Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 29: Dongfang City, a Small Fortune

After the snow melted, the roads in the outer city were full of water and potholes.

The old elm wood wheel rolled into a pothole filled with water, and the dirty water splashed everywhere like a broken pearl curtain.

The lowly people from the outer city, barefoot in the mud, surrounded the carriage like vultures, and moved slowly forward on the muddy streets.

If they had not been forced by Shen Qing's power, they would have rushed forward and snatched all the mountain products from the truck.

"Brother Qingzi, I'm a little scared." Shen Xiaohu, who came to the county town for the first time, had never seen such a situation and asked Shen Qing for help.

"Take out your bow, and shoot whoever comes up to you." Shen Qing said expressionlessly, "You won't be afraid if you have a weapon in your hand."

"what!"

Seeing Shen Xiaohu's hesitation, Shen Qing knew that he was not mentally prepared for this, so he continued, "Just treat them as prey in the forest. Look at the one with long ears. Does it look like a wild rabbit in the mountains?"

"Like!" In Shen Xiaohu's heart, his cousin is still very powerful, even the big shots in the village respect him.

"Then treat him like a hare, and if he doesn't behave, shoot him."

Hearing him say that, Shen Xiaohu immediately took out the bow and arrow he brought from home, put the arrow on the string, and looked ferocious.

Sure enough, when he did this, the lowly people who had surrounded him seemed to slow down their pace and gradually kept some distance between them.

Zhang Shuyuan reminded him intentionally or unintentionally: "This is your first time here. The bosses in the outer city haven't figured out your ways yet. After you go a few times, they will figure out your background. You better be careful."

In fact, Zhang Shuyuan didn't need to remind him that Shen Qing, who had hunting skills, was also extremely sensitive to the external environment.

He had already noticed that in the shantytowns outside the city, there were several sharp eyes staring at him. They were all tall and strong, like martial artists.

"Prepare some money for me. We need to prepare things before entering the city." Zhang Shuyuan raised his chin, pointed to the city gate in front of him and nodded.

Shen Qing looked forward.

There was a crowd of people under the city gate with the words "Taiping" engraved on it, and many farmers were queuing up to sell vegetables and firewood.

The guards at the city gate held inspection sticks and swept their faces one by one with cold eyes.

The crying of children, the complaints of vendors, and the lowing of livestock mixed together, making the sound particularly noisy.

……

After a while, Shen Qing tightened the reins and stopped outside the city gate.

On both sides of the city gate, several guards leaned lazily against the mottled city wall, with a bit of disdain and indifference in their eyes.

Two of them saw Shen Qing carrying a cart full of goods and another cart full of goods, so they walked over and raised their hands lazily, motioning Shen Qing to get off.

"Enter the city?" The guard snorted, with an undisguised greed on his lips: "Do you understand the rules? The entrance fee is one tael of silver, not a penny less."

Shen Qing's eyes swept across the simple vendors and ragged low-income people around him. He could see clearly that the entrance fee they paid was not even a tael of silver.

At this time, Zhang Shuyuan jumped off the cart, walked over with the twenty coins in his hand, stuffed the heavy coins into the guard's hand, and said with a smile: "I work for the owner of Ruan Kiln, brothers, please give me some convenience."

The guard weighed the items and managed a hint of satisfaction. He waved his hand lazily and let them pass, also letting them cut in line.

Shen Qing couldn't help but look at this serious bookworm in the village with a new respect. After all, he had seen the world.

The money I spent on him was not wasted.

This money is earned just by entering the city gate.

The moment he stepped through the city gate, Shen Qing felt as if he had stepped into another world.

The streets in the city are wide, shops are lined up, and the sounds of shouting and laughter are intertwined, making it very lively and bustling, which is in sharp contrast to the shanty towns outside the city.

There were many well-dressed young men inside, parading in the streets, talking and laughing.

It seemed absurd to see farmers in tattered jackets walking on the same street with them.

Shen Qing, who had witnessed the prosperity of the contemporary world, was not surprised. However, Shen Xiaohu, who saw this lively scene for the first time, was stunned. His eyes were full of curiosity. He was really a country bumpkin.

The streets of the inner city are paved with bluestone slabs, forming a crossroads along the center, dividing the entire county into four markets in the east, south, west and north.

Shen Qing was not familiar with this and humbly asked Zhang Shuyuan for advice.

"I have done some accounts for Chen Youguang. They were all sold to Song Dongjia Restaurant in Dongfang City. Just turn right from that intersection and you will arrive." Zhang Shuyuan pointed in the direction based on his memory.

Following Zhang Shuyuan's instructions, Shen Qing reached Dongfang City smoothly.

