“Нello, Unclе Shui Wа!” Ziyu said, fоllowing loсаl сustоms.
То her surрrise, this mаde Shui Wa’s eyes rеdden. Thе men in thе villаge, уoung аnd old, аll called him Shui Wa direсtly; no оne hаd ever called him “uncle” before.
Nо wonder this уoung mаster befоrе him сarriеd аn аir of nоbility and lеаrning—еvеn his way of spеaking was diffеrеnt.
Frоm Shui Wa’s сonversatiоn, Ziyu lеаrnеd thаt the nеxt morning’s lоw tide wоuld be arоund the middle оf thе Wei hour, whiсh wоuld bе just right fоr her to leavе Shаngdu Prefecture.
“Unclе Shui Wа, I’ll take my lеаve nоw. I’ll bе herе on timе bеforе the tide recedes tomorrow to collect both fresh and dried goods.”
“Young master, you must come! We’ll definitely prepare the best goods for you.”
Shui Wa suppressed the excitement in his heart, while the others also looked at Ziyu with hopeful eyes.
Each of them wished they could keep her there, afraid that once she left, she might never return.
“I’ll come, I’ll definitely come!”
Only when the mule cart disappeared from sight did the group finally look away. Xiao Hai muttered quietly,
“Mother, you were too fierce just now!
The young master originally wanted to stay in the village for a few days, but you all scared him away.
He even has a little brother, who looks so adorable—fair and tender, like a freshly peeled egg.”
Xiao Hai’s mother grabbed Xiao Hai by the collar, her eyes glaring, making her already dark face appear even darker.
“Think your mother is too fierce, do you? Who do you think I’m doing all this for? Go home!”
Shui Wa and the other three exchanged glances, picked up the tools they had brought, and each went home to prepare the dried goods they wanted to sell. The quick-witted Shui Wa, however, began preparing the things he would need for tomorrow’s tide gathering.
…
Having experienced the ancient fishing village, Ziyu did not enter any other villages but returned directly to Shangdu Prefecture.
The two of them, drawn by the aroma, ate a large bowl of seafood noodles at a roadside stall and then strolled through the streets, buying some local snacks.
Ziyu discovered that the local coarse salt was not subject to quantity restrictions and was cheaper than in the towns she had passed through on her way from the north.
The coarse salt, priced at ten wen per jin, was unprocessed large-grain salt containing some impurities, prone to moisture, and with a slightly bitter taste.
This was clearly different from the snowflake salt she had collected from An Guo Hou’s general store.
The price difference was tenfold, indicating how substantial the profit margin could be.
Ziyu casually bought twenty jin of coarse salt and only felt relieved when the shopkeeper raised no questions, as salt was a controlled commodity in other places.
It wasn’t something you could buy as much as you wanted, and the price elsewhere was twenty wen per jin.
She also wanted to take advantage of her stay here to stock up on more salt, as it might come in handy someday.
Cold, hard gold and silver were of no use if they couldn’t be eaten or drunk; it was better to exchange them for useful supplies.
…
Back at the inn, Ziyu carried Xiao Luo out, while the wooden barrels and salt in the carriage were discreetly stored in her dimensional space without Xiao Luo noticing.
Staying at an inn was far too inconvenient; the best solution was to rent a small courtyard.
The constant coming and going of people in the inn was not only noisy but also made it easy to attract unwanted attention, especially with a two-year-old child in tow.
After returning to the inn, Ziyu requested two buckets of hot water for washing up, then closed the door tightly and settled Xiao Luo in bed to sleep.
The lingering glow of sunset slanted through the window, casting light on the floor, while dancing specks of dust, unwilling to be left out, squeezed into the room, performing their nimble dance for the guest inside.
Ziyu leaned back in her chair, listening to the clamor from upstairs and downstairs. In this small space, she didn’t find the noise unpleasant.
This was the ordinary life she had yearned for all these years!
“Great seclusion lies in the city; small seclusion lies in the wild.” But she preferred small seclusion in the wild—of course, that was only possible when supplies were abundant.
