Performing Opera

Just as Li Huowang was wondering what kind of performance this was, the farmers watching the show below started to move. They took out one or two copper coins and threw them onto the stage.

Most of the audience were farmers who toiled in the fields for a living, and only a few threw money. More often, they threw corn cobs, potatoes, and other grains.

Those with slightly better-off families would at most throw some salted fish and cured meat.

However, Luo Juanhua accepted everything and thanked them profusely.

"So, this is how opera singers get paid?" Li Huowang realized.

Watching Luo Juanhua kneeling humbly on the stage, holding her daughter while continuing to sing in a tearful voice, reaching out to pick up the things on the ground and putting them in a basket, and occasionally bowing to the cheering people below,

he couldn't help but sigh, realizing that earning this bowl of rice was not easy.

Just as Luo Juanhua was happily picking up things, a small piece of silver shard was thrown up.

Her eyes lit up immediately. She picked up the silver, gently weighed it in her hand, and after realizing that it was at least five qian, she immediately pinched her opera voice, singing while kowtowing to the fat old man in the crowd who was the only one wearing silk.

"Good, good!! You sing so well!" The old man with a flushed face looked up, and another piece of silver shard flew up, eliciting waves of thanks from Luo Juanhua.

Li Huowang was a little tired of the farce in front of him. He yawned, lay down on the rice straw pile, and said to Zhao Wu, who was relatively stable beside him, "I'm going to take a nap. Keep an eye on things."

"Okay, Senior Brother."

When Li Huowang opened his eyes again, he found that the sun was already high in the sky. The others were chatting around, and it seemed that everyone had spent the night in this rice straw pile.

The stage in the distance had already been dismantled, and the Lu family was stuffing those props into the carriage box.

"Zhao Wu, how many days of food do we have left?" Li Huowang suddenly asked.

"Not much, at most three days if we save it." Zhao Wu replied immediately.

Li Huowang took out the dozens of copper coins and a small piece of black silver shard that he had scammed from the material room and handed them to him. "Go to the village and exchange them for some food. It should be enough for the journey."

There were more than a dozen people, and they were all young men, so the food consumption was very high. They had brought so many bags from Qingfeng Temple, but now they had almost eaten them all.

Zhao Wu, who was lying on the fool's back, was about to let the fool enter the village, but after thinking about it, he reached out and called over a Daoist Child who looked better, put the money in his hand, and whispered something.

Li Huowang supported himself on the rice straw pile with one hand and walked towards the stage in the distance.

"Old man, when are we leaving?" Li Huowang asked Lu Zhuangyuan.

Lu Zhuangyuan looked a little anxious at this time. "Little Daoist priest, please wait a moment. My daughter-in-law took Xiu'er and ran off somewhere early this morning. We'll leave as soon as she comes back."

Li Huowang felt puzzled. "Huh? Gone? Isn't that her?"

When Lu Zhuangyuan followed Li Huowang's finger and looked towards the village entrance, he saw Luo Juanhua holding a few feet of cloth in her hand, holding her daughter and walking towards them with a smile.

Seeing this unreliable daughter-in-law, Lu Zhuangyuan was immediately furious. He rushed over with his smoking pipe and began to scold her.

Faced with her father-in-law's anger, Luo Juanhua seemed very innocent. "Dad, didn't you ask me to go to the village to buy cloth? You said the cloth in town was expensive..."

After venting his anger, Lu Zhuangyuan turned around and said to Li Huowang with a smile, "Little Daoist priest, it's okay, let's go."

"Hey~! Dad, don't go yet. When I went to buy cloth just now, I got a business deal."

Hearing this, Li Huowang and Lu Zhuangyuan looked at Luo Juanhua at the same time. "What business?"

"What kind of business can we do? Of course, it's an opera business. The employer is the lord who gave the most reward money last night! Go and take a look, he said he has some things to discuss with you in detail."

Hearing this, Lu Zhuangyuan immediately stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around to give Li Huowang an embarrassed smile.

Although he didn't say anything, Li Huowang naturally understood what he meant from his expression. "It's not a big deal, Master Lu, making money is important. One more day won't matter."

"Oh dear, oh dear, my apologies, this old man will be right back." After saying that, Lu Zhuangyuan stuck his pipe into his collar and happily dragged his daughter-in-law towards the village.

Li Huowang returned to the rice straw pile. With nothing to do, he picked up the shriveled Daoist bell and examined it closely.

If he could really command Lord You, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance his strength.

Unfortunately, he couldn't summon it now; he had to find a way to fix it first.

He carefully looked it over several times, discovering that everything else was fine, and the only problem was the dented bell wall.

"So, if I straighten it out, will it work?"

Li Huowang pondered for a moment, placed a square stone under the copper bell, and then picked up another stone to forcefully strike the bulging side.

But as soon as the stone hit, an ear-piercing bell sound rang out, and Li Huowang's head immediately throbbed with pain, making it difficult to hold the stone in his hand.

"This won't work; I need to ask if there's a blacksmith in this village." Li Huowang shook his dizzy head.

Just then, Li Huowang saw the Daoist Children dragging two bags towards him.

He put away the Daoist bell and, along with Zhao Wu on the fool's back, hurried over there.

"Senior Brother Li, we only managed to exchange for this much." The Daoist Child's tender face was full of unease. Although they were just children, they were very sensible and capable. After all, the insensible ones had already been killed by Danyangzi.

Li Huowang reached out and tore open the sack, finding it full of Dried Sweet Potato.

"Senior Brother, these things have no substance and won't last for many days. The fool can eat half a kilogram in one meal, and eating too much of this stuff gives you heartburn."

Zhao Wu's words made the honest, bald, and burly fool hang his head in shame. "You... you don't... don't... abandon me... I... I'll eat less!"

The food was not enough. Li Huowang looked at the sack in front of him, pondering a solution.

He had heard Lu Zhuangyuan say that there was still a long way to go to Jianye City. If they ran out of food halfway, his dozen or so people couldn't just start gnawing on tree bark, could they?

He reached into his pocket again and pulled out a gold ring wrapped with a red string.

Holding it and thinking for a moment, Li Huowang reached out and placed it in Bai Lingmiao's hand, who was tugging at his clothes behind him.

"Use this to exchange for something." Li Huowang took out Xuan Yang's jade pendant and handed it to Zhao Wu.

"Senior Brother, how can we exchange this? There are no pawnshops in the village, and others can't break it, and these mud-legged farmers may not recognize its value."

"The jade pendant can't be exchanged for food either, so what should we do?" Just as Li Huowang was troubled by the food crisis, he saw Lu Zhuangyuan walking towards him with his daughter-in-law.

"Um, little Daoist priest, this old man has encountered some trouble in business. Could I trouble you to help me?" Lu Zhuangyuan's expression was very embarrassed.

"Master Lu, I can't sing opera, either. I'm afraid I can't help you with your troubles." Li Huowang felt very absurd. Did he want him to go on stage and perform a sword dance?

"No, no, you can help. It's just..." Lu Zhuangyuan said, secretly looking around, then leaned in and lowered his voice, "Lord Hu wants me to perform a Ghost Opera..."