flstandardbreds Chapter 135 Suspected Human Trafficker
Chapter 135 Suspected Human Trafficker
After two days of traveling, we finally arrived at a small town, Hongxing Town.
It is said to be small, but compared with Huai'an County, it can still accommodate their team of 600 people.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and some of the tribesmen felt that it was still early, so they wanted to sleep in two groups as they did before. This way they could save money and make full use of their time.
Nowadays, people are driving faster and some work cannot be done on the road. We can only do more work during breaks, such as mending clothes.
Su He could understand. If it wasn't winter, these tribesmen would probably want to sleep outside every day. Anyway, their team of 600 people were not afraid of ordinary people.
There are three inns in this small town. The people of Tianyuan Village are all in the largest inn, which has the largest bunk bed that can accommodate 400 people.
Su He also booked a smaller room next door, which could accommodate 100 people. This room was just right for the Wang family to live in. However, Su He only arranged for the women in the family to live in it, and the men all took the initiative to sleep in the long dormitory.
The small one was paid by Su He himself, and the large one was paid with money from the clan.
The first people to go to bed are those who had been running during the day. They are basically the young and strong labor force in the team. There are no more than 200 of them at most. There are still empty seats, so Wang Zhun arranged for some elderly people and children to sleep there.
For some aunties and sisters who were not in good health and wanted to rest first, Su He arranged them to sleep in the small dormitory bed she had booked. As all the men in the family were bragging on the big dormitory bed, the small dormitory bed became the world of these women.
Miaomiao and the others were still practicing calligraphy as usual. As long as conditions allowed, Su He would not allow them to slack off.
Zhou and the others were talking about family matters, either about how many acres of land they should buy or what kind of wife their sons should look for. Some of them didn't like the girls in the team and wanted to find one that suits them in Su'an. They wondered if the betrothal gift in Su'an County was expensive.
Su He got bored after listening for a while, so she went to find Liu Niang. Liu Niang was a hardworking person and was still washing clothes for Su He. There was some sunshine these two days, so Liu Niang thought of washing some small things and putting them outside to dry so that they would be done early tomorrow morning.
"Mrs. Liu, take a break. I'll treat you to dinner, so you don't have to cook."
Su He sat next to Liu Niang and wanted to chat with her.
"It's okay. I'm not tired. It's so expensive outside. We'll have to spend a lot more money when we get to Su'an. We can save as much as we can now."
Su He did not argue with Liu Niang, "Liu Niang, do you miss Liu Bai? I wonder if he has found the general at the border."
Liu Niang smiled and replied nonchalantly without stopping her hands.
"They should have found it. It's been six days. If everything went well, Abai should have returned by now."
Su He was a little puzzled. As for Liu Niang, she tried her best to cure Liu Bai's illness. Now that her son has been gone for so long, she doesn't seem to miss him at all. Could it be that Liu Niang was so sure that Liu Bai would be fine?
"Mother Liu, I think Xiaobai doesn't look like you. None of your facial features are similar. He has phoenix eyes, and you have double eyelids. He has fair skin and no blemishes on his face, and you have dark skin and spots. He is so tall, and you are shorter than me."
Liu Niang paused while washing clothes, raised her head and looked at Su He helplessly, "Miss, you can just say that I am a little ugly. Xiaobai looks like his father."
“Hehehe, that’s not what I meant. Lady Liu, you must be very outstanding to attract Xiaobai’s father.”
Liu Niang didn't even want to wash her clothes, she just looked at Su He.
The atmosphere was so awkward.
"Mrs. Liu, I won't bother you anymore. Haha, I'll leave first. Come and eat after you finish washing."
Su He didn't know why, but she felt that Liu Niang had a different aura at this time than before, which made her, as her master, dare not act rashly.
Su He hurried out of the inn, secretly regretting why he was so scared.
But she was not angry with Liu Niang. She decided not to ask about Liu Niang's family affairs anymore. Even if she was stupid, she could see that Liu Niang didn't want to talk about it.
