became agitated. The scholar's face turned cold, and he waved his hand towards the back. Several dozen fierce-looking soldiers picked up wooden clubs and started beating these people mercilessly.

  These refugees have traveled hundreds of miles to get here, the old, weak, sick and disabled are almost dead, the remaining ones are also on the verge of collapse, how can they be a match for these tigers and wolves? At this moment, they were knocked down in an instant, cries and shouts, running sounds, calling out for children and women, the city gate was instantly chaotic beyond measure.

  Confronted with this human tragedy, Yang Bo could only remain silent. If he hadn't had the nerve to flag down this cargo mule cart halfway, he might not have been able to enter the city so smoothly.

  Although he had a kind heart, he was powerless and could only pretend not to see. It's not that the county magistrate is cruel, but the Ming Empire has rotted from its roots and cannot be saved by human effort.

  Yang Bo's only regret is that the Great Ming fell into the hands of a foreign tribe, and from then on, the Chinese civilization sank into its darkest period.

  "But now I'm here! What can I do?" Yang Bo thought, and he couldn't help but shiver. He suddenly woke up. It wasn't until his stomach growled that it pulled him back from his thoughts. Yang Bo couldn't help but chuckle to himself, thinking what's the point of thinking so much? First, let's solve breakfast...

  The mule cart turned into the city and made several turns before stopping in front of a shop, Liu Lao Han's destination had arrived.

  Yang Bo and Tie Niu jumped off the car, after thanking the old man, they looked around left and right for a while, not knowing where to go at that moment.

  "Let's go that way, it looks more lively," said Yang Bo, pointing to a small alleyway made of bluestone. Tie Niu turned around and saw that the alley was packed with people, vendors selling buns and vegetables, filling up the entire street.

  Tie Niu crouched on a bluestone under the eaves, he didn't know what Yang Ge wanted to do, Yang Bo stared at that rice shop for a long time, could it be that Big Brother wanted to go ask for some rice? Tie Niu found it somewhat strange.

  This street had several shops in a row that were all doing breakfast business, and soon Tie Niu's eyes were attracted to the white noodles steaming in a basket at the front of one of them, swallowing saliva nonstop.

  "Rumble... rumble" Tieniu's stomach embarrassingly growled.

  Perhaps this pancake shop had poor business for the past two days, and the boss seemed to be in a bad mood. These two beggars didn't look like beggars, and the laborers didn't look like laborers either. They had been squatting at one side for a long time, with one of them constantly staring at him, making the boss feel uneasy.

  "What are you two staring at me for?" The boss finally stood up, took a rolling pin and heavily knocked on the table, scolding Tie Niu: "....If you don't pay, can this pancake grow legs and run to your hands? Where did this dog thing come from? If you have no money, get out of here early, don't stay here affecting my business!"

  Yang Bo, who was busy calculating, was inexplicably scolded by someone. He heard the person's vicious words and suddenly became furious and stood up. Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on his back, Yang Bo turned around to see that Tie Niu had grabbed the hem of his garment with some tension.

  "Don't stop me, isn't it that dogs look down on people? I must teach him a lesson." Yang Bo was about to walk up and reason with him, but unexpectedly Tie Niu refused to let go.

  Yang Bo saw Tie Niu desperately pulling himself, shaking his head towards him with a timid expression, and couldn't help but hum in anger.

  The boss was startled by Yang Bo's fierce appearance and retreated a little, muttering to himself: "I've seen many lazy good-for-nothings like you. You think you can take advantage of the crowd and steal some pancakes? I advise you to give up on that idea. You dog! If you dare to stare again, I'll slap you with my big ear...!"

  Yang Bo didn't say a word, he just gave him a cold stare. The man inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine and didn't dare to scold anymore, shrinking back into the shop with eyes still fixed on Yang Bo's pancakes.

  "Let's go, Iron Bull! Big Brother will take you to earn some silver!" Yang Bo turned his head and looked at Iron Bull with a warm smile: "Isn't it just pancakes? You can eat as many as you like later, even if you only eat half and throw away the other half! Stand up straight and don't let others look down on you!"

  Tie Niu still shrank back a bit: "But... where would we get the money to buy buns?"

  Yang Bohao burst out laughing and pulled Tie Niu's hand, saying: "Don't you still believe your brother Yang? Alright, don't think so much, let's go to work first!"

  Yang Bo pulled Tie Niu's hand and walked straight to the rice shop, Fu Ji Rice Shop owner Jia Wangcun was sitting at the counter calculating accounts. The current year is not very peaceful, with disasters and famines everywhere. Having a job and being able to eat a bowl of rice, Boss Jia was already grateful to the gods. He had been working in the rice shop from an apprentice to becoming the boss for several decades. In his memory, originally one stone of rice only cost one or two silver coins, and in good years, one or two silver coins could even buy more than two stones of rice, but now it has risen to one stone for one silver coin and five cents, and he heard it would rise again.

  "When will this end?" Manager Jia sighed, his hand shaking as he held the brush, a drop of ink falling onto the account book.