Wang Sanhu had to hurry off to another job, while Shen Yuan had nothing else to do. The two agreed to meet at the grain shop later, buy grain together, and make the journey home as companions.
Otherwise, they might run into robbers after leaving the county town. Anyone traveling alone would definitely be treated like a fat sheep and slaughtered.
Though two people were still in danger, it was much safer than traveling alone. If they happened to encounter others heading in the same direction, they could travel with them for a stretch and improve their safety.
Shen Yuan’s straw sandals had broken, so he could only drag the tattered sandals along as he ran tap-tap-tap to the stall selling the sesame flatbreads he had been craving all day.
“Boss, how much are the flatbreads?”
The flatbread seller looked at him strangely. “Young man, you’ve got the wrong person, haven’t you? My name isn’t Boss. It’s Fang Laoqi. The flatbreads are two coins each.”
Shen Yuan found the vendor’s words both amusing and awkward. Not knowing how to explain, he could only smile and go along with it. “I did mistake you for someone else. I’d like two sesame flatbreads. Pack them separately.”
The flatbreads were quite large and fairly thick. Two coins each was an excellent bargain. They had been wrapped in several large leaves pieced together. Fresh from the oven, they were piping hot and smelled especially good.
Shen Yuan couldn’t stop himself from salivating. He tucked one into his clothes and carried the other as he headed back.
“Brother, you worked hard all afternoon. I happened to buy a flatbread, so eat it to take the edge off your hunger.”
When they had settled his wages earlier, Shen Yuan had heard the clerk’s stomach rumbling with hunger.
Although the clerk was always telling him not to get too familiar, he was actually a good person. He had even looked after Shen Yuan to some extent, without deducting anything from his pay.
The flatbread’s sesame fragrance rose with the steam, carrying a faint, fresh scent of leaves. It was surprisingly enticing.
“You worked yourself to death carrying all those loads for seven coins, just to buy me a flatbread and curry favor?” The clerk looked at Shen Yuan disapprovingly.
“I heard your stomach was hungry, Brother. It’s been singing for ages. Hurry and have a bite.” Shen Yuan shoved the flatbread directly into his arms. “I’m leaving first, Brother. See you later.”
The clerk watched him walk away, the hot flatbread in his hand. The servants had brought too little food today, and he hadn’t been remotely full. He really was hungry. He had been planning to buy a flatbread after handing out the wages to take the edge off his hunger, but this boy had bought one faster than he had. In the end, he didn’t return it. He muttered, “I told you not to curry favor with me.”
As he spoke, he opened the leaves wrapped around the flatbread and took a bite of the crisp, fragrant yet tender pastry. Two coins wasted, straight into his stomach.
Shen Yuan did not hurry to the grain shop. Wang Sanhu would not finish work for another hour. He was helping a family move bricks and build a courtyard wall.
Shen Yuan wandered around the county town for a while.
Ping County had many rivers and frequent merchant ships. Among the many counties in the Wu Kingdom, it was one of the largest and most prosperous.
But aside from the merchants, nobility, and military households who could enjoy the benefits of a major county, ordinary commoners were the same everywhere.
They were all so poor that they could not eat their fill or afford proper clothes.
The county town was fairly bustling. There had been no rain for several days, leaving the loess roads beneath his feet dry and dusty.
Now and then, cattle and horses passed by, and their droppings were quickly cleaned up.
Many people fought to get them, since they could take them home and use them as fertilizer.
There were quite a few stalls and shops in the county town, with plenty selling food. Fish stalls were the most numerous.
The fish were freshly caught and freshly killed. They were used to make fish slices, cut so thin they were almost translucent, then dipped in the shops’ specially prepared sauces. They were cheap and delicious.
Fish cost only six coins per pound. Compared to chicken and duck at twenty-five coins per pound and pork at a minimum of twenty coins, it was practically as cheap as food could get.
Shen Yuan figured he could not afford other meats, but he could still splurge on fish. He would buy one and cook fish soup for his younger brothers and sister, so they could all nourish their bodies.
With some extra water added, they could drink it for several meals.
