Chapter 14 County Town

"Little brother Zhong, if you have any orders, just send someone to Huaihua Lane. I dare not refuse."

"You're welcome."

The crowd separated at the city gate, and Zhong Lin led Xiao Shitou into Heishan County.

As soon as they entered, they could feel the bustling atmosphere, the hawking, the shouting, the quarreling, and the sounds.

When they entered the town, the residents in the city were not surprised at all by the Zhong Lin brothers, as if they were used to seeing refugees.

At first, they would help the refugees, but as the number of refugees increased, they could only turn a blind eye. After all, no one in this world can live well, so they can only live well on their own land first.

Zhong Lin led Xiao Shitou directly to an open-air noodle restaurant.

"How much is a bowl of noodles?" Zhong Lin asked.

"Noodle soup is five big coins a bowl, and a pancake is one big coin."

The owner of the noodle stall did not show any contempt for the ragged clothes of the Zhong Lin brothers, and still greeted them with a smile.

"Two bowls of noodle soup, three pancakes." Zhong Lin said with a smile.

"Pay first."

There had been incidents of disaster victims eating for free before, so it seemed that the boss had some experience.

Zhong Lin took out thirteen copper coins from his pocket and slapped them on the table, and the boss immediately became more enthusiastic.

"Okay, sir, please wait."

Two bowls of noodle soup were quickly served. They were simply boiled noodles in plain water, with no seasoning except for some salt. The pancakes were baked with a burnt wheat aroma, which made people salivate.

The two had been sleeping outdoors for the past few days. Although they had no shortage of meat, they lacked carbohydrates. Now that they had eaten this bowl of hot noodles, they immediately felt that their whole body was unobstructed.

"Are you full? Ask for more if you're not full."

Zhong Lin asked with a smile to the little stone who had finished the last mouthful of soup in the bowl.

Little Stone also patted his swollen belly and said with satisfaction: "I'm full, second brother, shall we go for a walk?"

It can only be said that he is a child at heart. The killing scene yesterday has been replaced by the lively scene in the county today. Little Stone now just wants to have a good walk and play, with excitement and curiosity on his face.

"Let's go."

Zhong Lin led Little Stone to prevent him from running away too fast. The two walked on the street, looking around.

This county town is much more lively than Zhong Lin imagined. The vendors on both sides of the street are setting up stalls and selling all kinds of things. Some sell fruit and tea, some sell cloth and make clothes, some sell steamed buns, meat soup, some sell wine, some sell women's headdresses and hairpins, some sell children's toys, some sell sugar figurines and candied haws...

The scattered things are dazzling.

Zhong Lin also bought a string of candied haws for Xiao Shitou, who was chewing on the candied haws while running around excitedly. If Zhong Lin hadn't pulled him, he wouldn't know where he would have gone.

Of course, it wasn't all good. While shopping, the two saw the "selling heads" in the East Market.

If the refugees pouring into the county had strength or skills, it would be fine. If not, especially women, they were more likely to be sold to some wealthy families as slaves.

If there was a choice, no one would be willing to be someone else's slave, but they had no choice either. What if they were slaves? At least they could survive.

After nearly an hour, Zhong Lin also figured out the general division of the entire county. It wasn't until it was getting dark that the two found an inn to stay in.

Don't even think about a single room. It's a big bunk bed. In simple terms, it's a big room, bigger than a basketball court. There's no bed in the room. The floor is covered with layers of straw. The whole room can accommodate hundreds of people. After entering, just find a place to lie down and sleep. It only costs three big coins a night.

The two chose a corner to lie down, and Xiao Shitou soon fell asleep.

Not far from Zhong Lin, there were many people staying, some lying down to sleep, some sitting on the floor. In the corner, there was a baby crying, and a woman had to turn her back to the wall to unbutton her clothes to breastfeed.

Resisting all kinds of smells coming from the room, Zhong Lin thought about his future.

Since he knew that there was martial arts practice in this world, he would never miss it. However, he also learned from Cui Xian that the most convenient and simple way to learn martial arts was to spend money to enter some martial arts halls, but the cost was not small.

Zhong Lin had some silver money on him. His predecessor had saved some, the "wail money" given by the villagers of Xiahe Village, and the money he stole from Zhenshanhu, which added up to about nine taels.

This money is far from enough to enter the martial arts hall to practice martial arts, so we still need to increase income and reduce expenditure!

"So what we need to do now is to establish ourselves first, then make money, and learn to read." Zhong Lin thought to himself.

Zhong Lin had a boxing manual in his arms, but he didn't dare to practice it. Who knows if there are other important things in the text introduction? If he practices it wrong, it will be troublesome.

While thinking, he felt sleepy and fell asleep with a yawn.

These days, I have been traveling in the wild, keeping watch every day, and then sleeping for a while during the day. I am seriously sleepless. Now I finally came to the county town, and I finally couldn't stand it after relaxing my mind.

There was no talk all night, and in the early morning of the next day, Zhong Lin, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by a noise.

No mistakes, one song, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar, take a look!

When he opened his eyes, the guests in the big bunk had already gotten up and left the inn, and Zhong Lin also yawned and sat up from the straw.

He touched his body, and the purse was still there, and he didn't encounter any thieves or anything.

After waking up Little Stone, the two went to the courtyard and washed their faces with well water, and their sleepiness disappeared instantly.

"Let's go and have something to eat first."

The inn provides breakfast, but you have to pay for it yourself. The two ordered two bowls of rice porridge and five large vegetable buns, and ate them up in a slurp.

"Boss, I want to ask you something. My two brothers have fled here and want to find a place to stay. It's not a big deal to rent an inn every day. Do you know where to rent a house? It doesn't need to be too big, just enough for my two brothers to live in."

Zhong Lin put down the bowl in his hand and asked the innkeeper who came to clean up the dishes with a smile.

"Rent a house?"

The innkeeper looked up and down at Zhong Lin and his two brothers, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with a four or five-year-old brother.

"Are you fleeing here? Don't you have relatives in the city?"

"No, just the two of us brothers."

"What are your requirements for renting a house?"

"The requirements are not high. It just needs to be able to accommodate my two brothers. It would be better if it is cheaper." Zhong Lin said with a smile.

"Is that so? I do know a place, but the rent is..."

"Don't worry, boss. We are just disaster victims, not beggars. We still have some money."

"That's good," the innkeeper nodded. "Sit down for a while. I'll take you to see it after I'm done."

"Thank you, boss."