From Yunzhu County to Suining City, ten li outside the city and high above the road, unsuspecting commoners pointed in confusion at the thick smoke rising in the distance.
“What’s going on over there? Has something caught fire?”
A merchant who knew the reason lifted the carriage curtain. “Those are the chimneys of the coal plant and the cement plant.”
The scholar stared straight ahead, his face filled with astonishment.
“So that’s where the coal plant and cement plant are. Is Suining City just ahead?”
The merchant nodded, but just as he was about to answer, his expression turned uncertain.
“Why has the outer city wall grown so much taller?”
A farmer carrying a load to sell in the city passed by and replied, “The prefectural government is rebuilding the outer wall. It isn’t finished yet.”
The merchant and the scholar turned toward him in unison. “Rebuilding the city wall?”
The farmer nodded with a grin. “I heard they’re making it thirty feet high, using nothing but cement and steel.”
When they reached the city gate, they saw people everywhere, both above and below the wall.
Some were carrying cement and sand. Others were mixing it with iron shovels, while still more strained at ropes to hoist the cement upward. Every person was busy at work.
Once they passed through the wall, they found a broad thoroughfare stretching straight ahead.
It was flat and spacious, extending so far that the end could not be seen. It looked as though it had been built with every inch measured by a ruler.
The carriage traveled smoothly along the cement road. Those who had never visited Suining City before all pulled aside the curtains and looked out, their eyes filled with amazement.
“I heard long ago that Suining City had changed, but I never imagined it would be this different!”
“Is this really the same Suining City as before—the place overrun with bandits and thieves, wedged between the western southern tribes?”
As they approached the inner city wall, the liveliness increased dramatically. Even before entering the city, they could hear peddlers hawking their wares, while the enticing aroma of food drifted into their noses and made them swallow involuntarily.
Unlike the outer city, where only the main road had been paved with cement, every street and intersection in the inner city was paved with cement.
The roads ran in all directions, far surpassing even Songzhou City, which the people of the southwest regarded as their provincial capital.
“Honored guests, would you like a room at our inn?”
“Gentlemen, we’ve just received some fine Dragon Well tea. Would you care to come in and rest awhile?”
Over the past few days, merchants from other parts of the country and young gentlemen dressed in long robes had been arriving in Suining City one after another. Everyone guessed that they had come for the land auction and the story-writing competition.
After setting down their belongings and taking a brief rest, the merchants would go downstairs for a meal. Then, following the requirements listed in the announcement, they would head to the prefectural government office to collect the information on all the plots of land soon to be auctioned.
With maps in hand, they ran from one plot to another, judging which location was best and where they could make the most money in the future. Once they returned to the inn, they still had to calculate which plots offered the best value.
The writers participating in the story competition, meanwhile, shut themselves away in their rooms and racked their brains. When registering, they were required to submit the first hundred thousand characters of their story, along with a basic outline of the entire work.
And in corners no one noticed, several young ladies of respectable families, accompanied by maids and servants, quietly checked into inns near the Song Family Bookshop.
“I wonder whether the story I wrote can win a prize.”
The maid making the bed turned her head. “Miss is exceptionally talented, and you’ve loved reading stories since you were little. You’re sure to win.”
The woman wearing a silver hairpin reclined against the couch. Beside her lay a stack of manuscripts—some written recently, others from long ago. Their only common feature was that, aside from her maid, no one had ever seen them.
Behind the counter of a silk shop, a young girl doing the accounts waited until the store was empty before secretly pulling a draft sheet from beneath the ledger and writing a few lines. The moment someone entered, she immediately covered it again with the account book.
On the day of the auction, more than three hundred merchants interested in the proceedings sat in the open space before the prefectural government office.
When the appointed hour arrived, the minor official in charge of warming up the crowd stepped onto the platform.
“Honored merchants and gentlemen who have traveled here from afar, today we have gathered together to contribute to the future development of Suining City…”
The awkward introductory speech had been read and memorized by the minor official hundreds of times, yet he still stumbled over it. The main reason was that he had never said such things before. When had the prefectural government ever treated merchants with such respect and praise? This was unquestionably the first time.
The opening remarks stirred everyone’s spirits, drawing them into a single camp to speak of ideals and shared purpose.
Their eyes widened. Their hearts pounded long after the words had ended. Their hands tightened around the auction booklets, and they wished they could turn every page until it fell apart in their hands.
