Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 280 Soft Armor
"Brother Xuan is going out. Do you want me to arrange for two people to follow you?"

When Chen Xuan came to the side door of Gao's house with an oil-paper umbrella between his arms, the doorman stood up and greeted him.

Now, the way the Gao family addressed Chen Xuan has changed. The original Xuan Ge'er has become Xuan Ge, without the erhua sound. Although his identity and status seem to have not changed, they are completely different from before.

When he came back yesterday, everyone in the Gao family saw him and naturally recognized him.

"No, I'm just going out for a stroll," Chen Xuan said, turning around and smiling. Then he looked at the other person and said in silence, "Hey, Brother Hou, why are you doing the doorman's job?"

Chen Xuan knew this doorman, whose name was Hou Jin. He was one of the first people he came into contact with when he first came to the Gao family. It was said that when Gao Jingming took Chen Xuan to introduce him to Zhou Lin and the others, Hou Jin and Wang Hai went together.

The difference is that Wang Hai has been kicked out of the Gao family, while Hou Jin works as a doorman here. It seems that he has difficulty walking and is disabled, probably because of something that happened in the past seven years.

Hou Jin hadn't expected that Chen Xuan would recognize him after all these years, and still call him Brother Hou as he had done before. This surprised him and made him proud. He immediately said, "Brother Xuan, you're embarrassing me. You can call me Xiao Jin or Xiao Hou, but don't you really need to arrange two people to follow me?"

He didn't know that calling him that was a small token of Chen Xuan's nostalgia.

Chen Xuan has always been respectful to others as much as he can. Although Chen Xuan was polite to him, he still knew his own status.

Shaking his head, Chen Xuan said, "Really? By the way, Brother Hou, how about your legs?"

Hou Jin no longer insisted. He no longer cared about his legs. He smiled calmly and said, "Well, four years ago, when I was accompanying Deacon Deng and the others to the mine, a large rock collapsed. I didn't dodge it and it broke my leg. The back of my leg wasn't properly connected, so I became disabled and can barely walk. I hope my wife doesn't mind and arranges for me to do some light work as a gatekeeper here."

"Oh, I see. It's good that it wasn't cut off. Come to me later and maybe I can help you cure it. I've gained a lot of skills over the years following the young master to the north," Chen Xuan nodded and said with a smile.

He was not bragging. As long as the leg was still there, he could just break it and take it back. He could clear the tendons and veins and take some medicine to heal it for a while and that would be it.

After all, we have known each other for so many years, Hou Jin is a good person, so it’s a piece of cake.

"How dare I trouble Brother Xuan? I'm used to it," Hou Jin shook his head. He had already accepted his fate and no longer had any hope for his disabled leg. He also didn't think that Chen Xuan could help him cure it, but Chen Xuan's attitude warmed his heart and almost made him cry.

This person has become accustomed to not caring about things, and is afraid of sudden and ordinary concern, which can easily touch his heart.

Smiling, Chen Xuan said: "That's what I said. Remember to find me later. I'm going out first. You are busy."

Watching Chen Xuan's departing back, Hou Jin sat back down in the small room, thinking to himself that after so many years, Chen Xuan hadn't changed at all. No wonder everyone in the Gao family liked him.

Whether they admit it or not, many people in the Gao family understand that Chen Xuan has always treated everyone relatively equally. Putting aside factors of status, it is a mentality...

After leaving Gao's house, Chen Xuan strolled around and returned to his lazy attitude. He still had to be careful when he was at Gao's house. When he was alone, he would do whatever he felt comfortable with.

The streets of Yang County have hardly changed from those days. They are still old and dilapidated. Vegetable vendors carry their baskets on their shoulders and walk through the streets, and the atmosphere of the city is overwhelming.

There is neither the hustle and bustle of a big city nor the elegant style of feasting and revelry, but a unique 'slow-paced' lifestyle.

Chen Xuan likes this kind of atmosphere very much. It is okay to experience fighting and killing occasionally. This slow pace is the most real state in the world.

Chen Xuan strolled around, buying a string of candied haws and a piece of cake, eating as he walked, his posture lazy and casual, just like a wanderer, and in fact he was indeed a wanderer.

Not long after, he arrived at a street-side snack bar and said familiarly as soon as he entered the door: "Boss, give me a bowl of jelly, a large portion, with a strong flavor."

It’s the old place. Chen Xuan used to frequent this jelly shop. He had been craving it for a long time. The flavor of their sauce is very unique.

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment, I'll be there soon," the woman with gray hair turned around and smiled. She no longer recognized Chen Xuan, who used to come here often to eat jelly.

This small restaurant doesn't have any waiters, and the woman runs it all by herself.

As Chen Xuan sat down and waited, the woman said while busying herself, "Is this your first time here, sir? You look like an honored guest. Our jelly shop has been open for decades. I took it over from my mother-in-law. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the food."

The people at the bottom are very simple and honest. When a stranger comes to their door, they will try to promote themselves.

"I guess so," Chen Xuan said with a smile, not dwelling on the fact that he had been here countless times.

The woman didn't care what he meant and asked, "By the way, sir, our store has recently launched spicy jelly. It's made with chili oil. This chili is from the north. It's spicy but very satisfying. Some people can't get used to it. Do you want the spicy version?"

