Miao Chu

Chapter 49 Coincidence
At this time, it would be an exaggeration to describe the Song family as being destitute; they couldn't even find a few more chairs.

Just like when she entertained Cheng Zijian and his party last time, Song Miao took a bench and used it as a table, and then used a futon to cushion it for them.

The hearty scallion and pork shumai were eaten by almost every police officer, with some preferring lamb and others pork. The vegetarian shumai, however, were rarely ordered.

After one of them tasted the sticky rice, the others all wanted to eat it too.

All the items were included, and Song Miao only accepted a token amount of money.

The police officers weren't stupid; under normal circumstances, they would probably have accepted this kindness with some reluctance.

However, since everyone was on duty at the Vermilion Bird Gate, and someone from the Song family in Suanzao Lane had just died—by drowning—the patrolmen had naturally heard about it to some extent. They knew that the family only had an orphaned girl left, all alone and helpless, but they had never actually met her.

However, having come in person today and seeing with my own eyes how simple the Song family's furnishings are, and how the lonely young lady was busy running around early in the morning, I felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The human heart is made of flesh.

Everyone wanted to pay the amount shown on the sign.

Song Miao had no choice but to bring him soup and drinks.

Those who take people have short hands and eat people with soft mouths.

Having eaten most of the food, the leader burped, stood up, shook his sleeves, wiped his mouth, and said to Song Miao, "You, you clearly seem like a clever person, how come you're sometimes smart and sometimes stupid? If you're going to report to the authorities, just report to the authorities, why keep urging us, and use those imperial students as an excuse to put on airs? The higher-ups are afraid of causing trouble, so they've been pressuring us, so we had no choice but to come to you early this morning."

"It's not that I'm trying to make things difficult, it's just that this is the rule in the shop, and things are arranged in a fixed way, so you can't just change them. It's a pity that your shumai is so delicious, it's probably going to go bad."

Where did Song Miao urge them?

However, she didn't refute it, but just smiled and said, "It won't be easy to sell them again anyway—I wonder how many officials are in the patrol shop? Are there any public cooks?"

"He's just a constable who works like a dog, he doesn't have any government kitchen, and he's not in a government office, so why are they all so lucky!" A constable in the back snorted.

Song Miao then said, "In that case, I'll take a food box and pack some shumai to the patrol station. Rather than letting them spoil, I'll ask the officials to give them to the others for breakfast. They can also have some to fill their stomachs when they're hungry, so it's a good use of the food."

Her polite and considerate manner made the police officers even more embarrassed.

If this wasn't a task specifically assigned by their superiors, and no one could shirk their responsibilities, the leader would have almost wanted to take matters into his own hands and have Ms. Song come back after she'd sold everything—she'd just be asking some questions, so it wouldn't hurt to postpone it.

However, it's not impossible to do something convenient in the middle.

He thought for a moment and asked, "How many shumai do you have in total?"

Song Miao gave a number.

"That's a bit little—how many bowls of glutinous rice are there?"

Song Miao spoke again.

The man then said, "In that case, there's no need to pretend anymore. Just take the whole thing with you."

As he spoke, he turned to the person beside him and said, “Didn’t they say that a few patrol teams were coming today? When I came out this morning, I heard the higher-ups urging someone to call a few people from the East Courtyard to come quickly to buy breakfast for those patrol teams. In such a rush, they might not be able to buy any. Go back and ask them. If they haven’t bought any, this is about enough. Just have the accountant settle the bill.”

A constable behind them, upon hearing this, was not pleased. He snorted and said, "What? We've been eating our own food for so many years, and no one has ever bothered us. But now that someone from outside has suddenly arrived, the higher-ups are suddenly being very attentive. Even a dog wouldn't be this anxious if it were licking its ass!"

Frustrated, he turned around and scolded, "Say less, we're outside right now!"

The man then fell silent.

The leader then asked Song Miao, "Can you provide a sales order here?"

The Song family said they run a restaurant, so how could they not have one?

The constable who had received his orders was about to leave when he suddenly turned back and asked, "What if the people in the east courtyard have already bought them?"

The man in charge hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at Song Miao, and then at the situation inside the Song family's house. He sighed and said, "It's done buying it. What can we do if something goes wrong?"

Then he turned to Song Miao and said, "If you can't sell them, you can put these snacks in the backyard of the patrol shop. We can take them out to sell after we've finished asking our questions, so we don't have to come back again."

They had thought of everything very thoroughly.

Song Miao quickly thanked her, then pushed the cart out and locked the door again.

The group headed towards the patrol post.

