Chapter 124: Purple Stone Street is full of talents
Yanggu County, Zishi Street.

Shi Qian carried a basket of goods and hawked them everywhere. No matter what sneaky things he did at night, he had to do a legitimate business during the day to cover up his illegal activities.

In just two days, he made a friend.

The young man was only fifteen or sixteen years old. His surname was Qiao, but because he was born and raised in Yunzhou when his father Qiao was a soldier, he was named Yun Ge.

Because he had his son in middle age, and old man Qiao was in poor health, the family's food and drink depended entirely on this little boy.

The saying that children from poor families have to grow up early is really true.

"Shi Dalang, just ask about the affairs of Yanggu County, who has children, who has died, whose wife cheated on her husband, whose son is unfilial, who is new and who just left, there is nothing we don't know."

Yun Ge's thin arm carried a large bamboo basket filled with snow pears. He patted his chest with his right hand and said, "It's all here!"

"Here, here's a leftover sesame seed bun from lunch. Take it and have it."

The reason why Shi Qian was able to make friends was because of small favors.

"My dad said that if the little brat eats me to death, I won't be polite."

It is not easy to live these days. People at the bottom of society never have enough to eat. They are half-hungry and half-full, just barely able to survive.

Yun Ge stuffed the sesame cake into his mouth in a few bites. Suddenly, he saw a tall and handsome figure in the distance. He swallowed the sesame cake hard and almost choked.

"Master Ximen, Master Ximen."

Yun Ge didn't even have time to catch his breath before he ran over and shouted, "These snow pears have just fallen from the tree, picked especially for Mr. Ximen. They are so juicy when you bite them. No one else is worthy of eating them except Mr. Ximen."

Ximen Qing led a few of his brothers to stroll around, and also wanted to find out what their reputation was in the underworld. When Yun Ge stopped him, he took out ten coins from his sleeve, threw them into the bamboo basket, and said with a smile:

"What did you call us?"

"Master Ximen!"

"What else? If you get it right, I will give you half a pound of silver today."

"..."

Yun Ge had been hanging around on the streets for a few years and was good at changing his attitude according to the situation. He slapped his head and said, "Oh! Look at my mouth. I'm really asking for a beating... I'm used to calling you 'big official' and I can't get used to it. From now on, I won't call you 'big official'. I should call you 'Hua Tuo' or 'Living Mengchang'."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Ximen Qing laughed heartily: "Reward! It's a reward!"

Yun Ge got half a dollar and was so happy that his face was dancing with joy. He returned to Shi Qian and said proudly:

"See? See? This is Mr. Ximen Qing, the first owner of a herbal medicine shop in Yanggu County. He has a lot of money, is on good terms with the county magistrate, and has four wives at home. I know all this."

"Brother Yun is quite resourceful! He is the gossiper in Yanggu County..."

"Being a gossip-teller is nothing. When I grow up a few more years, I will also learn boxing and martial arts, and become a hero like the Subduing Tiger Arhat."

That night, Shi Qian told Cao Jie about this Brother Qiao Yun.

"This kid has some skills. He's a good talker. He will definitely be good at business." Shi Qian obviously had a crush on him.

Cao Jie nodded and said, "When Ximen Qing's matter is over, we will give him a good training. If he has real skills, we will train him vigorously."

"Wang Po schemes to seduce Ximen Qing, and the adulteress poisons Wu Dalang" is a classic chapter in "Water Margin".

In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned people, there is another inconspicuous character who played an important role in the "Death of Wu Da", and this person is Yun Ge.

As a young servant living at the bottom of society, Yun Ge has many qualities. He has the courage to accompany Wu Song to "go to court", and he also knows how to walk the streets to "support his father". He is not a bad person and is quite filial. However, his most eye-catching trait is the slippery habits he has acquired from the market.

It was this slick and mercenary style of the market that unexpectedly changed the direction of the plot and accelerated Wu Da's death.

In the plot of Wu Da catching the adulterer, Yun Ge's cunning words and frivolous tone played a crucial motivating role, and even the plan to catch the adulterer came from his hand.

However, ironically, Yun Ge's action was purely to take revenge on Wang Po, not to help Wu Da.

Because of this, although Yun Ge was not the initiator of Wu Da's death, he did play an ignominious role in this incident.

As a popular literary classic, "Water Margin" has created a large number of heroic images, while many minor characters in it have generally received little attention.

In fact, if you explore in depth, it is not difficult to find that Shi Nai'an also put a lot of effort into creating these minor characters, Yun Ge being one example.

As early as when Yun Ge appeared on the stage, Mr. Shi had already characterized this person as a "smart" servant who only had a little cleverness but no great wisdom, and would eventually hurt others and himself.

Cao Jie didn't have any bad feelings towards Yun Ge.

The ability to defecate is used more heavily, and the ability to urinate is used less.

Even bandits who commit murder and arson can be tolerated, let alone a "well-behaved" teenager.

That night, Shi Qian went to Ximen Qing's shops again to scout out the situation, waiting for the right moment to set them on fire and blow them to pieces.

The next day, Cao Jie walked leisurely on Zi Shi Street.

This is a commercial street in Yanggu County, and the neighbors are all businessmen: Yao Erlang and Yao Wenqing who run a silver shop, Zhao Silang and Zhao Zhongming who run a paper horse shop, Hu Zhengqing who sells cold wine, Zhang Gong who sells steamed buns, and of course, Wang Ganniang who sells tea as a side job.

Opening a teahouse was just a side job. Her main job was matchmaking, and sometimes she also acted as a midwife.

It can be said that he is quite capable.

As Cao Jie sat down in front of the teahouse, he saw an old woman with a red flower on her head approaching him:

"Sir, would you like flower tea or tea?"

"Have a bowl of lei cha!"

Tea culture has a long history.

But the people of the Song Dynasty liked to grind the tea leaves into fine powder, and then drink it with onions, ginger and spices, which was the correct way.

However, there is one kind of tea that is an exception. Cao Jie, a later generation, also liked it very much. Tea leaves, old ginger, sesame seeds, rice, and salt were put in a mortar and pounded into fine powder with a hardwood pestle. Then, it was poured with boiling water to make pounded tea. After drinking it, you will feel warm and comfortable all over.

While pounding tea, Wang Po looked at Cao Jie for a while: "The big official must be the newcomer next door! He is really good-looking and has a good temperament... I wonder if the big official has married?"

"That's not true."

Wang Po became even more enthusiastic: "Master, I am not exaggerating, there is no better matchmaker than me in Yanggu County. What kind of lady do you want? A lady from a rich family or a beautiful girl from a humble family. With your looks and temperament, you can marry even a lady from a high-class family..."

Cao Jie smiled and said, "Although I have never married, I have a woman I like."

"Then there should be an experienced matchmaker like me to propose marriage!"

"But she is already married, what can we do?"

Wang Po quickly handed the tea to Cao Jie, sat beside him, and whispered, "To be honest, sir! If that's the case, then you have found the right person..."

(End of this chapter)