Chapter 15

（Living in the Song Dynasty is too expensive, everyone who still has money, please support the Chen family father and son...）－

As the first ray of morning light illuminated the earth, a series of clear, resonant sounds of iron plates being struck echoed through the alleys of Qingshen County, accompanied by a loud announcement:

"The hour of Mao has arrived, the morning light is faint, the day is clear, and there is mist by the river. The weather is cool in the morning and evening, so prepare your layered clothing..."

Chen Ke was awakened by this sound. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, hardly believing his ears. What was this? It was actually a weather forecast! This wicked old society was surprisingly humanistic.

Chen Xiliang was already up, fetching water from outside to call his sons to wash their faces and rinse their mouths, then go out for breakfast...

As the saying goes, "People live by food." As soon as the sky brightened, people had to start worrying about their stomachs.

The people of the Song Dynasty were very good at enjoying life. Urban residents rarely cooked at home. Especially for breakfast, it was mostly supplied by nearby breakfast shops, offering porridge, rice, snacks, and both meat and vegetarian dishes, with options to suit all budgets. Besides breakfast, they also provided tea and Erchen soup. If you were even lazier, they could even bring you the water for washing your face. This was probably the earliest form of "pampered citizens."

Although it was definitely not as cost-effective as doing it yourself, the Song people rarely considered the economic aspect. Even a poor scholar like Chen Xiliang, who had a family to support, felt it was a natural thing.

Of course, since they were new to the area, they hadn't yet arranged for a regular breakfast spot, so they had to go out to eat.

Hearing that they were going out for breakfast, Wulang and Liulang were overjoyed, but Sanlang Chen Ke said, "That will cost a lot of money..."

"You're really considerate, but life isn't just about eating," Chen Xiliang patted his head and smiled, "We haven't had a proper meal in days, let's go quickly."

After a quick wash, the five of them went out. At this time, the county was still relatively quiet, and the sounds of rolling and flipping dough from the oil cake and Hu cake shops, which had started at dawn, were especially clear, making the brothers even hungrier.

On the street, there were already brokers and vendors pushing carts and carrying loads, shuttling through the alleys. Chen Xiliang found a young man carrying a food basket, asked for the direction of his shop, and led his sons to a breakfast shop with a large 'Food' sign.

This breakfast shop was located under a stilt house on the main street. These stilt houses on the main street were mostly front shops and back courtyards, with many people renting them for both business and living, or even owning them outright and using their location advantage to run businesses.

The shop was not large, with only five tables, but the steady stream of food boxes being brought out indicated that it mainly focused on takeout, though it also welcomed dine-in customers. Seeing the arrival of guests, the waiter greeted them with a smile, "Welcome, sir. This is your first time here, right? We have a variety of dishes and soups!"

"Thank you, young sir." Chen Xiliang led his four sons inside and they sat around a cypress wood table. In this era, the shopkeeper was called 'big brother' and the waiter was called 'second brother'...

"You look unfamiliar, like it's your first time here," the young man said, serving free rice porridge and greeting them politely.

"We just moved here yesterday."

"Congratulations on your move." The young man smiled and bowed, pointing to a row of bamboo signs behind the counter, "Our shop specializes in cakes, but the last five varieties are not available in the morning. What would you like to order?"

The Chen family father and son followed his finger and saw that each sign listed a different type of cake, all clearly priced... such as baked cakes, soup cakes, steamed cakes, ring cakes, sugar cakes, and flaky cakes, about seven or eight varieties in total. There were also non-cake items like steamed buns, flat dumplings, and wontons...

Chen Ke, recalling Sanlang's memories, suddenly realized that in the Song Dynasty, 'cakes' did not only refer to round foods made by baking. Any food made from flour could be called a cake. What we call cakes today were called 'baked cakes' then. Soup cakes were noodle soup; steamed cakes were originally called 'steamed buns' but were renamed to avoid offending the current ruler, and were essentially steamed buns. As for the steamed buns of that time, they were actually filled buns...

Chen Xiliang ordered five bowls of soup cakes, a basket of steamed buns, and five steamed cakes, fearing it might not be enough. However, almost in the blink of an eye, there was nothing left... The children were extremely hungry and craving food, devouring everything like a whirlwind, leaving nothing behind! Chen Ke, who had never eaten proper food in this world, felt he could eat a whole cow. Wulang was even hungrier, and Erlang hadn't eaten properly for days, while even little Liulang was stuffing his mouth as if there would be no next meal.

"Eat slowly, don't choke, we can order more," Chen Xiliang, feeling heartache, quickly ordered more food. In the end, they added five more baskets of steamed buns, three more bowls of soup cakes, and ten more steamed cakes, just enough to fill the boys' stomachs.

"Thank you for your patronage, that's 52 coins. Since it's your first time here, the shopkeeper said to charge you 50 coins," the waiter smiled and reported the bill.