Although it only delayed breakfast, there were already some pedestrians in Suanzao Lane and on the main road outside.

Song Miao, a young woman, pushed a stall cart, with several burly men standing beside her on patrol. It looked like she was being escorted, but not quite, attracting the attention of many passersby.

Many of the neighbors, worried that Song Miao might get involved in something or that they might be implicated, came up to ask her questions.

Song Miao answered them one by one, only mentioning that someone had broken into her house the night before, and that she had reported it to the village head and asked everyone if they knew about it, asking them to be careful. She also mentioned that the patrol officers came looking for her in the morning, and that because the goods hadn't been sold in time, they would definitely spoil. Fortunately, the patrol officers were kind, and she was willing to push them into the patrol officers' shop to keep them temporarily.

She spoke sweetly, so the police officers naturally didn't stop her.

Before long, everyone in the street knew that the Song family had been broken into by thieves the night before, and that police officers had come to their door today.

This matter was actually also the fault of Constable Ma, who had accepted a large sum of money from Diao Zi.

This person did not explain the reason beforehand, but only told the story of what happened the day before, omitting the details. He ordered his subordinates to take Song Miao there early in the morning, and not to let her set up a stall at the gate of the Imperial Academy again and incite those students to cause trouble.

He thought that as long as he told what to do and how to do it, everything would be fine. So he couldn't blame his subordinates for misunderstanding and doing things his way—wasn't it just a matter of not setting up a stall at the gate of the Imperial Academy?
Just like Liao Qingjiao, he didn't care about his subordinates. He thought everything was simple and could be easily assigned with a single sentence. He always thought it was easy, but his subordinates had their own ideas and their own difficulties. Of course, they would use a street stall with a few dozen coins to replace an expensive lawyer.

Throughout history, how many things have gone wrong or been done well by the ordinary people who actually do the work at the bottom?

Suanzao Lane wasn't very close to the patrol station at Zhuque Gate. When the cart was pushed to the back, several patrolmen couldn't stand it and even came to help.

When they arrived at the destination, they were very lucky. The people in the east courtyard of the patrol shop hadn't had time to buy so much breakfast and were worried about it. When they learned that someone had helped solve the problem, they were truly grateful. After asking the price, they urged Song Miao to deliver it over.

The police officers turned a blind eye, pretending not to see it and not interfering.

Song Miao, along with several constables, divided the glutinous rice into portions and had them deliver it in batches. She also left some food for the other constables as a favor, and explained to the accountant that it didn't matter if it couldn't be recorded in the accounts, as it was a special gift for the officials in the patrol station.

Early in the morning, a group of people were sharing breakfast here. The aroma in the backyard of the patrol station was irresistible. Those who had arrived early all came over to watch, and when they heard that they would get their share, they all eyed it eagerly.

The accountants in the patrol station were all the captain's confidants. They knew this was an opportunity to win people over, but they weren't stupid. They immediately said, "It's only a few coins for food. Even if the patrol station didn't have this allowance, our captain could pay for it himself. It's just treating the brothers to breakfast. Why should the stall owner have to cover it? Let's include it! Let's include it all!"

He then issued a receipt according to the amount owed, telling Song Miaoyue to bring the sales invoice later to settle the account.

When doing business with government officials, it's always been common to delay settling accounts. It's not unusual, though it's a bit of a hassle, but it's much better than letting food spoil at home.

It could be said that although the police officers came to her door suddenly this morning, catching her off guard, upon closer inspection, Song Miao was not delayed in any way, and even had someone help push her car.

After all the items on the cart had been distributed, she returned to her room to be questioned by the police officers from that morning.

This time, as soon as she sat down, she received tea, something she hadn't received all day yesterday.

***
Not to mention Song Miao's question-and-answer session with someone here, the students in the Taixue Food Alley who had been waiting all day yesterday and were now waiting another day were simply at their wits' end.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't come just yesterday?"

"Look, isn't that Cheng Zijian? Since those guys who eat braised pork trotters and taro with pork belly are all here waiting, then Miss Song will definitely come to set up her stall today."

"The old time has long passed."

"Did you oversleep?"

"Sigh, we should have gone to bed earlier. Getting up late means we early risers have to wait all this time for nothing!"

"Why are you blaming stall owner Song? Isn't it those hooligans who caused this? They've scared people so much they can't sleep at night."

"It's so late, I hope nothing bad has happened again."

"Have we run into another scoundrel?"

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, and some impatient people had already gone over to question Cheng Zijian and the others.

"You're acquainted with stall owner Song, do you know if he's coming today?"

