Qin Qiwu’s sharp eyes spotted Xu Ancheng. Their gazes met, and Xu Ancheng silently moved to stand behind them.
Ji Zhaoxi spoke casually. “Is it very busy working at a trading house...?”
Why did everyone at Yongchang Trading House look so sleepy?
The shop assistant immediately became animated at her words. “You can say that again! We hardly get any time off. A few days ago, several carts of silver came in, and the shopkeeper even made us work through the night!”
His father had told him to go to the county and find a job, saying it would be easier than farming and that he’d have better prospects.
Who would have thought working at a trading house would be even more exhausting than farming? They barely had time to drink a cup of tea!
Xu Ancheng frowned and hurriedly pressed him. “How many carts?”
The shop assistant immediately realized he had said too much and lowered his voice. “I must have remembered wrong...”
The clue was right in front of them, and Xu Ancheng began to grow anxious as well. “May I ask how many days ago this was?”
The shopkeeper behind the counter couldn’t hear them and looked over in their direction.
The shop assistant’s expression turned rather grim. He waved his hands repeatedly. “I misspoke. What would you gentlemen and ladies like to buy?”
Qin Qiwu sighed and could only steer the conversation elsewhere.
Although they hadn’t managed to get any more information, at least they had made some progress today.
As they walked out, several cart drivers were sitting in the shade of a tree, their faces covered in sweat. They were frowning as they discussed something.
Seeing that Ji Zhaoxi and the others had left, the shopkeeper of Yongchang Trading House hurried over to question the shop assistant.
“What did those people say to you just now?”
The shop assistant didn’t dare tell him that he had let his mouth run. He only stammered, “That customer said her grandmother was very particular.”
The shopkeeper frowned. “Nothing else?”
The shop assistant didn’t dare look at him and silently nodded.
The shopkeeper gave a derisive snort and continued doing his accounts. “They stayed here for ages and didn’t buy a thing. What kind of refined person could her grandmother have been?”
“My grandmother was refined!” the shop assistant muttered. “If she hadn’t passed away so early, I’d definitely have let you see what a truly refined person was like.”
They had actually come to his trading house and bragged about their grandmother.
The shop assistant fell silent and nodded. He wondered whether the shopkeeper’s grandmother had also docked the wages of the workers under her.
It was nearly noon, and the sun was growing hotter by the minute. After walking only a short distance, the group had already begun to sweat.
A cloth canopy stood in the distance, with several tables and benches beneath it. The vendor was stationed beside a large earthenware jar, ladling out bowl after bowl of mung bean soup.
Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng were organizing their clues nearby, while Ji Zhaoxi crouched in Fu Xianyan’s shadow. The heat had slowed her thoughts to a crawl.
“Ah, that hits the spot!”
A few laborers sitting on the benches nearby tilted their heads back and gulped down their mung bean soup, drinking several bowls in a row.
Fu Xianyan lowered his head and saw Ji Zhaoxi staring blankly at their soup.
Her brows were tightly knit, and her face had been flushed red by the sun. Crouching behind him, she looked utterly pitiful.
Fu Xianyan cleared his throat lightly. “Miss Ji, if you want some mung bean soup, then let’s go have some. There’s no need to... put on such a pitiful expression.”
Ji Zhaoxi, whose mind had been addled by the heat, became even more confused upon hearing this.
She had only been zoning out, all right?
When Qin Qiwu heard Fu Xianyan, she quickly glanced at Ji Zhaoxi, and a wave of guilt immediately welled up inside her. “Miss Ji, let’s go have some mung bean soup.”
They had already stopped here long enough.
Ji Zhaoxi tried to defend herself. “I wasn’t. You can keep discussing things...”
Xu Ancheng also apologized. “I neglected Miss Ji’s needs.”
They had spent too long discussing matters here, and that was why Miss Ji had ended up staring so pitifully at someone else’s mung bean soup.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at them in silence. What exactly were they apologizing for?
