Pan Wenji glanced at the sky, there was still light remaining. He immediately called for the old servant to open the storehouse and retrieve two twenty-year-old ginseng roots, several other precious medicinal materials, and select a load of quality charcoal.
Once everything needed was prepared, the steward hurried over to say the carriage was ready.
Pan Wenji had his attendants follow him out and boarded the prepared donkey cart.
The carriage curtain had been changed to a thick one. Inside were three layers of cushions made from different materials, and Pan Wenji’s daily favorite incense had been burned.
The trace of anger in Pan Wenji’s heart hadn’t dissipated. He acted as if he couldn’t see the steward’s deliberate attempt to curry favor.
The steward was also an old servant of the Pan residence. This time he was truly anxious. How could he have known that the master would be so concerned about this friend who’d come from afar?
This friend had been retired for several years now. It was impossible for him to return to his former position. But his master was different. Once his term was complete, he would certainly be transferred to serve as Prefectural Vice Magistrate.
Due to his anxiety, Pan Wenji felt the journey becoming interminably long.
He lifted the curtain and called to the driver, “Speed up quickly.”
The driver looked troubled. “Master, there are many pedestrians on this road. I can’t go any faster.”
Donkey carts couldn’t go much faster anyway. They couldn’t compare to mule carts or horse-drawn carriages.
Pan Wenji knew that being anxious was useless. He suppressed his restless mood and rubbed his weary temples, no longer urging the driver.
He should have thought of this earlier. Pang Boyi was the type to report good news but not bad. As his friend of over twenty years, the two had been apart for seven or eight years, mostly maintaining contact through letters. Letters were slow. It was rare to see one in a month or two. The two always only exchanged interesting daily occurrences they’d witnessed or discussed the state of the world.
These past few years, the topics Pang Boyi discussed with him had gradually shifted from grand ambitions to trivial folk matters, agriculture, and common people…
The donkey cart traveled for quite some time. The sky had completely darkened.
The servant sitting outside lifted the curtain to ask if a lamp should be lit inside the carriage.
Pan Wenji shook his head. Lanterns had been lit on the street outside, hanging high from the eaves. All along the way, lights dotted the darkness. Even without lifting the curtain, light filtered in.
After a while, the donkey cart came to a stop with a “whoa.” The servant jumped down from the running board, set up the footstool, and lifted the curtain, calling, “Master, we’ve arrived at the Pang residence.”
Pan Wenji dismounted. Seeing lanterns lit at the entrance, he didn’t have the servant call anyone but walked forward himself to knock on the door.
With a creak, the wooden door opened.
The person who came to answer was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old servant boy. Seeing it was Pan Wenji, the boy quickly bowed respectfully and invited him inside.
“Why is it only you? Where’s Uncle Pang?” As soon as Pan Wenji entered, he felt the Pang residence was quite desolate. The large front courtyard was completely empty, without even a servant in sight.
The servant boy said worriedly, “Young Master Pan, Uncle Pang is in the room caring for our young master. The young master hasn’t been able to sleep for two days and nights. We servants can only worry anxiously.”
Pan Wenji’s steps halted. “Haven’t you called for a physician?”
The servant boy answered honestly, “We did. The physician said this is a chronic ailment, and difficult to treat. He prescribed a medicine for headaches and calming pills.”
He bent his back and walked quickly ahead, leading the way. Soon, Pan Wenji and the servant arrived outside Pang Boyi’s room.
The door wasn’t closed. Eager to see his friend, Pan Wenji didn’t have the servant announce him but entered directly. He walked straight to the inner resting room. Passing through the partition curtain, he saw his friend lying on his side on the couch, eyes squinted. Uncle Pang was kneeling at the foot of the couch. Hearing the movement, he rose and bowed to Pan Wenji.
“Young Master Pan.”
Pan Wenji nodded amiably and asked quietly, “Is he asleep?”
“He just fell asleep.” After Uncle Pang spoke, he let out a low sigh, worry showing in his eyes.
Pang Boyi’s health had deteriorated with each passing year these past two years. Their travel expenses were actually often spent on medical treatment.
As Pan Wenji now looked at his friend in the dim candlelight, he saw white hair at his temples.
“When did his head ailment begin? All these years he’s only reported good news, never bad. I knew nothing at all.”
Uncle Pang said in a low voice, “The young master didn’t want you to worry.”
They didn’t speak much more by the couch. Coming out of the room, they stood in the corridor at the cold wind’s opening, keeping watch.
