Upon seeing the facial tattooing, Xiao Ran froze for a moment.
He wondered whether facial tattooing also existed during the Great Tang period.
As far as he remembered, criminals in Water Margin had their faces tattooed.
At this thought, Xiao Ran suddenly realized that Zhang Dalang might be in trouble.
A fugitive?
Anyone who had been subjected to facial tattooing must have been involved in something serious.
At the very least, it meant exile!
“Young master, please come in!” Zhang Erya walked over.
Although there was a surrounding wall, there was no gate.
“All right!” Xiao Ran stopped looking at Zhang Dalang. If it came to a fight, Xiao Ran was not afraid of Zhang Dalang.
He had studied sanda and practiced military boxing, and had spent several years in the army. He still had that much confidence.
“Young master, please sit inside.” Zhang Erya was very warm and welcoming.
Xiao Ran nodded, unable to resist looking around the courtyard. There were many bamboo poles and strips of bamboo on the ground, along with willow branches and unfinished kaolao baskets.
These siblings had a craft.
He also saw millet ears drying in the sun, which should have been gathered by Third Lady.
Four fish hung from a bamboo rack.
Xiao Ran remembered giving them five fish in total earlier. There were four left on the rack, so, as expected, they had not eaten any yet.
There should be one fish on the dinner table that evening, also prepared to entertain Xiao Ran. Otherwise, they probably would not have eaten it.
The fact that they had not eaten any of the five fish was indeed somewhat unexpected.
When entering the house, Xiao Ran instinctively lowered his head and bent down. It really was rather short.
A scent mixed with earth, fresh bamboo, and stove smoke rushed toward him.
The house was only about two zhang square. All four walls were made of mud bricks mixed with wheat straw, with cracks in several places, and several kaolao baskets hanging on the walls.
At the center of the room was a very low table and several small wooden stools. Other than the kaolao baskets, there was nothing else.
It could truly be described as having nothing but bare walls.
“Young master, sit!” Zhang Erya pointed at the stool.
“All right!” Xiao Ran handed the fish and kaolao basket to Zhang Erya.
“Young master, you already gave us quite a lot before.”
“It’s nothing.”
Zhang Erya took the kaolao basket. She did not know what was inside, but it was somewhat heavy.
That was because Xiao Ran had filled it with rice and flour.
Zhang Dalang had not spoken a word from beginning to end, and he even seemed burdened by deep sorrow and resentment.
In fact, this man had an honest and simple appearance. Xiao Ran did not know why he was like this.
If he had not encountered him before and been threatened by the man, Xiao Ran would have thought he was mute.
After Xiao Ran sat down, Third Lady brought out some chestnuts, persimmons, and kiwifruit.
The container holding them was woven from bamboo, resembling a fruit platter.
“Young master, please eat.”
“Mm, all right!” Xiao Ran picked up a chestnut and discovered that it had been boiled.
Zhang Dalang and Zhang Erya went to the room beside them to continue preparing the meal.
Doggie obediently lay beside Xiao Ran. As Xiao Ran ate chestnuts, he could not help looking around.
Although it was crude, it was quite clean.
Xiao Ran ate chestnuts with Third Lady. Before long, Zhang Erya began serving the dishes.
There were two small wooden bowls. Xiao Ran recognized the Chives in one of them, but not what was in the other.
He did not know how they tasted, and they did not look appetizing either. They seemed to have simply been boiled.
Another wooden bowl was brought out, containing radishes. They should have been pickled vegetables.
Soon, another bowl of steamed egg custard was brought out. He simply did not know what kind of vegetable was in it.
Zhang Dalang came out carrying a large, crudely made earthenware bowl. Inside was fish.
Xiao Ran did not know how it tasted and made no judgment, but its appearance was difficult to describe.
Next came four bowls of rice. It was called rice, but was actually millet porridge.
Millet was the main grain in the area, so eating it was normal.
There were vegetables in it as well, though Xiao Ran did not recognize them.
The portions for the three siblings were much thinner, while Xiao Ran’s was considerably thicker.
“Young master, this is all we have at home. Please don’t dislike it. I don’t know whether you’ll be accustomed to eating it.” Zhang Erya handed Xiao Ran a pair of chopsticks.
