Ah Ya didn't go directly back to the eastern district; that was the Crooked Snake Band's turf.
With the silver stowed in her shirt, she devoured the white-flour flatbread while winding through seven or eight alleys without stopping. She was truly like a nimble wild cat, her tiny head darting left and right as she alertly surveyed her surroundings. Only after confirming there was no one around did she turn into a narrow passageway.
At the end of the passageway stood a half-collapsed earthen wall, with rotting grass and rubbish piled at its base, looking like a heap of trash.
The gap left by the collapse was just wide enough for a child to pass through. She adeptly squeezed herself in, her skinny little hands pulling away the rotting grass to reveal a loose stone brick.
Ah Ya nimbly split the silver into two portions. She wrapped one portion in the greaseproof paper left from the flatbread, stuffed it underneath the pried-up brick, pressed the brick firmly back in place, smoothed over the cracks and traces with sand and mud, and piled the dead branches and rotting grass back over it.
Afterwards, she ran to several other spots to hide the silver securely, truly living up to the adage of a crafty rabbit having three burrows.
As for the smallest remaining piece—a bit of broken silver about the size of an adult's thumb—she found an acquainted shopkeeper who kept a tight lip and exchanged it for half a string of copper coins, fifty-three cash in total.
Ah Ya split this into two parts again, hiding most of it outside and keeping only a dozen or so coins. She divided these into several smaller stashes hidden close to her body before dusting off her clothes, standing up, and heading toward the shantytown in the east of the city as if nothing had happened.
When she neared "home," she spotted several idlers standing at the entrance of the alley from afar.
Ah Ya's heart sank. Examining them closely, she recognized two familiar henchmen from the Crooked Snake Band among them, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Without breaking her stride, she approached and saw several men wearing coarse hemp clothes with gray cloth belts tied around their waists. Each had a pouch of roasted beans in their arms, crunching on them while squinting at the residents coming and going on the street.
Aside from those two, she didn't recognize the rest, but judging by their attire, they were all members of the gang as well.
Ah Ya's face instantly broke into a flattering smile as she trotted over and called out warmly, "Brother Liu, on duty today?"
The most familiar henchman didn't even lift his eyes, merely glancing at her while chewing on roasted beans, and asked lazily, "Oh, it's you... Little brat, how was your haul today?"
"Thanks to you, Brother Liu, my luck was pretty good today!" Flustered yet slightly proud, Ah Ya pulled out six copper coins she had prepared beforehand from her shirt and presented them with both hands. "I ran some errands for someone and earned a few copper coins. Here's a little something for Brother Liu to buy tea."
Brother Liu reached out, took the coins, weighed them in his hand, and without saying anything, waved his hand. "Alright, get inside."
Ah Ya bowed and scraped in response, looking as inconspicuous as a skinny bean sprout. She darted past them in a few strides and slipped deep into the shantytown.
Only after turning a corner and making sure those henchmen could no longer see her shadow did Ah Ya slowly come to a stop. With an expressionless face, she touched the copper coins hidden close to her body, then touched the cold, hard steamed bun in her shirt.
She looked up at the hazy, gray sky.
No moon was visible in the sky, only a chaotic, murky darkness.
She remembered her benefactor from earlier in the day, who looked like a celestial being.
The silver he gave was truly so much... A whole handful of silver pieces. For an ordinary family, it would count as a windfall, enough to feed the whole family frugally for half a year. For her, it would last more than two years.
Unfortunately, such a generous benefactor said he would be leaving in a few days and refused to take her in.
Ah Ya had actually guessed it long ago.
How could a young master who clearly had never suffered in his life take a filthy beggar child as a follower... Asking that question had merely been holding onto a slim ray of hope.
She lowered her head, pulled out the flatbread she had saved from the morning from her shirt, broke off a small piece, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.
In truth, she wasn't hungry at all. She had eaten three whole hot meals during the day, every single one an unprecedented luxury she had never even dared to dream of, leaving her stomach stuffed, and she was still full now.
The flatbread was originally meant to be food for tomorrow and the day after; she shouldn't have touched it.
Yet for some reason, Ah Ya just wanted to eat something right now... Chewing on the cold, teeth-jarringly hard piece of bread in her mouth, she felt it didn't compare to the food from earlier in the day at all.
Still, she chewed very carefully, as if savoring something precious.
After finishing this small piece, she rewrapped the remaining steamed bun, stuffed it back into her shirt, curled up into a tiny ball, and closed her eyes.
...
Early the next morning, Jiang Zhaoye left the inn, fully familiar with the way.
Many food stalls had already been set up along the street. Steaming bamboo steamers were stacked on cutting boards, and shouts from vendors selling millet porridge, sesame flatbreads, and roasted meat swirled with the warm steam from the pots.
He found a shop that looked relatively clean and neat, sat down, ordered a bowl of millet porridge and two meat-stuffed flatbreads, and ate them with a dish of salted pickles.
The person busy working in the shop was a brisk woman around forty years old, her hair held in place by a few wooden hairpins, with graying hair at her temples.
Seeing him wearing a veiled hat, the woman didn't ask questions. She simply collected the copper coins and briskly served the food.
Indeed, under Ah Ya's guidance yesterday, Student Jiang had exchanged for some copper coins, so he was finally no longer a big spendthrift throwing silver around everywhere.
Jiang Zhaoye sat quietly tucked away in a corner, head down as he ate his porridge, but his ears were perked up, listening non-stop to the activity around him.
At the neighboring table sat several brokers dressed as traveling merchants, conversing in hushed tones.
One person said, "...It didn't snow in the north again this year. I heard there are even more refugees now, to the point where the area outside the city walls is almost overflowing."
His companion sighed as well. "Tell me about it! I came from the north last month and saw dozens of villages completely deserted on the way, full of people who had starved to death!"
"What choice is there? The land north of Ju City is barren to begin with, and this year it dried out completely. The ground cracked like a tortoise shell—you could twist your ankle just walking on it! Millet and wheat planted there can't even sprout."
"Has there been any word from the immortal sects?"
"Immortal sects? Immortals don't care about the lives of mortals." Someone nearby sneered. "Look at the clouds in the sky—they get heavier by the day. I heard even cultivators are starting to migrate south. A place like Ju City probably won't stay peaceful for more than a few years."
Immediately, a series of sighs arose one after another.
Jiang Zhaoye calmly finished his porridge, put down the bowl, got up, and left.
The morning light was dim and the sky gray and hazy; though it was light out, it wasn't easy to tell the hour.
There were already quite a few pedestrians on the street—carrying shoulder poles, pushing handcarts, driving donkeys loaded with goods. Shops along the street were also taking down their doorboards one after another and opening up for business.
Jiang Zhaoye pressed down the brim of his veiled hat, blended into the crowd, and walked toward the Western Market Square.
Ah Ya had brought him here once yesterday, and it was also here that he had seen aristocratic family scions connected to cultivation in this world. Having a good memory, Jiang Zhaoye quickly found the place even without Xiao Ling guiding him.
This market square looked much livelier than yesterday.
Stalls were tightly packed along the street, selling millet, cloth, ironware, and herbs, their shouting voices rising and falling in succession.
Jiang Zhaoye slowed his pace, having Xiao Ling record the surrounding layout and prices as he walked.
He noticed that transactions in the market square were mostly bartering; although copper coins circulated as well, silver was used more often... This was quite the opposite of the other streets.
Furthermore, the purchasing power of silver was actually much higher than Jiang Zhaoye had originally imagined.
No wonder every time he used silver yesterday, Ah Ya had that pained, heart-aching, uncomfortable expression on her face.
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