Uncle Pang continued, “The young master’s head ailment has persisted for five years now. At first, we thought it was just exhaustion. Resting for two days would cure it. Later, when the episodes lasted longer, we realized this headache ailment was difficult to treat. However, the young master had many concerns on his mind previously and couldn’t properly care for his body. After retirement, he frequently suffered headaches for half a year, which is why we traveled far.”
Pan Wenji clenched his fists, saying angrily, “He wouldn’t let you speak of it? Did he think coming to the county town would keep it hidden?”
After winter arrived, how could Pang Boyi’s head ailment stay concealed?
Just spending half a shichen in the evening breeze, the next day his head would ache terribly. No tea, no appetite, how could he resist the persistent Uncle Pang?
Pan Wenji suddenly said, “Uncle Pang, wait two days. I’ll go find that physician.”
“This old servant thanks Young Master Pan.” Hearing this, Uncle Pang bowed deeply with tears of gratitude.
The young master had suffered too much these years. His heart was sick with suffering, yet no one could cure it.
…
Night had fallen.
Lamps still burned in Xu Yi’s room. Worried that reading by lamplight at night would harm his eyes, Xu Yi had lit two lamps. To his right side sat a small charcoal brazier that Ah Xu had lit for him.
Ah Xu felt that in such cold weather, the young master absolutely must use charcoal.
Taking advantage of coming in to pour hot water for Xu Yi, Ah Xu called out, “Young master, it’s late. You should rest early.”
Xu Yi said, “If I don’t record these accounts, I’ll forget the numbers tomorrow and have to count again. It’ll be very troublesome.”
Having said this, he looked at Ah Xu. “You should learn arithmetic quickly so I can hand over the accounting work to you.”
Ah Xu lowered his head in shame. “It’s all my fault. If only I’d learned earlier, the young master wouldn’t have to work so hard.”
Xu Yi shook his head, saying calmly, “All right, go back to your room and sleep. You don’t need to wait on me.”
Ah Xu understood this meant Xu Yi didn’t want anyone disturbing him nearby. He carried the kettle out of the room with light hands and feet, then gently closed the door.
Once he left, Xu Yi refocused his attention on the account book.
Daily living expenses, purchased medicinal materials, materials sold, materials consumed, money earned, capital invested, and finally, the profit margin.
Xu Yi didn’t do anything unconventional or create ledgers that clashed with current practices. He went directly with vertical columns divided into three parts: one recording expenses, one recording income, one showing profit. Though not as clear and convenient as modern spreadsheet tables, others could still understand it when looking at it.
He’d been teaching Ah Xu and Ah Jin how to read account books these past few days. Unfortunately, the two were still too young and understood things only hazily; not suitable for hands-on work yet.
There was no help for it. He could only do it himself.
After finishing the accounts, it was already midnight, the time when yin and yang intersected, suitable for rest and sleep.
No matter how busy Xu Yi was, he would never go past this time. He rose and reached out to test the hot water Ah Xu had poured before leaving. It was still warm, so he took a cloth made of plain cotton, wrung it out, and wiped his face and hands.
Then he extinguished the lamps, removed his outer robe, and burrowed into the bedding.
The spot for his feet in the bedding was warm and cozy. Inside was a warm bottle filled with hot water, made of tin, looking like a giant version of a water chestnut. The price wasn’t cheap. One warm bottle on the market cost over a hundred coins.
In the Xu household, only Xu Yi used it. Ah Xu and Ah Jin absolutely refused to use one, that would be too much breaking of rules.
The next day, when Xu Yi woke, the bottle had already gone cold.
He rose and dressed, draped on his long robe, and came out to see Ah Jin washing the clothes he’d changed out of yesterday. Her small hands rubbed the robe back and forth. Hearing the sound, Ah Jin looked up to see Xu Yi watching her. She happily lifted the corners of her mouth and called out, “Young master.”
“Young master, brother is making breakfast. It’ll be ready to eat soon.” As Ah Jin spoke, she rose, wiped her hands, and went to pour warm water for Xu Yi to rinse his mouth.
Xu Yi looked helpless but couldn’t win against these two children.
By the time Xu Yi finished washing up, the red bean porridge Ah Xu made was also ready. He used a large ladle to scoop porridge into a bowl and placed it before Xu Yi, set out chopsticks and a spoon, then divided out two small dishes of side dishes. One dish was sweet and sour pickled garlic cloves, one dish was spicy cabbage.
