Age: My Small World

(The previous chapter and this chapter are combined into one, four thousand words)

Before they knew it, the group had been at the base for a full two weeks.

After the three of them interrogated each other, Yang Jun's repeated mental perception confirmed that there were no more spies hiding here.

Well, if there's anything else, then Yang Jun really doesn't know what to say.

"Director Qi, we have fulfilled our mission."

In that same unfinished office, the four of them sat together and drank tea one last time.

Because the water supply has been fully restored in the last few days, there is no shortage of water.

The tea wasn't anything special either. According to Qi Changyu, it was wild tea grown by villagers in a nearby village. He was too lazy to go to the city to buy it, so he simply traded some with the villagers. As a result, he found that it was actually quite good.

"I really have to thank you all this time. If it weren't for you, that person wouldn't have jumped out like that."

"Hehe, I feel like he's more like he's desperate. Whether we come or not, he definitely won't be able to escape under the strict investigation. It's just a matter of time."

Yang Jun shook his head.

Don't underestimate the people in this base. Almost everyone here is an elite. Their screening process is extremely strict. It's lucky if even one person slips through the net. If there's another one, Qi Changyu himself will have to reflect on his actions for a long time.

"Anyway, thank you for your help. Next time I have the chance to go back to the capital, I will definitely treat you to a meal or something. It's not convenient here, so I won't make any more promises."

Qi Changyu spoke with considerable emotion.

In fact, given his authority, speaking to the three of them like that was already quite polite. Although he was only the director of this base, his actual authority was not much different from Zhu Yong's.

It should be noted that Zhu Yong was a leader directly under the department.

"Alright, I know you have special identities and your mission is urgent, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll have someone take you into the city later."

"Okay, thank you, Director Qi."

"It's all as it should be."

After chatting, he issued certificates to the group, and then the three of them left.

It was the same driver who took them into the city last time.

With the car empty, the driver instantly became less nervous. Who would care about an empty car? So he talked a lot more along the way and was quite cheerful.

They seemed to understand the special status of Yang Jun and the other two, so they never asked any sensitive questions.

After a bumpy ride, we finally arrived at the guesthouse again in the evening.

"I'll leave you here. If you need anything else, just contact the same contact person as last time."

Sure enough, the person who had picked them up to stay at the guesthouse appeared again.

After Yang Jun pressed him for details, he learned that the man was actually one of the staff members at the office in Jiangcheng.

The city of Jiang is very large, and espionage activities are particularly rampant, making this one of the most important branches of the office.

The incident at the base last time caused the Jiangcheng office to lose face. They originally wanted to find the person themselves, but Qi Changyu couldn't wait and sent the message to the Beijing headquarters. Helpless, they could only act as a liaison, but they still kept an eye on the base's operations.

The speed of Yang Jun and his team also greatly shocked the Jiangcheng branch; they had only been there a short time, yet they had already found the person.

"Are there many staff members at the office in Jiangcheng?" Yang Jun asked Sun Buyong.

The three of them shared a room in the guesthouse.

After all, they had to be careful about everything that might happen, so the three of them took turns sleeping.

Sun shook his head: "I'm not too sure about that, but I've heard that the number of people here is no less than in the capital."

"That's quite a lot."

It's important to know that the capital city is the most important headquarters of the office, so it naturally has the most staff. However, the staffing in Jiangcheng is not much different from that in the capital city, which shows that Zhu Yong, no, the higher-ups really value this place.

"You guys go to sleep first, I'll keep watch for the first half of the night."

Wei Ye addressed the two of them.

Generally speaking, the first half of the night is the best time to guard, but it is also not the best time, because the most problems actually occur in the first half of the night, rather than in the second half of the night when people are most tired.

If something really happens in the middle of the night, the person will be wide awake when they wake up.

“Okay, then call me later.” Yang Jun nodded.

"Then I can get a good night's sleep." Sun chuckled and wrapped himself in the sheet, falling fast asleep.

Upon seeing this, Wei Ye walked directly to a table and sat down.

Nothing happened overnight.

Yang Jun got up very early in the morning.

He said to Sun Buyong, who was still a little sleepy, "You two wait for me at the guesthouse. I'm going out for a walk and will be back in an hour."