Cheng Zijian was puzzled and getting impatient, so he said to the person next to him, "Who can run fast? Why don't we go to Suanzao Lane together and take a look?"

Wang Chang and a student next to him, taking advantage of their long legs, took the lead and ran away.

Cheng Zijian had someone else carry the food box he was originally going to return, and then quickly followed behind.

He hurried along, just about to enter Suanzao Lane, when he saw Wang Chang and his companion talking to someone at a food stall on the side of the road halfway ahead. He quickly followed them.

As soon as we got close, the stall owner pointed in a direction and said, "He was taken to the patrol station by the police early this morning."

He then asked, "Are you students from the Imperial Academy? What do you want with her?"

Wang Chang was quick-witted, but didn't say much. He only said, "We ordered food from stall owner Song, and we're getting really anxious because she hasn't come yet!"

The stall owner said, "That's bad news. I saw three or four policemen come to arrest her this time, and they even searched her car and took it away. It doesn't look like anything good. The Song family has always had a lot of trouble. They've made a scene over that house several times. The other day, some hooligans came to cause trouble in the middle of the night. If you want to order breakfast, why don't you come to my stall next time? My tofu pudding and fried dough cakes are also very delicious. Buy one or two to try."

Hearing that he wasn't being nice, none of them wanted to pay him any attention. They gave him a few perfunctory replies and hurried away, heading to another shop to ask.

However, this family also saw the daughter of the Song family restaurant being taken away along with her cart, but no matter how much they asked, they didn't know the reason.

The three of them immediately changed their expressions and hurriedly sought a quiet place to talk.

Wang Chang said, "What should we do? We don't know what happened. If things are bad, will it do any good if we make a scene?"

A student nearby said, "What are you doing? The civil service exam is tomorrow. If we don't do well, we'll all be arrested, and the exam will be difficult."

"Maybe it's nothing serious, just asking around?" the student thought optimistically. But after a while, he dismissed the idea, shaking his head and saying, "They won't take the whole car away as collateral. Taking the car away as collateral is definitely not a good thing."

He then said, "Why don't we report this to the Master?"

Cheng Zijian shook his head and said, "It's not good to report it. What are you going to say—that the stall owner Song at the entrance has been arrested by the patrol? The teacher won't care about that."

"Those hooligans are so arrogant, if we hadn't come to their door..." The man trailed off, unable to continue.

If you're not involved, who would bother to meddle?

Besides, if you actually go to the Master, he will inevitably ask why you came and what trouble you caused. In the end, you will suffer the consequences.

“What’s the use of finding a teacher? Does he have any influence in the patrol? Even if he did, he wouldn’t be willing to go to the trouble of finding a teacher for Miss Song.” Wang Chang also shook his head. “It would be better to ask among the students if there is anyone who can speak up. Perhaps a relative or friend could lend a hand and get things sorted out.”

"It's hard to say about the Imperial Academy, but there are definitely people in the National Academy who can help," the student said.

Cheng Zijian was racking his brains when he heard this, and he immediately perked up.

He hurriedly said, "I know someone at the Imperial Academy, but I don't know if I can help him. Xiao Lu, you're fast, go to the Imperial Academy and just say you want to see He Qi, explain the matter of Miss Song to him, and ask if he can help!"

He then said to Wang Chang, "You know a lot of people, go back and ask around to see who can help you find out the information."

He also made arrangements for himself: "I'll go to the upper dormitory and look for someone, but I don't know if it will be of any use."

This kind of allocation can only be described as doing one's best, treating a hopeless situation as a last resort, but there are really no other options.

The three of them hurriedly ran back.

Wang and Lu were fast on their feet, but Cheng Zijian was slow and regretted it. Since it was breakfast time and there was a long queue at the roadside stalls, he didn't bother to buy anything. He gritted his teeth and went directly to the upper study hall.

He was now familiar with the place, and as soon as he entered, he saw that Han Li was not sitting and reading as usual, but standing in front of the table tidying up his things. There was a large book box next to him. It didn't look like he was tidying up the table, but rather like he was moving things around.

Cheng Zijian's heart tightened, and he quickly stepped forward and called out.

Han Li turned around and saw it was him. He wasn't surprised and simply said, "I received a transfer letter from the Kyoto government office. I'll report for duty today and will no longer be in the school starting tomorrow. Tomorrow is the public examination, so you don't need to bring me breakfast anymore—I'll just go out to eat."

As he spoke, he handed over another piece of paper, saying, "After the civil service exam is over, while I'm away, you should study and write according to the instructions given above. I'll want to see it when I get back."