The latter was something Xu Yi had wanted to eat. Ah Xu had learned the method for pickling small dishes from Madam He. Xu Yi loved spicy food, but unfortunately the Song Dynasty had no chili peppers, so they used sichuan pepper to substitute for spiciness.
This batch of spicy cabbage also had peach flesh added. When eaten, it carried a refreshing sweet fruit fragrance mixed with that sour-spicy taste. It was appetizing without being cloying. Paired with red bean porridge, Xu Yi could eat two bowls.
After finishing two bowls of porridge, Xu Yi peeled a boiled egg and ate it in an unhurried manner.
He didn’t like egg yolk, but Little Huang loved it. After giving the yolk to Little Huang, Xu Yi concluded this breakfast.
…
Since arriving in the Song Dynasty, Xu Yi had been exploring only around the county town and hadn’t ventured out to other counties to expand his map.
Though Yanting County was quite nice, every time he passed that official road, he couldn’t help but wonder: if he kept going forward on this road, what kind of county town would he reach?
Would it be like Yanting County, full of the atmosphere of daily life? Completely different from the commercialized ancient towns of modern times, the pace here was naturally slow, yet everywhere people labored busily.
Different from the common people, the soldiers guarding the town carried an air of laziness. The garrison troops sat leisurely in the city wall tower, drinking tea served by servants. The horses kept in the stables hadn’t been taken out for exercise in ages. If it weren’t for the horse supervisor in charge of provisions flowing fat into his own pockets, these horses would practically be raised like pigs.
Naturally, none of this had anything to do with Xu Yi.
He merely sighed. It was truly worthy of being the Song Dynasty. This was still early Northern Song, yet in the Shu region, robust military horses were already rarely seen.
On the roads, what he saw most were oxen, donkeys, and mules.
Wealthy families also raised horses. These horses that fell into the hands of great households were all thin horses and weak horses that couldn’t make it onto the battlefield. They could be used to transport goods and pull carriages. They were naturally stronger than mules, just unaffordable for ordinary families.
The brokers had long ago firmly grasped the supply sources in their hands, only leaking them to families with power and influence.
People like Xu Yi… he’d only seen them from afar once.
Xu Yi reined in his wandering thoughts. Ah Xu and Ah Jin were packing his travel luggage.
He was going on a long journey by heading to Zitong County.
This matter had to be explained starting from yesterday.
Uncle Tang had been a traveling merchant when young. As he grew older, he rarely engaged in the merchant trade anymore. However, he didn’t completely abstain from it.
Yesterday he’d come to the Xu household for tea and mentioned that he was going to Zitong County the next day to purchase goods. A medical hall had commissioned him to go to Zitong County to buy a batch of medicinal materials.
Zitong County was a key county on the Shu Road, connecting Central Plains at one end and leading to the Western Regions at the other. There were many things there that couldn’t be found in either the Central Plains or the Shu region. It was a place that traveling merchants all passed through.
Therefore, the medicinal material prices there were naturally lower than going to the Ripened Medicine Office in the prefecture capital.
However, the road to Zitong County wound through mountains and waters, crisscrossed with ravines, and was extremely treacherous. Without traveling merchant caravans to accompany one and escort guards, it would be very difficult to pass through safely.
Uncle Tang’s visit was because he thought that since Xu Yi was a physician, if he needed to purchase medicinal materials, Uncle Tang could bring back a share for Xu Yi as well.
He said, “Young Master Xu, if there’s anything you need, if I can buy it for you, I’ll bring it back.”
Xu Yi smiled as he rose and cupped his hands, asking, “Uncle Tang, how many days will this trip take to return?”
“Six days,” Uncle Tang said.
Going there would take at least two days. Arriving at Zitong County would require rest from the arduous journey for half a day, then contacting the medicine-selling merchants. All of this needed time.
Xu Yi’s thoughts stirred slightly. Only six days. Several days shorter than he’d imagined.
He asked thoughtfully, “Uncle Tang, can your party accommodate one more person? I’d like to go see Zitong County myself.”
He added that when going to Zitong County to purchase medicinal materials, one needed someone who could identify medicines to avoid being passed inferior goods as quality or fake as genuine.
After hearing this, Uncle Tang was instantly moved.
He said he would arrange this matter, and Xu Yi need only bring his travel luggage and provisions for the two days in Zitong County the next day.
Thus came the matter of Xu Yi needing to suddenly take a long journey the next day.
