69novels Chapter 518 The Peddler
Chapter 518 The Peddler
Chapter 518 The Peddler
The border between Snow County and Demon County is a towering, continuous mountain range.
Nestled among these mountains is a river valley, and on the relatively gentle hillside beside the valley sits a small village built against the mountainside.
The village is small, but every household is a newly built small house with blue bricks and red tiles, arranged in a neat and orderly fashion on both sides of the winding village road.
The village road is a smooth and compacted gravel road that won't get muddy when it rains. Every so often, there is a brand-new utility pole with black wires connecting the poles to deliver electricity to every household.
There is also a newly dug well at the entrance of the village, with several wooden buckets and ropes placed next to the well platform for the villagers to fetch water.
This is a resettlement village.
The resettlement is for indigenous people who were relocated due to highway construction, as well as refugees who fled from the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire due to this year's severe drought.
In the valley, reclaimed farmland stretches along the riverbank.
Some hardworking farmers have already begun to plow the land in preparation for next year's spring planting.
The terraced fields stretch from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, planted with various crops. Some are planted with lush green vegetables, some with sweet potatoes, and some have just been turned over, exuding the fragrance of soil.
In the fields, farmers who have been allocated land are working hard everywhere.
Some of them were bending over weeding, some were carrying buckets of water to irrigate, and some were squatting on the ridges of the fields, carefully checking the growth of the crops with their hands.
Although their faces bore the weariness of long hours of labor, and their skin was tanned from prolonged exposure to the sun, there was a sense of peace and contentment in their eyes.
This is their own land.
On the ridges of the fields, some children who were not yet of school age were playing. The younger ones squatted in twos and threes by the ditch, their little hands groping in the water, trying to catch snails and small fish. When they caught one, they would excitedly hold it up and show it off to their friends.
The older ones carried bamboo baskets on their backs and cut pig feed on the hillside.
A crisp rattle sound came from the mountain path, breaking the tranquility of the morning.
Thump thump thump—
Thump thump thump—
The villagers all looked up and followed the sound.
On a winding mountain path, an old man was slowly walking towards them.
He was dressed in a coarse white cloth coat, and carried a tall bamboo basket on his shoulder, filled with various goods: needles and thread, buttons, matches, salt, candy, and small toys.
Beside the basket was a bundle of straw with strings of bright red candied hawthorns tied to it. The old man was shaking a rattle drum, the sound of which was crisp and rhythmic, echoing through the valley.
This is a peddler who travels through mountain villages.
"The peddler is here!"
"The peddler is here!"
The children were the first to spot him, and immediately cheered as they ran from the ridges of the fields, the hillsides, and the village entrance, gathering around the old man, curiously tiptoeing to peer into the treasures in his basket.
Their eyes darted back and forth among the candies and toys, and drool unconsciously trickled from the corners of their mouths.
In his fifties, Tani Tsukasa was carrying a hoe as he walked out of the field, heading home for breakfast.
His little grandson tugged at his clothes, pulling hard towards the peddler, crying out in a childish voice, "Grandpa! Grandpa! I want candied hawthorn! I want candied hawthorn!"
"You little rascal, you're just as greedy as your dad," Gu Sijie complained, but his face was full of doting smiles.
He was pulled by his grandson and walked up to the peddler.
The little boy looked up at the strings of bright red candied hawthorns on the bundle of straw, his mouth watering. He stared intently, his little hands tightly gripping his grandfather's clothes, afraid that his grandfather would refuse to buy them.
The old man selling his wares lowered his head, looking at the greedy little boy, a kind smile spreading across his face. He reached out and gently patted the boy's head, then looked up at Gu Sijie, who was carrying a hoe, and asked in a gentle voice, "Old man, I remember there wasn't a village here before, was there?"
Gu Sijie put down the hoe, leaned on the handle, took a breath, and said, "Oh, we used to be from a village at the foot of Taro Mountain in the north, and we just moved here recently."
The old man selling his wares thought for a moment: "Taro Mountain—is that the mountain east of Mount Keidake?"
