An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

Xunyang City, as the seat of Jiujiang County, should have been much more prosperous than Ezhou City. However, after walking through several streets, they saw a desolate and dilapidated scene.

Xunyang City, an ancient city steeped in history, has been the seat of Jiujiang Prefecture since ancient times. In the past, merchants flocked here, boats and carriages converged, and the streets were lined with shops, making the market bustling and bustling.

However, weeds are now growing in the cracks of the bluestone-paved streets, and most of the big shops of the past have closed down, leaving only a few small vendors struggling to survive in the cold wind.

The houses along the street had peeling walls and dilapidated doors and windows. Occasionally, a few feral cats would scurry out from the ruins, looking emaciated and bony, adding a touch of desolation to this quiet ancient city.

It was such a beautiful morning, but the city was deserted. The few residents I saw occasionally had faces filled with exhaustion and helplessness. They were either squatting in doorways or leaning against walls, staring blankly at the occasional passerby.

Under a big tree at the corner of the street, there were a few old people drinking tea and chatting. They rarely smiled, and apart from filling the teapot with water, there was not even a single peanut.

Seeing this scene, Jing Chunxi sighed heavily and said to Xiaoman beside him: "Let's go to the vegetable market first!"

Xiao Man didn't respond immediately, so Tang Shuang quickly took over the topic and asked in surprise, "Master, are you still going to buy food?"

Then Chuntao rolled her eyes. I don’t know what she was thinking. Is there nothing else to do in the vegetable market besides buying vegetables and grains?

As Chuntao expected, Jing Chunxi replied, "I'm not buying anything, just looking around."

Ah Qi, July and September have all been sent out to gather information. Only Tang Shuang, Chun Tao and Xiao Man are seen going out with Jing Chunxi.

The current living conditions of the people in Xunyang City can be best reflected from their food. I believe that the situation learned from Ezhou City is true, but Jing Chunxi still wants to experience the suffering of the people personally and learn more from it.

Since they were going to find out the people's sentiments, they still went on foot this time.

After asking two people and turning a few corners, I still couldn't find the way to the vegetable market.

Xiaoman caught a little beggar who was basking in the sun under the eaves.

To prevent him from running away out of fear, Xiao Man stayed close to him and spoke gently, "Little brother, can you help lead the way for us? We want to go to the nearest vegetable market."

The little beggar was about six or seven years old, but not much shorter than Xiao Man. He was dirty and wore a loose, tattered old autumn coat.

Even though they had put on their jackets, it still felt a bit cold. That was why the little beggar was lying in the sun.

The little beggar was not asleep, but was resting with his eyes closed. He suddenly heard Xiaoman's voice and raised his head, but was not frightened.

He first looked at Xiao Man, then at the others behind him. Perhaps because of their attire, he felt they were not his kind. After a moment, he closed his eyes again, meaning he didn't want to pay any attention to them.

Xiao Man thought he was worried about the reward, so she quickly took out a handful of copper coins from her pocket. Without counting them, she saw there were only about ten of them, and handed them over. "Is this feasible?"

The little beggar opened his eyes again, but when he looked at the handful of copper coins in Xiaoman's hand, he hesitated for a moment but showed no excitement and wanted to lie back down.

"Ten more."

Xiaoman quickly raised the price. There were few people on the street now. If they didn't catch this one, they would have to search for a while. It was not certain whether people would think they were bad people and would be willing to go.

But in their opinion, twenty copper coins were already a lot for just showing the way.

"A white flour bun."

Just when they thought the little beggar would not leave, the little guy suddenly spoke, and did not intend to lie back down. Instead, he looked at the people behind him with anticipation.

His vision is quite good, perhaps he realized that Xiaoman is not someone who can make the final decision.

Twenty copper coins can buy ten steamed buns in the capital, or even in Ezhou City, but the little beggar only wanted one. It can be seen how outrageous the prices in Xunyang City have risen.

The price difference was something he'd anticipated, but he hadn't expected such a huge difference. What Jing Chunxi was most curious about was that the little beggar actually spoke Mandarin, without a trace of the local dialect.

Unable to resist looking at him twice more, Jing Chunxi said, "Here are two meat buns."

The little beggar climbed up with a grunt. No, he didn't crawl, he did it so fast that they thought he was a carp rolling around.

This skill, this movement, didn't seem like someone starving at all. But he was so skinny, with barely any flesh on his body, he must have been starving and freezing.

After he stood up, he stretched out his hand to Jing Chunxi with a righteous look, fearing that Jing Chunxi had deceived him.

"Who has meat buns on hand at all times? First, send us to the market and then buy them for you. If you don't believe me, take these copper coins first."

Even Xiao Man was curious about the little beggar's skills, so she stuffed the copper coins into his hand without asking him to agree or not.

"Let's go. We have to walk a mile."

Perhaps the two meat buns were too tempting, so the little beggar stopped being suspicious. He stuffed the copper coins into his pocket and walked westward at a very fast pace.

They were very eager to get the meat buns, and they couldn't wait to take them to their destination and reap the fruits of their labor.

Xiao Man immediately hurried over and told Tang Shuang and Chun Tao behind them, "Hurry up and catch up with the young lady."

Xiaoman doesn't talk much usually, but at critical moments he directly arranges people without any ambiguity.