"Thank you, thank you." Chen Xiliang, while digging into his pocket, felt a pang of pain, as half a month's rent was gone... No wonder they say, "Half-grown boys can eat their father to death." With four half-grown boys, wouldn't that eat two fathers to death?

After the meal, he told Erlang to take the three younger brothers back first: "I'll go to the county office to finalize the contract. You boys clean up the house, and no fooling around." The two of them parted ways at the shop entrance, with Chen Xiliang going to meet Old Qiu, and Chen Chen leading the younger brothers back.

On the way back, the sun was already high in the sky, and the streets were much busier. Shops had removed their shutters, hung out their signs, and displayed their goods... the gold and silver paper in the paper shop was glistening in the morning light; the hat shop had moved a long table filled with various hats to the street; the silk shop had laid out new patterned fabrics on the counter; the ceramic shop had moved out various sizes of pottery jars and porcelain bottles; the blacksmith shop was clanging away; and the medicine shop was emitting the familiar scent that Sanlang recognized...

In addition to the various shops, there were also street vendors pushing carts and carrying loads, selling a wide variety of goods. There were those who made and sold bamboo baskets, oil vendors, grass shoe makers, snake medicine sellers, mirror polishers, paper sellers, incense sellers, salt vendors, flower sellers, pig and sheep blood soup sellers, powder sellers, ginger sellers, and pot cake sellers...

The strong and vivid atmosphere of daily life hit Sanlang like a wave, leaving him completely stunned. He had been in this world for some time, but always felt a strong sense of alienation. It wasn't until this moment, seeing this vibrant scene and realizing he was part of it, that he finally felt he was truly living, living in the Song Dynasty.

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He wanted to explore more, but there was still a lot of work to do at home, so the brothers had to leave the main street and return to their small courtyard.

Upon returning, the brothers stared at the dilapidated house—there was no place that didn't need cleaning, inside and out. They had no idea where to start.

"How much do laborers cost?" With their father not around, Chen Ke didn't pretend to be a child anymore. Since his father and brother lacked life experience, he had to take charge of the family. Age was the biggest obstacle, but fortunately, Chen Chen was already used to his unusual behavior.

"How much do laborers cost?" Chen Chen paused for a moment before responding, "When the ancestral house was renovated before the New Year, my uncle hired a tile worker who charged 100 coins a day."

"Ah..." Chen Ke sighed, "That's a month's rent."

"Uh..." Chen Chen couldn't help rolling his eyes, "You must have been too harsh in your bargaining."

"Let's start by fetching water to clean the floor, and pray it doesn't rain soon." Chen Ke patted his buttocks and got up, carrying a bucket to the courtyard to fetch water.

By the time they had cleaned the house inside and out, Chen Xiliang had returned. He was carrying a bamboo basket filled with rice, vegetables, and two small fish, about the size of a palm, strung on a willow branch and hanging from the basket. Behind him was a man in short clothes, carrying two baskets of pots, bowls, and cutting boards, and holding a kitchen knife... It seemed that one breakfast had made him realize the need to cook at home.

Chen Xiliang asked the man to move the baskets into the kitchen on the east side, and then paid him. The man thanked him and smiled, "You must be new here, I live on the next street."

"Welcome, neighbor, please come in," Chen Xiliang had already placed a few benches in the main room of the north house, barely enough to accommodate guests.

"Not today, I still have to look after my shop," the man smiled, "Once you're settled, I'll gather the neighbors to congratulate you."

"Welcome, welcome," Chen Xiliang bowed.

After seeing the man off, Chen Xiliang rolled up his sleeves and went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook. As a scholar who had once traveled to the capital for the exams, he was used to not always finding inns. Except for the wealthy scholars who traveled with servants, everyone had to cook for themselves.

Of course, Chen Xiliang's cooking skills were so poor that it was almost a waste of the word 'cooking.' The rice was burnt, the stir-fried dishes were bitter, and even the soup was like dishwater...

After a morning of hard work, the children were hungry again. A table full of dishes, whether good or bad, was almost completely finished in the blink of an eye. Seeing them finish a whole bucket of rice, Chen Xiliang was once again shocked. This was supposed to be enough for two meals...

It seemed that in a few days, they would have to buy more rice again. Chen Xiliang, who had never managed a household before, was getting a headache. He had planned to wait a while before going out to collect debts... Collecting debts was a difficult task, and just thinking about it made him nervous. But after paying the rent and buying daily necessities, he had spent half of his savings. It seemed better to start early, so he decided to begin tomorrow.

After the children cleared the table, Chen Xiliang had them sit down and said earnestly, "Although our family is currently in a difficult situation, time does not wait for anyone. If you fall behind in your studies, you will never catch up." He then took out three books from the book box, "Sanlang, Wulang, and Liulang, you have wasted a whole spring. You can't afford to waste any more time. Starting tomorrow, you must focus on your studies." He then turned to Erlang, "I have a lot to do these days, so you will stay for two more days and watch over your younger brothers. Don't let them slack off."

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I really like this chapter, please recommend, collect, and support...

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