Chapter 131 North Water City
Seeing this scene, Shan Li threw the reins to Feng San and walked quickly towards the old man in dirty clothes.
But they were a little far away, and when Shan Li arrived, the soldier had already returned to the front of the team.
The old man in dirty clothes was curled up on the ground, his body heaving violently, looking like a natural reaction to the extreme pain.
He squatted down and checked the old man's injuries. "Old man, old man, how are you?"
Shan Li's actions attracted some onlookers, but since they saw that he was well dressed, no one said much.
Even the soldier who had kicked the old man to the ground looked over.
He looked Shan Li up and down, and seeing that he was wearing the same clothes that traveling merchants usually wore, he didn't take him seriously.
Beishui City is the most prosperous town in the north, and there are many traveling merchants coming and going every day.
They traveled all year round, buying and selling things. Although they had some money, they could not dress as elegantly as the real aristocratic families and wealthy people.
Most of them wear short-sleeved shirts made of medium-weight fabrics. This makes it convenient for them to walk on the road and ride horses. So they are very easy to recognize.
In the eyes of the soldiers at the city gate, Shan Li is now just a good-for-nothing with a little money.
The old man in dirty clothes heard Shan Li's voice and knew that this was a kind person. However, he was in so much pain that he couldn't speak at all. He pointed and covered his lower abdomen and groaned continuously.
It is still very cold in Beishui City at this time of year, but beads of sweat the size of beans are appearing on the forehead of the old man in dirty clothes.
Feng Si also followed at this time. When he saw that his master was going to pick up the old man in dirty clothes himself, he took the lead and said, "Master, let me do it!"
After saying that, he bent down and picked up the old man.
They are currently dressed as traveling merchants, so their names have naturally changed accordingly.
Seeing that Feng Si had been picked up, Shan Li said no more, but turned and walked towards the city gate.
The soldier who kicked the old man saw Shan Li coming and went straight to him.
When Shan Li was about three feet away from him, he stretched out his hand to block him, "Hey, hey, hey, what do you do? Don't you know you have to queue up to enter the city?!"
Shan Li didn't want to tangle with him at the city gate, so he smiled and bowed to the soldier, saying, "Sir, please give me a favor. I'm in a hurry to go into the city to seek medical treatment. Thank you very much."
After that, he handed over a purse.
It seems that there is still a lot of silver in the purse.
The soldier took the purse, stood on tiptoe while holding it in his hand, and the expression on his face became obviously happier as the purse fell.
"Okay. I'm a kindhearted person. Seeking medical treatment is an urgent matter. I can't delay you. Come with me." After saying that, he turned around and left. He also put the purse in his pocket.
At this time Feng Si also followed up holding the old man in dirty clothes. The three of them followed the soldier to the city gate. The soldier whispered a few words to the leader, and then the leader waved at them, signaling them to go directly into the city.
The other people in the queue didn't dare to say anything when seeing this. They could only give up their seats and let Shan Li and the others go in first.
When they saw that Shan Li and the others had already walked away, the leader asked, "Where's the money?"
At this time, the soldier took out the purse that Shan Li had given him from his pocket and handed it to the leader.
The leader took the purse and tiptoed to take it out. The smile on his face became bigger, and he praised the soldier, "Well done! There are at least ten taels in it. After the shift change, let's go drink with our brothers."
The soldier was very happy to be praised and nodded in agreement.
Others were also very happy to hear it.
These are unwritten rules and are also open secrets.
No matter who gets the extra money like this, it has to be handed in. The leader gets half, and the remaining half is divided equally among all the people on duty.
Every month, there are always some wealthy people who want to jump the queue and enter the city early, so sometimes, when you calculate it all, the money they get is more than their monthly salary.
"Okay, what are you still standing here for? Go back and see if you can meet another sucker like this today."
"Okay, I'll go right away, right away," the soldier said, and walked back.
When he reached a place where the leader could not see him clearly, he took out a piece of silver that he had just secretly transferred from his purse.
This piece of silver weighs about one ounce. He will take it back and save it for his wife. When he has enough money, he will donate it to a bigger position.
For money like this, of course the higher your position, the more you get.
This soldier used to be a street thug, living by cheating and deceiving people every day.
Later, he married a wife, who advised him that they could no longer live the same way as before. She was too unstable to even have children. For the sake of their family's incense, their lives had to change.
His wife asked him to raise some money and donate a formal position. Although he was just a small soldier guarding the city gate, he could still make some money every now and then.
Not only is his income higher than when he was hanging out on the streets, it's also more stable than before.
Moreover, when he was hanging out on the streets before, people would despise him when they saw him, but now, many people want to fawn on him when they see him. The gap in his heart is still very big.
No wonder people say that if you marry a good wife, your family life will get better and better. This is true!
Feng San saw that his master and Feng Si had entered the city first, so he was not in a hurry. He just stood there in line with three horses.
When it was his turn, the leader saw him leading three horses and guessed that he was the companion of the two men who had given extra silver to enter the city early.
He winked at the soldiers registering below, and when the soldiers saw it, they understood.
Feng San didn't say anything, but directly took out three copper coins and handed them to the soldier in charge of registration. Then he wanted to lead the horse away, but was stopped by a shout, "Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute! The amount of money you paid is wrong!"
Feng San stopped, turned around and looked at the soldier and said, "The entrance fee is three cents per person, and I'll give you three cents."
After saying this, he pointed to the three copper coins on the table that had not yet been put away.
The soldier looked in the direction of his finger, then picked up the three cents on the table and held it in his hand, "You are right, the entrance fee is indeed three cents per person, but you still have three horses?"