Chapter 258: Play

Chapter 258 Opera

"No white flour, do you want sorghum or cornmeal?"

Squatting on a large square stone, a gaunt old man holding a large porcelain bowl spoke to Lü Zhuangyuan, who was inquiring about selling grain.

"Aren't the fields full of millet? Why is there no white flour? We're paying money, not robbing you." Lü Zhuangyuan seemed somewhat unwilling to accept this.

Coarse grains could be eaten, but they simply weren't as good as refined grains. Besides, it wasn't spending their own money, so there was no need to save.

The gaunt old man shook his head like a rattle drum. "That won't work. The white flour has to be saved to pay the official grain tax to the government. If we can't pay the tax, they'll drag my son off to be a coolie."

"Little Daoist Master, look here..."

Lü Zhuangyuan turned his head, casting an inquiring glance toward Li Huowang, who was stroking Mantou's dog head with his hand.

After receiving approval, Lü Zhuangyuan turned back to the old man and said, "Fine, fine, coarse grain then. We're buying a lot, so you have to give us a discount."

As bag after bag of grain was loaded onto the cart, the wheels sank slightly into the earth.

However, buying so much had its benefits; at least the other party agreed to lend them two empty granaries for Li Huowang and his group to stay overnight.

Although all the purchased grain was coarse, Young Yang could still make something special out of it.

Sticky multigrain dough balls were pressed against the black pot, baking into patches of scorched yellow cakes.

In the center of the cakes was soup boiled from leftover sheep bones from yesterday; yellow cakes paired with sheep bone soup made up their dinner.

Although the food was simple, the taste was quite excellent.

"Little Daoist Master, there are many people around here. At night, we should send more people to watch the sheep, otherwise, who knows which bastard born without a hole might come to steal ours."

Holding his bowl, Lü Zhuangyuan reminded Li Huowang, who was eating the baked cake.

"It's fine. Just let Mantou sleep in the sheep pile tonight. If someone tries to steal the sheep, she'll bark."

Li Huowang threw the sheep bone, which had not a shred of meat left, onto the ground. Mantou, squatting beneath his stool, immediately rushed up, picked it up in her mouth, and dragged it back.

She pinned one side down with her front paw and began gnawing on it with gusto, crunching away.

"One dog isn't enough. How about this: I'll let my youngest son guard it with the dog. I just heard the price; once we leave Qingqiu, these sheep are worth a fortune."

Seeing that Li Huowang did not refuse, a satisfied smile appeared on Lü Zhuangyuan's face, and he felt proud in his heart. "Hey, our Lü Family Troupe comes in handy again!"

"Your daughter-in-law gave birth outside on her own, is everything alright? Should we find a midwife in this village to check on her?"

"It's fine, no problem. She's already given birth once before; giving birth a second time is no different from taking a shit. Uh... Little Daoist Master, sorry, shouldn't talk about this during meals."

Just as the group was eating inside this simple granary, they heard some noisy sounds coming from outside.

Dogwa, squatting at the door, turned his head to look at Li Huowang inside, grabbed a yellow cake from the pot, shoved it into his mouth, and walked curiously outside with his bowl in hand.

Inside, silence fell. Aside from the slurping sound of drinking soup, only the chewing noises remained. The cakes with cornmeal stuck to the teeth, so they couldn't be eaten too fast, requiring slow and careful chewing.

Not long after, Dogwa came in from outside holding an empty bowl, his face beaming with joy. "Hey! Do you know what I saw?"

The others glanced at him, all busy eating their own dinners, too lazy to bother with him.

Seeing no one respond, to avoid putting his friend in an awkward position, Lü Xiucai asked at just the right moment, "What did you see?"

Dogwa put down his bowl and clapped his hands excitedly. "I just saw a troupe performing grand opera! Men and women! They are setting up a stage at the village entrance right now!"

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang and his group hadn't reacted yet, but everyone in the Lü Family Troupe instantly perked up their ears.

If there is anything in the world that constitutes naked hatred, the rivalry between colleagues certainly counts as one.

"Hey-yah-ho~!" Lü Zhuangyuan slammed his bowl onto the ground, wiped his mouth with both sides of his sleeve, straightened his hunched back abruptly, and marched outside like a rooster.

"Let's go! Take a look. I want to see how the opera is sung in the Great Liang Kingdom!"

Li Huowang raised his head to watch his retreating figure, continuing to eat his fragrant, sticky yellow cake.

Lü Zhuangyuan didn't care about other things, but whenever he encountered fellow opera performers, he acted like he'd been injected with chicken blood, caring exceptionally much.

Li Huowang didn't care much about this, but for the others, the temptation was great. Day after day, they were just traveling, never having a chance to relax.

Hearing there was opera being performed, the others couldn't sit still anymore; they all started wolfing down their food, and as soon as they finished and put down their bowls, they headed outside.

"Senior Brother Li, let's go take a look."

"That's right, Daoist, let's go take a look. I love watching opera the most."

"Not going."

"Senior Brother Li, don't be like that. Let's go, it's really wonderful. I used to love being held by my grandmother, standing in the crowd to watch opera." Bai Lingmiao pulled gently on Li Huowang's arm, swaying it lightly, her voice carrying a hint of coquetry.

"Yes, go, go, Daoist, I beg you." The monk, wearing tattered robes, leaned over to Li Huowang's other side, eyes filled with longing.

Li Huowang watched the monk in front of him, his lips moving slightly, finally forcing himself to swallow the curse words back down.

He put down his bowl and strode outside. Immediately behind him erupted cheers from Bai Lingmiao and the monk.

When he arrived outside, the village entrance, which had just been very spacious, had become extremely crowded. People hung from the walls and trees. Judging by the number, everyone in the village must have gathered, and members of the Lü Family Troupe were among them as well.

Li Huowang held Bai Lingmiao's hand, jumped onto the roof in three or two steps, sat on the hard tiles, and looked at the brightly lit opera stage in the distance.

To make it clear for people to see, they hung many lanterns on the stage, making the entire platform the brightest spot.

"Clang clang clang clang~" Accompanied by the unique music of opera, a red-faced general with six flags inserted behind his back and two long plumes atop his head stepped onto the stage following the rhythm of the steps.

Dancing the white double maces in his hand to the music, as he suddenly made his appearance, the music stopped. Immediately after, he began to sing. His firm singing voice was very heroic and cheerful.

"Hear the golden drums sounding loud~!! Awaken me~ to break through the Heavenly Gate with lofty ambition~ Think of the past green warhorse~ majestic and imposing! While alive, duties must be fulfilled! How can an inch of land return to others!!"

"Good!!"

Hearing the applause from Bai Lingmiao beside him along with the monk, Li Huowang first turned his head to look at her joyful profile, then raised his head to look at the actor on the stage.

Hearing these lyrics, it seemed to describe the psychological activity of a certain general of the Great Liang Kingdom before departing for war. However, Li Huowang didn't know which play this was, who he was, or where he was going to fight.

But he had been persuaded to come anyway, so he didn't care about the plot, just watching confusedly along with everyone else.

At first, Li thought this opera was no different from Master Lü's troupe, merely differing in the yee-yaa singing style, but soon he discovered something different.

(End of Chapter)