Fu Xianyan displayed a rare touch of humanity and suddenly said, “You can have as many bowls as you like when we get there.”
Ji Zhaoxi grew flustered. “Fu Xianyan, are you doing this on purpose?”
Fu Xianyan teased her every day, to the point that she could no longer figure out how their minds worked.
Fu Xianyan hesitated for a moment, trying to understand what Ji Zhaoxi meant. He frowned and said, “A dozen bowls would be fine too, but your stomach... might not be able to handle it, Miss Ji.”
Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng nodded in agreement.
Ji Zhaoxi: “...”
What kind of image did they have of her?
The mung bean soup vendor was so busy he could barely keep his feet on the ground. The soup was thick, with the bean skins settling at the bottom of the bowls and several mung beans floating on top. He had chilled the soup in a well long ago, and tiny beads of water had formed on the bowls.
More and more people arrived. Ji Zhaoxi sat on a bench, and after finishing a bowl of mung bean soup, the heat in her body immediately eased somewhat.
One of the cart drivers kept glancing over. Ji Zhaoxi noticed and looked up.
“Miss Ji.” The cart driver smiled at her.
Ji Zhaoxi smiled back in greeting. “Oh! Long time no see.”
Fu Xianyan gave Ji Zhaoxi a puzzled look and asked in a low voice, “You know her?”
Ji Zhaoxi lowered her voice. “No.”
Fu Xianyan: “...”
Then why had she said, “Oh”?
The cart driver set down her bowl and wiped her face with the sweat cloth draped over her shoulder. “This mung bean soup is delicious. We all come here to drink it.”
Seeing that the cart driver was about to leave, Ji Zhaoxi quickly called out, “You’re leaving already? Aren’t you going to have a few more bowls?”
The cart driver chuckled. “Two bowls are enough to get a taste.”
If she drank much more, she’d spend her entire day’s wages on soup.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at the red marks left on the driver’s shoulder by the carrying pole and grandly declared, “Sit down, sit down! We’re practically old friends. Drink as much as you like—I’ll pay for everything!”
The cart drivers exchanged glances and hurriedly refused. “No, no...”
Ji Zhaoxi frowned and shouted, “No what? We’re all friends. Sit down, every one of you!”
Seeing Ji Zhaoxi like this, Qin Qiwu and Xu Ancheng couldn’t hold back their laughter.
For a moment, they almost thought they were looking at the great general.
Ji Zhaoxi reached into her pocket, only to realize she had forgotten to bring any money. Her expression didn’t change. She sidled up to Fu Xianyan and whispered, “Fu Xianyan, give me some money. I’ll pay you back when we get back.”
The corner of Fu Xianyan’s mouth twitched as he handed his money pouch to the generous young lady.
With the money pouch in hand, Ji Zhaoxi became even more confident. “Drink as much as you want. It’s on me!”
The cart drivers showered Ji Zhaoxi with praise.
“Miss Ji, you’re a living Bodhisattva! You’re such a good person.”
“Miss Ji is clearly kindhearted. The way you look with that sword is so impressive.”
“We really did meet a good person today...”
Ji Zhaoxi’s vanity was thoroughly satisfied, and she couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her face.
Fu Xianyan couldn’t help laughing. “Miss Ji, I’d like another bowl too.”
Ji Zhaoxi declared with great magnanimity, “I’ll pay for yours as well!”
The whole point of living was to put on a good show.
She smiled at Fu Xianyan and whispered, “I’ll treat you to another sesame flatbread later.”
Looking at Ji Zhaoxi’s expectant face, Fu Xianyan raised an eyebrow. “Miss Ji, you’re very generous.”
Ji Zhaoxi coughed. “It’s nothing.”
She was merely a little wealthier than most.
Qin Qiwu had been holding back her laughter the entire time, until her face turned red. Xu Ancheng glanced at her several times, then his ears reddened, and he awkwardly turned his gaze away.
