Chapter 318
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Zhang Xiaohua smiled faintly, only now realizing that the scalding teacup in his hand had already grown cold. The noonday sun had long since passed its peak, and his body, once bathed in sunlight, was slowly shifting into the shade.
Had so much time passed during that fleeting, drifting moment just now?!
Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but furrow his brow. In his perception, it had only been a few breaths. The sensation was truly mysterious.
As he carefully savored that enigmatic feeling, a sense of clarity slowly emerged in his heart—vague, indescribable. Then, a thought stirred within him, and he silently checked the progress of his cultivation. Sure enough, the stagnated state of his Heart Sutra had begun to loosen. It seemed he had caught a glimpse of the dawn of the sixth level.
A deep feeling of emotion rose in Zhang Xiaohua’s heart. In the past, he had to painstakingly absorb the Yuan Qi from yuan stones just to make the slightest bit of progress. Yet just now, in the span of a few breaths, his cultivation, which no amount of Qi could budge, had taken a solid step forward. It seemed the method of cultivation in the mid-stage of the Qi Refining realm was indeed different from the early stages.
Thinking back on what had just occurred, Zhang Xiaohua still felt a lingering sense of fear. He wasn’t sure whether the experience had been a blessing or a misfortune. All he knew was—if Ji Xiaohua had called out to him even a little later, perhaps his consciousness truly would have soared off to the nine heavens, never to return.
Calamity is where fortune rests;
Fortune is where calamity hides!
Looking at Ji Xiaohua’s childish yet anxious face, Zhang Xiaohua was filled with emotion. He had merely come to Songning Town to scout out the path home, yet had encountered this child with the same name as himself, and so many things had already happened. His state of mind had grown, and his cultivation had advanced—these were real, tangible gains. All of this, somehow, was inseparably tied to Ji Xiaohua.
But what could he do for the child?
Though he could refine pills, he only had a pile of Fasting Pills—none of the life-saving immortal pills or medicinal pellets that could cure illness. Though he cultivated the Dao, all he knew were techniques meant for killing. So then—what exactly could he offer the boy?
Just as he was lost in thought, Ji Xiaohua called again: “Young master, are you alright?”
Zhang Xiaohua smiled and replied: “How could anything be wrong? I’m perfectly fine. Just fine.”
Then he called out: “Waiter! Bring a few plates of pastries.”
“Right away!” The waiter responded cheerfully from afar.
But in his heart, he muttered, “This guy’s definitely faking it. Held onto a cup of tea all noon without taking a sip, just to avoid ordering snacks. Now that his companion’s arrived, he finally dares to ask for something—heh, I’ve seen plenty like him.”
Zhang Xiaohua gestured to a stool and said: “Ji Xiaohua, have a seat. You look exhausted. Drink some water first, and we’ll have pastries in a bit.”
With that, he lifted the teapot and poured water for Ji Xiaohua.
How would Ji Xiaohua dare to sit? He hurried to take the teapot and pour instead. But Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “You should let me do it. This cup of tea is to thank you.”
Ji Xiaohua hesitated and fidgeted, saying: “Young master, there’s no need to be polite. Didn’t you say you wanted me to help you out?”
Zhang Xiaohua reached out and gave his shoulder a light pat, motioning for him to sit down. Then he placed the filled cup in front of him and said: “I’m thanking you for something else.”
“Huh?” Ji Xiaohua was surprised. “Young master, how are you so amazing—you already know?”
Zhang Xiaohua blinked. “Know what?”
“You mean that’s not what you were talking about?” Ji Xiaohua said as he carefully pulled out a folded piece of white cloth from inside his clothes.
“What’s this?” Zhang Xiaohua asked.
“So you really didn’t know?”
“Know what? How could I possibly know? If you don’t tell me, of course I won’t know. Only when you say it will I know!” Zhang Xiaohua was in a very good mood and bantered playfully with him.
At that moment, the waiter arrived with a tray of fragrant, steaming pastries. Zhang Xiaohua pointed at them and said: “This is also to thank you. Eat up—don’t hold back.”
Ji Xiaohua stuck out his tongue and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then said: “Thank you, young master. But you should take a look at this first.”
Zhang Xiaohua accepted the white cloth, unfolded it, and saw the three large characters “Songning Town” written in the upper right corner. In the lower left were “Pingyang City” and “Lu Town.” Between these names were several others, all connected by crisscrossing lines. Could this be a route map from Songning Town to Lu Town and Pingyang City?
Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s surprised expression, Ji Xiaohua looked immensely pleased with himself. While stuffing a pastry into his mouth, he said: “Young master, that Pingyang City you mentioned really isn’t close at all. I asked quite a few people, and everyone gave different directions. But this route here is what most of them agreed on. And as for that Lu Town—what a coincidence. Someone once went there to buy silk floss, and that’s how I learned about it.”
“Silk floss? I didn’t know Lu Town produced silk floss.”
“Heehee, it’s fake silk floss, young master.”
“Oh, I see.”
Then Ji Xiaohua added: “Originally, I could have come back sooner. But I figured, if I just told you by mouth, you might forget it later. I thought about drawing it myself—but what I came up with looked like a cat had clawed at it. So, I had no choice but to hire a street painter to draw it properly.”
He then took a fierce bite out of a crispy pastry and grumbled: “That guy even used the chance to raise the price—charged me three wen coins! More expensive than a New Year’s woodblock print! Oh, and young master, those three wen came out of my own pocket—you don’t have to worry about it. I didn’t manage to buy the horse earlier, made you waste a trip for nothing, I felt really bad about it.”
