Great Qin Emperor

Chapter 2

Frankly speaking, Zhou Chong was not the kind of person who would act on his own will, but the sense of humiliation was very strong at that time.Don't say that Zhou Chong, a person who has never received charity in his life, even a person with self-respect would feel very uncomfortable in his situation.If you don't feel this way, it can only show that your self-esteem is a little lacking.

After all, hunger is a real existence. Although it can be diluted for a while, it cannot be diluted for a long time. Before he walked far, his stomach gurgled, and Zhou Chong felt regret again. Instead of eating.

Regret and remorse, he has no intention of going back to eat, because he came to the wild, he believes there is a way to deal with it, in the wild, bark, grass and roots are all food for hunger.There are always wild fruits. If you pick a few, you don't dare to think about it when you are full, but it is always okay to be hungry.

There are two manifestations of people in desperation. One is to think worse, everything is gray, as if the end of the world has arrived.Another situation is that people who are optimistic and persistent will think in the bright side, always think that things can be solved and difficulties can be overcome. Zhou Chong happens to belong to the latter.

It's a pity that the facts were not as expected. After running around the boss, he didn't find the wild fruit. Instead, he broke out in a cold sweat from exhaustion.

No matter how optimistic and strong people are, they have to face the reality. Zhou Chong had to accept the fact that the situation was very cruel. He wanted to take a breath before making plans. gas.Inadvertently, I saw a low thatched hut in the valley. I couldn't help but feel refreshed, stood up and walked towards the hut.

The distance is not far, and we walked there in a while, and saw an old woman and a grandfather sitting on the stone pier in front of the hut.Generally speaking, due to physical problems, the elderly will be greatly inferior in cleanliness, and they may not be clean, but the two elderly people in front of them are very clean, which makes people feel comfortable.

Zhou Chong had an unreasonable feeling of goodwill in his heart, and went forward to sing a promise: "Grandpa and grandma have invited you."

The two old men were out of energy and were dozing off with their eyes closed. They were awakened by his words. They rubbed their eyes and saw that there was a handsome young man standing in front of them. It was quite strange. When they stood up, the old man asked: "Young man ,Are you alright?"

"I'm thirsty, and I want to ask the old man for a bowl of water to drink." Zhou Chong said without conscience, but in fact he wanted to ask if he could give me something to eat.It was the first time in my life that I asked someone for food, but I couldn't say it, so I changed my mouth and asked for water.

In the pre-Qin period, the folk customs were simple and simple, and a sip of water was nothing at all.Don't talk about a sip of water, even a bowl of rice will be fine. For example, Wu Yuan fled, and the woman in clothes gave him food.When Han Xin was impoverished, Piaomu often gave him food and encouraged him to work hard, and finally became a great military strategist recorded in the annals of history.These stories well show that the folk customs in ancient times were far better than those in later generations. It is not uncommon for the "declining world" and "cold world" to exist.

"Young man, wait a minute, I'll get you some water." The old lady readily agreed to Zhou Chong's request, turned her head and said to the old man, "Old man, please say hello." Trembling slightly entered the room.

The old man pointed to the stone pier and said, "Young man, sit down, sit down."

Perhaps because he has no children, he is very kind to young people, and his words are naturally filled with a kind of family-like care, which makes Zhou Chong, who is in a different world, feel warmer, and quickly thanked: "Thank you, grandpa." sat down.

As soon as she sat down, the old lady came out with a crock pot, handed it to Zhou Chong and said, "Young man, come, drink some water."

