บท 29: Chapter 29: East District, Making a Small Fortune
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The outer city roads, after the snowmelt, were filled with puddles, pockmarked and uneven.
The old elm carriage wheels rolled into the puddled dents, splashing dirty water like a broken pearl curtain.
The poor inhabitants of the outer city, barefoot, trod on the muddy water like vultures, surrounding the horse carriage and advancing slowly along the muddy street.
If it weren't for the intimidation posed by Shen Qing, they might have already rushed forward to rob the cart clean of mountain goods.
"Brother Qingzi, I'm a bit scared." Shen Xiaohu, who was visiting the county town for the first time, had never seen such a scene and sought help from Shen Qing.
"Take out your bow, shoot and kill anyone who approaches." Shen Qing said blankly, "If you've got a weapon in your hand, there's nothing to fear."
"Ah!"
Seeing Shen Xiaohu's hesitation, knowing he wasn't mentally prepared for this, Shen Qing continued, "Just treat them as prey in the forest. Look at that long-eared one, doesn't it look just like a wild hare of the mountains?"
"It does!" In Shen Xiaohu's heart, his cousin was still formidable, even the big figures in the village respected him.
"Then treat him like a wild hare. If he's not behaving, shoot him dead."
Hearing him say so, Shen Xiaohu immediately took out the bow and arrow he had brought from home, pulling the bowstring to full draw, showing a fierce look.
Indeed, once he did this, the people crowding around slowed down their steps, gradually widening the distance between them.
Zhang Shuyuan casually reminded, "It's your first time here. The leaders of the outer city haven't figured out your way yet. Once you make a few trips and they know your background, you'd better be careful."
In fact, without Zhang Shuyuan's reminder, Shen Qing, with his hunting skills, was extremely sensitive to the external environment.
He already noticed several sharp gazes fixed on him from the shantytown in the outer city, all tall and burly, seemingly practitioners.
"Prepare some money for me, we need to grease some palms for entering the city," Zhang Shuyuan gestured with his chin toward the city gate ahead.
Shen Qing looked forward.
Under the city gate carved with the word "Taiping," a crowd bustled, with many farmers lined up with vegetables and firewood to sell.
The guards at the gate, holding inspection staffs, swept their indifferent gazes over them one by one.
The cries of children, the complaints of merchants, and the lowing of livestock mingled together, making for a particularly noisy scene.
...
After a while, Shen Qing tightened the reins, stopping outside the city gate.
On both sides of the city gate, several guards leaned lazily against the mottled city wall, their eyes filled with disdain and indifference.
Two of them, seeing Shen Qing carrying a cart of goods, lazily walked over, raising a hand to signal Shen Qing to get off the cart.
"Entering the city?" The guard grunted, a look of undisguised greed curling at his mouth, "Do you know the rules? The city entrance fee is one tael of silver, not a wen less."
Shen Qing's gaze swept over the shabby vendors and ragged poor around him, seeing clearly that they did not pay one tael silver for the city entrance fee.
At this moment, Zhang Shuyuan jumped off the pushcart, walked over with twenty copper coins in hand, and politely stuffed them into the guard's hand, saying with a smile, "I'm doing errands for Ruan Pottery Master, please help us, brothers."
The guard weighed the coins in his hand, finally squeezing out a sliver of satisfaction, lazily waving them through, and even inserting them into the queue.
Shen Qing couldn't help but look at this unsmiling bookworm from the village in a new light, truly someone who had seen the world.
The money spent on him was indeed not wasted.
They had earned it back just by entering the city gate.
As he crossed the threshold, Shen Qing instantly felt as if he had stepped into another world.
Inside, the city streets were broad, lined with shops, intertwining shouts and laughter, lively and bustling, in stark contrast to the outer city's shantytown.
Inside, many fashionably dressed young lords strolled the streets with laughter and banter.
Farmers in ragged coats walking down the same street with them seemed somewhat absurd.
Having witnessed the abundant era, Shen Qing remained calm, whereas Shen Xiaohu, seeing the bustling scene for the first time, was dumbstruck, his eyes filled with novelty, truly a country bumpkin.
The inner city's main street paved with bluestone formed a crossroads in the center, dividing the entire county town into the east, south, west, and north districts.
Not being familiar with the area, Shen Qing humbly sought advice from Zhang Shuyuan.
"I've done some bookkeeping for Chen Youguang, they sell to the Song and Dong family restaurant in the east district. Take a right at that junction to reach it," Zhang Shuyuan said, pointing in the direction from his memory.
Following Zhang Shuyuan's guidance, Shen Qing smoothly reached the East District.
Inside, various restaurants, inns, and food stalls were arranged in succession.
County residents of every description were bustling constantly within.
Soon after, Shen Qing reached a restaurant called "Wanfeng Building," stopped in front, stated his purpose, and a servant led them to the courtyard of the restaurant.
Upon arriving, he saw various farmers and hunters coming and going through the back door, occasionally hearing discussions of bargaining.
Shen Qing waited for a moment at the back door before it was his turn.
"The hunter from outside come in."
Upon hearing the call, Shen Qing didn't hesitate or delay, leaving Shen Xiaohu to watch over the cart while he entered with Zhang Shuyuan.
As soon as they entered, a cacophony overwhelmed them.
The courtyard inside was like a marketplace for meats and vegetables, with various fruits, vegetables, poultry, livestock, and not a few mountain products placed on the ground.
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