Beautiful woman, soy milk, little donkey

  "What are you doing! If you want to beg for food, go somewhere else and don't disturb others from doing business!"

  A hoarse shout rose, and an old man who looked nearly seventy years old, with white hair, a wrinkled face, and a bent back, stood up from a rocking chair at the side of a tofu stall, waving his cane in disgust to drive away Zhen Mingku.

  Judging from his appearance, he guessed that this might be the grandfather who was said to be dependent on Tofu Xishi for a living. He quickly said: "Old man, I'm here to buy soy milk."

  "Don't beg, go away!" The old man waved his hand impatiently.

  Zhen Ming was taken aback for a moment, didn't he still have business to attend to? The old man's disdainful gaze made him come to his senses, guessing that it was the tattered clothes on his body that had caused the commotion.

  "Aren't you leaving? Do I have to beat you before you go?" the old man shouted.

  "Old man, I have money, buy two bowls and bring a few pieces of tofu." Zhen Ming hurriedly took out a string of copper coins from his pocket and handed them to the old man. This was the wages he had accumulated over the past few days, probably around forty copper coins.

  The old man weighed it in his hand, looked at Zhenming from head to toe, then put the copper coins into his pocket and said with a bad face: "Just two bowls, take them to drink on one side, and return the bowl after drinking."

  Zhen Ming smiled bitterly: "I understand."

  That old man didn't even want to give him another glance, turned around and walked back to the rocking chair under the tree, propped up his legs, narrowed his eyes, and continued puffing on his large water pipe.

  "Two bowls of soy milk, two portions of dried tofu, thank you."

  The tofu westerner never looked up at him from start to finish, heard him speak, lowered his head silently and picked up the spoon on the stove, scooped a bowl of soy milk.

  Zhen Ming gave her a bitter glance.

  It only took him a glance to understand why so many rich young men would guard the seats in front of the stalls every day and refuse to leave.

  She wore a simple blouse, with a slender figure, full chest and narrow waist, her skin as delicate as tofu, the whole person seemed to be carved out of a piece of white tender tofu.

  Jet-black and shiny thick hair coiled on the head, revealing a section of white jade-like neck, fine and delicate, looking gentle and quiet.

  Although her eyes are invisible, it can be inferred from her long eyelashes that under the long eyelashes will be a pair of clear and moving eyes.

  She was so quiet and still, her movements as gentle as water, with long white fingers, pointed fingertips, and pink fingernails trimmed neatly.

  "Want sugar?" Her voice was as gentle as a breeze and sweet as honey.

  "It doesn't matter."

  "Fifteen copper coins, thank you." she said softly.

  Zhenming hastily pointed to an old man sitting under a big tree, leisurely smoking water pipe, and said: "Oh, I gave the money to that old fellow over there."

  She fell silent upon hearing this and quietly continued with her work.

  Zhen Ming bitterly saw that she didn't even glance at him, guessing that perhaps the women of this era wouldn't easily talk to strange men. He picked up two packages of dried tofu and carried the two bowls of unsweetened soy milk back to Fei Long's side.

  "What's up, is she a stunning beauty?" Fei Long winked at him.

  Zhen Ming nodded and handed him the soy milk, sitting with him on the riverbank about ten meters away from the tofu stall, savoring the delicious and fragrant soy milk and dried tofu while admiring the beautiful scenery along both banks of the Luo River.

  By the river, under a willow tree, a little black donkey is leisurely eating grass.

  A small donkey stood beside a small cart, on which was also written "Zhang's Tofu Stall" in five characters.

  Seeing this little donkey, Zhen Ming couldn't help but turn his head to look at the busy tofu vendor Zhang Shi in front of the tofu stall.

  Beauty, soy milk, little donkey.

  He had already determined that she was the woman who saved his life that night.

  It was definitely that donkey cart that transported him to the broken temple. All the mysteries were solved at once after this little donkey appeared.

  ……

  Authentic goods, savoring the fresh and delicious soy milk, a burst of loud laughter came from the tofu stall, Zhen Ming bitterly turned his head, seeing that the beautiful tofu girl was surrounded by several middle-aged men in bright clothes, trapped at the table of the tofu stall, unable to advance or retreat.

  She only saw her panicked face wanting to escape from the crowd, but was repeatedly blocked by those people. One of them even made indecent remarks: "Beauty, how's my suggestion? It's just a word from you, and when you become Lord Feng's concubine, why bother with such hardship every day, wind and sun, look at you getting thinner again, our Lord Feng must be so worried."

  Suddenly, Zhang's whole body trembled and she cried out in surprise, as if someone had pinched her buttocks, a group of people burst into strange laughter.

  Zhen Ming's face scrunched up in distaste, he stood up with the bowl in hand, just about to walk over, but was pulled back by Fei Long, who shook his head vigorously and made a warning face: "Brother Zhen, don't go over there, they're all guests of the imperial court, you can't mess with them. This kind of thing happens every day, you might be able to save her once, but not twice. Just watch, there are plenty of people who will help her out, those guys sitting over there are all young masters from wealthy and influential families. If it were that easy for them to take advantage of her, she would have been snatched up long ago."

  Fei Long finished speaking, and indeed the young masters sitting on that side saw Zhang Shi being teased by someone. They stood up one after another and scolded loudly: "You dare to tease a respectable woman in broad daylight! Does our Great Sui Dynasty no longer have any laws?"

  Those men who led the teasing of Zhang's wife turned their heads, looking at the indignant young masters around them with a sneer: "Don't pretend to be noble here, what you think in your hearts I don't know? Our Lord Wang is the law of Great Sui!"

  As soon as this was said, a handsome young man in his teens with a delicate face like carved jade on one of the tofu stall's tables sneered.

  "Hmph, what a big tone you have! What is the Sealed Mansion? Even if it's Feng Leng, this young master doesn't put him in his eyes. A mere dog slave like you dares to speak wildly in front of this young master!"

  The young man wore a white silk brocade robe with embroidered orchids and bamboo on the chest, holding a landscape fan in his hand, sitting on a stool, looking like a handsome young master.

  His voice sounds like it's still in the midst of a change during puberty.

  Luoyang is the foot of the Son of Heaven, where dragons and tigers are hidden. If a brick were to fall from the sky, it would likely hit someone of royal or noble status. The middle-aged man who was teasing Zhang's wife seemed surprised that this young man didn't take the official residence seriously, and his face clearly hesitated for a moment before turning his head to stare at the young man.

  "Kid, have some guts and sign up!"

  "Hmph, you're not worthy of knowing this young master's name!"

  The middle-aged man in the official uniform frowned and waved his hand upon hearing this.

  Just then, the old man with a head full of white hair suddenly appeared between the two groups, bowing repeatedly and smiling: "Everyone, gentlemen, young masters, calm down, please don't fight, it's all my daughter-in-law's fault, why not let her serve you a bowl of tofu to apologize, and this matter will be over? If you keep making a fuss, I won't be able to do business here tomorrow, and I won't be able to set up my stall again."