Wang Caiyue nudged her younger son beside her. "Le Xi, go see what your grandma is muttering about with your Seventh Uncle."
Gu Lexi turned his head aside. "Make my brother go. I don't want to go over there and get yelled at."
"You child, that's your own grandmother. It's not like she's going to eat you, is she?
I'm just asking you to go take a look and see if your grandma is giving your Seventh Uncle rations again. If your grandparents use up all their rations, we'll be the ones who have to skimp on our own food to give to them. Or do you think your old mother here actually enjoys meddling in other people's business?"
"That's enough," Gu Yuanmu said, grabbing Gu Lexi, who was about to get up. "Mother knows what she's doing. Besides, the youngest is over there keeping an eye on things. It's not our place to be the bad guys."
Wang Caiyue glanced over, unwilling to let it go, before turning her head back. "Well, don't just stand here gawking. Haven't you seen that Eldest Brother and the others have already gone out to look for wild vegetables? If you don't go now, you won't even find any roots."
"..."
***
Li Cuicui regretted it the moment she handed over the money.
"Seventh, how about you just borrow 100 wen? You can go in alone and have your wife wait here."
Ancient Wen Heng quickly stuffed the copper coins into his robes. "That won't do. This is her dowry, after all. She needs to know the accounts, or she might think I've cheated her, and it'll be impossible to clear up later."
Li Cuicui pressed her lips together and waved a tired hand. "Then go, and come back quickly. And don't cause any trouble in there."
Ancient Wen Heng: "..." 'Why does that sound so awkward?'
'Whatever, there's no time to worry about that now.'
He piled all his baggage in front of Li Cuicui, then took his wife and hurriedly walked toward the city gate.
Don't underestimate their group of refugees. Some of them were quite well-off and were using this county town to restock their rations.
Others had several families pool their money to send a representative inside to bring back necessities.
As soon as Ancient Wen Heng reached the middle of the line, an acquaintance called out to him, "Yuan Yu, what do you need to get this time? You can chip in with us."
If they could get one more person, they'd have one more person to share the cost of entering the city.
Ancient Wen Heng just smiled at them and led Jin Qianqian directly to the back of the line.
Seeing that Ancient Wen Heng wasn't going in alone—that he was even taking his wife—everyone looked a little surprised.
"Yuan Yu, it costs 100 wen per person to get in. You don't want to piss off Brother Chai," Gu Shulin said, kindly advising his distant cousin.
Ancient Wen Heng looked up at him, acknowledging his good intentions, and nodded with a smile. "We know what we're doing."
Seeing the couple stubbornly remain in line, Gu Shulin didn't say anything else. It was almost his turn to register.
That's right. To prevent the refugees from running wild in the city, everyone had their household registration recorded upon entry and had to have their identity verified on the way out.
***
"This is the county town?" Jin Qianqian blinked in disbelief. The dilapidated houses and cluttered streets were a far cry from what she had imagined.
Ancient Wen Heng said, "Don't put too much faith in what you see in TV dramas. Those are beautified hundreds of times over.
This is a relatively remote county town, so of course the conditions are going to be worse.
It's a shame that in a place this small, these two little mirrors probably won't fetch a good price."
Jin Qianqian said, "That's okay. At least we'll have an excuse not to starve anymore."
Otherwise, people would start getting suspicious if we had empty pockets but still didn't starve to death.
Ancient Wen Heng led Jin Qianqian forward. He could vaguely make out a few relatively neat-looking shops ahead.
"Even this yellow millet is 28 wen? That's too expensive!" Gu Shulin's voice drifted out from the shop next door.
"That's not even expensive. Look at the white flour and rice—the prices have multiplied. If you can't afford it, look at the bran over there. That'll keep you alive, too," a bitter, elderly voice said.
"How much for a jin of that bran?"
"That'll be sixteen wen. It just came in; we didn't even have it yesterday."
"I'll take some of this, then. Can you give me a better price?"
"..."
Ancient Wen Heng quickened his pace, leading Jin Qianqian forward. He hadn't expected that even the village chief's family was having such a hard time.
Jin Qianqian clutched her chest, not daring to imagine what it would be like to eat bran herself.
"We should buy some on our way back, too." Ancient Wen Heng's words stunned her. 'Just when you're afraid of something, it happens.'
"It doesn't weigh much, but it's bulky. It'll be a good cover for us," Ancient Wen Heng explained hurriedly, knowing she had gotten the wrong idea again.
"..."
***
"What are you here to pawn?"
Seeing the pawnshop clerk poke his head out from over the high counter, Jin Qianqian couldn't help but stand on her tiptoes. She really wasn't used to being looked down on like this.
Ancient Wen Heng retracted his assessing gaze. "Are you the steward here?"
The clerk sized them up and down, his tone full of disdain. "We don't take ordinary trinkets here. Show me what you've got. If I can take it, I will. If not, you'll have to figure something else out."
'Everyone knew what it was like outside. Seeing these two in their ragged clothes, he figured they'd fled from the famine just like the others. People like them never had anything good—just some broken bracelet or a busted earring. There was no profit in it for the shop.'
Ancient Wen Heng knew the saying, 'fine feathers make fine birds,' and that their current appearance wasn't doing them any favors.
He took out a mirror and flashed it in front of the clerk. "I doubt you have the authority to handle this. If your steward isn't here, we'll just have to ask somewhere else."
"Wait, don't go," the young clerk said. Although he hadn't gotten a clear look, he could tell from the flash of light that the item in their hands was definitely not simple.
'If the Shopkeeper found out that he'd let a valuable item slip away, he'd be in for it.'
'If it really was a rare treasure, his superiors would think more highly of him. His position as a clerk would be more secure, and he might even be appreciated in the future and become a shopkeeper himself.'
Weighing the pros and cons, the once-arrogant clerk's attitude changed instantly. Not only did his tone shift, but his face now wore a fawning expression.
"You two, please wait a moment. I'll go get our Shopkeeper from the back right away."
Without waiting for a reply, he scurried off and vanished from sight.
A moment later, a deep, resonant voice called out, "Xiao Li, I'm telling you, if this isn't something good, I'm transferring you to the back to scrub buckets."
"Shopkeeper, I didn't get a clear look either! But the thing was flashing, so I had to ask you to come take a look."
"I've told you hundreds of times, in our line of work, you need a sharp eye. If you misjudge something, even your life won't be enough to pay for the mistake.
Even if someone only gives you a single glance, you need to get a basic idea. Don't come running to me for every little thing."
"Just this once. Please, sir, take a look first." As they spoke, the two of them appeared in front of Ancient Wen Heng and his wife.