“Golden Dragon Gang, Gao Nian!”
Gao Nian's eyes gleamed like torches as his gaze swept across Shen Xiuhan's packed creel. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Brother, you look quite unfamiliar. Whose family are you from?”
Shen Xiuhan calmly stopped in his tracks and bowed slightly. “I'm a tenant of the Bai family. My father was Shen Sanhuai...”
“Shen Sanhuai?”
Gao Nian's expression softened upon hearing this.
Clearly, word of Shen Sanhuai losing his life to a water monster had already spread through the county.
“Are you setting up an open-air stall or going into the fish stalls?”
“Setting up a stall.”
“You know the rules, right?”
“I do.”
Shen Xiuhan pulled out Momo's small purse, counted out five copper coins, and handed them over.
Gao Nian took them with one hand, tossed them casually in his palm, and then chin-gestured toward an empty space in the distance. “There, right over there. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Shen Xiuhan said no more. Lifting his creel, he walked over.
There were two ways to sell fish in the market, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Setting up a stall was cheaper, requiring only a five-copper protection fee, but the downside was having to hawk the wares himself.
Going to the fish stalls was much easier. The fish brokers had extensive connections, maintaining ties with all the major inns and restaurants in the inner city. As long as the catch was good, they could buy it all up in one go.
The downside was the high commission, which took at least fifteen percent and sometimes as much as twenty to thirty percent.
Shen Xiuhan lacked money but had plenty of time, so he naturally chose to set up a stall and hawk the fish himself.
Besides, with the quality of the goods in his creel, he didn't have to worry about finding buyers.
Well, except for the black carps.
Although black carp meat was tender, it had too many small bones, and the fish weren't very large. He estimated they wouldn't even fetch ten copper coins combined, so he didn't plan on selling them.
Finding a clean slab of bluestone, he set his creel down and began pulling the fish out one by one.
Six Silver-Striped Fish were lined up on the bluestone slab.
Each one was plump and robust, with bright, shimmering scales.
The largest weighed over three pounds, and even the smallest was around two pounds.
Three of them had four silver stripes, while the rest were premium catches with five or more stripes!
In the freezing depth of winter, such top-quality fish were as eye-catching as torches in the dark!
The moment they were laid out, their plump, fresh appearance immediately drew a crowd of onlookers.
“Silver-Striped Fish?”
“Whoa! The gills are bright red and the scales are gleaming. These are of excellent quality!”
“In the middle of winter, did this young man stumble upon a nest of Silver-Striped Fish?”
“They look mouth-watering. I bet they won't be cheap, right?”
More and more people gathered around.
A middle-aged man who looked like a manager rubbed his hands together and couldn't help but ask, “Young brother, how much are you selling these for?”
Shen Xiuhan had already calculated the prices on his way over. He immediately cupped his hands and announced clearly, “Twenty coppers per pound for the four-striped ones!”
“Twenty-two coppers per pound for the five-striped ones!”
“As for this six-striped one... twenty-five coppers per pound. No bargaining!”
If this were the summer when catches were abundant, these prices would indeed be a bit high.
But in the dead of winter, when the waters were frozen and fresh river fish were scarce, this price was considered very reasonable!
Just as he finished speaking, a servant-like youth squeezed out of the crowd. “I'll take this four-striped one!”
Once it was weighed, the youth readily counted out forty-two large coppers, handed them over, and walked off happily with the fish.
“Give me one too! My elderly mother is sick, and this will make a perfect soup to sweat out the fever!”
“I want one as well!”
Business was surprisingly brisk.
In the blink of an eye, the three four-striped fish were completely sold out.
With a total of one hundred and thirty large coppers in his pocket, Shen Xiuhan couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
Yet, to his confusion, the remaining three fish of even better quality—those with five or more stripes—remained unsold.
The crowd pointed and stared at the stall, their eyes filled with desire, but not a single person was willing to hand over the money.
With a quick thought, Shen Xiuhan understood the crux of the matter.
Silver-Striped Fish were premium, expensive goods.
Most of those buying from open-air stalls were ordinary folk or errands runners from common taverns. There were no wealthy gentry or noble clans here.
Adding two or three coppers didn't sound like much.
But in their eyes, that was enough to buy a couple of ounces of pork at the butcher's!
Spending that much extra just for more stripes on a fish felt like a painful waste of money.
After waiting for a while, the crowd thinned out, but the three Silver-Striped Fish remained unsold.
Shen Xiuhan's heart sank. Could such excellent fish really end up going to waste in his hands?
