"Mom, this is outrageous! This is outrageous!"
Wang Da Jiao glanced at her clamoring son and said disdainfully, "What's so outrageous?"
"We're almost out of money, and you haven't even mentioned making some money? You're still out fooling around all day."
"I'm telling you, if you use your money for whoring again, don't even think about asking me for a penny."
Ye Qingshan paused, took a deep breath, and then said, "Mom, that idiot's broth has made something."
"It looks like they're making a lot of money."
"What's all the fuss? Even if they can make pottery bowls and mud bricks, so what?"
"How much money can they make?"
Seeing his mother still so arrogant, Ye Qingshan felt a little anxious.
"It's true, Mom, they're all eating pickles and meat broth. Just the smell is making me drool."
Wang Da Jiao stood up suddenly and raised her voice.
"What are you talking about? That little bastard gave them pickles and meat broth?"
"Oh, you little loser! That was all my money."
Then Wang Da Jiao looked at Ye Qingshan again.
"Mom, but that bastard Ye Ming has split up with us."
"Splitting up isn't enough. I've raised him for almost twenty years, isn't that money? Even if he doesn't pay, he still has to provide for his mother and me."
"We need meat every meal, good food and drink, or we'll go to his brothel and make trouble. Let him stop the broth."
Ye Qingshan's eyes lit up at those words. Meat every meal.
He hadn't eaten meat since he was kicked out of the academy.
But that little bastard Ye Ming now has enough money to give those peasants meat soup.
Just thinking about it made him feel uneasy.
"Yes, Mom, you're right. If he doesn't give us anything, we'll make trouble!"
"Then when are we going?"
"Tomorrow."
....
The next morning, Ye Ming took five white porcelain bowls and headed to Qingshui City to find a market. His first thought was Sun Haoyu.
But when he arrived at the county government office, he was told that he had been transferred and the new magistrate would not arrive for a few days.
"Oh, now I can only go find Li Youde."
"I thought I was lucky to get a special deal on a medical kit today."
...
Fragrant Pavilion.
"Hey, isn't that Brother Ye? Long time no see. Did you catch anything again today?"
Ye Ming waved his hand.
"Shopkeeper Li, I'm not selling prey this time. I'm selling other things?"
Li Youde looked puzzled. "But did Brother Ye find other wild delicacies?"
"No, I'll show you some. See if you'll take them."
Ye Ming took out a white porcelain bowl and placed it in front of Shopkeeper Li.
Shopkeeper Li, who had originally thought Ye Ming wouldn't have anything good, suddenly had a look in his eyes.
"Such a clean white porcelain bowl, top-notch! Brother Ye, where did you get it from?"
Ye Ming didn't answer him directly, but instead inquired, "Shopkeeper Li, just tell me about this thing. Will you take it?"
Li Youde, looking at the pristine white porcelain bowl, was also very fond of it.
"Yes, I'll take it. I wonder how much Brother Ye plans to sell it for?"
"I wonder how much Shopkeeper Li plans to take?"
Li Youde hesitated. "If this exquisite item were a vase or a wine bottle, I could give you twenty taels of silver."
"This bowl is plain and a little small, so I'll give you five taels of silver at most."
Li Youde's offer surprised Ye Ming. He'd originally expected five hundred wen to one tael of silver.
This offer was far beyond his expectations.
"Okay, Shopkeeper Li, I have four more. How about you take them all?"
"What do you mean you have more?" Li Youde's eyes lit up. White porcelain was so rare.
Seeing five at once was a surprise.
"I'll buy as many as you have. Quick, waiter, bring me my bag." Li Youde readily gave Ye Ming twenty-five taels of silver.
"Brother Ye, if you find something this good again, come find me."
"Hahaha, don't worry. I'll definitely come find you next time." Ye Ming smiled, pocketing the silver and asking Li Youde a question before leaving.
"By the way, Shopkeeper Li, I have another question."
"Young Master Ye, go ahead."
"When I just entered the city, I noticed a lot of refugees. Are they all fleeing Liangzhou?"
Li Youde had seen the refugees, and they were indeed quite pitiful.
"Those are farmers outside Liangzhou. People in Liangzhou can't escape right now."
"Lin Weichen is conscripting men everywhere to consolidate his power."
"These people can't bear the burden, so they've all fled."
"Unfortunately, the county magistrate has just been transferred, so the disaster relief efforts have been delayed. The new magistrate probably won't arrive for a few days."
"Be careful when you go back, and don't show off your wealth."
These refugees will do anything to survive.
And now that the Qingshui County government hasn't stopped the disaster relief efforts, it will only make them more desperate to survive.
"Well, thank you for the heads-up, Shopkeeper Li. Then I'll take my leave."
"I'll see you off."
It would be better to just store the food he bought later directly into the system space.
By the time Ye Ming left Qingshui County, it was already afternoon, and the refugees were even more numerous than in the morning.
Fortunately, the Qingshui County governor decided to organize a porridge distribution program to reassure them.
Otherwise, Qingshui County might have been overrun by these refugees.
Ye Ming looked at the refugees queuing for the bland porridge and felt pity for them.
He, Ye Ming, was neither a good person nor a bad one.
Although he wanted to help, he knew his own limitations. So, he simply felt pity.
....
When he was about to pass the refugee pile, he saw a strong man with a girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old with a straw sign.
Behind her was an old woman with gray hair and no blood at all.
The strong man kowtowed to him several times when he saw Ye Ming passing by.
"Master, is your family in need of a maid?"
"Our Xiaohui is smart and capable. She only costs five hundred coins. Please buy her."
Ye Ming had only seen the situation of selling children for food in TV dramas. Only when he saw it himself did he know what it felt like.
The strong man in front of him had hands and feet, except for his ugly face.
Anyone who sells hard labor would not sell his children for food.
Thinking of this, Ye Ming became angry, but he suppressed it and walked up to the three people.
"You have healthy hands and feet, why are you trying to find a job instead of selling your daughter here?"
The strong man coughed and said with an unsteady breath: "Master, my mother is dead, and I have caught a cold."
"Now I can't afford to support my daughter. So I want to bury my mother before I die, and find a way for Xiaohui to work."
When Yang Xiaohui heard that her father was dying, she immediately cried and wanted to hug him.
But Yang Xiong held her back with a stick.
"Xiaohui, don't touch me. If you catch a cold too, our family will be really finished!"
"Dad!"
"Xiaohui, don't be afraid of death..."
"Shut up!"
"Cough cough cough!"
Yang Xiong looked at Ye Ming again.
"Master, I can see that you are a good person. Please buy Xiaohui."
"She is still young. She shouldn't die here with me."