Is chili so popular? The source is still myself. Chen Xuan said with a smile: "Then let's have spicy food. Add more chili oil. I like spicy food." "Okay, wait a moment."

Chen Xuan used chili peppers as a seasoning back then, and later he planted them in the academy. Gao Jingming was studying there, and it was inevitable that he would eat them with his classmates, and the news spread quickly.

As word spread among the scholar circle, the trend spread from top to bottom, and the common people also began to follow suit. After a while, this food spread very quickly. In just seven years, peppers were grown everywhere. Now Chen Xuan no longer needed to grow them himself, as they were available for purchase at any time.

He can be said to have made a contribution to the local food culture.

Soon a big bowl of jelly came up, with white noodles, red chili oil, green chopped green onions, and the store’s secret sauce. It was very satisfying to take a bite.

"How is it? Does it taste good?" the woman asked with a little anticipation.

Giving a thumbs up, Chen Xuan enjoyed the meal very much and took the time to say that it was delicious. Then the woman continued to work with satisfaction.

At this moment, a man came to the door of the jelly shop and asked timidly, "Auntie Wu, do you need charcoal?"

Chen Xuan took the time to look up. It was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, wearing patched coarse cloth clothes. She was thin and looked like she had been exposed to the wind and sun for many years. She had wheat-colored skin and slightly messy yellowish hair, which was casually tied with a faded hairband.

She is about 1.5 meters tall, with an oval face and big, bright eyes, but a timid look in them. She has a good bone structure, but due to her life, there is nothing eye-catching about her.

Standing at the door of the jelly shop, she was carrying a large backpack filled with a mountain of charcoal. She weighed him down so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. Sweat broke out on his forehead, but he still had a firm look in his eyes and gritted his teeth to persevere.

After taking a look, Chen Xuan continued to sip noodles with his head down.

The owner of the jelly shop looked at the girl at the door with a hint of sympathy in his eyes, but he shook his head helplessly and smiled, "It's Roujia, you should go ask somewhere else. I don't need it here right now, and winter is long gone, so not many people need charcoal. Next time, you should collect firewood and sell it, and then deliver it directly to me."

"Okay, Aunt Wu, excuse me for disturbing you. I'll go ask somewhere else. Once I sell all this charcoal, I'll collect firewood to sell next time." The girl smiled and slowly left with the charcoal on her back, struggling to carry it.

Roujia? It's an elegant name for grass. It must have been paid to be named. Ordinary people don't have the talent for such naming. It's fitting, though. Isn't her life just like grass, inconspicuous but tenacious and resilient?

There are too many people like this in the world, but Chen Xuansuofen didn't take it to heart.

Aunt Wu watched the girl leave and couldn't help but sigh, "What a good child! But hemp ropes only break at the thinnest part. Her parents died of illness, and her grandfather, who depended on her for survival, broke his back while picking herbs. To treat her, the family sold everything they could, and she has to support the family all by herself. She's only fourteen years old, and she has a miserable life. I really can't help her much either. She carries a basket of charcoal weighing seventy or eighty kilograms, and she walks dozens of miles before dawn to buy it. But at this time of year, who needs charcoal unless they are wealthy families?"

Most people at the bottom of society are compassionate, but they themselves are not living a satisfactory life, so how can they help so much?

Chen Xuan, who was slurping noodles, probably understood Aunt Wu's little thoughts. She said these words to herself. She couldn't help others, so she expressed them in this way. Maybe Aunt Wu would listen to her and buy her charcoal. It was also a disguised help. Whether it succeeded or not, she had tried her best.

He raised his head slightly to glance at the girl who was struggling to sell charcoal door to door, then Chen Xuan lowered his head and continued to slurp noodles.

After a while, there was a noisy sound about a hundred meters away. Chen Xuan listened and found that the girl had sold the charcoal to a teahouse. Many people like to use charcoal to make tea in places like teahouses, so it is normal to buy charcoal in this season.

But the teahouse was not polite. They only gave the girl twenty-five of the agreed thirty copper coins, thinking that she didn't know how to count. The girl argued with her in a crying voice, but the teahouse refused to give her anything. They looked like they had the upper hand over her and even wanted to hit her out of impatience. They couldn't do anything to the girl because she was bullying them.

"What a sin," Aunt Wu sighed helplessly when she saw it.

After eating a bowl of jelly, Chen Xuan felt very happy. After paying the bill, he tucked his umbrella under his armpit and left leisurely.

The quarrel over there intensified, and the girl named Roujia even knelt down and begged. The people in the teahouse felt that she had damaged their reputation and even threatened to ask her to pay compensation.

Fucking garbage.

Before Chen Xuan could even get close, a young man stepped forward, frowning and asking, "Why did the shopkeeper bully the little girl? I saw it clearly before. He agreed on thirty copper coins, but he only gave her twenty-five. Is there any law?"

The young man who stepped forward to help the girl was accompanied by an follower, who looked at the people in the teahouse with a cold look.

Since someone has stood up, Chen Xuan will not interfere. The other party should be able to seek justice for the girl named Roujia. It is obvious that she is not an ordinary citizen.

Taking another look at the person who stepped forward, Chen Xuan was speechless. It turned out to be an acquaintance. After so many years, he wondered if the other party still remembered him. He thought he probably did...

(End of this chapter)