Chapter Twenty-Four: Boiling a Frog in Warm Water

  "In the outskirts of Shu, there lived two monks, one poor and one rich. The poor monk said to the rich monk: 'I want to go on a trip to the South Sea, is it possible?' The rich monk asked: 'What will you rely on to go?' The poor monk replied: 'One bottle and one alms bowl are enough for me...'"

  Yun Zheng and Yun Er were reading books while tidying up the house, indeed a diligent person. She took a hemp cloth to wipe the entire small building neatly, and the bamboo by the brazier was wiped until it was dark and shiny.

  As for the arrival of bacon, the happiest one must be Yun Er. He really treats bacon like a three-year-old child, even holding it while peeing. This is Yun Er's most enjoyable time. However, when it comes to wiping his butt, he resists to the death, because bacon will use a bamboo board to scrape his butt...

  The cured meat is fine everywhere, it's just that we can eat some. In the past, my brother and I used to steam rice with a ceramic pot, and half a pot was enough. Now, steaming a whole pot of rice is not even enough for three people to eat.

  Watching the cured meat dish holding a bowl bigger than her head, gobbling down food like a wolf, Yun Zhen felt that she really needed to speed up her pace of making money.

  Yun Er scooped the leftover rice from his bowl to Cured Meat, as long as it was food, Cured Meat never picked and chose, welcoming everything. This was also one of the reasons Yun Er liked Cured Meat, anything he didn't like to eat could be given to Cured Meat, such as a large piece of pork liver.

  Every day, carrying water is the most painful thing for Yun Zheng. Not for anything else, but because in other people's homes, it's always the women who carry water, regardless of whether they're young or old. After getting familiar with them, they all like to eat Yun Zheng's tofu. One would come over and touch his head, another would come over and pinch his face. The most terrifying ones are those young women, who always want to pull down Yun Zheng's pants to see if a scholar's bottom is any different from other men's.

  Hai's Yun Zheng used to fetch water only when those women were not around, now that there is cured meat everything is perfect, Yun Zheng no longer has to carry a water bucket and be teased by others.

  Yun Er had long been used to it. When he first arrived at the village, he could only wear open-crotch pants. Every day, he would run back from outside, and his little chicken would be pinched red by others until Yun Zheng managed to get some money to make him a new set of clothes to escape such a disaster.

  The women in the mountains are bold and a bit wild, this is the character given to them by the great mountains. They also make no secret of this character. Since he could understand their language, Yun Zheng only knew how heroic those lyrics were. As long as they started singing, Yun Zheng would hide far away or stay with the old patriarch, only in this way would there not be dirty women smiling foolishly at him.

  "Get out, all of you! Yundajiang is going to marry the official's daughter. Anyone who dares sing in front of him again will be married off to a mountain village." The old clan leader always scared those girls like this, but it wasn't very effective.

  Cured meat also sang such a song, but after being patted on the head by Yun Zhēng a few times, it stopped singing. Its expression was still a bit resentful, and Yun Er smiled and chuckled. Cured meat's face turned red as it hastily hugged Yun Er and went down to the bamboo building together to feed their old cow.

  Liu Doutou's grass market was very successful, because the first time it was Yun Zheng who brought dried meat and Yun Er in the mountain valley behind the big green stone to hold it. Liu Doutou stood far away and watched, Yun Zheng told the mountain people who came to exchange things that he was helping himself watch out for outsiders, so they didn't need to worry, he wouldn't come over. So the transaction went very smoothly.

  Yun Zheng's goods are all carefully selected, the thick and sturdy hemp fabric makes a crisp sound when slapped, it's obviously good stuff. As for the ironware, they're all made by Hu Sanjia's old master blacksmiths, which is very famous in the surrounding area of over 100 miles. The salt doesn't contain any impurities, the green salt is white with a hint of green, this thing isn't just used as seasoning in the mountains. Many hunters who got injured use salt water to clean their wounds, and wounds cleaned with salt water don't easily become infected. Therefore, the higher quality of green salt, the more welcome it is.

  The mountain people only need a few things, and if there's something special, Yun Zheng will remember it and promise to bring it back next time. As everyone becomes more familiar, some people even wave at Liu Du from afar.

  Finally, one morning, a huge package, Yun Zheng was really unable to carry it on his back. Under the supervision of the mountain people in the distance, Liu Dutou carried the huge bundle and walked over, laid it out and quickly left. The mountain people were very satisfied with Liu Dutou's understanding and tact.

  The boiled frog in warm water is like this, and after another month, Liu Doutou was able to sit with the mountain people, passing the wine jar back and forth, drinking together, and simply won the trust of the mountain people.

  It's another harvest day, and the cow cart is full of all kinds of birds and beasts. This is the last batch, after today, the mountain people will no longer hunt, because it's time for the wild animals to give birth. At this time, the wild animals are not allowed to be hunted, otherwise there will be no prey next year. This is a very simple truth, the mountain people know the rules of the big mountain, they never go to destroy. At least until now, Yun Zheng has not received any pregnant wild beasts.

  Today's market was very strange, a luxurious carriage stopped on the ground, and Liang Guan's family, who often bought valuable goods from Yun Zheng, stood beside the carriage with a pale face. When he saw Yun Zheng arrive as scheduled, he showed an even more mournful expression.

  At this time, Liu usually didn't show up, and there were only Yun Zheng and Yun Er's dried meat on the ox cart. Yun Zheng glanced at the large horse-drawn carriage, smiled and greeted Liang Guanjia: "Liang Guanjia, good luck today, I received a musk deer, take a look, the sachet is not bitten open, you said last time that the old master needs a dry musk sachet to improve his sleep, I brought it for you, still the same rule, you make an offer first."

  "Musk? Grandfather really needs it, five hundred coins, I'll take it." A woman's voice came from inside the carriage.

  Yun Zheng seemed to have not heard, and from the cow cart, he took down the musk and placed it in front of Liang Guan's family, intentionally exposing the musk sac, asking him to inspect. After Liang Guan's family carefully examined it, he nodded and said: "With this thing plus the musk, I can give three guans of money. But I'm not in charge."

  Yun Zheng nodded regretfully, immediately smiling and saying to the steward of the silk store: "Liu steward, don't bother with Liang steward anymore. Please quote a price for me now."

  Liu Guan glanced at Old Liang and said with a hint of a smile: "Picking musk requires expertise, this is a snow musk, looking at its body shape, it's definitely a five-year-old adult musk. Since the scent bag hasn't broken, it must be small, I'll also offer three taels of silver, Old Madam needs it to make perfume too. Fortunately, Young Madam has returned to her natal home, otherwise, I wouldn't dare take it."

  "Congratulations, Liu Guan Jia! The mistress is pregnant, and you'll have a new pillar to rely on. As for musk, I think it's best to forget about it. Liu Zhuang will be thirty soon, and this thing isn't good for the fetus. If something goes wrong, neither of us can afford to take responsibility. Here, I have a basket of pheasants; making congee with them is very nourishing and has no taboos. Let's leave the musk for Master Xiong to use in his wound medicine instead."