Chapter 7: Debts
Even though the Great Qin Dynasty never prohibited the general public from carrying swords, and even some of the public competitions were not prohibited, some of the armaments with great lethality, and even some of the cultivation implements and cultivation texts, were all items that belonged to the items that were strictly prohibited from being traded and circulated.
As much as a cultivator could imagine, a large portion of them naturally could not be used for trading.
However, these things were hidden in the fish market like fish under lotus leaves, and the fish market was nothing more than a spontaneously formed bazaar, and many of the businesses within it were naturally not legal.
It was just that such a bazaar was right on the edge of Changling, at the feet of so many great men, so how was it able to persist for so many years?
As of this moment, a young man with thick eyebrows dressed as an outsider had such doubts in his mind.
He was holding a butter paper umbrella whose edges were already a bit tattered, wearing a short black robe that few people in Changling would wear, and without shoes, he was directly barefoot.
The worn butter paper umbrella in his hand was large, but in order to completely cover the body of the person in front of him, a small half of his body was still exposed, completely drenched by the rain.
The person in front of him was a very short young man, scholarly dress, melon face, face clear to the extreme, especially skin like white jade, can't see any flaws.
Looking at the front of the fish market countless overlapping shanties, from high to low constantly like pearl jumping like throwing rain drops, thick eyebrows young man frowned, could not help but ask in a deep voice in front of him shorter than him half a head of the young man, "Gongzi, such a bazaar why has always existed?"
The young man dressed as a scholar smiled coldly, "Only from the authorization of those two prime ministers, such a bazaar can remain here."
The thick-browed young man was still a bit puzzled and looked at him suspiciously.
"Illegal transactions can often bring higher profits, and higher profits, on the other hand, allow more people who don't want to die to bring in a steady stream of more things."
The young man dressed as a scholar coldly continued, "Over the years, many exotic treasures from overseas have been able to reach Changling, and even many overseas barbarian kingdoms and cultivators have established ties with Changling, relying on not only the Wei River's waterway, but also this fish market's connections. As for those who sat high above the temple, they were also able to obtain things from it that were impossible to obtain before, so they took the attitude of turning a blind eye and allowing this place to exist. Of course all the people who do business in here naturally know exactly what kind of order those people need, so this place is instead fairer and safer than other large bazaars in various countries."
"So you must understand one thing, any hook must bring greater benefits to people before people will be interested in trading with you. And the vast majority of outlaws will not seek the skin of a tiger, they will not trade with objects that are so far above them that they can swallow them in one bite at any time." The young man dressed as a scholar turned his head to look at the silent, thick-browed young man and said serenely, "Because such a basic rule exists, that's why I have the confidence to come here and talk."
......
The road in the fish market was rugged and undulating, very muddy and difficult to walk on, with a drop of tens of meters, it was layered to separate more than ten passages of different heights, and it was even more like a maze for those who didn't come here often.
However, for most of the businessmen in the fish market who didn't welcome loiterers at all, they didn't mind if the road became a bit more complicated and difficult to navigate.
So although the rainy day was dark, and the road between the countless canopies alternately covering the stores was even darker, only a few of the merchants had picked up their lanterns.
The occasional faint lantern light looked like an alien, swaying uneasily in the wind.
There were still a lot of people traveling through the fish market, and Ding Ning put away his umbrella, leaning on it like a walking stick as he gingerly made his way to the low depths of the fish market.
Because of the heavy rainfall, many of the areas at the bottom of the fish market that were usually just dry mud ponds had been flooded, and the water level was only half a meter away from the bottom of most of the hammocks, but even so, there were many small boats floating at the bottom of the hammocks, and there were also wooden pots floating around in the murky muddy water.
Along a wobbly wooden path set up by a sampan, Ding Ning walked into a very small hammock.
It was a very small ink store that also sold ink, paper and brushes.
The owner of the store was a widowed woman in her sixties, and since she didn't have many expenses, and since most of the transactions in the fish market required a deed seal or a handprint, as the only sealing clay store, the sale of sealing clay was not bad, and she was able to make ends meet.