Zhang Xiaohua listened with great interest.
“Hehe, if you really paid for it yourself, why bother telling me how much it cost? This kid’s got a clever little mind—better than I was at his age.”
However, looking at the detailed routes drawn on that white cloth, how could Zhang Xiaohua care about that little scheming? He simply took it as cleverness.
There were quite a few routes on the cloth, but Zhang Xiaohua only glanced at it and already had a clear understanding, firmly imprinting it in his mind. Still, he carefully folded the cloth and tucked it into his robe.
Seeing this, Ji Xiaohua smiled even more brightly—it was as if all his efforts had been rewarded in full.
After eating about half the pastries, Ji Xiaohua stopped. Zhang Xiaohua asked in surprise: “It’s already noon—just this much is enough for you?”
“It’s enough, it’s enough. I’m small, my belly’s small—already full a while ago.”
“Mm, alright then. Once you’re full, come along with me to take care of a few more things.”
With that, Zhang Xiaohua stood up to leave.
At that moment, Ji Xiaohua asked softly: “Young master, the leftover pastries… could I, um, take them with me?”
Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback, then quickly said: “Of course you can.”
Ji Xiaohua immediately pulled out a handkerchief from inside his clothes—laundered until it was spotless—and carefully wrapped up the remaining pastries, tucking them into his bosom.
Zhang Xiaohua smiled without saying a word and asked the waiter to settle the bill.
Once they stepped outside, Ji Xiaohua asked: “Young master, where are we heading next?”
“To the money house!”
Unlike Lu Town, Songning Town was close to a seaport, with a very prosperous commercial sector. There were several money houses here, and Zhang Xiaohua wasn’t particular—he just asked Ji Xiaohua to find the nearest one.
The front of this money house wasn’t very large, and the customer flow was sparse, which suited Zhang Xiaohua just fine.
Unlike other places, money houses didn’t have shop attendants to greet customers. Instead, there was a tall counter, and that was it. It was Zhang Xiaohua’s first time in such a place. Seeing Ji Xiaohua also poking his head about, glancing left and right, it was clear it was his first time too.
Zhang Xiaohua looked at the stern-faced old gentleman behind the counter, then pulled out a silver note from his robe and passed it over. The elderly gentleman, his beard already white, took it without a word, unfolded it—and immediately frowned. Of course—most customers who came to a money house either exchanged a large amount of silver for a note, for ease of carrying, or brought a note to exchange for silver. In both cases, the money house took a cut. It only made sense for larger amounts. Although this money house was small, most of the notes this old gentleman had seen were in the hundreds or thousands. Where had he ever seen a note like this—only five taels!!!
I mean, it was only five taels to begin with—but even that wouldn’t have mattered, if only the silver note had been issued by this very money house!
Normally, if it wasn’t one of their own notes, the old gentleman could have refused the exchange altogether. But of all things, this particular note came from a fairly large money house—its main branch might’ve been far away, but it had a partnership with this one. That meant he had to exchange it—and couldn’t even take a larger cut!
The old gentleman pondered for a moment, then processed some standard formalities with Zhang Xiaohua and placed a five-tael silver ingot on the counter. Just as Zhang Xiaohua was about to speak, the old gentleman preempted him, saying: “I’ll need to collect one qian of silver as the handling fee.”
“One qian of silver? A fee?” Zhang Xiaohua was stunned. “I gave you a silver note and you give me silver in return—why would I be paying you a fee?”
The old gentleman sighed. Seeing as there weren’t many customers in the money house at the moment, he patiently explained the details. After receiving that basic crash course in finance, Zhang Xiaohua suddenly saw the light—sure, silver notes were convenient to carry, but the price of convenience was no joke!
“Sigh…” Zhang Xiaohua let out a breath. He did have a stash of gold in his purse, but now was definitely not the time to pull those out. Left with no other option, he had to grit his teeth and let the money house skin him alive.
With a smile, Zhang Xiaohua said to the old gentleman: “Esteemed elder, just in time—I’d actually like to break this five-tael ingot into qian-sized bits. Would that be alright? Oh, and there’s no extra charge for that, right?”
The old gentleman glanced sideways at him and replied: “There’s no fee for that. Shall I take the one qian fee directly from the broken change, then?”
Zhang Xiaohua gave a thumbs-up and said: “Elder, brilliant thinking—that’s exactly what I meant.”
The old gentleman was a little pleased at the straightforward flattery, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he replied: “I’ve been sitting behind this counter for decades—what kind of person, what kind of trick haven’t I seen? You just lift your foot, and I already know what kind of shit you’re planning to drop.”
Before Zhang Xiaohua could reply, Ji Xiaohua beside him couldn’t help letting out a giggle.
Zhang Xiaohua turned to shoot Ji Xiaohua a glare, not daring to say another word for fear the old man would throw out another “pleasant” turn of phrase.
When the old gentleman finished placing the scattered silver pieces on the counter, Zhang Xiaohua smiled again and asked: “Elder, if I were to now exchange this silver into another denomination, like copper coins—would that still be free of charge?”
The old gentleman paused and said: “Any time a silver note is exchanged into hard currency—whether silver or copper—the fee is charged only once. Why do you ask?”
In that instant, an ominous feeling rose in the old man’s heart.
Sure enough, Zhang Xiaohua waved his hand and cheerfully declared: “Perfect! Please exchange all five taels into copper coins!”
Ps: (From the author) Next chapter’s exchange rate between silver and copper might be a bit off—please don’t mind it, okay?
