The sun was scorching.
There was no wind under the shade of the trees.
The corpses of the hungry people in the corners of the streets had long been scorched by the sun. The people who pulled the carts were suffocating when they loaded them onto the cart.
The heat in the alley was unbearable. The thick makeup on their faces was washed away by sweat.
The person who sold the ice cups was sweating profusely, soaking his linen clothes. He kept knocking on the gong and shouted in a hoarse voice.
"Ice cups of cold soup,
Better than a summer — "
"Ice cups of cold soup,
Better than a summer — "
A passerby bought a few bowls.
The hot lips of the ice cup seller peeled off.
He was dizzy and kept moistening his lips with saliva, but he didn't dare to drink half a mouthful of his cold soup. He kept wiping his sweat. "Your patronage! Your patronage! "
Unfortunately, there weren't many people who bought it.
The ice cup seller thought dizzily that it was probably because the weather wasn't hot enough.
A young master dressed in luxurious clothes rode a horse with a royal canopy.
When he passed by with an ice bag, he saw that the ice cup seller's face was pale, covered in sweat, and tired. The young master couldn't bear it. "These market peddlers are really pitiful … This person is about to collapse from heatstroke."
The servant saw that he seemed to want to go forward and hurriedly pulled him back. He smiled and said, "Second master,
Don't talk too much.
Grandma told you not to be nosy outside and not to spend a single copper coin. Maybe the peddlers in the market are the most treacherous.
Instead, they rely on your kindness. "
The young master was still sighing.
The servant hurriedly pulled the horse forward.
These young masters who wouldn't come to buy his cold soup.
The ice cup seller never cared.
He endured the dizziness that was getting worse and was busy selling his livelihood for the day. Suddenly, he heard a voice not far away. "Have you paid the market? I'm here to give you face today. "
The street was in chaos.
The ice cup seller's vision suddenly turned black. He hurriedly pushed his important property to feed his family, the small wooden cart that stored cold soup, and hurriedly prepared to leave.
When the officials patrolled, they had to be "filial" and "square".
He didn't sell a few bowls of cold soup today. He didn't even have the food for his family for the day. How could he have the money to "filial" the officials?
These peddlers were as lowly as dust.
It was fine if the officials beat him up. He was afraid that if the cart and the cooling candies were smashed, his old mother and young son would have no food or clothing.
As he frantically dodged, he sweated even more profusely. Suddenly, a person ran in front of him at high speed. He was knocked to the side and fell on the hot stone floor, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The cart slid away with a grunt, scattering all over the floor.
Ah! Cold soup.
He fell to the ground, half from the fall, half from the heat, and half from the fall. That was how he thought dizzily before he fainted.
"'My heart worries about the cheap charcoal and wishes for the cold weather'. Du Gongbu's poem is still a living reality to this day. How can it not make me so angry that my liver and intestines are broken?! "
The ice cup seller woke up from his coma and felt that his body was much cooler. It didn't feel like he was on a hot street. He sniffed, "Ah – cold soup."
In a daze, he heard someone say, "Ah, cold soup! He doesn't even feel comfortable selling his cold soup, and he's telling us to swallow our anger? "
Another person was indignant, "Times are hard. Even in a bustling city like Nanjing, most of the common people don't have extra copper coins in their pockets. In the good times of the past, when the weather was this hot, a bowl of cold soup was still bought by a lot of people. I think what Li Baiquan and the others said in the South Seeking Tabloid was not wrong. "
There was a clanking sound next to him.
The sound of voices gradually faded away.
He finally woke up completely. He found himself lying on the ground in a cool corner of the inn. Next to him was a small basin of ice. The cart was not far away.
The waiter told him that someone had already paid for him.
He didn't know how long it had been since he fainted. The sun outside was not as strong as it was now. He was worried about the children and the elderly at home. Dragging his sore limbs, he pulled the cart and walked as fast as he could to his home.
Behind the noble people's tall and extravagant mansions, there were many dirty houses with low and dilapidated thatched eaves. They were connected together, like ants' holes. Those were the residences of the poor people of Nanjing, born and raised here.
In front of the low thatched hut, he didn't see his young son, who was always sick with minor illnesses. He also didn't see his blind mother, who was somewhat demented.
The garbage on the street was piled up. Because of the hot air, the stench was surging. Flies were buzzing around.
The neighbor said that his mother had gone out with his son.
He searched hard and finally saw his old mother curled up behind a pile of garbage.
"Mother, why are you here? Where is Changsheng? "
The old mother hugged the thing in her arms and shrunk into the garbage pile timidly.
She didn't seem to be in the right state of mind.
The flies landed on her messy white hair. Her turbid eyes were lifeless. The tattered clothes that couldn't cover her body were covered with dust.
But she didn't care at all. She just covered the thing in her arms.
He had a bad feeling and pulled her forcefully. "Mother, you go back with me first. After we go back … "
The "thing" in the old mother's arms revealed half of its face. The words he didn't finish were all frozen in his throat.
It was half of Changsheng's child's face.