Liu Niang continued to wash clothes, and after a long time, she sighed.
On this side, Su He was ordering steamed buns from the waiter. The inn alone was not enough to feed six hundred people, so she went to the stalls outside to order some more, as well as some meat buns and pancakes, and went to the grain store to order some food.
"Old rice is 11 wen, new rice is 40 wen, and flour is 80 wen."
Even though Su He was mentally prepared, he still felt it was too expensive.
"Why is the price so high? I bought a lot, can it be cheaper?"
It was obviously not the first time that the shop assistant had seen this reaction from a customer, and he explained patiently.
"My lady, there is drought at the border, and food is in short supply. I heard that everyone there is fleeing. We are relatively close to the dock, and we can even get some goods from the south. The price is still cheap. Our boss said that the price will increase in two days. If you really want to buy, hurry up."
Su He's heart tightened. "What do the soldiers at the border eat and drink? How can they guard the border if their survival needs cannot be guaranteed?"
The shop assistant looked at Su He in surprise, wondering why this girl was so strange. Border affairs were under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, so why were they thinking about this?
"I don't know. What are survival needs?"
Su He didn't want to talk to the shop assistant, "Order 4000 kilograms of old rice."
When the shop assistant saw that it was a large order, he quickly took out an abacus to calculate the bill.
"Just charge me 9 cents a pound. I bought a lot."
The shop assistant put down his abacus and said in a somewhat awkward tone, "I can't make the decision on this either. I'll go ask the shopkeeper."
After saying that, he ran in to find the shopkeeper, and soon came back panting.
"It's a big price, but the shopkeeper said it can be delivered for free."
Su He rolled her eyes. If she didn't deliver the goods, would she be expected to carry 4000 kilograms of rice by herself?
"Then give me another 50 kilograms of old rice. If you still don't want it, forget it. I'll go to the village ahead to collect it bit by bit. Anyway, I'm not short of food now."
The shop assistant scratched his head, ran back in, and came out again after a while, "Girl, the shopkeeper agreed. But he will give you broken rice."
Su He paid 44 taels of silver with an expressionless face and left. "I'll send it to Yuelai Inn later. Don't be short on weight. I need to check it."
"Don't worry, girl. We are an old store and we never cheat our customers."
Su He went to the pork stall again. The meat was more expensive this time, 30 cents per pound, and it was the inferior Wa melons and dates from the corners. She bought 50 pounds and only saved 5 cents.
Su He carried 50 kilograms of meat back home without a smile on her face. She was wondering whether Su'an would be affected by the drought.
After dinner, everyone found a place to rest.
Su He asked his younger brothers and sisters to go to bed early, and he sat there in a daze.
At this moment, there was a commotion outside, bringing Su He's thoughts back from his wandering thoughts.
Su He walked into the door quietly and listened attentively.
"Boss, is there any room left?"
"Yes, yes. We have both middle-class and superior rooms."
"Order two medium-sized rooms with large bunk beds. I want one."
"Well, there are medium-sized rooms, but they are large bunk beds. There is only one room for 100 people with space left. The others are already full."
Su He heard that the guest seemed a little dissatisfied, "How many seats are left?"
"There are 40 vacancies left. Do you want to stay there?"
The man pondered for a while before making up his mind.
"Okay, then let's book 40 for one night."
"Okay, two medium-sized rooms, a large bunk bed for 40 people, sir, a total of three taels of silver.
Su He listened for a while and felt that it was boring, so he wanted to go back to sleep. But when he sat on the kang, he wanted to go to the toilet. So he ran out to the toilet, and when he came back and passed by the big bunk bed next door, he accidentally saw a person on the kang with his hands tied.
Su He's heart sank and he quickened his pace back to his own territory.
She closed the door and continued to listen, but unfortunately she heard nothing. She lay on the bed that Liu Niang had made, worrying whether the border would be lost, and then worried whether there were a bunch of human traffickers sleeping nearby. In the end, she didn't know when she fell asleep.