"Yes, yes, yes! That's the village!" Gu Sijie nodded repeatedly, then explained with a smile, "Well, the new government is going to build a road that runs from the south all the way to the port in the north. It just happens to pass through our village, so they requisitioned our land and resettled us here."
He pointed to the terraced fields in the distance, then to the village road and the brand-new houses at his feet: "Look, these were all built by people sent by the government. The land is much more fertile than where we used to live, and the houses are newly built. We can move in directly. They also gave us a lot of seeds and farming tools."
As he spoke, he slammed the hoe in his hand, his tone filled with satisfaction and contentment.
The old man selling his goods followed his finger, his gaze slowly sweeping over the brand-new village and terraced fields. He nodded slightly but said nothing.
Just then, the little boy tugged at his grandfather's clothes and shook him vigorously, crying, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Candied hawthorn! Candied hawthorn!"
"Okay, okay, I'll buy, buy, buy." Gu Sijie smiled helplessly, reached into the pocket inside his clothes, fumbled for a while, and pulled out a few slightly crumpled banknotes.
He counted out a hundred-yuan bill, handed it to the old man selling the goods, and asked, "How much are these candied hawthorns?"
The elderly man selling the goods did not take the money.
He reached down and took a string of candied hawthorns from the bundle of straw, bent down, and kindly handed it to the little boy. Then he straightened up and said to Gu Sijie, "Old man, I won't take the money."
Tani Tsukasa was taken aback: "How can this be—"
"I'm on my way to the villages and towns to the north. I'll pass by here and ask for a bowl of water and a rice ball to fill my stomach, how about that?" The old man selling his goods interrupted him with a smile.
No sooner had he finished speaking than his stomach rumbled loudly, perfectly timed with the sound.
Gu Sijie glanced at the money in his hand, then at the old man's weathered face, took the money back, and said readily, "Come on, come on, one rice ball isn't enough! I have some other food at home, if you don't mind, please join us!"
The elderly man selling the goods didn't refuse, and bowed slightly, saying, "Thank you very much."
The little boy couldn't wait to take a bite of the candied hawthorn. The sweet and sour taste melted in his mouth, making him squint his eyes.
He licked his candied hawthorn as he skipped and hopped along behind his grandfather and the peddler as they walked into the village.
A short while later, Gu Sijie brought the old man selling goods to his home.
This is a typical resettlement house, with blue bricks and red tiles, three main rooms, one side room, and a small courtyard in front. There is a small jujube tree in the courtyard, a stone table and several wooden stools under the tree, and some farm tools and firewood piled up in one corner of the courtyard, which are relatively tidy.
Gu Sijie's wife was quick and efficient; she steamed a bowl of coarse grain rice and then took out several dishes of leftover food from the cupboard.
A dish of pickled radishes, a dish of stir-fried green beans, and a small pan-fried river fish.
She placed the vegetables on top of the large bowl of coarse grain rice, carried it to the door, and handed it to the elderly man selling his wares, who was squatting on the stone embankment by the roadside.
"These are just leftovers, don't mind them," said Gu Sijie's wife with a simple and honest expression.
The elderly vendor took the wooden bowl and chopsticks, looked at the overflowing food in the bowl, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "This is too much, too much. You all have a hard life."
"Eat up, eat up." Gu Sijie waved his hand, squatted down next to the old man selling goods, patted his grandson's head as he was intently licking a candied hawthorn, and said with a smile, "Life is getting better every day. If you had come a few years ago, I really wouldn't have been able to afford a bowl of rice like this."
"Thank you very much." The old man selling the goods no longer refused, picked up his rice bowl, picked up the small river fish, and put it into his mouth.
Although it was just lightly pan-fried, it was a rare and delicious meat dish.
He took another bite of coarse grain rice; it was a bit rough in texture, but it was very filling.
Watching the peddler eat his meal earnestly, Tani Tsukasa also took out a pipe from his waist, filled it with tobacco, lit it with a flint, took a deep drag, and then slowly exhaled.
White smoke slowly rose and spread, then was blown away by the mountain wind. His face wore a satisfied expression full of hope for the future.
