Chapter 21: Poor and Weak

  In this ancient times when transportation mainly relied on walking, the four of them could only set off with two legs. Fortunately, although it was mountainous here, it wasn't far from the county town. After walking for more than an hour, they arrived, but for Shen Sisi, who was not diligent in physical labor, it was also quite a test of endurance. When she arrived at the county town, she felt that her feet were almost broken. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, thinking that once she had money, she would definitely buy a donkey cart or an ox cart, so that when traveling in the future, they wouldn't have to rely solely on their two legs to rush along the road.

  Walking for such a long time really isn't easy on the feet.

  Four little kids carrying a drum frame into the city, the gatekeeper saw them and hurriedly said: "One person enters the city for one coin, no money then don't enter the city, go go go, don't block the people behind..."

  "... Shen Sisi was as if struck by lightning, she had no money, and she hadn't thought that entering the city would require money, suddenly her face turned bitter like a bitter melon... it wouldn't be in vain to make a trip, right?! Wipe, if she couldn't enter the city, she would owe an apology to her own two legs."

  So, she gritted her teeth and smiled as she approached a middle-aged soldier with a calm expression, looking kind and gentle. She looked at him pitifully and said: "Big brother, can we go into the city first? We'll sell our chestnuts and come out again to pay you, is that okay?"

  As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of chestnuts and handed them over, smiling apologetically: "Brother, this is just something from the countryside, don't despise it..." As he said that, he also gave everyone else a handful.

  Dabao's heart ached as he watched from behind, entangled in his thoughts. The three brothers hadn't even eaten a few, yet they had to share with these people. Adding to that, the goods hadn't been sold yet and they had already lost four cents. This was unbearable for Dabao, his face turned uglier than bitter melon. However, he didn't dare speak carelessly in front of these people. He felt heartache for the chestnuts, the four cents, and the salt and sugar inside, his intestines were all knotted up.

  The second treasure and third treasure only felt heartache for the chestnuts, each pair of eyes shining brightly, drooling, staring fixedly at the chestnuts in the soldier's hand.

  The middle-aged soldier ate a chestnut and smiled, saying: "Wow, I didn't expect the chestnuts from the countryside to be roasted with such flavor. Alright, you can go in and sell the chestnuts first, it's okay to pay when we leave the city..."

  Shen Sisi hastily smiled with a dog-leg, "Big brother, you're really great, thank you!"

  After finishing speaking, he pulled the big treasure who was in pain and called out to the second and third treasures, then hastily entered the city.

  "That young soldier said: 'How could they be allowed in? They look so shabby, who knows if they're thieves or not...'"

  "Look at them carrying their frames, they may be poor but they're not thieves..." said the middle-aged man.

  "The yamen has been having a headache lately, the east house was stolen of rice, the west house was stolen of clothes, although it's just small items, but there are too many cases. I heard that the county magistrate is also having a headache, those few thieves are not easy to catch, they're young and poor, if we catch them, the value of the stolen goods is too low, it's hard to sentence them, so we can only beat them up and let them go to avoid trouble. As a result, this thing keeps happening again and again, those little thieves don't care...". The young soldier said: "It's like those few kids who are around that age, they're all together, I heard their families have all passed away, it's pitiful but also hateful..."