In the pre-Qin period, it was not that there were no porcelain bowls we use now, but that they had not yet become popular in the world, especially in the state of Qin, which used them even less. Friends of the state of Qin must know that the main utensils are earthen pots. The urn and fou in "strike the urn and knock on the fou" are utensils such as earthen pots. (Note: Hitting the urn and knocking the fou are familiar to friends, but don’t think that the urn and the fou can be used as musical instruments, let alone that they are the entertainment tools of the Qin people, which is derogatory to the Qin people. Don’t say anything else , friends, just think about knocking on the rice bowl is very impolite, unrefined behavior will understand.)
Zhou Chong was so hungry that he forgot to thank him, almost snatched it from the old woman, and drank the water in two or three gulps.Wine makes you sad, but water makes you hungrier. Zhou Chong didn't get the illusion of being full of water. Instead, his hunger surged up like a cat scratching his head. He blurted out, "I'm so hungry."

"Young man, haven't you eaten yet?" The old couple asked at the same time, and said at the same time: "You go in, I'll make it for you."

The words of the old couple are full of care and love. This is an elder’s care and love for the younger generation. Zhou Chong’s heart warmed up. The last line of psychological defense was diluted by this family-like care. The distance was shortened at once, and he accepted it happily The two elders didn't talk about their proposals, but even chattered: "I'm very hungry, what can I do to be the last?"

The Qin State implemented the conscription system after Shang Yang’s reform. Men have to go to the battlefield, and the grandfather is no exception. He often has no food on the battlefield. He has experienced many battles on an empty stomach. He understands Zhou Chong’s feelings very much. : "Yes, yes, yes."

"There is still a bowl of leftovers." The old woman walked to the stove, lifted the lid of the pot, brought a crock pot, walked to Zhou Chong who was being pulled to sit by the old man, put the crock pot on the old table, and said : "Young man, eat first, and I'll make it for you."

Zhou Chong took a look at the food in the earthen pot and gasped. The earthen pot contained not the imaginary rice, but a bowl of beans. According to the standards of modern people, it was for feeding animals, but It is really unexpected to bring it to people to eat.Fortunately, Zhou Chong's reaction was fast enough, and he was relieved when he remembered seeing those guests eating boiled beans and boiled wheat in Niu Dayan's restaurant. (Note: The ancients in movies and TV have wine and meat, that is the home of the rich and powerful, "meat eaters" and the like, not the real life of ordinary people.)
The hungry Zhou Chong didn't care about anything else, so he ate with chopsticks.How do you know that once the beans enter the mouth, the taste is really hard to say.Needless to say, the beans were cooked very soft and rotten, which has something to do with the old couple's lack of teeth.Other than that, it's silky smooth, and it feels pretty good, quite mouth-watering.What made Zhou Chong unable to swallow it was that there was an unbearable beany smell. What was more serious was that there was no salt and no oil.This was torture in the true sense. If Zhou Chong hadn't kept his mouth shut and swallowed hard, he would have vomited it out. (Note: There are many ways to break the fishy smell. Chili and ginger have this effect. If the beans are cooked without salt or oil, the taste is really hard to say. I have experienced it myself.)
After all, the old couple had a lot of experience in life, and they understood the reason. The old woman hurriedly said: "Young man, the taste is not good. Wait a moment, I will put some salt for you."

The old man went a step further and said, "Put some oil in, the taste will be much better."

Our modern food requirement is to taste better. In addition to good cooking techniques, oil and salt are essential products.Not to mention the oil, but the salt needs to be explained.Salt is a very common thing in our daily life, so common that it can be ignored, but in ancient times, salt was a very important thing. It is a necessity of people's life and an important source of national fiscal revenue. Coupled with the low level of technology and low production at that time, the price of salt was very high, many times higher than it is now.In ancient times, salt once mentioned a strategic height, which is unimaginable.

For poor people, it is a very happy thing to be able to eat salt several times a year.In the 80s of the last century, there was a family in my hometown who didn’t put salt in their daily dishes, but only put salt in when guests came. How bitter!

Zhou Chong had no reason not to accept the proposal of the second elder even though he was so hungry that he put his crock down happily.Adding fuel and salt is a great thing, but after Zhou Chong figured it out, he felt horrible, because he saw a scene that he couldn't even imagine in his dreams.

(End of this chapter)