It was pale and many insects had stopped. His eyes were tightly shut.
Under the scorching sun, the blood in his body turned cold.
"Changsheng 'er?" he called out in a low voice. "Changsheng' er?" he called again.
The boy didn't make a sound.
He whispered, "What's wrong with you?"
The boy still didn't make a sound.
After a while, he heard his old mother muttering with a sobbing tone, "It's so hot in the house. He begged me and said that he wanted to go out for a while. But it's also very stuffy outside. I asked him to use ice, but he wouldn't use it. After a while, he was lying there. "
"I carried him out, but he didn't make a sound. He didn't make a sound. "
He swayed and fell to the ground.
Changsheng 'er, it's so hot.
The ice stored in the cellar was their livelihood this summer.
They would rather be hot than use a small piece of ice to relieve the summer heat.
Changsheng 'er was so sensible.
Changsheng 'er was so sensible.
His old mother stared blankly at his terrible face. Then, she looked at her motionless grandson in her arms and started to cry.
Gradually, many neighbors were attracted by the cries and came out. They were not surprised to see this scene.
There were too many of such things. How many of the children of the poor could grow up alive?
There was an old woman who advised, "My condolences. The child is gone, but the adults still have to live. You should cry. It'll be better if you cry. "
But he still sat there and gritted his teeth. He didn't make a sound. He didn't shed a single tear.
In the silence, suddenly, there was a burst of bell-like laughter from the other side of the high wall.
On the other side of the high wall, there was a man who was admiring the flowers. He placed some ice beside the flowers to relieve the heat. He laughed loudly and said, "Master, tell someone to bring some ice over here. This peony is wilting."
The old woman stopped talking. Everyone saw two drops of tears from the corners of the father's eyes.
He asked them, "Why?"
They couldn't answer.
He finally stood up and pulled his old mother up shakily. He took the child's body and held it tightly in his arms. Then, he limped away.
When he walked past the high wall,
The girl on the wall was still laughing.
Outside the wall, his old mother was still sobbing.
He asked again, "Why?"
The wall didn't answer.
The girl didn't answer.
There was only the sunlight that shone on everyone in the world. It shone on him and on the laughter on the wall.
He looked back at the people who were as shabbily dressed as he was. Finally, he slowly walked away.
.....
In the tavern, people were gathering to read newspapers.
Although it was forbidden to read newspapers. But the tavernkeeper had bought the South Seeker Tabloid from the bookstore, so he turned a blind eye.
The person reading the newspaper slapped the table.
"Look, a person suddenly appeared. Huh? Look, who is this? A doctor named Wang from the Ministry of Rites. He rebuked the South Seeker Tabloid for publishing the South Seeker Tabloid as a traitor who blindly wants people to fall into human desires.
Mr. Bai Quan published: What is human desires? You, Mr. Wang, said that 'the pursuit of profit' is the root of misfortune. You want us to despise wealth. Your family owns a dozen shops. How can there be no misfortune?
You say that physical pleasure needs to be restrained and can't fall into human desires. Then why don't you give me your eight concubines? "
The people who heard the newspaper laughed and fell down. They kept jeering, "That's right! Why don't you give them to us! "
After reading a paragraph with great emotion, the newspaperman raised his voice, his expression became serious, and he read another article on the front page:
"Mr. Sun translated Tai Xi's words for Doctor Wang: Individual happiness and individual freedom are natural and cannot be refuted. Everyone has the purpose of seeking happiness. There is no need to suppress it. There is no need to hate. This is a sacred right given by God. No one can take it away. "
"Everyone should create their own life. If someone takes away your life, then no matter how sacred his name is, he should be defeated. "
The people fell silent for a moment.
This was not an interesting novel or story. It was even a little boring.
But these craftsmen, poor people, peddlers, abject scholars, monks, and drunkards all listened very seriously to Tai Xi's heretical and fatherless speech. From time to time, people nodded.
Some people gradually gathered at the door to listen. There were beggars, prostitutes, and even some with old mothers and dead children in their arms.
The tavernkeeper usually drove these people away. The reason why he didn't drive them away was because he was also engrossed in listening.
The newspaper continued to read. More and more people gathered. The time to read the newspaper every evening had long become a fixed entertainment for the nearby residents.
People were so engrossed in listening.
Yu Sheng, who was behind the crowd, saw the people's expressions clearly.
He knew clearly that the poor people in Nanjing were not much better than the poor people in the countryside.
He had been to many cities. Even when the situation was better a few years ago, the common people in these places did not have many good days.
Even in a prosperous big city like Nanjing. It was just a place where the nobles, ministers, and gentry gathered for fun. It was a place where the army gathered and it was convenient for them to suppress the common people.
When they couldn't live in the city, there was never a lack of people coming to them.
He listened for a while and said to his companions, "Look. It's about time. We can develop in Nanjing. "
They left.
After that, Jia Lian arrived.
Jia Lian listened for a while and said to the servant, "Look. The opportunity that the ancestor said is here. You, go and buy a stack of this tabloid. "
They also left.
Only the newspaper reading continued.
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