There are all kinds of restaurants, inns, and snack shops lined up inside.

Residents of the county town dressed in various clothes were constantly walking around.

Soon, Shen Qing walked to a restaurant called "Wanfenglou" and stopped. After explaining their purpose, a servant led them to the backyard of the restaurant.

When he arrived, he saw various people dressed as farmers and hunters coming in and out of the back door, and from time to time he could hear some bargaining discussions.

Shen Qing waited at the back door for a while before it was his turn.

"Hunter outside, come in."

After hearing the summons, Shen Qing did not delay or neglect. He left Shen Xiaohu to watch the car and took Zhang Shuyuan in.

As soon as I entered the door, I was hit by a noisy atmosphere.

The backyard was like a vegetable and meat market, with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, poultry and livestock, and a lot of mountain products placed on the ground.

A middle-aged man with thin cheeks and a sharp chin was holding an abacus in his hand and looking up from time to time to check it.

He muttered quickly in his voice, sharp but stern, not letting go of any small mistake, even the extra half a penny would be a fuss.

Seeing Shen Qing and others coming in, the middle-aged man glanced at Shen Qing and said, "I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"

"Manager, I'm from Hongshan Village." Shen Qing said truthfully, "May I know your name, Manager?"

"Hongshan Village? My last name is Wang. Where is Chen Youguang?"

"Reporting to Manager Wang, he is dead." Shen Qing raised his head and said calmly, "A mountain monster came to our place, and his entire family is dead."

Manager Wang of Wanfeng Building put down his abacus, looking stunned.

died?

Wouldn't that mean everything we had agreed upon with him before would be invalid?
Suddenly, Wang, the manager of Wanfeng Building, felt a little bad.

Shen Qing continued, "Our village is small and we don't have much experience. I'm a bit brave and I want to give it a try. Manager, can you give me this opportunity?"

The Wanfeng Building's manager came back to his senses and said, "Let me take a look at your things first."

As he said this, he walked out of the door and started picking up the mountain products on Shen Qing's cart.

Shen Qing introduced them, saying, "These are all newly hunted wild rabbits, wild prawns, and newly hunted roe deer. They are all good stuff from the mountains. Manager Wang, take a good look at them."

"They are all common things. Are there any rare delicacies?" Manager Wang of Wanfeng Tower asked casually.

Shen Qing said, "Manager Wang, it's not that easy to come across wild delicacies. We don't see them in our village even once a month."

Manager Wang of Wanfeng Tower said, "I have already agreed with Chen Youguang that we will find some mountain delicacies for Mr. Song. Can you find them? If you can, I will accept this truckload of goods."

Shen Qing was slightly stunned, and heard the hidden meaning. If he didn't agree, he might not be able to do the business today.

"Manager Wang, please tell me."

Steward Wang wore black boots, stared at Shen Qing with a fake smile, and said slowly: "I want three things: blood bird's nest, jade deer tendon and tiger king whip."

When Shen Qing heard these three things, his face suddenly became embarrassed.

"Manager Wang, I have never heard of the types you want. Where can I find them?"

"If not, I won't accept your truckload of goods."

Shen Qing looked at Zhang Shuyuan standing aside and asked in a low voice, "In the county, besides his family, can we sell anyone else?"

Zhang Shuyuan replied: "Do you know what the four major bosses in the county do?"

"I don't know."

"There are four big bosses in the county town: Zhou, Wang, Song, and Li. They run silk clothing, pawnshops, restaurants, and boating. It's no exaggeration to say that food, clothing, housing, and transportation in Taiping County are inseparable from these four families."

Zhang Shuyuan continued, "This Wanfeng Building is the property of the Song family. He said that if you don't take it, you won't be able to sell it anywhere."

After hearing Zhang Shuyuan's explanation, Shen Qing's face looked a little unhappy.

He knew that people in and outside the county relied on the four big bosses for their livelihood, but he didn't expect that they would be so overbearing.

Wanfeng Building Manager Wang said impatiently: "Have you discussed it? If you don't want to, please don't delay my work."

Shen Qing said hurriedly, "Yes, yes. I will tell everyone in the village and I will find it for the steward. Steward Wang, please take a look at my cart of goods first."

"You must find it before the spring. If you can't find it, you should give thirty taels of silver as a gift to the boss."

Shen Qing's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and he cursed these vampires inwardly.

Thirty taels of silver is really not a small sum of money.

Even if all the Chen family’s assets were used, they might not be able to come up with that.

But now he had no better choice, so he had to agree to it.

He finally got this opportunity, and he couldn't give it up so easily.