Naturally, he couldn’t bring the two children on such a trip. Ah Xu and Ah Jin were sensible and only took responsibility for preparing his luggage well. Ah Xu had been in the kitchen since early morning making white flour pancakes with two types of filling: one sweet with sesame filling and one savory with dried cabbage filling.
Ah Jin made two small brocade pouches. She only knew needlework, not embroidery, so she made the most simple style.
“Young master, the fragrance pouches are finished.” Having completed the pouches, Ah Jin brought them to show Xu Yi.
Xu Yi was satisfied. He took the pouches to the kitchen and selected several types of medicinal materials to separately pack into the fragrance pouches.
One he tied at his waist, one he kept close to his body.
Not only that, he also brought the emergency pills he’d prepared, as well as medicine pills for treating diarrhea and so on. Everything he could think of.
If medicine was truly needed on the road but wasn’t available, he could only rely on fate and search locally.
Soon, Xu Yi left carrying a pack half his height, containing changes of clothes and a knife.
The wooden bow wasn’t convenient to carry on his person, so he didn’t pack it.
When he arrived at Uncle Tang’s house, Uncle Tang had also finished preparing. He brought even more things: one bamboo trunk for luggage and two empty trunks.
Uncle Tang said with a smile, “Many people have entrusted me to bring things on this trip. Some small items still can’t be placed together with other goods.”
Xu Yi nodded, agreeing with this reasoning.
They chatted in the room for a few sentences about places needing attention on the road. Xu Yi asked, “Which cart will I be riding in later?”
“You’ll ride with me,” Uncle Tang joked. “The rest of those people are all rough men. If you ride in a cart with them, I’m afraid the smell would prevent you from resting well.”
Xu Yi was startled, then laughed.
Then a mule cart came traveling down South Street to fetch them.
Driving the cart was a burly man with two thick black eyebrows, a half-inch scar on his jaw, with a fierce expression, and an aura of violence about him.
Despite it being winter, he only wore a short cotton cloth jacket with a thick wolf pelt draped outside. At his waist hung a curved blade that was not a style native to the Shu region.
Entering the carriage, Uncle Tang quietly introduced this person to Xu Yi: “This man driving is an old hand, who travels the Shu Road year-round. He’s very familiar with the road to Zitong County. We merchants inevitably encounter evil people. He… well, takes care of it.”
Uncle Tang made a throat-slitting gesture, reminding Xu Yi that this person had blood on his hands and wasn’t to be trifled with.
Xu Yi nodded composedly. The outside world was more dangerous than he’d imagined.
He’d treat this trip as a rehearsal.
Outside the county town, three mule carts and two donkey carts were already waiting.
Sensing the mule cart stop, Xu Yi lifted the small window beside him to look out. At this glance, he was slightly stunned.
In the waiting caravan, Xu Yi saw a familiar person, Zhang Tiegou.
Zhang Tiegou keenly sensed someone watching him and swept a sharp gaze over.
He froze.
“Brother Xu??” He shouted loudly, striding quickly toward him.
His action made everyone else in the caravan notice this unfamiliar face.
The others looked questioningly at Uncle Tang, who had organized this group.
Uncle Tang chuckled as he introduced, “This is Doctor Xu. Don’t let his youth fool you. His medical skills are extraordinary. This time we’re mainly going to purchase medicinal materials. With Doctor Xu along, we can save ourselves considerable trouble.”
Hearing him say this, the scrutiny in those people’s eyes didn’t diminish. Rather, the gazes directed at Xu Yi became even more fervent.
A young man whom Uncle Tang acknowledged as excellent was naturally different. But they wondered whether a physician this young could keep up physically with their company?
“Uncle Tang, are you sure about letting him come along?” Someone said hesitantly. “This person looks like a pale-faced scholar. Can he withstand our rapid pace?”
After a moment, Uncle Tang said, “No matter. Doctor Xu won’t delay the schedule.”
He raised his head, looking at Xu Yi with eyes full of approval.
While they spoke quietly here, on the other side, Xu Yi and Zhang Tiegou had also started chatting.
The two mutually asked why the other was with the merchant caravan. Only then did Xu Yi learn that besides being a hunter, Zhang Tiegou had a side job, serving as a guard for merchant caravans.
Guards encountered dangerous situations where they could lose their lives at any moment, so the fees for employing them weren’t low. Now it was winter, and wages were even higher; five hundred wen per day. This trip would last six days, so Zhang Tiegou could earn three strings of cash, equivalent to three taels of silver.
For ordinary common people, three taels of silver was quite a lot.
Including Zhang Tiegou, there were three guards in this merchant caravan.