Sun's brow twitched: "You're going out alone?"

"Yes, I'll be quick."

"But..." He was a little worried. After all, what could a person do in an unfamiliar border city? What exactly was this guy planning to do?

Of course, he had no idea that Yang Jun was thinking of trying his luck, hoping to find some jade or something on the street.

There is a lot of jade in Jiangcheng. Even if he can get a batch of jade in a very rare case, he will be satisfied. He probably won't have many opportunities to come here again in the future.

"Don't worry, just think of it as me going out for breakfast."

"Then why don't you bring me some?"

Yang Jun's lips twitched: "Okay."

It's impossible to get to the point with this guy.

Sun chuckled, "Heh, now I can get another free breakfast."

"Wei Ye will tell her when she gets up later, so she won't worry."

"Don't worry, she won't worry about you."

Sun Bubu shrugged. Ever since Wei Ye had confirmed Yang Jun's strength multiple times, he had indeed become somewhat blindly confident in Yang Jun.

This is probably a kind of recognition of the strong.

Anyway, Sun didn't feel that it was the same as him clinging to a powerful figure; Wei Ye had simply transformed this into a form of respect for the strong.

Yang Jun didn't bother to say anything more to him and simply pushed open the door and walked out.

Upon hearing the sound, Wei Ye abruptly opened his eyes.

She was no weak girl to have gotten into the office; she was extremely vigilant.

After leaving the guesthouse, Yang Jun followed the flow of people towards the most bustling area.

Although Jiangcheng wasn't yet highly developed, it was undeniably bustling. After all, it was the largest city in the entire Northwest, and many people had no choice but to travel there. The breakfast stalls everywhere dazzled Yang Jun; if it weren't for the lack of substantial support, he probably would have seen even more.

Yang Jun picked out a bakery and ordered a hundred of them, so he could keep the rest to eat on the train.

Buying steamed buns doesn't require meat coupons or grain coupons, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to come up with so many coupons, because the trip was so sudden that there wasn't time to exchange them.

After buying the steamed buns, he ate them as he walked to a rather lively place.

"Huh? Is this a place that sells poultry?"

Hearing the crowing of chickens and the sounds of ducks and geese, he made a guess.

After walking a few more steps, you can indeed see chickens and ducks on both sides, their feet tied with straw ropes, unable to move.

As for cages, there aren't any.

The area around the city lacked bamboo forests and vines, so the raw materials for making cages were mostly tough tree bark ropes. However, such tree bark was limited, and it was impossible for everyone to waste it, so no one used it to make useless cages or the like.

Despite the prosperity, there weren't many people trading goods on either side; most still relied on bartering, and the hard currency was still grain.

At this time of year, if you carry some corn or potatoes on your back, you can exchange them for something to take home.

Similar scenarios were even used in remote rural areas in the early 21st century, and it was only after the domestic economy became more and more prosperous that barter trade was finally eliminated.

Suddenly, his eyes turned to a corner.

There, an old man was hiding his belongings behind him, as if he didn't want to sell them.

There was a reason why Yang Jun looked this way.

He walked straight over and asked in fluent Mandarin, "Sir, are you selling this fox?"

Yes, the old man was selling foxes, specifically sand foxes unique to the area around Jiangcheng, which looked like small wolfhounds.

The old man responded with gestures and mumbled in the local dialect of Jiangcheng.

Yang Jun was now at a loss, because he didn't know the Jiangcheng dialect at all, and there wasn't enough time to learn it on the spot.

Fortunately, a young man wearing a light blue coat walked over at that moment. He smiled and said, "Comrade, the old man said that he only wants to exchange his fox for food, not sell it."

"Thank you, I see."

Yang Jun looked at him gratefully, never expecting to meet such a kind-hearted person.

The young man continued, "You don't look like a local, do you? You can't raise a fox even if you buy one and take it home. These things don't recognize their home and can't be tamed."

He shook his head, seemingly not optimistic about anyone raising foxes. He thought it would be more appropriate to bring them back to eat, but who would like to eat fox meat with its strong, fishy smell? The only use for the fox pelt was the fox skin itself.