Ziyu had never considered living a primitive life; if conditions were lacking, she would create them herself.
In this era without nighttime entertainment, Ziyu entered the tent curtain, holding the already sleeping Ziluo, and flashed into the dimensional space. She gently placed the little one in the carriage behind the wooden building.
To ensure fresh goods for the next day, Ziyu drove the multi-functional agricultural machinery to dig new fish ponds. Two ponds, each one fen wide, were completed in half a shichen.
Using coarse salt to adjust the emerging water into light salt water, Ziyu poured the purchased razor clams into baskets and hung them in the ponds to purge sand.
After finishing the preparations, Ziyu comfortably took a bath inside the wooden building, sighing deeply at how difficult it was to bathe in this era.
…
Perhaps because she was preoccupied with matters in Shashi Village, Ziyu woke up early and saw Xiao Luo sprawled out in sleep, no different from a little pig.
Carrying the little lazy pig out of the dimensional space, Ziyu unceremoniously tossed him onto the bed, yet he didn’t even wake from the fall.
The revived streets were filled with shouts and bargaining noises. Ziyu stood by the window, watching the lively market below, and stretched her limbs.
Moving with her thoughts, a set of fierce killing techniques unfolded within the room, which was less than twenty square meters.
Every move was a lethal strike, without any flashy forms, and the people she had once protected were all political figures and leaders.
There was no room for the slightest negligence; otherwise, it would mean losing one’s head.
“Clap, clap, clap!”
Xiao Luo, who had woken up at some point, excitedly clapped his little hands, drooling without even realizing it.
“Brother, you’re amazing! I want to learn too!”
Sliding off the bed, Xiao Luo’s clothes came undone, revealing his slightly chubby little belly as he dashed toward Ziyu.
“You’ve got some taste, Xiao Luo!”
Hearing the voice, Ziyu retracted her stance and caught the little bundle flying toward her, tossing him upward.
“Ah… quack, quack…”
The excited Xiao Luo laughed with a duck-like sound, kicking his limbs wildly without feeling the slightest fear.
Ziyu, whose ears were assaulted by the cacophony, had long grown accustomed to the boy’s silly antics, a significant change compared to when they first met.
She caught him and placed him on the ground, commanding,
“Hurry up and get dressed. We’re leaving!”
“Yes!”
The adorable little one dressed and put on his shoes in a somewhat proper manner. Although not particularly neat or stylish, he could already handle the basics of eating and dressing himself.
During the days Ziyu was away from home, he had slept and dressed alone, showing remarkable maturity.
By the time the two were ready and left the inn, half a shichen had passed. Ziyu led the mule cart, searching for the city’s culinary delights.
Cherries, black rice, fish balls, mugwort cakes, thin pancakes—these traditional foods in their original flavors fell far short of the delicacies Ziyu had long anticipated.
Seafood, in particular, leaned toward light flavors. While this preserved the natural taste of the ingredients, it robbed Ziyu of much of the joy of savoring delicious food.
It seemed that only by doing things herself could she ensure abundance and satisfaction.
Only Xiao Luo ate with relish, especially fond of the sweet-and-sour cherries, occasionally grinning and gulping down air.
Ziyu led the mule cart into two different grocery stores, purchasing one hundred jin of coarse salt from each, before driving the cart out of the city.
“Brother, eat fruit!”
“No, it’s sour!”
Ziyu shook her head in refusal. The cherries looked bright red at this time, but eating a few would make one’s teeth ache from the sourness. She had no intention of suffering that.
“Hah~, Xiao Luo’s teeth are falling out.”
The little one’s face scrunched up from the sourness as he whimpered and opened his mouth to exhale, amusing Ziyu into a fit of laughter.
“Hahaha, who told you to be greedy? If you don’t close your mouth, you’ll lose them all.”
The child was so frightened that he tightly covered his mouth with both hands, his big eyes darting around the mule cart in search of his teeth.