The moment he finished speaking, Cheng Zijian broke out in a cold sweat on his hands, feet, and back. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly and slammed to the ground.

However, before he could land, he suddenly heard Han Li's next sentence, which felt like his heart was gently caught by a thick layer of cotton when it landed, and it even rolled around twice lightly.

His hands and feet were no longer cold. He hurriedly stepped forward to take the paper, thanked him profusely, and then, feeling truly guilty, said, "If I fail the civil service exam, I might be sent back to my hometown, and then I would have let down Brother Han after all his hard work..."

Before Cheng Zijian could finish speaking, he saw Han Li across from him frown.

"I've shown you so many articles, revised them many times, and even reviewed the policy questions. If you still can't pass the civil service exam, you don't need to come see me again. You have the face, but I don't."

Then he added, "What about the article I asked you to revise yesterday?"

Cheng Zijian hurriedly stepped forward, and just as he took out the document from his sleeve to hand it over, he suddenly realized what he had done and hurriedly said, "Brother Han, I came in a hurry today and didn't manage to buy breakfast..."

Han Licai accepted the article, and upon hearing these words, he immediately looked up.

Cheng Zijian quickly added, "To be honest, I mentioned it to Brother Han a couple of times before, and lately, breakfast and extra dishes have been prepared by a stall owner named Song in the food alley..."

He quickly recounted the events of Song Dalang falling into the water, the Song family's debts, the sale of the house, and the incident of hooligans breaking into his home the day before. Finally, he said, "We had agreed to set up our stall today. I have been ordering shumai, glutinous rice, and soup from Brother Han's stall for years. But on the way, the patrol officers took us away with our cart. I don't know what happened."

“I heard that the patrol officers are very rude when arresting people. A young woman was arrested and no one knows when she will be released or whether she will suffer. Because we have been in contact with her a lot these days, she has taken good care of us and made great efforts to provide us with food and drink. Although I want to help, I am just a student and I don’t know how to do it. I am really anxious.”

"Since we have the chance, let's ask Brother Han if we can find a way to get in touch with the patrol officers at the Vermilion Bird Gate. Even if we can't release them, we can at least find out what's going on, or at least help keep an eye on them inside."

Upon hearing this, Han Li frowned slightly and asked, "Is it the stall owner of the Song family's eatery at the end of Suanzao Alley?"

Cheng Zijian nodded quickly.

"Are you sure the patrol officers didn't take away patrolmen or government officials? You're not mistaken?"

Cheng Zijian hurriedly said, "I asked several people, and they all said that it was taken away by the patrol officers in the patrol station. There is no mistake."

Han Li looked surprised, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote a few lines on the article while muttering to himself, "What were your original plans?"

Cheng Zijian was somewhat embarrassed and said, "I originally wanted to shamelessly ask Master Chen to put in a good word for me at the patrol station?"

It's not that he hadn't thought about it seriously.

Master Chen is known for being easy to talk to and doesn't care much about rules. Besides, he seemed to really like the food made by stall owner Song when he ate that braised pork trotter rice last time, so he might be willing to help.

However, before he could finish speaking, he saw the person opposite him shake his head and say, "Why go through all this trouble?"

As Han Li spoke, he handed over the article in his hand, stood up, and pointed to the desk and wooden box behind him, saying, "Help me tidy up the desk here. You don't need to organize it. Just put everything in the box. After you're done, go back to class."

He added, "Revise this article carefully, and I'll have the teacher show it to you when it's finished."

As he spoke, he flicked his sleeve, looking as if he was about to leave.

Cheng Zijian took the article and hurriedly asked, "What about stall owner Song..."

“I’ll take a look. You don’t need to worry about it. Be careful in the exam tomorrow and write faster—you’re still too slow.”

As he spoke, he walked out.

What's amazing is that with those words, "You don't need to worry about it," all of Cheng Zijian's anxiety and unease vanished in an instant.

I didn't have the ability to manage it anyway. Brother Han even dared to scold the Prime Minister and the imperial relatives. Since he said he wanted to go and see, what else could I be worried about?
With a huge weight lifted from his heart, Cheng Zijian quickly glanced at the annotations on the article, put it in his pocket, carefully washed his pen, and meticulously put away the books and articles on the table. He even felt a little smug.

—Brother Han actually asked me to collect books and articles for him, so he must trust me a lot, right?
***
On one side, Cheng Zijian was happily organizing his articles, while on the other side, Han Li had just stepped out of the Imperial Academy when he encountered Qin Zong, who was rushing over.

