Chapter 44 The choice of survival

It was not interesting to go back to the military camp to eat, and it was already past dinner time, and everyone also wanted to eat some of Xiangyang's special delicacies, but He Zhuzhu was worried about it for a long time.

It’s not easy to find a clean and open place to eat. He Zhuzhu used to be a clerk in a carriage shop. Although he had seen some things in the world, he only saw the scenery from a distance. He had never been to anything decent.

place.

When Li Ping was about to go to a crowded place in the city with everyone, He Zhuzhu shouted: "Yes."

Soon, everyone arrived at a scattered residential area outside the east of the city, not far from the river.

Walking among them, Li Ping clearly felt that there was a lot of popularity here. Not only were there more pedestrians, but they were also generally well-dressed. At least most of them were not poor people. From the looks of it, some of them should be businessmen and boat operators.

.

Song Baolai seemed to understand this better, he had been here before.

Most of Xiangfan's entertainment areas and restaurants are in Fancheng, but because Fancheng was not very safe during the war, after all, the city walls were made of earth and were short. In addition, Zuo Liangyu was heavily garrisoned, so businessmen naturally began to

It was moved to Xiangyang.

Xiangyang City is too small for them to enter and occupy space, but this place, which is guarded by Xiangyang City and is close to the river, naturally became the first choice.

Song Baolai wanted to change something, so of course he would not miss this place.

After realizing this, Li Ping couldn't help but become curious. He thought he finally saw a place where merchants gathered, but He Zhuzhu kept looking at Li Ping nervously, swallowing dryly and spitting from time to time.

When I saw red lanterns hanging in several passing gates, the doors were wide open, and from time to time, women with carefully painted makeup appeared to look around. From time to time, red and green figures flashed past the depths of the alleys.

Li Ping finally understood where he was being taken.

Seeing everyone pursed their lips and snickered, looking forward to it, he shook his head helplessly. No matter how many merchants gathered, they could not hold back the rebels. In troubled times, it seems that only this kind of place can survive, and this is the only place that can definitely survive.

Food and drinks.

But He Zhuzhu was still looking around eagerly, and he stammered, whether to Li Ping or to himself: "There should be some restaurants here that are open, there should be, I don't mean anything else, I don't mean anything else."

ah!"

Li Ping and Song Baolai looked at each other, and the guy shrugged, as if this was not the place he chose, and then suddenly said: "This kind of place is not expensive now, what do you think it is like inside?"

Woolen cloth?"

Li Ping said to him angrily: "Do you have any ideas? Do you have enough money?"

"Oh! Money? Money should be no problem. Don't think blindly. There are a lot of women in my camp now, and your brother is a hot commodity right now! I'm just curious, curious." Song Baolai gritted his teeth hard at the last word.

, and raised his head deliberately.

The two rows of houses facing the street could be seen at a glance, but there were no open wine shops. Li Ping reined in his horse. He was also a little curious, but he still looked at Song Baolai playfully for a while and said, "I'm just here to eat."

It seems that the place can't be found, so I fulfilled your wish, please choose a place." As soon as he finished speaking, there was a small sound of excitement from behind.

Song Baolai turned his head and looked behind him, smiled and shouted: "Okay."

He Zhuzhu over there also breathed a few sighs of relief.

After a while, everyone found a courtyard of some size in the alley to ask.

The two boys at the door and a young woman inside were a little nervous at first because of the group of soldiers riding horses and mules and holding swords and guns.

After understanding the purpose of their visit and seeing that everyone in this group of soldiers was neatly dressed and led by two young and good-hearted young men, the young woman's face immediately blossomed and she kept saying that as long as the money was enough

, there are drinks and food, and there are also girls.

After entering the courtyard, Li Ping exchanged a few words with Song Baolai. Song Baolai immediately began to murmur skillfully with the young madam beside him. The few strong men in the courtyard also hid in the house after watching for a while.

After the horses and mules were tied up here and two soldiers were left to take care of them, Li Ping, Ma Yong, and Hu Zhongshan were led into a room in the inner courtyard, while Liu San and other eight soldiers were placed in a room in the front yard.

a house.

Entering the house, Li Ping found that it was very bright. There was a round table in the innermost corner, surrounded by several chairs with backrests. There was a round stool of the same height next to each chair, a screen next to it, calligraphy and paintings on the wall, and surrounding

The musical instrument ornaments and the lanterns on the moon door in the room add a lot of style to the whole room.

Li Ping naturally chose the chair near the back and sat on it directly, while Ma Yong and Hu Zhongshan sat around cautiously. The waiter who guided him said, "Please wait a moment, gentlemen," and then slowly withdrew.

After a while, someone came in to serve tea.

While the tea was being served, Song Baolai also came back. He sat down next to Li Ping. Li Ping turned to look at him, and he whispered: "I have agreed with the old bustard to pick up some local specialties for us.

Come. For the soldiers in front, please drink less and have enough meat to eat. We have also arranged wine accompaniments for them, but they should be more ordinary. I asked Liu San to arrange for them to take turns eating and playing. Don't lose your vigilance. You must be careful.

The horse is promising, okay?"

"Well, the arrangement is good." Li Ping nodded.

After tea was served, the madam filed in with four young girls. The madam smiled and arranged them on the stools next to Li Ping and others. The most petite and cute one was arranged to accompany Li Ping.

