At the National Commodity Trading Fair, aside from those who had nothing better to do than to watch the excitement, most were seasoned marketplace veterans. It wasn't an era where a single card could take you anywhere in the world, so who wouldn't carry some money when stepping out? Especially when some contracts, particularly favored by both parties, required a deposit to show sincerity—that was only to be expected.
But your average petty thief wouldn't dare wander into such a trade fair. Are you kidding? Such a province-wide attention-grabbing fair wouldn't have security measures?
It was precisely because of this that the attendees came with ease of mind, but who would have thought that such a brazen thief actually existed?