Xiao Ran hurriedly accepted them. “It’s quite good. I’m used to it.”
Later, Xiao Ran discovered that he had spoken too soon.
Third Lady was very excited, because she had not eaten such a sumptuous meal in a long time.
There were not only eggs but also fish, and many different kinds of vegetables.
Zhang Dalang still said nothing. Xiao Ran did not mind either; the man truly was not quite normal.
Xiao Ran took a bite of the millet rice and found it unpleasant.
He had occasionally eaten millet porridge before, but this was the first time he had eaten it this thick.
The vegetables in it tasted strange, and he had never eaten them before.
“What kind of vegetable is this?” Xiao Ran asked curiously.
“This is mallow greens. Young master, have you never eaten it?” Zhang Erya quickly replied.
Mallow greens was the foremost of all vegetables. He had never eaten it, but he had heard of it.
It was later replaced by other vegetables, but in this era, mallow greens was one of the most important vegetables and could even be eaten in winter.
“I see.”
The other dishes did not look any better. Xiao Ran tasted the radish and was shocked to discover that what he had thought were pickled vegetables was not salty at all!
The fish also contained mallow greens, and it was very fishy.
Xiao Ran could understand. They could not eat fish often, their preparation methods were limited, and this family had nothing to remove the fishy smell.
He saw garlic and scallions, but not even ginger, let alone other cooking wine or seasonings.
Xiao Ran could understand the fish being a little fishy, but there was not enough salt either. Not only was it bland, it also had a strange taste.
The other dishes were more or less the same.
“Young master, is it not to your taste?”
Although Xiao Ran had tried very hard out of courtesy to restrain himself and keep it from showing, the food truly was not good. To a modern person, it was even somewhat difficult to swallow.
Zhang Erya could tell as well.
“It’s quite good. I’m just not hungry!” Xiao Ran found a very unconvincing excuse.
Third Lady, on the other hand, ate with great relish, especially enjoying the fish and steamed egg custard.
“Second Lady, do you have persimmon cakes and sugar-roasted chestnuts here?” Xiao Ran found a topic to distract her attention.
“I’ve never heard of sugar-roasted chestnuts. As for persimmon cakes, do you mean drying persimmons in the sun and making them into persimmon cakes, young master?”
“That’s right.” He had not expected persimmon cakes to already exist.
“Does young master need persimmon cakes?”
“No, no, I was just asking.” Xiao Ran transferred some of the rice from his bowl to Third Lady beside him. He truly could not eat any more.
During their idle conversation, Xiao Ran learned that weaving kaolao baskets was not limited to the Zhang Siblings. Everyone in Kaolao Village did it. Once the busy farming season had passed, they would weave kaolao baskets whenever they had nothing else to do.
The meal was an ordeal for Xiao Ran.
By the time he finished eating, it was already late, and Xiao Ran prepared to leave.
Zhang Dalang still did not say a word. Xiao Ran did not take the initiative to speak either, but he got along quite happily with the two sisters.
“Second Lady, Third Lady, I’ll head back first!”
“All right, young master. Take care.” The two sisters walked out of the courtyard and watched Xiao Ran leave.
When they returned to the house, they found that Zhang Dalang was gone.
Zhang Erya did not think much of it either and wanted to see what was inside the kaolao Basket.
“Third Lady, do you know what the young master brought?”
Third Lady shook her head. “The young master gave me lots of calcium milk biscuits again. I don’t know about the rest.”
The two sisters now knew that the delicious pastries were called calcium milk biscuits.
When Zhang Erya saw the plump grains of rice and the snow-white flour inside the kaolao Basket, she was utterly shocked.
These things existed in this era, but they were expensive and eaten by the wealthy.
Ordinary people could only eat millet.
One jin of rice could be exchanged for several jin of millet. Zhang Erya was seeing rice of this quality for the first time.
“Elder sister, why aren’t the woodcutting knife and sickle at home?”
“They should be here. Look around!” Zhang Erya stared blankly at the rice and flour, always feeling that something was wrong.
It was as if something bad were about to happen!