Then, a thin woman wearing a light yellow dress walked in holding a pipa. She bowed slightly to everyone as a courtesy.

The old bustard smiled playfully at Li Ping and asked, "I wonder what music I want to listen to?"

Li Ping looked at the people at the table, and they all looked at him blankly, so Li Ping said to the woman holding the pipa: "Sing whatever you want." So the woman sat down in front of the screen.

On the stool, I adjusted my clothes a little, tried a few notes, and soon started playing softly.

She opened her mouth, and a soft and beautiful voice immediately came out.

Li Ping was not very interested in music at first, and he had never listened to ancient music. He only listened to a few performers playing and singing intermittently in tourist areas. He didn't know if it was real ancient music, and he didn't stay there.

What an impression.

But today, this woman's playing, singing and voice made Li Ping feel extremely beautiful. It had a sense of beauty that was completely different from modern music. Coupled with the performer's pleasing makeup and the scene, it was even more beautiful.

Li Ping felt a little crazy for a moment, and sighed in his heart: "It's really extraordinary."

Li Ping saw that the madam quietly left after the woman in yellow started singing, so he approached Song Baolai and whispered: "You are very good at arranging the arrangements! Are they relieved?"

Song Baolai rolled his eyes and whispered: "Brother, I gave you the money in advance. These days, if you can't see a rabbit, who is going to be a hawk?"

Li Ping nodded and replied "Yes", then stared at the woman who was playing and singing and listened carefully.

The woman who played and sang was very mature, probably in her late twenties or older, with light lines at the corners of her eyes. She was definitely an older woman in this era, and she was even older than the age at which she usually performs as an entertainer.

Her head is a bit big, her forehead is high, her face is slender, and her fingers are slender, but overall she is dignified and beautiful. She looks a little sad, and the small part of her arm that plays the pipa is exposed.

There are also obvious scars.

Li Ping listened carefully for a while, then looked at the others and found that these guys were all sitting upright, as if they were all listening elegantly. Hu Zhongshan shook his head from time to time.

However, after the song, these guys finally revealed their true colors and began to hug the woman next to them, and their eyes began to wander more and more towards the woman.

Li Ping turned around and looked at the woman beside him. The woman looked at Li Ping and leaned towards him. However, Li Ping leaned to the other side and turned his head to continue listening. The woman had no choice but to retreat again.

Went back.

But soon, Li Ping realized something and hugged the woman next to him, hugging her gently and listening.

After listening to several songs in a row, the food and drinks were finally served. Li Ping asked the girls to pour the wine, raised their glasses and said, "Come on, drink. I have suffered a lot these days, so I would like to toast you all."

After a few glasses of rice wine, the atmosphere finally became warm.

Hu Zhongshan, who rarely drank alcohol, turned red in the face. He hugged the woman next to him tightly and stuttered to express his loyalty and admiration for Li Ping. Ma Yong also had a rare opportunity to hold the woman in his arms and laugh.

Li Ping was quite surprised by these romantic words.

Li Ping greeted everyone with a few polite words and toasted to each other a few times. Seeing that everyone was a little distracted, Li Ping stopped talking and started studying the food and drinks.

There are six dishes in total: pork with sand, three plates, Kong Ming vegetables, physalis noodles, bacon cakes and wrapped hoof. Although there are not many dishes, they are very distinctive and the taste is okay. It is better than the simple meals he eats these days.

It's much stronger.

It is not easy to come up with these dishes, but whether they taste pure is no longer important.

So while Li Ping slowly drank rice wine, he slowly chatted wordlessly with the woman next to him, and asked the woman drinking music to sing a song by herself every once in a while.

The woman next to her is called He Xiang. She is sixteen years old this year, and her appearance is difficult for Li Ping to comment on. Her face is slightly rounded, her mouth is relatively small, and her eyebrows are curved, which is not particularly in line with Li Ping's aesthetics.

But it is by no means ugly, it can only be said to be quite satisfactory.

Hexiang's bones were obviously smaller, and her chest was no stronger than an airport. Li Ping asked her to stand up and spin around and found that her back was indeed a flat plate, but her skin was not bad.

Looking at the other women, they were obviously older and older, especially the woman next to Hu Zhongshan. Li Ping suddenly understood the aesthetics of this era. At this time, he was far more curious than the others.

.

After eating wine and food for a while, Song Baolai and the others couldn't hold it any longer. But seeing that Li Ping didn't move, the three of them couldn't say anything. They just moved impatiently.

Finally, Song Baolai couldn't help it any longer. He leaned into Li Ping's ear and said, "If you're not satisfied with this one, I'll have someone change it for you. The wine is almost gone."

Li Ping finally reacted and realized what they wanted to do. He really wanted to be simple just now, so he waved his hand and said to him: "No, I am a little fascinated by the music. If you listen to it for a while, if you really have ideas, go ahead

Bar."

On this issue, Li Ping really doesn't want to pretend to be a saint. Their future is uncertain now, life and death are unknown, and they have neither used coercion nor withheld money. In fact, this is good for everyone.

But unexpectedly, these three people immediately took the women around them to another room to be alone together. They were obviously more interested in women. Even Ma Yong was so upright and steady, and he was so content with his hatred of evil without any hesitation.

.

Maybe this kind of life is part of the normal order in this era!

There were no distractions in the room, and Li Ping was more relaxed. His conversation and elegance soon made He Xiang slowly start to talk.
To be continued...