Chapter 21: First Visit to Town, and the Proprietor of Spring Breeze House Takes Notice

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“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Benben was barking loudly outside.

Clearly, the commotion had been loud enough to wake even Benben.

The moment Chu Feng rushed out, he remembered to grab the ax resting by the door.

Outside, the snow still cast everything in a shimmering white glow.

He raised his head and looked, but there was nothing on the roof.

Chu Feng moved over a ladder and climbed onto the woodshed.

The animal trap had already snapped shut.

The meat that had been placed on it had vanished.

Clearly, some wild beast had carried it away.

As for what kind of beast it was—

Looking at the plum-blossom-shaped footprints on the roof, Chu Feng let out a cold laugh.

“You damned beast! You got lucky this time.”

He fastened the doors and windows shut, then carried Benben from the woodshed into the room where they slept.

Only then did Chu Feng return to bed and fall asleep.

Before dawn the next morning, Chu Feng opened his eyes.

Today was market day.

Zhou Xiaoxiao rose with him and helped him prepare everything.

There were fifty pounds of pork left in total, ten of which they kept for themselves.

He also cut up forty pounds of mutton.

Eighty pounds altogether, which Chu Feng hoisted onto his shoulders.

Step by step, he made his way to the village entrance.

Zhao Yuxiang was already waiting there.

“Brother Zhao, let’s go.”

Chu Feng tossed the goods onto the handcart and spoke to Zhao Yuxiang.

When Zhao Yuxiang saw so much meat and the two large hides, his mouth nearly fell open.

“Damn, everyone says your hunting depends on luck, but with this much meat, how can you call that luck?”

Could anyone possibly hunt this much meat by relying on luck alone?

Zhao Yuxiang had helped Chu Feng before.

While drinking meat soup, he had even speculated with the others about how large the pig and sheep Chu Feng had hunted must have been.

Now it seemed they had certainly been enormous.

“How are you so good at this?”

Faced with the praise, Chu Feng merely smiled and said nothing.

Every village had a handcart.

Under ordinary circumstances, the cart was kept at the village chief’s home.

Anyone who wished to use it had to ask the village chief for permission.

Zhao Yuxiang went to the town almost every few days.

After all, the village needed to exchange goods with the outside world.

Jade Dragon Village itself fell under the jurisdiction of Snow Ridge Town.

Snow Ridge Town also administered two other villages: Peach Blossom Village and Westflow Village.

Together with Jade Dragon Village and Snow Ridge Town, they formed the population center at the foot of Jade Dragon Mountain.

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Ahead of Snow Ridge Town stood another city, one of the largest in the surrounding region.

The three villages and one town all fell under the jurisdiction of that city, Snowiron City.

Beyond Snowiron City lay the border with the Great Xia Empire.

It was also where the conflict between the two nations was most severe.

All these places lay close to the Jade Dragon Mountains.

Whether it was the Great Qian or the Great Xia, neither side had yet determined who truly owned the Jade Dragon Mountains.

That was why friction between the two countries never ceased.

But to ordinary people, even these minor clashes were enough to leave the residents of one town and three villages without food.

“Fighting every day, always fighting. Why doesn’t that imperial father of his go to the front line himself?” Zhao Yuxiang said indignantly.

“Brother Zhao, watch what you say,” someone warned him.

The villagers heading to town today included more than just Zhao Yuxiang and Chu Feng.

Some were strangers to Chu Feng, while others were people he had seen only once or twice.

Two of them had also gone into the mountains with Chu Feng the day before.

They were heading to town for all sorts of reasons.

Some wanted to buy supplies, some wanted to sell their goods, and others simply wanted to visit the town and have a look around.

Since Chu Feng had visited the town just the day before, he was no longer particularly curious about Snow Ridge Town.

He followed Zhao Yuxiang to the marketplace.

Although war had become frequent and life had grown much harder for the common people, the market remained as bustling as ever.

It was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

More than once, Zhao Yuxiang reminded Chu Feng to guard his valuables carefully.

The meat in particular had to be wrapped tightly in burlap sacks. Before they entered the town, they absolutely could not let anyone see it.