Gu Sijie turned his head and looked at the old man selling his goods who was eating, and casually asked, "Is this your first time in these mountains?"
The peddler I used to know stopped doing it last year.
The old man selling his wares put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said, "My name is Yu Ren, and I am a wandering merchant who roams the world."
"Winged Man—" Tani Tsukasa repeated the name and nodded.
"Judging from your accent, you don't sound like a local. You must be from another country, right?"
"Yes, I wander the world, selling odds and ends to make a living." Yu Ren smiled, the wrinkles on his face appearing even deeper in the sunlight.
Gu Sijie took another drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and said, "Our village also has quite a few migrants who have come from other countries. If you're tired of wandering, why don't you stay?"
He pointed his pipe toward the village office in the distance: "Go register at the new government office, and you can get a piece of land and a house. You can grow some food yourself, which is much better than being a vagrant. Look at those refugees, they were all emaciated when they first arrived, but now they've all settled down."
The winged man didn't answer. He looked down at the empty wooden bowl in his hand, then looked up at the terraced fields in the distance and asked, "Old man, is life here really better than before? I heard there was a war a few years ago, wasn't there?"
"Hey." Tani Tsukasa chuckled, tapped the pipe on the sole of his shoe, and reloaded it with tobacco.
"We used to be commoners in the Land of Snow. Most of the grain we grew each year had to be handed over to the daimyo lords and the noble lords of Ikeda Castle. The little left was barely enough to feed us. Even if we went into the mountains to hunt and exchange the game for money, most of it would be taken away. We worked hard all year round, but in the end, we couldn't even afford a full meal."
He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and the smoke billowed from his nostrils, slowly dissipating.
"Later, the Land of Snow was annexed by the Land of Stars, and all the noble lords and daimyo had their property confiscated. We no longer had to pay so much rent and taxes, and every household had a lot of surplus grain. Life, of course, got better."
The winged man nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "What about war? I heard that the Star Kingdom fought wars with the Wind Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom a few years ago."
"A war?" Tani Tsukasa chuckled.
"That's to protect our good life now. Otherwise, are we supposed to let those samurai hired by those daimyo come back and steal our food and land?"
He paused, his tone becoming serious: "We common folk don't understand grand principles. But we know that whoever can feed us and give us a peaceful life, we'll follow. When those noble lords were around, we went hungry; now that this ruler has arrived, we can eat our fill. Tell me, which side should we stand on?"
The winged man remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.
He didn't continue the topic, but instead asked from a different angle: "Were all the noble and daimyo families killed?"
Upon hearing this, Tani Tsukasa laughed so hard he almost choked on his smoke, coughing several times before waving his hands and saying, "How could that be! Our Lord is not some kind of murderer."
He pointed his pipe at a figure working in the terraced fields in the distance: "See that skinny guy in the blue shirt?"
Are there any more people patching this?
The winged man looked in the direction he pointed.
He was a man who looked to be in his early twenties, thin, wearing a blue coarse cloth shirt with several patches of varying shades of color.
He was bending over and weeding in the field, his movements skillful and earnest.
On the ridge next to him sat a woman with a bad leg, handing him a water jug.
The man took the kettle, tilted his head back and took a sip, then smiled at the woman before continuing to work.
"That was the former young master of the Ikeda family," Taniji said.
"The lord of Ikeda Castle?" Yu Ren asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, Ikeda Castle is the city that governs this mountainous region of ours. After his family was raided by the Star Kingdom, he was only given a warning because he hadn't done much evil. His father and grandfather, on the other hand, had persecuted quite a few people. After the victims complained about them at the public trial, one was sentenced to death and the other to more than twenty years in prison." Taniji's tone was wistful.
"He was assigned to our village, and he was given a house and land, so he had to farm to support himself. At first, we all disliked him, after all, his father and grandfather had done so many bad things. Some villagers bullied him and cursed at him, and the village children threw stones at him. Nobody gave him a kind look."
