Chapter 9: Selling Knives at a Stall and Being Scammed Wuheng Town, one of the seven towns in Wu County of Tiancang State, is a small town with hundreds of households located in the easternmost part of the country. Although this town is small, its strategic location is extremely important. Seventy miles west of here you can reach the border and enter another neighboring country. And most importantly, this town is famous for its ironware. Most of the weapons, such as swords, halberds, catapults, and transportation equipment, are produced here. Therefore, every time there is a market, this place is bound to be crowded with people and bustling. Gu Chan and Zhang Wanshan got up early in the morning, so when they arrived at the town market, the sun had just risen from the east. The market is a long street that is hundreds of meters long. There are many stalls of various kinds on both sides of the street, including snack stalls, ironware stalls, herb stalls, furniture stalls, etc. As soon as people walk in, they can feel a good atmosphere of fireworks. Behind the various stalls are two rows of houses, and each house has a shop on the first floor. Speaking of these shops, Gu Chan was really dazzled. She followed Zhang Wanshan as he walked along the streets of the market, constantly turning her head to look at the shops on both sides. She discovered that there was everything here, including pawnshops, wine shops, rice shops, salt shops, etc. What made her feel most shy were the green shops lining both sides of the market.
Different from the brothels in ancient China, the Tiancang Kingdom called this kind of entertainment venue "Qingpu". There is no need to say much about the women here. They are all dressed in revealing clothes and look very seductive and eye-catching. Zhang Wanshan walked for a while and noticed that Gu Chan's eyes were not right. He quickly reached out and pulled her over and said, "Lust is a knife above your head. You are still young, don't be blinded by beauty. We are a poor family and can't afford to go to Qingpu to have fun. When you grow up and make money, grandpa will help you find a wife in the village." "..."Gu Chan. grandfather! I am a woman, a woman! I can be someone else's wife, but it's probably not realistic for me to marry a wife myself. At this moment, Gu Chan really wanted to tell Zhang Wanshan these words, but in the end she held back. The two of them walked forward in silence for a while until they saw an empty stall on the right hand side in front of the market. Then they stopped, occupied the stall, and began to take out the knives from the backpacks and put them on the ground to sell. While waiting for customers to come, Gu Chan looked to both sides. To the left of their stall was a herb stall with various kinds of herbs on the stall, but they were all ordinary herbs, not as precious as the spiritual herb Bauhinia Blood Red Grass hidden in her arms. To the right of their stall was their colleague, an old woman and a boy about ten years old, selling knives. Normally, people in the same industry would be jealous of each other when they met, but it seemed that the old woman and Zhang Wanshan were quite familiar with each other, and they soon started chatting. Zhang Wanshan said, "Old lady, look at my adopted grandson. He is handsome and talented. He is much more lovable than your grandson." The old woman rolled her eyes at Gu Chan and said sourly, "Tsk! Look at his skinny arms and legs, how can he compare to my grandson? You old man, you should think about how to sell the knife to pay the head tax today!" "I fight with a knife much better than you do, so you should just worry about yourself!" "I'm telling you, I heard that you and your grandson have offended someone, and you won't be able to sell a single knife today." The old woman laughed and suddenly said this. Zhang Wanshan's face turned pale on the spot, and he looked at Gu Chan with an anxious expression. His mood instantly fell to the bottom. Gu Chan comforted him softly, "Don't worry, Grandpa. We will sell them slowly. As long as our knives are of good quality, we won't be afraid that no one will buy them."
"I hope so!" Zhang Wanshan sighed with a bitter face. Then the two of them sat by the stall and waited. Bored, Gu Chan looked at the middle-aged man sitting behind the herb stall on the left, "Brother, how much are you selling these herbs for?" "Why do you want to buy it?" The big man looked curious. Gu Chan laughed, "I'm just curious, if herbs can make money, I want to dig herbs and sell them in the future." "Ordinary herbs are not expensive nowadays, and only high-grade herbs can be sold at a good price." "What are the grades of herbs?" "The ones I sell are common herbs. The ones above them are mysterious herbs, spiritual herbs, fairy herbs and magic herbs. If you are lucky enough to come across a magic herb, then you won't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of your life." The big man explained in a simple and honest manner. Gu Chan nodded secretly after listening to this. Only then did she understand that the medicinal herbs in this world were divided into five levels. The lowest level common herbs were worthless, while the highest level magical herbs were priceless. So now comes the problem! According to the big man, higher-grade herbs have higher prices. She has hidden in her arms a magical herb called Bauhinia Blood-Red Grass. How much is this magical herb worth? Thinking of this, Gu Chan deliberately said tentatively, "How dare I dream of getting a magical herb! It's good enough to be lucky enough to get a magical herb. Big brother, how much is the magical herb?" "I'm not sure. You have to go to the pharmacy to ask." The big man shook his head, ignored Gu Chan, and started shouting on his own. Gu Chan curled her lips, thinking that one must be on guard against others, so for now she should keep a low profile and not reveal the Bauhinia Blood-Red Grass easily, otherwise she would suffer a great loss if something went wrong. Thinking of this, Gu Chan calmed down and continued to guard the stall with Zhang Wanshan, waiting for customers to come. But what made her feel uncomfortable was that the truth was just as the old woman said. During this morning, people who came to the market did not patronize their stalls at all. By noon, the old lady next door had sold all her knives, but they still hadn't sold a single knife. Zhang Wanshan sat behind the stall, tears welling up in his eyes with anxiety, and he was almost crying. The old woman told her grandson to close the stall, and she quietly took two copper coins and put them into Zhang Wanshan's hand, whispering carefully in his ear, "You haven't eaten yet, right? Hurry up and use these two copper coins to buy some steamed buns. Fill your stomach first and then sell slowly." "Thank you so much, old lady." Zhang Wanshan thanked with tears in his eyes. The old woman shook her head and sighed, "I heard last night that Zhao Erniu had announced that anyone who dared to buy your knives today would be against him. No one wanted to offend him, so naturally they didn't dare to buy your knives." "Oh! Why am I so miserable?" Zhang Wanshan finally couldn't hold it in any longer, tears oozed out and he cried uncontrollably. "Okay, you are old now, there is no need to cry. I tell you, you should go back to the village as soon as possible and take your grandson to kneel down and kowtow to apologize to him. Admit your fault. Then when you come again tomorrow, I guarantee that all the knives will be sold out." After the old woman finished speaking, she did not dare to stay any longer. She immediately put on her empty backpack and left with her grandson. Zhang Wanshan tightly clenched the two copper coins in his hand, crying and gritting his teeth in hatred. As an old blacksmith with superb skills, the knives he made were considered top-quality weapons in the entire Wuheng Town. Whenever he came to the market to sell knives, he would sell them out very quickly and never had to worry about no one buying them.
Damn Zhao Erniu, he actually used such despicable means to secretly plot against others. How can this not make people angry? Gu Chan sat aside with a stiff face and clenched fists. She felt angry and distressed for her grandfather. But she soon calmed down and a sly smile appeared on her lips. Shit! Zhao Erniu! If I don't deal with you, you bastard, I've traveled through time in vain. (End of this chapter)