"Hehe, comrade, could you please help me and the old man ask about the price? I'm not incapable of finding a way to get the grain." Yang Jun didn't directly answer the young man's question, but instead changed the subject.

The young man was somewhat taken aback: "You really want to buy it?"

This kind of thing is naturally very common to buy and sell now, but it can't be done openly, otherwise the seller will be accused of speculation.

Of course, what the young people were interested in wasn't that, but rather that Yang Jun actually wanted to buy it.

You should know that these foxes aren't cheap.

Seeing Yang Jun's insistence, he had no choice but to communicate with the old man in dialect.

After about three or four minutes, the two finally reached an agreement.

The young man turned around and made a five-point gesture to Yang Jun: "Old man, you need fifty catties of cornmeal."

"You might as well not take it. This little thing won't even weigh three or four pounds if you skin it alive, and the meat will be sour and fishy, ​​so you can't eat it."

The young man's advice made Yang Jun nod. Just when he thought Yang Jun had changed his mind, he said, "Thank you, comrade, but I really need this little fox."

He had no shortage of fifty catties of grain, but the small world lacked this species.

Yang Jun's passion for collecting species never stops.

The young man finally shook his head: "Forget it, if you want to buy it, go get fifty catties of cornmeal. I'll tell the uncle to wait for you."

"Thank you so much."

Yang Jun was indeed very grateful to him, as he had saved him a lot of trouble. Otherwise, the deal might have gone through, but it would have involved a lot of scheming and manipulation.

It's similar to a Chinese person who doesn't speak a foreign language ordering food abroad; the other person can understand them through body language, but the process is rather agonizing for the two people involved.

"By the way, my name is Yang Jun. I'll treat you to a meal if you ever come to Beijing."

"My name is Shen Fei. I didn't expect you to be from Beijing, comrade." The young man was somewhat surprised.

"Okay, it's a deal then. If I come to the capital, I'll definitely come to eat this meal with you."

"Hehe, don't worry, would I go back on my word? If I weren't busy later, I could go have dinner with you right now."

After Yang Jun finished speaking, he went to prepare the food.

The young man could only bid farewell in a hurry. He had come to buy chickens and his communication with the vendors was much smoother than Yang Jun's, so he finished buying his things in no time.

Looking at his back, Yang Jun felt that Shen Fei's identity must be extraordinary. Not only was he eloquent, but the strong scholarly air about him was something that could not have been cultivated in the environment of Jiangcheng. He was probably here to work.

Yang Jun carried fifty jin of cornmeal back with him after just one trip to the market.

Just in case, he carried two bags, weighing a full 100 pounds, so that if he needed to exchange anything overseas, he wouldn't have to go out and come back.

Not many people are interested in the old man's fox. After all, people are not very interested in such pretty but useless little things. You can't eat them, and they're relatively expensive. What's the point of buying them?
The old man thought Yang Jun wouldn't come back, but when he saw him appear in front of him carrying two big bags, his cloudy eyes suddenly brightened.

He said a few words hastily, then pointed to his fox and Yang Jun's bag, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Yang Jun nodded. Since it was agreed upon, then the deal could proceed.

After he handed over the bag, the old man readily gave him the little fox.

The little creature must have been captured for a few days, as it looked rather listless. Just as Yang Jun was thinking of feeding it some spiritual water, he noticed the old man in front of him gesturing wildly again.

After a while, he roughly understood.

"You mean you still have foxes?"

Despite the language barrier, the old man nodded.

Yang Jun was delighted, then pointed to another bag of grain: "I'll take all the foxes, and you won't be shortchanged on grain."

Ultimately, with the two unable to communicate clearly, the deal was expanded again.

This time, it wasn't Yang Jun who went to get the grain; instead, the old man led him out of the market.

The two walked one after the other for a long time before Yang Jun realized that they had arrived at a remote village.

Although the city is large, it is mostly comprised of scattered villages. There is still a long way to go before these villages can be developed into part of the city.

The old man's house wasn't too dilapidated; at least the house looked clean, and there were a few bunches of grapes hanging in the yard. If we waited another two months, we might be able to enjoy the sweet and delicious Jiangcheng grapes.

Several children peeked at Yang Jun, this stranger, from the doorway, quite curious about his typical Han Chinese features. (End of Chapter)