He crouched beside the fishmonger’s bucket and carefully selected what he thought was the most beautiful and delicious fish.
It weighed two pounds. Twelve coins were gone.
He now had thirty-one coins left.
The grain shop’s wheat bran noodles were divided into coarse and fine wheat bran noodles.
Coarse wheat bran noodles had more bran and less flour, while fine wheat bran noodles had slightly less bran and more flour.
The former cost five coins per pound, while the latter cost seven.
Foxtail millet and brown rice from previous years, if they were old grain, cost ten coins per pound. New grain cost three coins more. Even processed white rice cost seventeen coins per pound when it was old grain, while new rice was more expensive still, at twenty-five coins per pound.
Generally speaking, new rice rarely entered the market for sale. Some of it went into the homes of the nobility, while most of the rest was sent to the granaries to replace old grain.
Food was scarce and expensive, but wages for labor were pitifully low.
Feeling the copper coins in his pocket, Shen Yuan felt genuine admiration for the common people living here.
Living really was not easy.
Shen Yuan wandered around, looking for any work he might be able to do, while calculating grain prices and considering how to spend those thirty-one coins.
Whatever happened, they could not keep eating coarse wheat bran noodles. Eating too much of the stuff was bad for them.
He planned to buy two pounds of fine wheat bran noodles first. They contained more flour, so they would be a little better for the body, and more comfortable for their stomachs and throats.
Then he would buy a pound of new foxtail millet for Bei Bei and save the remaining four coins for now.
The money was easy enough to allocate, but finding work he could do was difficult.
Most jobs in the county town were reserved for the locals.
Those who came from the villages looking for work generally ended up doing hard labor.
Shen Yuan looked over the various stalls selling goods.
Ping County’s rule was that people entering the county to buy things or visit relatives and friends did not have to pay an entry fee. Merchants conducting business in the county, however, had to pay five coins per person to enter. If they wanted to set up a stall, they had to pay an additional stall fee.
Those who traveled the streets and alleys selling goods did not have to pay a stall fee. But if they were caught staying in one place too long, their names and features would be recorded. Not only would they be forbidden from entering the county to sell goods again, their merchandise would also be confiscated and they would be fined.
Shen Yuan began carefully considering whether going into business was feasible.
As for craftsmanship, his handiwork was nothing special.
As for cooking, he could only make food that was edible.
Shen Yuan could not help recalling what he had studied in his previous life: literature. He had been noticed by a talent scout halfway through his studies, and, wanting to earn more money, he had not continued his education. Instead, he had stepped into the entertainment industry and acted day and night.
Literature was useless here. He was illiterate, and the threshold for literacy in this place was as high as a natural chasm.
Acting was even more out of the question. He had not even seen a theatrical troupe. Besides, actors in ancient theatrical troupes all began training as children and possessed genuine skill.
The acting techniques from his previous life were completely different from opera here, worlds apart.
Not to mention that joining a theatrical troupe meant leaving home, and at his age, no troupe would want him.
After thinking it over and over, Shen Yuan discovered that everything he had learned in his previous life was completely useless here.
Wasn’t returning to the past supposed to mean standing on the shoulders of giants? How had he ended up standing beneath their feet?
Shen Yuan carried the fish along with a series of sighs. Could it be that he really had to keep hauling loads at the dock?
But next time, he might not be assigned to the clerk in charge of the Xie Family’s merchant ship today. It might be some other clerk instead. For example, that tall, fat one who had deducted his pay today. If so, Shen Yuan definitely would not earn any money. He would only be selling his life.
Still, he was fairly open-minded about it. If all else failed, he could continue working. No matter what, the wages from hauling loads at the dock were enough to put food in the mouths of himself and his younger siblings. Sighing would not help, so he might as well be a little more cheerful.
He would get through the days first, then slowly think of other ways to make a living.
Shen Yuan was able to see things clearly, and his mood became much more open. As he walked, he noticed a large crowd gathered ahead.
There were cries and screams from the middle of the crowd. Curious, Shen Yuan squeezed his way inside.
Old Xu had finished work at the dock and gone home to take the copper coins from the clay jar. Together with today’s wages, he planned to buy medicine at the pharmacy.
