Song Jinzhao wandered among the stalls lining the entire street. For the same items, the prices here were half as much again as elsewhere.
A bowl of wontons, which sold for eight coppers at temple fairs, cost twelve coppers here.
Song Jinzhao bought three sticks of candied hawthorn from a stall selling sugar-figure candies and sugar-coated haws. As she handed over the money, she asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is the daily stall fee for setting up here?"
The stall vendor looked Song Jinzhao up and down before dropping the copper coins into a box. "The price varies for each stall. Mine is small, it's this much a month."
He held up a hand with all five fingers spread.
Song Jinzhao visually measured the size of the candied hawthorn stall; its width was no more than a meter at most.
She guessed, half-believing, "Fifty coppers?"
The vendor rolled his eyes skyward. "What are you thinking? Fifty coppers wouldn't even get you a foot in the door. Five hundred coppers."
Song Jinzhao glanced towards a slightly larger stall nearby. "What about that one?"
The vendor shook his head, gesturing with his fingers. "No less than this amount, for sure. You'd have to go to the county office to ask for the specifics."
She drove her cart to the entrance of the county office and saw Constable Zhao, who had come to Song Village to deliver her reward two days prior, standing guard at the gate.
"Miss Song, what brings you here?" Constable Zhao approached her.
Song Jinzhao said, "I'd like to go to the Household Office to ask about renting a stall on Central Street."
Constable Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Stalls on Central Street are always in high demand; vacancies are rare. Let me take you to the Household Office to find Clerk Liang."
Entering the county office, a row of rooms on the left side of the courtyard housed the offices of the various department clerks.
"Clerk Liang, this is Miss Song, who assisted Duke Qing in capturing the Northern Shuo spies and earned merit for it."
Clerk Liang's gaze fell upon Song Jinzhao, as if trying to scrutinize every strand of her hair.
The corners of his mouth lifted high, and his eyes crinkled into three folds. "So this is Miss Song. I've long heard of your name."
Song Jinzhao asked, "Clerk Liang, I'd like to rent a stall on Central Street. I wonder if there's any space available?"
The smile on Clerk Liang's face vanished instantly without a trace. His temples twitched slightly, and his expression turned very troubled.
"The contracts for Central Street stalls for next month have all been signed already. How about the month after next? A batch will become available at the end of June."
The month after next would be July, when the weather was at its hottest.
"Alright. I want a stall where the foot traffic is heaviest."
Clerk Liang inquired, "What will you be selling, Miss Song?"
Song Jinzhao replied, "Food."
Constable Zhao, standing nearby, offered a gentle reminder, "The weather in July is scorching. Selling food might not be very good for business."
Song Jinzhao shook her head slightly. "It's fine. The hotter the weather, the more people will buy what I'm selling."
Clerk Liang's gaze was sharp, seeing that Song Jinzhao didn't seem to be boasting.
He picked up a ledger from the table and walked out from behind it.
"Let me take you over there first to have a look. You can see which one you like, and then we'll come back to sign the contract."
Song Jinzhao had been thinking the same thing.
Arriving at Central Street, Clerk Liang pointed out each stall that would become available at the end of June.
"These stalls are all available for rent. You must rent for at least one month, and no money will be refunded if you stop mid-month."
A stall selling cold skin noodles and tea drinks couldn't be too small, otherwise there wouldn't be enough space to lay things out.
Finally, Song Jinzhao chose a stall located about fifty meters from the Tingyun Pavilion. There was even space behind the stall to set up an extra table for customers to sit and eat.
"How much is the monthly rent for this one?"
Clerk Liang's fingers quickly flipped through the pages, pointing to the rent recorded in the ledger. "Two taels of silver."
"That seems a bit expensive."
The small stall next to the candied hawthorn vendor was about the same size and cost only one tael of silver per month.
Clerk Liang explained, "This location is in the middle, and you can place tables and chairs behind it. The spots closer to the end of the street are cheaper; the rent can be half as much."
Song Jinzhao said, "It's hot in summer, and there won't be as many people on the street as there are now. Can it be cheaper?"
Clerk Liang shook his head decisively. "The price is the same all year round. The county office relies on this rental income for subsidies. We can't reduce it by a single copper."
Song Jinzhao frowned, pointing curiously at the South Street and West Street ahead. "If the county office is so poor, why not set up more stalls on the other streets?"
A tinge of worry colored Clerk Liang's brow.
"Xining City is located at the border. The court has decreed that roads leading to the county office, post stations, granaries, and other key sites within the thirteen border cities must remain clear and unobstructed at all times. Therefore, except for Central Street, no stalls are allowed on the other streets."
A look of understanding dawned on Song Jinzhao's face. "I see."
As the two returned to the county office to finalize the contract, a commotion arose outside.
Qin Yunqian, his clothes wrinkled like dried pickled cabbage, looked as if he had been rolling in sand, exuding a strong odor of stale sweat that Song Jinzhao could smell from ten meters away.
Clerk Liang craned his neck to look outside. "He's finally back after more than ten days. I wonder if they caught the person."
Song Jinzhao, holding the stamped contract, walked out of the county office gate and sidled up next to Constable Zhao. "Was the remaining Northern Shuo spy found?"
Constable Zhao shook his head. "Young General Qin and his men turned the mountain inside out. They didn't find even a single bone."
Even if a corpse were eaten by wild beasts, bones would remain.
Not finding any bones at all strongly suggested that the person wasn't dead and had likely already escaped from the mountains.
After bathing, Qin Yunqian handed a portrait to a subordinate. "Have the artist make a hundred copies based on this portrait. Post them all over the streets and alleys of Xining City, Yunzhong City, and Hanyan City."
"As long as that Northern Shuo spy is alive, we cannot let him escape the border region."
The next morning, the village chief went door-to-door with a portrait delivered early by the local headman, spreading the word.
"Everyone, take a look. Memorize the person in this portrait. This man is a Northern Shuo bandit. Report to the authorities immediately if you spot him."
Old Lady Song's face turned deathly pale as she grabbed Old Man Song's arm. "This looks like the one Jinzhao drew that night."
The color drained completely from Old Man Song's face. The Northern Shuo bandit wasn't caught and had escaped instead. Would he come after his eldest granddaughter?
He rushed to Song Jinzhao's house, snatched the chopsticks from her hand, and said in a rough voice, "Why are you cooking noodles at a time like this? Don't you know that Northern Shuo bandit has escaped!"
Song Jinzhao picked up another pair of chopsticks to transfer the cold noodles into ice water to cool them.
A few dozen seconds more in the pot, and the noodles would lose their chewiness.
"I already found out yesterday in the city."
Seeing her complete lack of urgency, Old Man Song grew even more anxious, practically hopping with worry.
"What if that Northern Shuo bandit finds out it was you who tipped off the authorities, leading to his accomplice's capture, and comes for revenge?"
After scooping out the last of the noodles, Song Jinzhao put down her chopsticks and addressed Old Man Song seriously. "He won't."
"First, they've never seen me. They don't know what I look like."
"Second, the county magistrate's reward for me wasn't posted publicly. Many people don't know about it."
"The escaped Northern Shuo bandit is alone now. Seeing his portrait everywhere, he'll be too busy hiding to have time to seek revenge on me."
Hearing Song Jinzhao's words, Old Man Song's heart gradually settled.
Only then did he notice the wooden buckets and basins of various sizes in the kitchen.
"What are you cooking so many noodles for? And why are you soaking them in water?"