People have to bow their heads under the eaves.

Before he became successful, he had no choice but to endure it.

The Wanfeng Building manager in front of him must have had some means to reach his current position, relying on the support of the Song family.

In this county, it would be easy to kill all the hunters in his village, and it was not something he could do at will now.

But as for the future...

"Your cargo is worth a total of ten taels of silver. I'll also take the raccoon and some pheasant feathers. I'll give you an extra five taels of silver, a total of fifteen taels." The manager of Wanfeng Tower quickly fiddled with an abacus in his hand and gave Shen Qing a price.

"Can you raise the price a little bit? It's too cheap."

The manager of Wanfeng Building closed the abacus, looked a little unhappy, and said forcefully: "I'll give you another half a penny, don't even think about the extra money. If it weren't for Chen Youguang's begging, the Song family would have their own merchants to buy it, and such a good thing wouldn't have happened to you."

Shen Qing suppressed the thoughts in his mind, put on a smile and said, "Thank you for your support, Manager Wang. I hope you will forgive me for this small token of respect."

As he spoke, Shen Qing stuffed a bunch of cash into the palm of Wanfeng Tower's manager Wang's hand with a calm expression.

At this, Manager Wang's expression became slightly better: "I can see that you are very smart. I like dealing with smart people."

"It just so happens that I won't hide it from you. I'm not targeting you when I ask you for that wild delicacy, but it's an opportunity given to you by the Dong family. Now, several young masters in the Dong family have reached a critical stage in their martial arts training and need these wild delicacy for nourishment. If you find it, the Dong family will definitely reward you."

After Shen Qing heard this, he pretended to be grateful and said, "I see, thank you for telling me."

He was tactful enough not to ask about the thirty taels of silver from his employer.

He had already guessed a little about the tricks involved.

After putting away the abacus, Wang, the manager of Wanfeng Building, asked people to start moving things from his car, and then asked the accountant to take out fifteen taels of silver and give it to Shen Qing: "What's your name?"

Shen Qing counted the silver and confirmed that it was correct, then said, "To answer the steward, my surname is Shen, and my given name is Qing."

"Shen Qing, right?" Manager Wang of Wanfeng Tower nodded and said, "I'll remember you. You can send any goods here in the future. If you do well, I can give you the mountain product business of the seven or eight villages around Shicheng Mountain."

Facing the big cake drawn by Manager Wang, Shen Qing accepted it on the surface and said respectfully: "I will do my best."

Wanfeng Building Manager Wang casually waved his hand and dismissed him, "There is nothing else to do here."

"Then I'll take my leave." Shen Qing said a few words respectfully and left the backyard.

Looking at Shen Qing's leaving back, Wang Qiyao, the manager of Wanfeng Building, couldn't help but glance at him a few more times, looking thoughtful.

A servant came over and said to Wang Qiyao, "Manager, do you want to go and tell the people outside the city?"

"What the boss told us is very important. We must have some mountain delicacies. Have you told the hunters in other villages?"

"Manager, don't worry. We have given instructions to every hunter who comes here. They will definitely not cause any trouble for you."

Wang Qiyao's face turned serious, and he said, "No matter what method I use, I must find all three wild delicacies before the spring. That guy named Cai doesn't like me, and he must be secretly trying to find a way. The position of the shopkeeper of Wanfeng Tower must not be given to him."

"Manager Cai definitely doesn't have as many connections as Manager Wang. The position of shopkeeper will definitely be yours in the future." The servant on the side said hurriedly in a flattering manner.

Wang Qiyao waved his hand to send the servant away, walked to the place where Shen Qing had just unloaded the goods, and took out the raccoon dog.

"This raccoon dog looks pretty good. It should be able to sell for six taels of silver. I made a tael of silver for free. Haha."

……

Walking out of the door, Shen Qing carefully calculated what he had gained today.

In total, he got fifteen taels of silver.

Among them, the silver money he earned from his hunting spoils was about five taels and five cents, mainly from the raccoon, which made him a lot of money.

The remaining nearly ten taels of silver were all mountain products from the entire village.

After deducting the costs, he could make a net profit of about five or six hundred coins.

This amount of money was almost equivalent to what his uncle Shen earned in twenty days.

Even if he had to eat refined rice, grains and noodles every day, he could still afford it.

The important thing is that this method is not as luck-based as hunting, it is very stable.

No wonder Chen Youguang had this idea in mind.

Adding up his total earnings, he earned nearly six taels of silver this time.

It was enough to be considered a windfall, a small fortune.

The days ahead will be much better.

I now have some confidence to practice martial arts.

(End of this chapter)