On the way, he had placed the half piece of coarse flatbread he had saved that day beside his wife’s bed and called for her to eat it and fill her stomach.
Old Xu was elderly and alone. After doing physical labor for so long, he did not have much strength left, so he was especially careful and alert to his surroundings. He never realized that the cautious way he carried money on him had drawn the attention of a group of ragged beggars.
All six beggars were very young. The oldest looked no more than fifteen or sixteen.
At first, Old Xu did not pay them much attention. He thought they were only a group of children and young boys and would not cause any trouble.
Who could have guessed that the six would draw closer and closer? They surrounded Old Xu and immediately reached for the cloth pouch tied around his waist. Inside was the money for the medicine that would save his wife’s life.
“Stop, please stop! I need to buy medicine, medicine! I need it to save her!” Old Xu instinctively protected the pouch at his waist, turning in circles in panic as he tried to evade them. But there were people everywhere. He could not escape, and the unease and fear in his heart rose sharply.
The beggars ignored his pleas. One clung to his body, another kicked him, and yet another gripped the old man’s clothes with both hands.
Old Xu could protect his left side but not his right, protect the front but not the back.
He did not understand why these young boys, with healthy limbs and strong bodies, would rob him of his money like this.
This was his wife’s life-saving money. Old Xu clung to it with all his might, shielding it as his body was covered in footprints and he was shoved around until he staggered unsteadily.
He was about to collapse.
Tears blurred his vision. He was terrified that he would not be able to protect this hard-earned money.
“Help me, help me! I can’t lose the money for my wife’s medicine…”
No one around him moved.
The six were notorious troublemakers in the area. They were beggars with no fixed homes and no restraints. If anyone stepped in to help the old man, they might incur the six’s revenge.
It was better to avoid trouble whenever possible.
“Don’t take it, don’t take it! Please don’t take my money! Somebody help me, somebody…”
Old Xu’s cries rang out, his aged, hoarse voice deafening, yet no one dared respond. One of the beggars punched him in the face, and he cried out in pain.
Seeing Old Xu desperately protecting his money, the six beggars grew vicious. They rushed him all at once, knocked him to the ground, and began stomping and kicking him. If they knocked him unconscious, surely he would let go of the pouch.
Old Xu could not react in time and fell to the ground. As blows rained down on him, the old man could only curl into a ball and moan. The pain left him unable to speak.
The surroundings were deathly quiet. The sounds of the beating and the old man’s anguished cries rang out with unbearable clarity.
When Shen Yuan saw the old man surrounded and beaten, trampled underfoot, his blood surged. He rolled up his sleeves and charged forward.
But someone grabbed him by the shoulder. “You’re young, but you’ve got quite a temper. They aren’t robbing you, so why are you rushing in to show off?”
Shen Yuan found the voice familiar. He turned his head and saw that the person gripping his shoulder was the clerk in charge of the Xie Family’s merchant ship.
“They’re robbing him and beating him! They’ll beat him to death!” Shen Yuan said furiously.
The clerk looked Shen Yuan up and down. “With a body as scrawny as yours, can you even take one punch from them? Everyone else knows to protect themselves, but you’re small and hot-tempered. Where did you get all that fire? Old Xu had three sons, and all of them died on the battlefield. No one is there to back him up. You help him once, and then what? Can you keep helping him? Can you keep backing him up?”
Shen Yuan came to his senses. Right, he had transmigrated.
The rule of law from his previous life was separated from him by time and space. He was now in an age where power reigned supreme and the law was chaotic.
Even if he could stop them this time, what would it change?
Seeing Shen Yuan lower his head, the clerk thought he had convinced him and was about to pull him away.
But something was suddenly shoved into his hand: a straw cord with a small fish hanging from the end.
“Brother, I understand what you mean. But if everyone thought that way, then when you and I grow old and are bullied by hooligans while powerless to resist, would we be able to do anything but curl up in despair?”
After settling his own fish, Shen Yuan charged straight out.
The clerk watched his back as he ran forward without hesitation, like a drawn sword piercing into the heart of chaos.
