Xuanxia

Chapter 75: Yu'nan
That night, a bonfire was burning and people were crowded in the small square in the center of Sanshui Village.

"Young man, you...how do you think...you look younger?"

"Did I drink too much?"

The village chief's son drunkenly hooked his arm around Fu Qingzhou's neck, burped and asked with a silly smile.

Fu Qingzhou laughed and raised his wine bowl to clink it with the other's: "Stop talking nonsense and drink!"

Tang Jiao smiled softly at the side. Several village aunties held her hand and asked her questions, all in the Sichuan dialect which she could hardly understand. She could only respond with a forced smile.

Not far away, more villagers were laughing and singing loudly the hoarse and heroic field songs.

Fu Qingzhou did not tell them about the account book.

Telling the villagers about this kind of thing will only cause them more trouble and there is no need for that.

Of course, those who were partying in Sanshui Village at this time were not only the villagers of Sanshui Village, but also many villagers from several surrounding villages - after all, the property brought from the mountain village did not belong only to Sanshui Village.

It was impossible for them to get back all the property that was looted in the past few years, but for these poor villagers, even if they could only get back a piece of the meat bun skin from beating the dog, it was always good.

Even if Fu Qingzhou said he wanted to take 30%, they had no objection - with the property they had taken back this time, even after paying the grain tax after the autumn harvest, every household would still have a lot left!
After everyone calculated, almost every family will be able to eat meat during this year's Chinese New Year!

"Alas, they bullied us too harshly in the past!"

The village chief's son smiled, tears welling up in his eyes. "We went everywhere to report to the authorities. We went to Luotie Town and Qingyang City. Some detectives and soldiers came, and we killed a few bandits sometimes, but..."

"Every time the autumn harvest comes, they still come down the mountain and come to the village to kill people and steal things!"

He took a big gulp of wine and shouted with a big tongue, "If it weren't for you, Master Fu, we wouldn't be able to survive! Hahahaha!"

Fu Qingzhou drank a bowl of wine with him, feeling a little bitter in his heart.

The host and guests had a great time that night and got drunk.

The next day, everyone slept until the sun was high in the sky. The village chief's son, with a pair of drunken eyes, pulled the only donkey cart in the village and accompanied Fu Qingzhou and Tang Jiao. They took their property to Luotie Town and found a silver shop to exchange it for small change that was more convenient to carry. Then they waved goodbye reluctantly.

"Brother, how much money do you have here?"

Tang Jiao looked at the wooden box full of silver coins in Fu Qingzhou's hand, her eyes shining.

Fu Qingzhou licked his lips and said in a hoarse voice: "It should be more than forty taels."

"Forty, more than forty taels!"

Tang Jiao exclaimed in a low voice.

Although the protagonists of many novels and TV dramas with ancient backgrounds often spend hundreds or thousands of taels of silver, in fact, for most ordinary people, forty or fifty taels of silver is a considerable sum.

In ancient times, commerce was not developed and the degree of commodity circulation was low. The consumption level of most people was very low. Apart from food, clothing, housing and transportation, they had no expenses at all. Forty taels of silver was enough for some small town families to spend for several months or even half a year.

Just like Fu Qingzhou and Tang Jiao...the biggest sum of money they earned along the way was the fifty cents they earned from hunting rabbits.

Tang Jiao's eyes were full of joy: "Brother, how are we going to spend this money?"

"Have a good meal first!"

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Then let's go buy some new clothes each. Then, big brother, I will buy a good bow, and you will also change to a good sword... Oh, I also need to find a doctor to treat my wounds. After that, I will have a good sleep in the inn, and use the remaining money to buy a horse, and set off tomorrow!"

When it comes to meals, I can’t afford big fish and meat, but a few delicious and hot home-cooked side dishes will certainly fill my stomach.

I couldn't afford silk and satin clothes, but I could buy several sets of neat and clean cloth clothes.

There is no chance of finding any miracle doctor in the town to treat the wound, but it won’t cost much to find a decent clinic and have a doctor clean the wound thoroughly and prescribe some internal and external medicines.

In the inn, even if you can't afford the best room, you can still get two rooms with incense burning, clean bedding and no insects or ants.

In the end, Fu Qingzhou was troubled between weapons and horses... Forty taels was a lot in his hand, but it was spent very quickly.

The next morning, when the two were preparing to set off, Fu Qingzhou found that after yesterday's squandering, he only had less than five taels left...

“Isn’t this money being spent too quickly?”

He could not laugh or cry.

Horses are very expensive these days. Buying two horses that are not lame or old will cost almost five taels. Even if you only buy one, it will cost more than two taels.

As for weapons... the three taels of silver from Sanshui Village could only buy an iron bow and a long sword. If they wanted to get two slightly better weapons from the blacksmith shop, they wouldn't be able to buy a horse.

"Brother, how about buying a horse?"

Tang Jiao suggested, "My sword is still usable. This place is not that far from Langhuan Mountain. With a horse, we can get there quickly."

"That's okay too."

Fu Qingzhou smiled bitterly and sighed, "I won't buy the bow for now. I'll make one myself later... Oh, money is wasted."

After buying a horse and setting off on the road, the purse that had just been bulging yesterday was empty again in the blink of an eye.

But it was really different with horses... When the two healthy horses ran on the official road, their speed was comparable to that of a small motorcycle, and the breeze made Fu Qingzhou's mood much better.

After leaving Luotie Town, we passed Qingyang City at noon and arrived at Yu'nan City by dusk after traveling more than 200 miles.

This place is less than a hundred miles away from Langhuan Mountain. At this speed, we can arrive there tomorrow.

The two were exhausted after a day of running around, with only less than one or two taels of silver left in their pockets. After much thought, they could only eat something casually in the inn and get the most rudimentary room for the night.

South Chongqing City is adjacent to the world's largest river - Hongjiang River. It is extremely prosperous and is in no way inferior to Shudu City. The two men led their horses into the city and were immediately attracted by the countless gorgeous flower boats on Hongjiang River. Looking further away, they could even see the huge cargo ships parked at the dock.

"Dayan's economic level is quite high."

Fu Qingzhou said with emotion: "It has a bit of the flavor of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in TV dramas."

Neither the smoker nor Tang Jiao could understand what he said, and they knew that he would say some strange words from time to time, so they were too lazy to care.

However, the smoker was quite emotional about Hongjiang River: "I didn't expect that after hundreds of years, I would be able to see Hongjiang River again... Back then, those damn bastards chased me, and I killed countless people on this river for a whole day and night. The blood dyed the whole river red. What a glorious scene it was!"

Tang Jiao was looking at the flower boats in a daze.

Fu Qingzhou asked softly, "Do you think of the capital?"

"Ah."

Tang Jiao nodded slightly: "There is a big silk river in the capital, facing Baishi Street, and every night... it is the same scene."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Then let's walk around here for a while."

Tang Jiao hummed softly.

The two men led the horses to the riverside, looking at the night view of Hongjiang River, with the hustle and bustle of the bustling night market filling their ears.

After standing like this for a long time, a voice suddenly sounded in Fu Qingzhou's ears.

"It's you?!"

He was slightly startled, turned his head, and saw a strange face...but he recognized the clothes on the other person.

This is the clothes of Changqing Escort Agency.

This... is a bodyguard from the Changqing Escort Agency!
"I recognize you!" The escort's face changed drastically. He stepped forward and grabbed Fu Qingzhou by the collar, gritting his teeth and saying, "You and that... that person have caused us so much trouble! The chief escort is still lying on the sickbed!"

(End of this chapter)