Shen Xuan had bought a lot of things yesterday, so he didn't need to purchase anything today.
He put away his silver note and rode his mule straight home.
He arrived early today, and even before reaching his courtyard gate, he saw the front yard filled with freshly washed clothes and bedsheets hanging out to dry.
Shen Xuan pushed the gate open, pleasantly surprised, and looked at the bedsheets.
They had been drying all day and were completely dry, emitting a faint scent of soapberry, looking clean and tidy.
He never thought Lin Ye, despite appearing so delicate, would be so capable at chores! In the modern world, he'd be considered a good husband.
Shen Xuan, unaware that these things were washed by Brother Zhong, thought this and carefully put the items away inside the house.
Xue Fenglin then brought over a pile of cut fodder from behind the house to feed the mule.
He had seen Shen Xuan do it yesterday, and today he followed suit, doing quite a good job.
"I didn't expect you to wash all the bedsheets today. Thank you! You've helped me immensely," Shen Xuan said, smiling, thanking Xue Fenglin.
"It's nothing, I was just idle anyway," Xue Fenglin nodded, gracefully accepting Shen Xuan's praise, not even mentioning Brother Zhong's visit today.
As for the fresh bamboo shoots and wild vegetables Brother Zhong had brought, he had eaten some at noon and had already thrown the rest away.
Shen Xuan, having earned a good amount of silver, was in high spirits. He brought out the shrimp and fish he had been keeping since yesterday, saying he would make a good meal.
With plenty of cooking oil at home now, Shen Xuan decided to deep-fry all the small fish and shrimp.
He first beat two eggs, added a small amount of salt, and mixed some flour with the egg liquid.
Then he coated the fish and shrimp with the egg mixture and set them aside.
Next, he heated up a wok with oil and threw in green onions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise to infuse the hot oil with their fragrance.
Once the hot oil was aromatic, Shen Xuan finally tossed the egg-coated fish and shrimp into the wok to fry.
In a short while, crispy, golden-fried shrimp and small fish were ready. Shen Xuan scooped them out and placed them on a plate.
After the meat dish was done, Shen Xuan steamed some rice. Then he casually stir-fried a garlic green vegetable dish and a bean paste eggplant.
Soon, a meal of one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and fragrant white rice was ready.
The fried shrimp were crispy, the eggplant was perfect with rice, and the green vegetables were fresh and delicious.
Shen Xuan and Xue Fenglin ate a hearty meal, their stomachs completely full.
Seeing Shen Xuan get up to clear the dishes, Xue Fenglin quickly stepped ahead and took the bowls, saying,
"Let me do it."
Shen Xuan didn't argue with him. Instead, he took his fishing traps out before it got dark.
This fried shrimp meal was truly good; he decided to go to the river and set his traps again to catch some eels and loaches to send to Buyer Chen.
Although he had been making money writing memorial texts these past two days, it was ultimately a temporary business that wouldn't last.
The connection with Guiyun Tower, however, could be a steady stream of income and shouldn't be cut off.
***
By the time Shen Xuan walked to the river, it was already quite late. He quickly set his fishing traps and returned home before it got completely dark.
He didn't notice someone hiding in the woods not far from the riverbank, secretly watching him.
It turned out that after Brother Zhong had cried, he still felt unconvinced. After dinner, he had gone to peek around Shen Xuan's courtyard again.
As he watched, he happened to see Shen Xuan taking out fishing traps, so he quietly followed him to see what he was doing.
After Shen Xuan set the traps, Brother Zhong waited a while longer before going to the river to look.
He pulled up the fishing trap and examined it carefully, realizing it was a fishing net, but this one looked quite strange and unlike the ones he had seen before.
Brother Zhong thought for a moment, then put the fishing trap back into the river, returning home without a trace. The next morning, before the rooster even crowed, he woke up very early.
He carried a lantern out the door to check on the trap Shen Xuan had placed in the river last night.
Upon reaching the riverbank, Brother Zhong looked around to make sure no one was there, then put down his lantern and squatted down to pull hard on the trap.
After an entire night, he found that the trap was much heavier, clearly having caught something.
Brother Zhong quickly pulled the trap ashore and, indeed, saw it full of eels, loaches, and small fish and shrimp.
It had caught so many fish! Brother Zhong's heart leaped. He then thought that Shen Xuan had been going to the city every day recently, probably to sell these fish and shrimp.
If Shen Xuan could do it, he could do it too! Brother Zhong thought to himself.
He poured all the fishing traps and their contents into his own basket, then hurried towards the village exit. He stopped an ox cart by the main road and went to the city...
Shen Xuan woke up, ate breakfast, and went to the river to check, only to find that the fishing trap he had set last night had disappeared!
He looked at the riverbank and saw a damp patch of soil, realizing that someone had stolen his fishing trap!
Most villagers in Yunshui Village would take advantage of an opportunity. Small thefts and pilfering happened frequently in the village.
Shen Xuan's fishing trap didn't have his name on it, so it was normal for it to be discovered and taken.
Shen Xuan was helpless; he couldn't find the thief, and could only blame himself for not being more discreet.
He rode his mule to the city. Today was the fourteenth of the seventh lunar month, the last day before the Zhongyuan Festival, so he had to seize the opportunity to earn money by writing memorial texts!
