FH Chapter 89: 吃牢饭
[Eat Prison Food]
This night was destined to be sleepless, the city was filled with torches, illuminated as if it was daytime.
It was only after Li Haitang and his party had left that Little Peach Blossom came out of the tub, drying his body and frowning at the soaking white wounds.
Fortunately, with a bit of stitching, the wound didn’t open, saving him a lot of trouble.
The magistrate governor is a shrewd person, he likes to do superficial work the most, even if he wants to engage in planting evidence and framing, he will find someone who is almost the same, he can be sure that Li Haitang’s life is not in danger, but he may have to suffer a bit.
“Haha, Little Haitang, this luck is no one else.”
Little Peach Red couldn’t help but laugh twice, if it wasn’t for the fear of attracting people, he would have wanted to look up to the sky and laugh, no one has ever been as happy as pistachio nuts [literal meaning: Happy fruit) while figuratively it’s used to describe someone who is cheerful and makes others laugh, like a “barrel of laughs” or “life of the party] and made him so happy.
Singing in Dequanban, joy, anger, sadness and happiness, the interpretation of other people’s lives, he is Little Red Peach, only exists in the theatre.
How many women in the world are worthy of him? If there really is, Li Haitang is likely to be the only one.
Just, what can he give her?
….
Late at night, wherever the officials went, chickens flew and dogs jumped (*in chaos), screams and cries were heard endlessly.
It was a noisy journey, Li Haitang found out that the unlucky person was not only herself, but also the rest of the men who were tied up with five flowers rope (Bind a person’s upper body, with arms tied behind the back and rope looped around the neck)
Compared to others, the officials were quite polite to her, at least they didn’t suffer from physical hardship.
A group of people entered into the governor’s office, not even seeing the governor’s face, was thrown directly to the dungeon of death row prisoners.
Men and women are held separately, beside her, there is actually a woman, and looks somehow a little familiar.
Li Haitang pondered, half a moment before remembering, this person is the one who stole the deed of sale that night, met with the wild man husband, and was abused and beaten by the landlord Qin!
From Border City to Deer City, and now in the same cell, the two people are really destined for each other!
“Are you, Li Haitang?”
The other party recognised her first and took the initiative to speak, “I’m Lixia that was born, no name, so just call me Lixia ba.”
Lixia was sold off by her parents, she had no home at all. That home, she couldn’t go back there in the future.
Elder Qin had taken Li Haitang’s portrait more than once to look at, so Lixia recognised it, she smiled bitterly, “I was originally a maid of the Qin residence.”
“Why did you come in as well?”
Li Haitang raised an eyebrow, once landlord Qin died, all the subordinates of the Qin Mansion would be resold, if Lixia could not redeem herself, she would inevitably have to suffer the fate of being sold a second time.
“This matter, it’s a long story.”
Thinking of those unpleasant memories, Lixia couldn’t help but moisten her eyes, essentially, she and Li Haitang were the same kind of person, only, Li Haitang was lucky and thought of a way to escape before she married.
Once the landlord Qin died, the Qin House was in chaos, she was in the inner mansion for womenfolk, knowing the Qin man’s habits, in a hidden place, she hid a silver cheque and valuables.
The subordinates in the mansion all cared about themselves, so Lixia stole those things and took out a very small portion to redeem herself.
Leaving the Qin Mansion, she had nowhere to go, and with so much silver money in her pocket, she always felt insecure, and after thinking about it, she ran to Deer City to make a living.
“I lived in the eastern part of the city, I rented the house of an old lady.”
The old lady began to be widowed when she was young, did not leave behind a son and a daughter, lonely and helpless, so she relied on the silver from the leased house to make a living.
When Lixia went there, she was covered in bruises, which attracted the old lady’s attention, and when the two became familiar with each other, she didn’t hide it and told the truth.
The old lady felt heartache for her, she treated her even better than her own mom, Lixia will recognise the relatives, worship the adoptive mother, mother and daughter rely on each other to live.
“Haitang, why did you come in too?”
