Chapter 47 It's all acting
At four o'clock in the morning, there was a rustling sound coming from Qin Yao's house.
Liu Ji yawned and walked to the kitchen in the dark with sleepy eyes. He found the flint, lit the oil lamp on the stove, started the fire, and heated up the ten extra multi-grain steamed buns he had made last night. This would be today's breakfast.
Qin Yao packed her luggage, walked out of the room, and knocked on the door next door.
"Da Lang, Er Lang! Tell your brothers and sisters to get dressed. It's cold in the morning. Put on your clothes."
A new cotton top, a newly made thick cotton coat in the middle, and a second-hand old clothes on the outside. When the temperature rises, take off the outermost layer of old clothes.
At the same time, it also protects new clothes. If they get dirty, you won't have any to wash in the hot winter.
Liu Ji had taken the rotten linen clothes to the river to wash them once, and they had now rotted into rags.
But as long as it can still be used, poor people will not throw it away. Now it has become a rag, foot cloth, etc. in the home.
When Dalang and the other three got up, they were extremely excited. After a lively wash-up, the steamed buns were ready.
The family of six had breakfast, locked the door, and walked towards the village chief's house with torches.
Liu Ji had already agreed in advance to borrow the ox cart. The village chief's youngest son had already gotten up, set up the ox cart, handed it to Liu Ji, and gave him some careful instructions.
It was not easy to borrow this car, and it all depended on Qin Yao's face. If Liu Ji wanted to borrow it, the door would not be opened for him and he would be directly kicked out.
The ox had been fed well by the village chief's youngest son. The speed of the ox cart was not very fast, but it was much faster than a person walking. It took less than two hours to reach Kaiyang County.
Dalang and his four companions held the handrails on three sides of the car. They were very excited to get on the car at the beginning, but they were shaken to death later.
Liu Ji's driving skills were not very good. The cow walked fast sometimes, and then stopped to eat some grass on the roadside. In this way, the family of six finally arrived at the gate of Kaiyang County.
It's a cloudy day today. Even though the sky is bright now, it still looks foggy.
But this cannot stop people's enthusiasm, because today is a big market day, the New Year is approaching, and there are a lot of people coming to the market to buy New Year's goods.
Combined with the government selling cattle, these two things attracted people from all directions, and long queues formed at the entrance to the city.
Liu Ji thought that his family had arrived early, but he didn't expect that there were people who arrived earlier than him. He had no choice but to line up obediently behind the long line entering the city.
The entrance fee is still one penny per person. Except for infants who cannot walk, anyone who can get out of bed and walk on their own cannot be exempted from the entrance fee.
Therefore, there are very few people who bring their children with them. Most of them are couples, or fathers and sons, brothers, or adults from the same village.
Dalang and his three friends were sitting in the carriage. Even a city gate was enough to make them curious.
Looking at so many people around, speaking in all kinds of dialects and it was so lively that I could hardly keep my eyes from seeing it all.
After waiting in line for ten minutes, it was finally Qin Yao's family's turn.
What Qin Yao didn't expect was that the two officers at the city gate actually recognized Liu Ji and called him by his name.
Liu Ji also acted like a good brother to the two men. He exchanged a few words with them, handed over six copper coins, and led Niu into the city.
By the way, because of the ox, it cost two more cents, which is called the carriage and horse management fee.
However, the money was not paid in vain. After paying, one could park the carriage and horses in the livestock shed at the city gate, which would be guarded by special officials.
Of course, parking fees need to be paid separately. Generally, the parking fee is a uniform five cents regardless of the length of time.
We haven't even entered the city yet, and we've already spent thirteen cents.
The advantage is that there is no need to worry about important property such as ox carts being tied outside the city gate and being targeted by thieves, thus eliminating some of the risk of loss.
After the ox cart stopped, Qin Yao asked the four brothers and sisters to get off.
Dalang and Erlang are old enough to follow the adults by themselves, but Sanlang and Si Niang are still young, so Liu Ji and Qin Yao each hold one and lead them through the crowd.
Dalang and his three friends entered the city, their eyes were full of curiosity, but also a little reserved.
They found that the people in the city were well dressed. Their clothes were all colorful and had delicate embroidery on the collars.
The masters were accompanied by servants, and the ladies wore veils on their heads and silks and satins on their bodies. There were strong maids beside them to separate the masters from the crowd to prevent them from being harassed by the common people.
As soon as they entered the city, ordinary people like them walked on the streets, because the business routes in the middle were occupied by the privileged classes. Ordinary people were afraid of bumping into these people, so they naturally avoided them.
However, after passing the most prosperous section of the road, more and more people began walking in the center of the street.
East Street and West Street are like two different places.
There are many restaurants and shops on the East Street, and there are street vendors everywhere on the West Street.
It was not so crowded anymore, so Qin Yao finally had the chance to ask Liu Ji, "You are familiar with the guards at the city gate?"
Liu Ji raised his eyebrows proudly, "I went to the county academy after all, so it's not surprising that I know a few people."
"Don't students in the academy only have two days off every month?" Qin Yao immediately caught the loophole in his words and asked back, "Where do you find the time to make friends with these people?"
Liu Ji stopped talking immediately.
Qin Yao's eyes darkened, and she glanced at him with a cold warning. Liu Ji then muttered, "I helped them a few times, so we got to know each other."
As for what kind of help he would provide, Qin Yao could already guess. With Liu Ji's personality, he would simply be someone's thug or accomplice.
"What's that look?" Feeling that Qin Yao was looking at him in an unpleasant way, Liu Ji asked back.
Qin Yao shook her head slightly and said nothing more.
Liu Ji glanced at her suspiciously. Could it be that she knew that he knew the officials and was afraid?
Apparently he was overthinking it. Qin Yao just found the place where the cattle were sold, told Dalang and Erlang to follow closely, and rushed over first carrying Sanlang and Si Niang.
The government's cows were going to be sold, and everyone wanted to buy them. People gathered in three layers around the vacant lot, waiting for the government to lead the cows out so they could offer their prices.
Many wealthy families also sent people over to wait and buy cattle.
Although these people were slaves and servants, they were dressed much better than most of the people here. They had ruddy complexions and were taller in stature. If you didn't know them, you would think they were rich peasants.
Liu Ji was tall and good-looking. He wore a newly bought green cotton coat and walked with his back straight, carrying himself like a noble scholar. Some people even thought he was a student at the academy and actually gave way to Qin Yao's family of six to enter the first floor.
Dalang was surprised. He didn't expect his father to be doing so well in the city.
Qin Yao looked at Liu Ji's pretentious appearance and realized that he was obviously used to doing such things relying on his excellent looks.
Anyway, he didn't reveal his identity, so these people misunderstood him.
Several managers sent by wealthy families even came forward and politely asked Liu Ji if he also wanted to buy a cow.
This polite and tentative look made Liu Ji feel relieved after being depressed for a long time at home. He didn't care if he had any money in his pocket and said,
"Let's take a look first. If they are strong, I will definitely take a few back."
Qin Yao clearly saw that several managers who came to investigate were wary of Liu Jisheng, and they really regarded him as a competitor.
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(End of this chapter)