***
While Shen Xuan was working hard in Jinli Street, Brother Zhong also arrived in the city by ox cart.
He had previously come to the market at the south city dock a few times with his family, but they had always sold their grain quickly and left; he had never actually entered the city gate before.
Entering the city alone for the first time, Brother Zhong felt a bit flustered. He was completely unfamiliar with Lezhou City and was afraid of getting lost alone, standing by the roadside, feeling restless.
He saw many people coming and going in the city, all dressed very respectably, no worse than the gentry in Yunshui Village.
And he, in his coarse cloth clothes, without even a wooden hairpin in his hair, looked dusty and clearly from the countryside, completely out of place among them.
Brother Zhong felt increasingly timid, fearing that these city people would look down on him. But then he remembered that Shen Xuan also traveled alone, so he gritted his teeth, sized up a kind-looking woman at the dock, and walked over, asking,
"Auntie, may I ask if there's a place in this city that buys eels and loaches?"
The woman's eyes flickered. She looked Brother Zhong up and down, seeing a fair-faced young Ger, only fifteen or sixteen years old.
She smiled and asked, "Why are you, a Ger, asking for directions alone? You look so capable. Where are your family members?"
Brother Zhong felt relieved seeing the woman's kind demeanor and her praise. He replied,
"My family is farming in the village. I caught some river fresh myself, and I thought I'd come out and sell them to help with household expenses."
The woman's smile widened upon hearing this, and she warmly took his hand, saying,
"You're such a sensible child, truly likable. How about this, my boat happens to need some loaches and eels for cooking. Why don't I buy your catch? I'll definitely give you a good price. Come with me."
Brother Zhong was both surprised and delighted, never expecting his first time selling things in the city to go so smoothly.
He thought to himself that it wasn't difficult at all; if Shen Xuan could do it, he could do it too. He then followed the woman towards the river and boarded a two-story cargo ship.
Brother Zhong followed the woman onto the ship and was led to the bottom cabin. "It's right here," the woman told him to take off his basket.
Brother Zhong had just taken off his basket and hadn't even had time to ask where to put the eels and loaches.
Suddenly, several burly men rushed into the cabin from outside, closed the door, and tied Brother Zhong up with hemp ropes.
"What are you doing!" Brother Zhong cried, terrified, tears streaming down his face.
He looked at the woman again, who no longer showed any trace of kindness. She just covered her mouth with a handkerchief, smiling at him, her eyes filled with malice.
It turned out the woman was an experienced human trafficker, skilled at disguising herself and deceiving people.
Now, seeing that Brother Zhong couldn't escape, she revealed her true nature. She only said to him,
"Don't worry, there are plenty of others on this boat who share your fate. But this is the first time I've seen someone deliver themselves to me like you."
She continued, "I see you have a fair complexion and are sensible and obedient. Wouldn't it be a pity to stay in this small mountain village? Why not follow me and get properly trained? Later, I'll send you to a good place to enjoy wealth and glory. Wouldn't that be better than now?"
At this moment, Brother Zhong was filled with regret and hatred, bitterly begging the woman to let him go.
However, the woman had a hard heart and wouldn't listen to him. When Brother Zhong's crying became annoying, she gagged him and threw him into a dark room.
In the dark room, there were many other girls and Ger of similar age. Some had been sold by their families, while others, like him, had been tricked.
Not long after, the boat sailed away from the shore, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
***
Shen Xuan wrote sixty-two more memorial texts today, earning fifty-five guan. This time, he exchanged the copper coins for four ten-taels silver ingots before returning home.
As soon as he reached the village entrance, he saw the Zhong family searching everywhere for someone.
They said Brother Zhong had left early in the morning and had been gone all day, nowhere to be found.
He hadn't returned for breakfast or lunch, and they didn't know where he had gone.
Shen Xuan saw that Little Sister Zhong was anxious, so he even rode his mule to take her around the village.
However, until nightfall, there was still no trace of Brother Zhong, so he had to reluctantly give up and go home.
Tomorrow was the Zhongyuan Festival, and it was traditionally believed that the gates of hell would open.
Brother Zhong's sudden disappearance led to much discussion among the villagers, who feared he had run into the King of Hell taking souls, and wondered if he had met a terrible fate.
Shen Xuan had been writing memorial texts for several days straight, and tomorrow would be the last day.
Today there were more customers than yesterday, but on the actual day of the Zhongyuan Festival tomorrow, families would be busy preparing for rituals, so fewer people would come to write memorial texts, and he wouldn't earn as much.
After the Zhongyuan Festival passed, few people would write memorial texts, and the joss paper vendors would also close their stalls for a few days of rest.
Shen Xuan had already prepared to switch to a different business and intended to remain on Jinli Street.
The Great Jin Dynasty had vast wealth disparities, and in Lezhou City, business with wealthy people was much easier than with ordinary commoners, Shen Xuan thought.
Although he had been writing memorial texts these past few days, he had also been observing other nearby stalls.
Now, Shen Xuan had a good idea of the customer flow on Jinli Street, and with the first pot of gold earned from writing memorial texts, he could strike while the iron was hot and open his own stall.
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