Gu Sijie took a drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and continued, "But as time went on, he became more obedient and never caused trouble. Every day he would work in the fields and cook when he got home. Besides, there weren't many literate people in our village, and he was one of the most educated. He often helped everyone in the village write letters, read newspapers, and do accounting. Gradually, everyone stopped targeting him and started to accept him."
He pointed his pipe at the woman with the leg: "Later, the village even helped him find a marriage partner. The girl had broken her leg when she was young and couldn't do heavy work in the fields, but she was still very hardworking and kept the house in good order. The two of them lived together and did quite well."
Yu Ren listened quietly, his gaze lingering for a moment between the former young master and the woman with the tumor-like leg, before slowly withdrawing his gaze.
The mountain mist gradually dissipated, revealing the outlines of distant mountains. Several birds flew overhead, chirping sweetly, before disappearing into the distant woods.
After a while, Yu Ren asked, "Old man, are the people here so kind to outsiders?"
""
Gu Sijie thought for a moment, tapped the ash from his pipe, and said, "It's not good for everyone, but you're an old man, so old and still wandering around outside, begging for a bowl of water and a rice ball. Who could bear to refuse you?"
He paused, then continued, "We've all experienced hardship before. We know what it's like to go hungry, how tough winters are, and what it's like to be sick and have no money for treatment. Because we've been through it all, when we see people still suffering, we'll lend a helping hand if we can."
The winged man remained silent for a long time.
He looked down at the empty bowl in his hand again. The bowl was ordinary, even rough, but it had held more than just a bowl of rice.
Just then, a bell rang out from the village entrance.
clang!clang!clang!
A few distant chimes echoed through the valley, startling the birds in the forest.
The villagers stopped what they were doing, straightened up, and looked towards the village entrance.
Several young people had already put down their farm tools and were running quickly toward the village entrance.
Gu Sijie quickly stood up, shading his eyes with his hand, and looked towards the village entrance: "It's those adults who're repairing the road! They're coming more and more frequently!"
He turned to the winged man and explained, "The village chief said that after the road is repaired, several large carriages can travel side by side!"
Moreover, from now on, the mountain products from several surrounding villages can be transported out and sold via this road, instead of relying on people and horses to carry them over mountains for several days like before.
With excitement and anticipation on his face, Gu Sijie seemed to already see the wonderful scene of the village's mountain goods being transported out, exchanged for money, and then brought in more good things after the road was built.
"Let's go, let's go take a look!" Gu Sijie called out and walked towards the village entrance.
The little grandson had finished eating the candied hawthorn, licking the sugar residue off his fingers, and skipped along behind his grandfather.
The winged man slowly stood up.
He first placed the empty bowl on the wall of Gu Sijie's courtyard, and then walked towards the village entrance.
He didn't walk too close, but stopped under a large tree a little distance away from the crowd.
Through the crowd, he saw a procession approaching at the village entrance.
Leading the group were several young people wearing blue-gray uniforms from the Land of Stars and headbands worn by Star Ninjas.
Behind them followed some workers dressed in ordinary clothes, some carrying tools, some carrying blueprints, and a few pushing carts loaded with building materials.
Among those Star Ninjas, he spotted a particularly striking figure.
It was a boy wearing a black tracksuit, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen years old, with short black hair. He was chatting and laughing with a girl with short white hair.
Beside him were several equally young boys and girls, but those boys and girls wore headbands different from those worn by Xingren.
Yu Ren's gaze lingered for a moment on an orange figure and a cool black-haired boy in the crowd.
Then, his self-glow lingered on the short-haired black boy for a long time.
He stood under the big tree, watching the young Star Ninja and workers being warmly surrounded by the villagers. The villagers' genuine smiles, and even the man who had once been the young master of the Ikeda Castle family, put down his farm tools and nodded to the Star Ninja from afar.
The winged man's eyes held a complex emotion that was difficult to describe.
"Hamura————"
He muttered to himself, as if he were talking to someone.
"Is this what you meant by the changes he brought to the ninja world?"
[PS: Something came up last night, and I still owe everyone one. I've already written half of it, and I'll post it soon.]
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