Lixia kind of worshiped Li Haitang, did not have jealousy because the other party was lucky, on the contrary, her heart was happy that Li Haitang was not touched by that dead pervert, Clerk Qin.
“It’s hard to say.”
Li Haitang rubbed his brow and sighed, pointing at the gauze on his shoulder, “I had a small injury before, and that group of officials suspected me of being Jiang Yang bandit, so they got me over here!”
“Me too.”
Lixia smiled bitterly, the two of them were really sisters in tribulation, and their luck was also this similar, they agreed that when they got out, they would go together to the White Pagoda Temple outside the City to offer incense and pray for blessings.
“Haitang, your husband treats you very well, right?”
Lixia was envious, all women wished to marry a good man, mutual respect in a marriage but she had that experience, so she can’t marry in the future.
“It’s not bad, he goes out to walk darts, he can only come back at the end of the year.”
In front of Lixia’s face, it is not generous to show love, Li Haitang speaks modestly, gone for more than half a month, she missed Xiao Lingchuan, if he learnt that she somehow ate a prison meal, he must be heartbroken.
Li Qiu Ju and the original owner of the eight characters do not match, and she is equally compatible, the person already dead, but still wants to harm her once.
“Hey, why are you two little ladies still nit coming in? These officials, don’t they have eyes?”
Next door, in the male prison, sat a man with a swollen nose and a sad face, his reason for being brought in was even more bullshit.
His family was poor, his wife had just given birth to a baby, and her body had suffered a loss, so he went to work, and the landlord reneged on his debt and didn’t give him the silver. That money was given to his wife to make up for her health.
When he got angry, he stole a hen from the landlord’s house, and was caught and beaten up by the houseboys.
He did not manage to steal the hen but also received a beating, his wife did not have chicken soup to make up for her body, he has been very depressed, who would expected, people are unlucky, drink a mouthful of cold water are sticky teeth, directly by the official police on the charge of the Jiang Yang Da Dao, thrown to the death row cell.
The man was very depressed, he wanted to ask a question. The river and ocean (Jiang Yang Da Dao) bandit, has he lived so suffocating like him? At most, it was an unsuccessful attempt to steal a hen!
“Those landlords’ old money will pit us poor people, yet they are not afraid of the future giving birth to crippled children!”
Lixia recalled Mr Qin and cursed him. What’s the use of having a big family? Most of the sins, after death, not even a pot to fall, the future reincarnation, the next life will certainly be an animal.
The three reached the same front, chatting together, the sense of fear was reduced a lot. Li Haitang inquired, the man called Liu Da Niu, is the lower river village next to the upper river village people. Originally the family is poor, daily life is not bad, his wife’s health is not good, after marriage she is sick, a few years ago gave birth to a daughter, the daughter’s body is not good, see the doctor to take medicine, for this reason sold the family’s land, yet the little girl’s health is not healed, three years old passed away.
This delay is for a few years. His wife, it is not easy to have a male child, because the food is not nutritious, not having milk (breastfeeding), but his son drank milk.
“Under the river village there is a field for sale, and the landlord is about to make a bid for it!”
Mention the landlord, Liu Da Niu gritted his teeth. He wanted to go to town to work, but was also afraid no one would take care of his wife. He was very confused.
“Do they have fields?”
Li Haitang and Lixia glanced at each other, both of them had a bit of silver in their hands, buying fields to tenant out and cultivate them, they would not worry about food every year.
Like this, three people in prison, negotiating a deal with Liu Da Niu in the middle, mediate Li Haitang and Lixia to buy fields, Lixia also wants to buy a house in the village, move over bringing her adoptive mother.
The city is good, but the place is small. The yard is not big, so you can eat food, eggs, and meat, all you have to use silver to buy, not as comfortable as living in the village.
She can not go down to the ground to work but the small yard in front of the door to plant some vegetables is possible, and the lower river village is a remote place, the people are simple, no one knows about her past. The taste of the prison is difficult to endure, four sides of the leakage of wind, cold, freezing, Li Haitang and Lixia, back to back, spend the night.