The marketplace was packed with people, most of them ordinary folk dressed in coarse hemp clothing.
Vendors shouted out their wares while buyers haggled over prices. The sounds blended together into a lively, bustling din.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Xu Qinghe copied everyone else and shifted her basket to the front of her body to guard against pickpockets.
Not that she was particularly worried.
She had already stored all her valuables in her space. The only thing left in the basket was a pair of reed sandals.
Even if someone stole it, she wouldn’t care.
Once she was ready, she squeezed into the market.
The strange mixture of smells hit her immediately.
Standing outside in the open air, the odors hadn’t been too noticeable. But inside the crowded marketplace, there was no escaping them.
Suppressing her urge to breathe too deeply, Xu Qinghe focused her attention on the stalls instead.
Most of them sold hemp cloth, eggs, straw sandals, and woven baskets.
After wandering around for a while, she found Aunt Liu’s family.
Their stall occupied a good location and was surrounded by customers bargaining with Aunt Liu.
Uncle Liu and Elder Brother Liu stood on either side, keeping an eye out for thieves.
Aunt Liu was in the middle of negotiating a sale, so Xu Qinghe didn’t want to interrupt.
She tugged lightly on Elder Brother Liu’s sleeve and told him she was going to shop around and would come back later.
He nodded.
“Be careful. If anything happens, come find us right away.”
Xu Qinghe thanked him and followed the flow of people through the market.
Most of the stalls held little that interested her.
After making several rounds, she finally found what she was looking for.
Several better-dressed men stood behind dozens of wicker cages filled with half-grown hens.
Beside them was a temporary bamboo enclosure containing five puppies.
Xu Qinghe’s eyes lit up instantly.
She hurried over and stared at the little dogs.
For some time now, she had felt uneasy about the broken front door and flimsy window coverings at home.
They offered neither security nor privacy.
If thieves or troublemakers came knocking, they would be useless.
She was a young orphan living alone.
Compared to households with several adults, she would inevitably seem like an easier target.
Although she had weapons in her space and wasn’t afraid of defending herself, she knew there was a saying: it’s easier to guard against a thief for a day than for a lifetime.
Rather than dealing with conflicts later, she would rather make people think from the start that she wasn’t someone to be bullied.
The weather was cold.
The five puppies—four yellow and one white—hadn’t even grown all their fur yet.
Shivering in the cold, they huddled together in the corner for warmth.
Xu Qinghe didn’t know much about dogs and couldn’t tell whether they were timid or courageous.
All she could do was judge by their expressions.
Any puppy that looked lethargic was out of the question.
The more she looked, the more familiar the white puppy seemed.
Its fur stuck out in all directions like a little sea urchin.
After staring for a moment, realization struck.
It looked just like a famous “dog king” she had once seen in a video online.
She still remembered it vividly.
An entire kennel full of dogs had been barking and fighting, on the verge of chaos.
Then the camera shifted.
A fluffy white dog strolled into view.
The large black dog beside it immediately lowered itself to the ground.
The entire kennel fell silent.
Even the dogs that had been barking the loudest instantly rolled over and exposed their bellies.
The white dog hadn’t barked once.
It hadn’t acted aggressively.
It had simply walked over—and every other dog had submitted.
She had seen an unmistakable aura of authority in that dog.
And dogs like that were usually intelligent and fiercely loyal.
The best of the best.
The more Xu Qinghe looked at the little white puppy before her, the more convinced she became that it was the same breed.
Her eyes practically sparkled.
The vendor had just shooed away another customer who had only wanted to look.
Turning around, he caught Xu Qinghe staring at the puppies with obvious excitement.
Alarm bells immediately went off in his head.
“Move along, move along! Don’t block my business if you’re not buying!”
Xu Qinghe’s eyes remained bright.
“Sir, how much are the puppies?”
The vendor looked at her suspiciously.
“You really want to buy one?”
“Of course I do.”
The man paused before his eyes shifted thoughtfully.
“Fine. Pick whichever one you want. One hundred copper coins.”
Xu Qinghe’s expression fell immediately.
He was obviously trying to take advantage of her because she looked young.
“Will you sell one for fifty?”
The vendor instantly became indignant.
“Hey! Are you trying to make trouble? You won’t find a dog anywhere for fifty coins!”
Xu Qinghe snorted.
“And nobody else is charging a hundred for one either. Are you selling or not? If not, I’m leaving.”
A puppy was only worth seventy or eighty copper coins at most.
Asking for a hundred meant he thought she was an easy mark.
The white puppy was certainly appealing, but one hundred coins was too much.
The market was large.
She refused to believe this was the only place selling dogs.
The vendor narrowed his eyes but remained silent.
Xu Qinghe immediately turned and walked away.
She had only taken three steps when she heard him call out behind her.
“Wait! Eighty-five copper coins. I can’t go any lower.”
She turned around.
“Seventy coins, and you throw in a hen.”
The vendor’s eyes widened.
“You little—”
He blew out a breath and glared at her.
“Add another five coins. That’s my final offer.”
“Deal.”
“…What?”
The vendor froze.
He had expected several more rounds of bargaining.
Instead, she agreed immediately.
Xu Qinghe quickly pulled out the money from inside her clothing—actually from her space.
Pointing at the white puppy, she also asked him to choose a healthy hen for her.
The vendor suddenly had the strange feeling that he had been played.
But when he saw the money in her hand, all his irritation vanished.
What was there to complain about when the customer paid so readily?
As expected, he had been right to assume the girl wearing cotton shoes wasn’t poor.
He selected a lively hen and placed it in her basket before lifting the little white puppy by the scruff and handing it over.
Xu Qinghe took the puppy into her arms.
Its bright, round eyes stared back at her.
Its fluffy face was broad, and its nose was perfectly round.
There wasn’t a trace of weakness about it.
She set the puppy on top of the chicken cage.
It wasn’t heavy enough to damage the basket, and every time she lowered her head, she found the puppy gazing up at her with wide, curious eyes.
Her mood improved instantly.
She continued shopping, stopping at several stalls selling bark paper.
After comparing quality and prices, she chose the thickest and toughest variety.
Finally, she bought a small bag of millet seeds.
With her basket now full, she returned to the Liu family’s stall.