His physiological preference

The old woman looked at her, her gaze calm and serene. "Buy it if you think it's worth it, don't buy it if you don't."

Yang Zhiyan looked at the brocade, then at the old woman. The old woman stood there, her back straight, her hands clasped in front of her, her posture unhurried.

She remembered what Teacher Mu had said: "Zhiyan, when making decisions, don't just look at the price, but whether the item is worth it. Good things are cheap even if they are a little expensive; bad things are expensive even if they are cheap."

"I'll buy them," Yang Zhiyan said. "Grandma Chen, how many do you have? I want them all."

The old lady looked at her and thought that this young girl was quite courageous.

How much do you want?

Yang Zhiyan gave the number that Teacher Mu wanted. The old lady turned around and rummaged through the wooden shelves for a while, taking down several rolls of cloth from different shelves and unfolding them one by one.

With cloud patterns, lotus scrolls, and butterflies among flowers, each piece is as exquisite as a work of art.

Yang Zhiyan examined and touched each horse one by one, confirmed its quality, and nodded.

"I'll take them all," she said.

The old woman rolled up the cloth, tied it with a rope, and set it aside. "How are you going to take it?"

"I'll hire a car then; the trunk should be big enough to fit it."

After paying the deposit, Yang Zhiyan inquired about where she could hire a car to go to S City.

The old lady gave Yang Zhiyan directions.

Before Yang Zhiyan could find a place, it started raining again.

By the time Yang Zhiyan found the place, the rain was getting heavier, and the driver said they couldn't leave that night. They could only leave tomorrow.

Helpless, Yang Zhiyan could only find a nearby guesthouse to stay in. Yunzhen is famous for its Yun brocade and is a quaint town that usually attracts many tourists.

The guesthouse owner was a woman in her forties surnamed Zhao, a local with tanned skin, a loud voice, and two small tiger teeth when she smiled.

Seeing Yang Zhiyan, she wasn't surprised at all. She peeked out from behind the counter and smiled at Yang Zhiyan.

"We can't go back, can we? I knew it, that road floods three to five times every rainy season. Let's stay here, let's stay here, and leave when the water recedes."

She arranged for Yang Zhiyan to stay in the innermost room on the second floor, with a window facing the small river behind.

The river has risen a lot and is almost overflowing the banks. The current is very rapid, swirling and pushing branches and debris washed down from upstream downstream.

Yang Zhiyan stood on the second-floor corridor of the guesthouse, looking at the rain lines in the courtyard.

Rainwater streamed down from the eaves, forming a curtain of water that fell onto the bluestone floor of the courtyard, splashing up a white mist.

The leaves of the loquat tree in the corner of the courtyard were pattering loudly from the rain, and its branches swayed back and forth in the wind.

After settling into her room, Yang Zhiyan made a phone call to Teacher Mu.

"Master, Yun Jin has been found, and the deposit has been paid." She stood by the window, watching the rain outside getting heavier and heavier.

"Okay." Teacher Mu's voice came from the other end, filled with pride. Her students were sure to get things done. "When will you be back?"

"It's raining heavily here, the roads are flooded, and we can't walk. It might take a few days."

As Yang Zhiyan spoke, she reached out and touched the windowpane. The glass was covered in water droplets, making the outside world blurry.

"Be careful," Teacher Mu said, pausing for a moment. "Zhiyan, don't take any risks. If the road is difficult to walk on, just wait a bit. There's no rush."

"Understood, Master." Yang Zhiyan hung up the phone and placed it on the bedside table.

She had just sat down when her phone rang again.

Qin Yuzheng. She answered the phone, and his voice came through the receiver, carrying a familiar low tone, but with a hint of worry than usual.

"I heard it's raining heavily where you are, and the roads are flooded?" Qin Yuzheng asked.

"Hmm," Yang Zhiyan leaned against the headboard, pulling the blanket up to her waist, "I guess it will be a couple of days before we can leave."

"Be careful," Qin Yuzheng said in a low voice, as if he were instructing a somewhat unreliable child. "Keep in touch. Call me every day."

"I understand." Yang Zhiyan smiled, and when she was being cared for, she became a little like a child.

After hanging up the phone, she lay in bed listening to the rain. The rain pattered on the tiles, on the leaves, and on the windowpane, each sound different, overlapping like a song without melody. She listened and eventually fell asleep.

The rain stopped the next day.

The sky was still overcast, with thick, grayish-white clouds, like a damp quilt covering the town.

But the rain did stop, and the water dripping from the eaves changed from lines to dots, and from dots to occasional drops.

Yang Zhiyan stood in the corridor and looked down. The water in the courtyard had receded most of its depth, revealing the bluestone slabs, which were still covered with a thin layer of water, sparkling like a layer of transparent glaze.

She sent Qin Yuzheng a message: "The rain has stopped, but the roads are still impassable. The people in town say we can only travel when the water recedes."

Qin Yuzheng replied with a single word: "Okay." Then he added: "Don't rush, safety first."

Yang Zhiyan put her phone away and went downstairs to find Sister Zhao, asking her if there were any good places to visit in town.

Sister Zhao was hanging bed sheets in the yard. When she heard her question, she shook the wrung-out bed sheets in her hands, draped them over the clothesline, and patted the water off her hands.

"Go east in town, there's an old street there, selling everything from brocade to fans to food. Since you're already here, why not take a look?"

Yang Zhiyan was amused by the phrase "Since you're already here," and went out.

The old street of Yunzhen is located on the east side of the town, winding along the riverbank.

The road surface was paved with bluestone slabs, which were washed clean by the rain. Fine moss grew in the cracks between the slabs, making it a bit slippery to walk on.

The houses on both sides are old-fashioned, with white walls, black tiles, and wooden doors and windows. Some have red lanterns hanging at the door, while others have faded New Year pictures pasted on the door panels.

There weren't many people on the street, just a few here and there. There were tourists taking pictures with their cameras, elderly people dozing off at their doorsteps, and children squatting on the ground playing with their dogs.

Yang Zhiyan strolled slowly along the old street, looking at each shop one by one.

There was a shop selling Nanjing brocade. At the entrance hung bolts of brightly colored Nanjing brocade: the red was passionate, the blue was serene, and the green was elegant, all swaying gently in the breeze.

She went in to take a look, and found that the quality was so-so, not comparable to the batch she had bought from Grandma Chen.

But there were also some nice things. She bought two brocade scarves, one dark blue with silver patterns, which she planned to give to Jiang Siya; and one light pink with white flowers, which she planned to give to her aunt.

When she paid, the shop owner, a man in his forties, saw that she had bought two and gave her a smaller one for free, saying, "Buy two get one free, young lady, you're pretty, so I'll give you an extra one."

Yang Zhiyan smiled as she took it, folded it neatly, and put it in her bag.

She browsed a few more shops and bought a box of local osmanthus cakes and two handmade round fans with orchids and bamboo painted on the surface. The paintings were exquisite, and she liked them very much.

Yang Zhiyan put her things into her bag, sat down on a stone bench by the river, and watched the water birds on the river.

An egret stood motionless in the shallow water, like a sculpture. Suddenly, it lowered its head, scooped up a small fish from the water, and with a flick of its neck, the fish disappeared into the water.

Yang Zhiyan looked at the egret and thought to herself, "The pace of life here is really slow."

Yang Zhiyan shared the beautiful scenery with Qin Yuzheng, who said they could travel together next time.