It was not only the clerk who had heard him. The people nearby had heard clearly as well.
Yes. Wouldn’t they all grow old one day? Who could remain strong and healthy forever?
Old Xu thought he was about to be beaten to death.
He thought that dying might not be so bad. Perhaps he could see his sons again. It was only his wife he would be leaving behind alone.
But then something heavy landed on him, and the agonizing blows abruptly stopped.
He felt a trace of warmth. Opening his swollen eyes, he saw a young man lying over him, taking the punches and kicks in his place.
Old Xu recognized him. He stared blankly for a moment, then his eyes reddened. His withered hand grabbed at the youth’s sleeve and tugged. “Young man, move away quickly. Don’t, don’t get hurt.”
Shen Yuan took several hits. He gritted his teeth and did not move.
“Where did this damned fool come from?” The leader of the beggars stopped and kicked Shen Yuan, signaling for him to answer.
Shen Yuan endured the pain and turned his head. “He’s about to be beaten to death!”
The beggar leader was startled by the fury in his gaze, then threw back his head and laughed. “So what?”
Shen Yuan shouted angrily, “You’re treating human life like grass!”
The other man’s expression grew more serious at his words, and he was no longer as arrogant as before. “You’ve studied?”
Shen Yuan shook his head. “No.”
“Then what are you babbling about? I’ll beat you up along with him!”
Before the beggar could make a move, Shen Yuan swept his leg out and knocked four of them down.
In his previous life, he had worked hard and trained extensively to play a martial arts grandmaster!
The money he earned was money he had rightfully worked for.
When it came to fighting, technique mattered. Skillful use of force was the key.
None of the six beggars had taken Shen Yuan seriously. He was nothing but a skinny monkey, unlike them, who worked together with perfect coordination and had plenty of real combat experience.
Little did they know that underestimating him was only the smallest of their mistakes.
Shen Yuan’s reactions were quick. He struck the vulnerable, sensitive areas beneath the chin and on the nose with his elbows.
He raised his foot and kicked sideways, then slammed his knuckles into their throats. Cries rang out one after another.
The people around them stared in shock. Even the clerk, still holding the fish, was astonished. This boy was not only hot-tempered, he was actually skilled.
With such excellent technique, he must have learned from his family, right?
But no matter how skilled Shen Yuan was or how cleverly he used his strength, it could not make up for how weak this body was.
He had not even eaten his fill…
Shen Yuan could clearly feel his strength failing. Just as one of the beggars came around to ambush him, he no longer had the power to fight one person while dodging another.
“Six against one, what kind of fight is that? Grandpa here will play with you!”
A man stepped out of the crowd. He was thin, but tall, with a full beard and a bold, booming voice.
The moment he finished speaking, he charged into the fray and kicked away the beggar who was about to ambush Shen Yuan.
Once one person stepped forward, another followed. The crowd, which had been hesitating, seemed to cast off its inhibitions. A great many people rushed out and pinned all six beggars to the ground.
Shen Yuan was focused entirely on brutally beating the beggar leader beneath him and did not notice what was happening around him.
“You worthless scum! That old man’s three sons all died on the battlefield protecting their country. It would already be bad enough if you weren’t grateful, but you actually humiliated him like this!”
Thump, thump, thump…
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Thump, thump, thump…
“No answer?”
Thump, thump, thump…
The beggar leader’s face was swollen and bruised, and all the fight had gone out of him. He had given up resisting. He wanted to say that he knew he was wrong and beg them to stop.
But the other man did not give him a chance to speak!
Just as he was thinking that, three more punches landed on his face.
Shen Yuan knew there was no point reasoning with these people. In that case, he would convince them with physical force.
The beaten beggar grew desperate and snarled, “If you don’t kill me today, I’ll kill that old man’s entire family tomorrow!”
Before Shen Yuan could say anything, someone spoke first. “Whose entire family did you say you’d kill?”
The clerk stood there with the fish in his hand, looking down at the beggars sprawled on the ground.
“If anything happens to Old Xu or his wife, I’ll bring the knife officers and wipe you all out.”
Besides, if he did not step in now, the rioting crowd might tear apart an entire street!