Zhang Tiegou chuckled. Now with the addition of Xu Yi, that made four.
However, he knew this couldn’t be said to others.
The group didn’t talk for too long. After everyone finished organizing, they all boarded the mule carts and donkey carts. Several merchant vehicles slowly entered the official road, heading toward the Shu Road in the mountain ranges.
…
Not long after Xu Yi left, a mule cart stopped outside the Xu residence.
An old man with white hair descended from the cart. His body was robust, his appearance spirited. Looking at the Xu residence located so close to the Pang residence, his heart gave rise to melancholy feelings about the unpredictability of worldly affairs.
The physician his young master had been searching for so long actually lived this close.
They’d been able to learn that the maker of the digestive pills was Doctor Xu thanks to the supervisor at the Street Bureau.
This supervisor originally hadn’t known either. His household’s supply of common medicines didn’t require his concern; the bailiffs below handled it.
And this bailiff happened to be the same bailiff who’d been responsible for South Street disaster relief matters last time. He quickly thought of Xu Yi. Then, he sent runners below to South Street to inquire, and they’d found out.
Uncle Pang straightened his sleeves, stepped forward two paces, and knocked on the Xu household’s door.
Before long, a child came running out at a trot, opening the door a crack, poking out his head to scrutinize him warily.
Ah Xu pressed his lips together and asked, “Old sir, who are you looking for?”
Seeing this child, Uncle Pang knew he hadn’t found the wrong place. This was indeed that Doctor Xu’s home.
He said with a kind gaze, “I’ve come to find Doctor Xu to make a house call for my young master.”
Ah Xu said, “But my young master has already left on a long journey. He won’t return home for six days.”
Uncle Pang’s body stiffened. He asked anxiously, “Can you tell me when your young master left and where he went?”
Six days… six days…
That was too long.
No, he had to chase the man back.
Uncle Pang calculated in his mind. After hearing this child say that Doctor Xu had just left and was heading to Zitong County, he hurriedly took his leave.
“Eh?” Ah Xu wanted to call him back, but this old sir moved with agility, showing no signs of being elderly.
“Strange, who was that person?” Ah Xu muttered quietly to himself, full of puzzlement as he closed the door and went back inside the room to find his sister Ah Jin.
Uncle Pang left the Xu household courtyard, boarded the cart, and closed his eyes briefly. The young master had been plagued by his head ailment for several days now, unable to sleep night after night. In one day, the time he could sleep with eyes closed didn’t reach one shichen. If he had to endure six more days, the young master’s body might not hold up.
He steeled his spirit and immediately had the driver leave the city as quickly as possible, heading toward Zitong County to chase the man.
He was riding in the mule cart Pan Wenji had arranged. The driver obeyed, cracking the whip to speed ahead. The wheels grinding the road surface kicked up flying dust. In the rapid travel, the carriage couldn’t stay steady and swayed left and right. Amid the jolting, Uncle Pang gripped the carriage window edge, not making a sound or calling to stop.
“Hiyah, hiyah, hiyah—”
When the merchant caravan entered a narrow path with sparse human presence and dense trees on both sides, their forward speed slowed.
On this narrow path, one side faced steep mountain valleys, the other side an unfathomably deep canyon. With the slightest carelessness, a vehicle could fall into the abyss.
After all, in these rugged ravine lands, such incidents had occurred before.
But Uncle Tang’s merchant caravan proceeded neither hurriedly nor slowly. For others following with the group, this winding narrow path was already commonplace.
They even had the leisure to come chat with Xu Yi.
“Doctor Xu, Doctor Xu.”
Outside the carriage, someone drew near. The one coming to find Xu Yi was the youngest in this company.
Oh, now the second youngest.
Seeing Xu Yi lift the window curtain, he asked curiously, “Doctor Xu, how did you get Uncle Tang to agree to let you come along?”
Xu Yi raised an eyebrow. “I think Uncle Tang made it very clear, I’m a physician and can help you evaluate medicinal materials.”
The man didn’t understand. “But we’ve purchased medicinal materials before too, and we’ve never seen Uncle Tang bring along a physician like you.”
Seeing Xu Yi’s expression remain bland without speaking, he asked somewhat regretfully, “You really don’t have any other skills?”
Xu Yi smiled and asked back, “What’s your name? What skills do you have?”
The young man had no sense of wariness. When Xu Yi asked, he answered without hesitation, “I’m called Ah Bao. I don’t have much skill, just that I’m strong and can carry two hundred jin of goods.”