There were no refugees around the town yet, but it was best to take precautions.

After entering the town, they found an empty patch of ground.

They placed the meat and hides on a rack and waited for buyers.

Chu Feng had assumed it would be difficult to sell everything.

After all, during wartime, most people had little money in their hands.

But to his surprise, they had been there for barely fifteen minutes when a man who looked like a shopkeeper approached him.

“Young brother, is this pork and mutton?”

“That’s right. Do you want to buy it?” Chu Feng asked directly.

“Buy it? Of course! I’m from Spring Breeze Pavilion. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take all this meat.”

Chu Feng was momentarily stunned.

He had not expected the goods to sell so easily.

They had barely arrived before someone came to buy them.

“Brother Zhao, I’ll go with him. Wait here for me,” Chu Feng said.

He then carried the pork and mutton and followed the shopkeeper from Spring Breeze Pavilion.

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As they walked, Chu Feng asked curiously, “Shouldn’t your restaurant have a partnership with a slaughterhouse? Why buy from a small-time seller like me?”

“A slaughterhouse? Where would we find one these days? Every scrap of food in town is being sent to the front line. The government can’t even pay the soldiers’ wages. If they stop providing food as well, who would still be willing to fight for them?”

Chu Feng nodded, understanding at once.

Although there was a war raging at the front, the town itself had not been affected very much.

Apart from having somewhat fewer people, the restaurants were still filled with wealthy merchants.

The brothels were still crowded with men reluctant to leave.

The madams’ eyes swept over every passerby like radar. Whenever they spotted someone who looked well-off, they rushed forward and tried to drag him inside.

This was what a true ancient town looked like.

As for luxury, there was not much of that to speak of.

Even the capital of Great Qian did not seem particularly splendid in Chu Feng’s eyes.

Before long, the two arrived at Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Spring Breeze Pavilion was a respectable restaurant, and it appeared to be fairly upscale.

Snowiron City was hardly a famous city, yet the small town under its jurisdiction was full of music, dancing, and revelry.

The villagers were paying their grain taxes until they could barely feed themselves, with many on the verge of starvation.

Inside Spring Breeze Pavilion, however, guests drank and feasted while discussing major deals worth hundreds of taels of silver.

The shopkeeper went inside and returned with some copper coins.

“It’s wild boar, right? I’ll give you five copper coins per pound for the pork and six per pound for the mutton. You have forty pounds of pork and forty pounds of mutton. That comes to four hundred and forty copper coins. That number doesn’t sound very auspicious, so let’s make it four hundred and fifty. How does that sound?”

That was roughly half a tael of silver, which counted as a considerable sum.

Before coming, Chu Feng had made some inquiries. The shopkeeper’s offer was fair and close to the market price.

He agreed.

“Fine. We have a deal.”

Four hundred and fifty copper coins was enough to count as a modest savings in the village.

Just as Chu Feng was about to leave, the shopkeeper of Spring Breeze Pavilion called him back.

“Young brother, are you able to hunt in the mountains?”

“That’s right. I’m a mountain ranger,” Chu Feng replied.

“Oh, then that’s wonderful! If you find any good ingredients in the future, you can bring them straight to me.”

Spring Breeze Pavilion had a steady stream of customers, but the restaurant was running short of ingredients.

That was why the shopkeeper had bought Chu Feng’s meat without hesitation.

Chu Feng naturally accepted the man’s goodwill.

“By the way, young brother, since you can enter the mountains, could you help me catch a few things? Master Tian’s birthday celebration is coming up in a few days. We need oil toads and crayfish for the banquet, or the feast won’t be complete. But both are rare delicacies. If you can catch them, I’ll pay ten copper coins per toad and two copper coins per crayfish!”

“You’re serious?” Chu Feng’s eyes immediately lit up.

“You’ll buy as many as I can catch?”

“Bring me a hundred or even a thousand—I can take them all, provided you have the ability! My name is Liu Wenliang, and this Spring Breeze Pavilion belongs to me. I stand by my word.”

Liu Wenliang thumped his chest as he spoke.

“Then it’s a deal, Manager Liu. See you next time.”