Qin Zong, who had stayed up all night and had dark circles under his eyes, hurriedly said to Han Li, "Brother Han, I asked two patrol inspectors to escort us and also called the local headman to help identify the people. We've been guarding the entrance to Suanzao Alley for quite some time now, and in just one night, more than ten people who don't live in the alley have gone in..."

At this point, he became somewhat smug and was about to say more when he heard Han Li across from him say, "Did you know that the woman from Song Family Restaurant was taken away by the patrol officer?"

Qin Zong exclaimed "Ah!"

It's a coincidence.

After keeping watch all night, they could at first sit in a teahouse, but when the teahouse closed, they naturally had to find an inn on the street and take turns going down to keep watch.

He was so tired that when it got light, he couldn't help but take a nap, just in time to miss Song Miaotong and the other constables coming out.

The other patrolmen were only focused on watching the people coming and going. Song Miao, a young woman, was clean and tidy. She was pushing a food cart with several patrolmen standing next to her. When asked, she turned out to be a resident of Suanzao Lane who did business at her stall every day. She didn't think much of it. Even if she did, she would have seen the sign and wondered what mung bean paste glutinous rice was and what the scallion and pork shumai tasted like.

Qin Zong, whose eyelids were barely open, felt his heart pounding even faster because he hadn't slept well.

"Taken away? Which patrol station?"

“You’ve been keeping watch all night, it’s my turn to ask you questions, but you’re asking me instead, and I don’t know how to answer.”

As Han Li spoke, he continued walking straight towards the Vermilion Bird Gate patrol post.

Qin Zong was both tired and hungry, and his mind was a complete mess. He had originally wanted to invite Brother Han to have breakfast, but at this moment he had no interest in it. He didn't dare to ask any more questions or say anything more, and just hurriedly followed.

Meanwhile, at the patrol station of the Vermilion Bird Gate, Song Miao answered questions for a while, and then the head constable returned and said, "I wanted to ask the higher-ups, but they sent out on an urgent mission and we couldn't find them. They said they wouldn't be back until tomorrow. In that case, you go back first. If anything happens, we'll come looking for you again."

He added, "If you go back, don't set up a stall at the entrance of the Imperial Academy these next few days, lest we have trouble explaining it to our superiors."

Another policeman said, "Push your cart here. The brothers who ate your shumai and glutinous rice all said they tasted good. Go to the back alley, not the front alley, so as not to attract attention. Sell here for the next few days."

Having accepted the favor, Song Miao naturally wouldn't want to put anyone in a difficult position. She quickly nodded and said, "Besides going out to buy groceries and doing other chores, I usually stay at home. If you need anything, you gentlemen can come to my door."

After saying that, she thanked him politely and pushed her cart away.

After leaving the patrol station, Song Miao didn't know what had happened next, but she knew there would be more twists and turns in the future, so she slowly thought about how to deal with it.

As I was walking, I saw a porter carrying a load on a shoulder pole, selling spring vegetables along the road.

This porter doesn't seem like a peddler who makes a living by buying and selling; he's more like a farmer who grows and sells his own produce. The items on his carrying pole aren't many in quantity, but they're a wide variety.

A small handful of goji berry sprouts, a few bunches of lettuce leaf tips, and plenty of chives, but they all looked pitiful and not very healthy. There were also radishes, cabbage, and so on.

Song Miao liked the tender goji berry buds and beautiful leaves, so she stopped her cart, asked the price, and bought them all.

As the porter found large leaves for her to wrap the vegetables, he asked, "Do you want anything else? Do you want cabbage? Do you want chives? These are all grown in my own field, very fresh and tender..."

Seeing that Song Miaoju shook her head, he still refused to give up and asked again, "I still have bamboo shoots here, young lady, would you like some bamboo shoots?"

As he spoke, he moved the lid off the bamboo basket.

The bottom is full of small bamboo shoots.

Unlike ordinary bamboo shoots, these bamboo shoots are thin, with brown or reddish-brown husks and fine hairs. Even the larger ones are only as thick as a thumb, while some are as long as two palms and some are only as long as one palm.

"These are good bamboo shoots, but others don't recognize them and think they're too small. But if you just blanch them in water, they'll taste just as good!"

As he spoke, he pinched the end of the bamboo shoot to show Song Miao: "It's very tender, young lady. Look, this bamboo shoot was just picked this morning, it's very tender!"

Thank you so much to my cat, Egg, for the four little gifts you sent me! :)

Today's update is also at three o'clock!
We won't have vegetables until tomorrow; lucky people will get to eat tender bamboo shoots.

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(End of this chapter)