Two hundred Song Dynasty jin was about seventy-two jin heavier than modern weight. That is, two hundred seventy-two jin.
For this fellow to be able to carry such heavy goods all at once, he could indeed be described as having “great strength.”
One should know that since arriving in the Song Dynasty, Xu Yi practiced martial arts daily and had recovered fifty or sixty percent of his former skills, yet could only carry just over a hundred modern jin of goods.
Xu Yi’s eyes held admiration as he said, “Brother Ah Bao has such divine strength, it inspires hope in people.”
“Heh heh, this is all I’m good at. Otherwise Uncle Tang wouldn’t let me into the merchant caravan.” Ah Bao laughed heartily.
When he returned to the parallel formation, an older person asked if he’d found anything out.
Ah Bao was startled. It seemed he hadn’t learned anything.
Xu Yi saw the person off, with a slight smile in his eyes as he lowered the curtain.
Inside the carriage, Uncle Tang stroked his beard, looking at him with a meaningful smile, saying, “I didn’t expect you to be quite cunning when traveling outside.”
“Uncle Tang, please don’t make fun of me.” Xu Yi showed an embarrassed expression, lowering his eyes somewhat sheepishly.
Uncle Tang said, “This is also good. One must guard against others. Those of us in this trade have seen thousands upon thousands of people. We’ll always encounter a few with viper hearts who shoot arrows from behind. Such people are the most detestable. Even more intolerable than bandits who come down from the mountains.”
As Uncle Tang spoke, he thought of past events and couldn’t help sighing that he was already old. If this were before, he would have immediately cursed them out, leaving them nowhere to hide.
Xu Yi poured tea and placed it before him, saying, “Uncle Tang, the past is like passing clouds and smoke. It’s not very important.”
“Enough, I don’t want to be lectured by you, a junior.” Uncle Tang accepted his tea, shaking his head as he asked, “This is your first time leaving the county town, isn’t it?”
Xu Yi nodded. “Yes.”
Uncle Tang smiled. “Then enjoy the canyon scenery more. Don’t mind me.”
Xu Yi couldn’t help but laugh.
In his previous life, over a thousand years later, he’d once imagined taking a driving tour through this Shu Road that had existed for thousands of years.
“The Shu Road is difficult, more difficult than ascending to the blue sky.”
This poem passed down through millennia aptly described just how difficult this winding road connecting ancient Qin lands with Shu lands truly was.
Its terrain was too precipitous. When a person leaned out from the carriage, the fear of nature’s colossal might came rushing at them. In Xu Yi’s eyes, he could only see this vast wilderness. Apart from this road that bore traces of human excavation, everything else was the result of nature’s hundreds of millions of years of transformation. At this moment, he seemed so small in these endless mountain valleys.
When the caravan reached a place with an open view, Uncle Tang called for the group to stop.
Everyone rested on the spot. Zhang Tiegou came over to find Xu Yi: “Brother Xu, did you bring food?”
Xu Yi nodded. “Ah Xu prepared pancakes for me. Want some?” As he asked, he opened the half-person-height pack. Inside was another bundle.
At this moment, Xu Yi not only saw neatly stacked clothing but also a bundle containing over ten pancakes, as well as a soup lady that was still warm.
Xu Yi touched the pancakes, which were also warm: “…”
He smiled faintly and took out two cakes, handing one to Zhang Tiegou.
The pancakes were as large as an adult’s face. When Zhang Tiegou received it, he said “eh” in surprise. “This is still warm?”
“Mm.” Xu Yi didn’t elaborate.
He thought for a moment, then took out two more pancakes to send to Uncle Tang.
He learned from Zhang Tiegou that besides hired guards like him, there was also Ah Bao who did hard labor and got paid for it. The other people had to pay “protection fees,” which while not much, was also not cheap at fifty wen per person.
After safely reaching their destination and returning, they’d have to pay another fifty wen.
But Uncle Tang hadn’t collected his share.
After they ate and took care of urgent needs, resting for another quarter hour, Uncle Tang urged them to prepare.
Setting out again, this time their forward speed increased somewhat.
Uncle Tang said they needed to reach the first lodging inn before dark.
The inn was a government-run hostel. As long as one paid money, one could stay. The safety factor was high, and there they could also feed the mules and donkeys.
Not long after they left, the mule cart Uncle Pang rode also arrived at that resting place.
He descended from the mule cart and crouched to examine the fresh wheel tracks, knowing the group ahead wasn’t far away.