The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"Live like a human being..."

Li Shimin carefully pondered these words, and a strange sadness welled up in his heart.

The woman spoke calmly, as if she were talking about a trivial matter, but Li Shimin felt that it was more deafening than any roar.

If they can live like human beings now, doesn't that mean they didn't live like human beings before?

Li Shimin swept the street and recalled what it used to look like, and felt relieved.

Indeed, the people who used to live here didn't live like human beings at all!

"Is it because... Minister Chen gave you a chance to work?" Li Shimin asked again.

"No," the woman shook her head, "he gave us a chance to live."

"It's hard to say exactly how many people live here. In the beginning, everyone was the same. There were no fields or land. Many people didn't even have their own small house, not even a thatched hut."

"But ever since the ninth year of the Wude era, someone suddenly came here to recruit workers, offering very high wages."

"At first, everyone thought they had encountered a scammer."

Li Shimin remembered this incident; when Chen Huai'an first started his business in Meiren Pass, he came here to recruit workers.

He listened to the woman's words and asked with a smile, "So your first reaction was not to believe it? And then you didn't go?"

"No," the woman shook her head again, "Everyone went. They only needed a hundred people, and it was so competitive that they couldn't get any."

Li Shimin asked in bewilderment, "If you all think they are swindlers, why are you all rushing to go?"

The woman said bitterly, "Because no one has any other choice. If they are swindlers, they might take the person away and sell them, or do something else with them. The worst outcome is death."

"Staying here is a death sentence for us all."

"If that's the case, why not go?"

"Even if they really are scammers, and they take people to be sold, they might still be able to make a living."

"In short, no matter what, things couldn't get any worse than this."

Li Shimin fell silent.

The woman's answer always surprised him, as if no matter how he guessed, he was wrong.

This made Li Shimin realize that he had never experienced this kind of life and found it difficult to understand the thoughts of these people.

"And then what happened?" Li Lizhi asked, blinking her eyes.

"And then..." the woman murmured, seemingly recalling the past. "What happened next was quite simple. No one was cheated, and those people really did pay us on time."

"I have fulfilled all my promises."

"The lives of the first hundred people who were selected gradually improved. Then, when they came to recruit again, the competition became even fiercer, and there were almost a lot of problems."

"Then came the third and fourth times, and later the government came to recruit people, offering wages in the same way."

"Although the wages aren't as high as those for brewing wine, and you have to go to other places, it's still a good way out because it includes food and lodging."

"And so, almost everyone on this street went to work, either for the brewery or for the government."

Li Shimin nodded silently.

He was aware of all of this. He came today to see how effective Chen Huai'an's persistent efforts were.

Now it seems very good!

Li Tai then asked, "You don't know exactly how many people are here, but I think there are at least several thousand."

"So many people. The brewery hires a hundred people at a time. You said it three or four times, which proves that it hired about four hundred people."

"In addition, the government can't recruit all the workers from here... so at most, there will be a thousand people working."

"Logically speaking, there should still be quite a few civilians here."

The woman was taken aback, then smiled and explained, "Young man, you're mistaken. Whether it's a brewery or a government office, the first thing they look for when hiring is whether a person is healthy and free from illness. Secondly, they hire people on a household basis."

"Even if you work for the government and only earn twenty coins a day, that's enough to support a family."

"I see." Li Tai suddenly realized, glanced at Chen Huai'an, and whispered, "That's amazing..."

"mother!"

Just then, a rather childish voice rang out. Everyone turned to look and saw a little girl of about five years old. She looked rather thin and was holding an oil-paper umbrella. She ran to the woman's side.

"Mom, are the steamed buns sold out?"

"Not yet, Yaya, are you hungry? Mom will get you some meat buns." When the woman saw the little girl, she quickly squatted down and patted the snow off her daughter.

Upon hearing the word "meat buns," the little girl called Ya Ya swallowed hard, clearly tempted, but then firmly shook her head. "No, Mom, I'm not hungry yet. Sell them to the customers..."

As Ya Ya spoke, she looked at Li Shimin and the others. When she saw Chen Huai'an, she was stunned for a moment, then became extremely excited, grabbing the woman's hand and saying, "Mother, he's our benefactor, our benefactor!"

Ya Ya stared intently at Chen Huai'an, her face filled with surprise and gratitude.

Everyone's eyes turned to Chen Huai'an in unison. Chen Huai'an himself was a little confused. What benefactor?

The woman didn't react at first, but after she came to her senses, an excited look appeared on her face. She immediately pulled her daughter and knelt down in front of Chen Huai'an.

"It turns out to be my benefactor in person. It's all my fault, all my fault for not recognizing my benefactor immediately... Yaya, quick, quickly kowtow to your benefactor."

"Wait!" Chen Huai'an said anxiously.

Kneeling was not common in the Tang Dynasty. Even when attending court, everyone stood, and most of the time they sat.

Chen Huai'an was not used to this kind of behavior of kneeling down at the drop of a hat.

"What benefactor? You've got it wrong. I'm not your benefactor."

Li Shimin and the others looked rather strange, as if they were confused about the situation.

"It can't be wrong!" Ya Ya stammered, "Last year, when Mother was seriously ill, you gave Ya Ya some silver coins. Ya Ya took the money and bought medicine for Mother, and Mother got better."

"You're my benefactor, Ya Ya wouldn't mistake you for someone else... Oh, right!"

She seemed to remember something, and said with reddened eyes, "You said to let Ya Ya live, to let her live like a human being."

Hearing these words, Chen Huai'an finally remembered.

On the first day of the ninth year of the Wude era, on my way home, I did encounter a little beggar who tried to steal my money.

He ended up catching her, but seeing how pitiful the little beggar was, he casually gave her all the money he had on him.

However, he didn't take it to heart at all, and over the past year, he had almost forgotten about it.

"So it was you." Chen Huai'an smiled. "Now it seems you didn't lie to me, and you're doing well. You haven't let my kindness go to waste."

"Since you call me your benefactor, it proves that you have never forgotten the helping hand I extended back then."

"For me, this is far more important than any gratitude."

"So you don't need to kneel before me!"

"..."