“Senior Brother Ma, it's right here.”
Just then, a slightly familiar voice came from behind the crowd.
Shen Xiuhan looked in the direction of the voice.
He saw a youth in a black robe, wearing a fawning, respectful smile, leading a strutting young man toward him.
It was the dead of winter, cold enough to turn dripping water into ice.
The surrounding fishermen wished they could shrink their heads into their collars.
Yet that young man wore only a single thin white robe, completely unfazed by the cold!
“Senior Brother Ma, although this fish market is dirty and chaotic, the freshest catches in the county are mostly sold here. Especially the fish stalls inside; they have the best sources of information...”
As the black-robed youth chattered away, his gaze suddenly froze. In astonishment, he blurted out, “Brother Han?”
Hearing this form of address, a name instantly flashed through Shen Xiuhan's mind.
Chen An, the only son of Uncle Chen, and a childhood friend who grew up with the original owner of this body.
His mother, Madam Zheng, had mentioned that Chen An was going to learn martial arts. Judging by his attitude toward this Senior Brother Ma, it seemed to be true.
Chen An stepped forward in pleasant surprise. “Brother Han, have you recovered from your consumption?”
“Thanks to the life-saving money Uncle Chen helped us with, I barely managed to keep my life,” Shen Xiuhan replied, following his lead.
“Ah, with the relationship between our families, why are you acting like a stranger!”
Chen An laughed heartily, then respectfully gestured to the young man beside him and introduced, “Brother Han, let me introduce you. This is the third disciple of the inner city's Tongbei Martial Arts Hall, Senior Brother Ma Xianyang!”
Tongbei Martial Arts Hall!
Shen Xiuhan's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm as he clasped his hands in greeting. “Greetings, Brother Ma.”
“No need for formalities...”
Ma Xianyang smiled, his eyes flashing with a strange light as he glanced at the fish on the ground. “These fish... are yours? How much are they?”
“Uh... twenty-five coppers per pound for the six-striped one, and twenty-two coppers per pound for the others.”
“...That's not expensive. I'll take them all at twenty-five coppers per pound. Put them on the scale.”
Ma Xianyang waved his hand grandly, pulled out two strings of copper coins, and handed them to Shen Xiuhan, saying with a smile, “The fish are of great quality, so I'll take them all. It's perfect to take back and stew a pot of fresh soup for my junior brothers and sisters at the martial arts hall. A bowl of Silver-Striped Fish soup in the dead of winter must taste... incredibly delicious!”
“This...”
Shen Xiuhan was a bit stunned.
But he still quickly weighed them on the public scale. The three Silver-Striped Fish came to a total of one hundred and sixty coppers. He quickly said, “You gave too much. Let me give you change...”
“No need!”
Ma Xianyang laughed heartily, showing great generosity. “Brother Shen, if you have this kind of catch or even better fish in the future, just deliver them directly to my Tongbei Martial Arts Hall. I will never let you lose out on the price.”
“I see... Then thank you for your patronage!”
Realization dawned on Shen Xiuhan, and his words carried a bit more genuine gratitude.
It turned out Ma Xianyang saw the excellent quality of his fish and wanted to secure a steady supply.
“You're welcome. Chen An...”
“Senior Brother Ma!”
“Take the fish back to the martial arts hall and walk Brother Shen home while you're at it. Carrying money around in the outer city isn't necessarily safe.”
“What about the fish stalls...”
“I'll just look around on my own. Go ahead.”
“Understood. Have a safe walk, Senior Brother Ma!”
Ma Xianyang smiled, patted Shen Xiuhan on the shoulder before leaving, and reminded him once more, “Brother Shen, remember to send any good catches to my Tongbei Martial Arts Hall. My senior brother loves eating fish, and the price will definitely satisfy you.”
“Don't worry, Brother Ma, I'll keep that in mind.”
Once the other party had walked away, Shen Xiuhan pulled out the copper coins that hadn't even warmed up in his pocket. “Chen An, about what I owe your family...”
Before he could finish, Chen An pushed his hand back, saying grumpily, “Brother Han, why are you acting so distant with me?”
“I know your family's situation. Pay off the Bai family's rent and boat fee first. There's no rush for what you owe my family.”
“...Thanks, brother.”
“You kid, how did you turn into a completely different person after falling so gravely ill?”
Chen An grinned and lifted the creel. “Shall we go? Let's head home together?”
“No rush. I need to go to the East Market to buy some things first.”
“Alright, then I'll deliver the fish to the martial arts hall. Let's meet at the inner city gates.”
Rate on N.U.