Because there wasn't much going on during the week, this old woman with white hair was originally drinking tea from a crude porcelain cup before she saw Ding Ning, seeing the teenager walking in the shadows not far away, a warm smile suddenly spread across her wrinkled cheeks as she turned around and took out a dish of dried fruit from a closet next to the doorway and waited.
"Why are you still coming over after such heavy rain?"
Looking at Ding Ning, who had only wet a pair of straw shoes when she walked up to him, the old woman was completely relieved, and fetched another pair of clean old straw shoes to signal Ding Ning to change into them.
Ding Ning smiled faintly and didn't refuse, directly sitting on the edge of the hammock and washing his feet, he changed into the clean old straw shoes, and then looked around at the roof and walls of the hammock.
There was some water seepage on the roof and walls, but it didn't look serious.
So Ding Ning also relaxed and sat down on the bench next to the old woman, saying, "Originally, when I saw such heavy rain yesterday, I was worried that there was something wrong with your house, so I wanted to come over to take a look, but there was just a temporary matter, so I delayed coming over until now."
The old woman burst out laughing, ever since she saw Ding Ning's figure, she had become very happy.
"What could be wrong?" She couldn't help but smile, "You've been knocking and patching up this room of mine every once in a while, more attentive than those shipwrights patching up their ships, I can see that if it rains a bit more, and it rains for a few more days, all the rooms here will leak, and I won't even be able to leak here yet."
Looking at her smile, Ding Ning's mood also became even better, he casually grabbed a few dried fruits and chewed on them while asking, "Do you need to buy anything recently, I'll help you buy it back later?"
"The firewood, rice, oil and salt are still all full, so you just rest." The old woman shook her head, looking at Ding Ning's slightly pale face, she couldn't help but shake her head again, and asked lovingly, "Have you eaten lunch?"
"I've eaten, pickled fish noodles." Ding Ning smiled.
The old woman was a bit unhappy and said in an undeniable tone, "Then stay here with me for dinner."
"Good." Ding Ning nodded his head in agreement, "I'm going to eat fried pancakes."
"I'll make you braised fish and waxed chicken legs." The old woman gave him a reproachful look, but more meaning welled up in her eyes, "Are the fried pancakes that good? Back then, you were still young and happened to walk here, it was normal for me to make you a fried pancake, and as a result, you still remember that one fried pancake even now. If you are doing business, just one oil cake, but as a result, you have been helping people for so many years, this loss of capital will be a big loss."
"Where is the loss of capital." Ding Ning smiled and said, "It's just doing some smooth things, mostly just accompanying you to talk and listen to stories, and I've eaten a lot of free meals."
The old woman shook her head, complex emotions welling up in her eyes, "Accompanying to talk and chat, this is the greatest gift for a lonely old man with no children or nephews. Changling used to have a lot of people who died in battle, and a lot of people my age, only but very few people have been blessed like me."
Ding Ning said nothing for a moment, hanging his head down like a squirrel and nibbling on dried fruit.
One winter several years ago, he passed by this place, and the kind old woman kindly handed him a hot piece of fried pancake, and then he often came here to see the old woman and do what he could.
But he knew very well in his heart that this where a pancake thing.
It was because he owed her.
He owed a lot of people, and he only hoped that he could slowly pay it off, or could make up for it.
......
After chatting with the old woman for a while as usual, and listening to her talk about some of the fish market's recent novelties, Ding Ning excused himself and left for the time being, wandering as he usually did, turning towards the fish market's lower lying and deeper depths.
By this time Song Shenshu should have entered the fish market.
Song Shenshu was a minor treasurer of the Treasury of Scripture and History, and was also an acquaintance of Ding Ning.
However, unlike the old woman who owned the sealing clay store, Ding Ning did not owe Song Shenshu, while he owed Ding Ning.
In the past few years of silent attention, Ding Ning knew some of Song Shenshu's habits, and also knew what difficulties he had encountered in his cultivation.
Therefore, he was certain that Song Shenshu would definitely come to get the Fire Turtle Gallbladder today, and would definitely appear in front of him.
