Chapter 858: Come Quickly, Everyone!

Xiao Ningyuan leans against the back of the chair: "I plan to leave them hanging for a few days. Either way, they're the ones in a hurry, not me."

Cai Tong heard this and laughed: "Young master, your words are not false."

"Mei Er isn't stupid; you intercepted all the goods, so he guessed you wanted to do business with him, and has been waiting all this time."

"Now that the person is in front of him, he'll only become more frantic."

Xiao Ze nodded: "Starting tomorrow, please have Mr. Cai take us for a tour."

He looked at Tuan Tuan by the window: "Let my sister, this little glutton, have a good taste of Taiyuan's cuisine."

Hearing the words "little glutton," Tuan Tuan snapped her head around, pouting her tiny mouth high: "I'm not a little glutton!"

"How can I not be?" Xiao Ningchen interjected, "When we were in Jiangzhou, who ate until their belly was round and still wouldn't stop?"

"It was Uncle Luo who made me eat!" Tuan Tuan declared confidently, patting Luo Zhenjiang's big head, "Right, Uncle Luo? You said we couldn't leave until we finished."

"I only ate because I heard you, not because I'm a little glutton!"

Luo Zhenjiang laughed heartily, shaking his shoulders: "Yes, yes, yes, I made you eat; our Tuan Tuan is the most obedient!"

Xiao Ningyuan flicked his fan at her: "When we go out to eat later, don't order any dishes."

Tuan Tuan blinked: "I don't need to order; Uncle Luo will order for me!"

Everyone in the house burst into laughter.

Xiao Ze smiled and shook his head, steering the conversation back: "Please have Mr. Cai send the news back, saying we were just sightseeing."

Cai Tong understood: "That's easy; I just don't want to say it, and Mei Er will keep asking me."

He smiled: "It's just that these past few days, he's probably not sleeping well at all."

Xiao Ningxun curved the corner of his mouth: "He can't fall asleep, and we get to sleep soundly."

Feng Zhou hummed: "Exactly!"

Xiao Ze continued: "Two days later, please arrange for me to meet Lin Jiang and Ma Li An."

"Alright." Cai Tong stood up, bowed to the group, "I'll be going back now; you all rest well, I'll come again at first light tomorrow."

The others rose to see him off.

Early the next morning, the party was having breakfast in the front hall when Cai Tong arrived.

He clasped his fists in greeting toward everyone, sat at the table, and asked: "Do you all want to go see Taiyuan's mountain-and-sea scenery, or wander around the Chikan Market?"

Tuan Tuan lifted her head from the porridge bowl: "What is the Chikan Market?"

Cai Tong replied: "It's the largest market here, held once every other day; today just happens to be one."

"Everything's sold—food, games, tools—all displayed on the main street, bustling intensely, with craftsmen making woven items, and fresh fish just brought in."

Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up: "I want to go!"

Everyone looked at her, smiles appearing on their faces.

Luo Zhenjiang scooped Tuan Tuan up in one arm, slinging her onto his shoulder: "Let's go! Uncle Luo will take you to the market!"

The group set down their chopsticks and followed Cai Tong out of the inn, where the stablehand led the horses over.

Luo Zhenjiang placed Tuan Tuan on the horse's back and sat behind her.

Tuan Tuan's two little hands clutched the saddle bridge, her excited little legs swinging back and forth.

Luo Zhenjiang held her tightly: "Sit properly, lean against me."

"Mm-hmm!" Tuan Tuan nestled into his embrace, and Luo Zhenjiang smiled contentedly.

Everyone quickly turned and mounted their horses.

Cai Tong rode ahead, leading the way: "Chikan is in Prolumin City; go east from here and you'll arrive."

The group followed him, strolling leisurely eastward.

After about half an hour, Cai Tong halted his horse, raised a hand and pointed ahead: "The Chikan Market is right ahead; the horses can't go in, just leave them here."

They dismounted; before them was a clearing fenced with bamboo railings, under several large banyan trees casting deep shade, where a dozen horses and a few donkeys were tied.

A boy about a year and a half old crouched under the shade, with several wooden troughs in front of him, filled with water and chopped fodder.

Cai Tong took out a few copper coins from his waist and handed them to the boy: "Take good care of them."

The boy took the coins and deftly led each of the group's horses to be tied under the tree.

Xiao Ningyuan surveyed the horse‑tied clearing and clicked his tongue: "Convenient, even the horses have attendants."

Cai Tong said: "The market is crowded, carts and horses are inconvenient, so livestock are kept here; it costs only a few wen per day."

Luo Zhenjiang carried Tuan Tuan, and the group, full of excitement, followed Cai Tong into the main street.

The street was narrow, packed tightly with stalls side by side, stretching endlessly.

Shops lined the street, doors open, shelves jutting out from the entrances, laden with all sorts of goods.

The main road was crowded with people shoulder to shoulder, and the most common sights on the side were various snack stalls.

Freshly fried oysters sizzled with oily aroma, steam rose from the iron pan frying oyster pancakes, and at the sugar‑cane juice stall someone was cutting cane; the sweet scent drifted half a street downwind.

Feng Zhou inhaled deeply: "This is way too lively."

Xiao Er's gaze fell on a small stall by the street selling bamboo weaving.

An elderly craftsman with speckled hair was deftly weaving a beautiful bamboo basket.

Lu Qi also saw it: "That basket is really well‑woven; when we head back, buy one for the miss to play with."

Xiao Er nodded: "Alright."

Seeing the crowd, Luo Zhenjiang hoisted Tuan Tuan onto his shoulder: "Come up!"

Tuan Tuan sat steadily, holding onto his big head, her eyes straining to see.

She raised her little hand, pointing repeatedly: "What is this? I want to try!"

"What's that? It smells so good!"

Xiao Ningyuan frowned and asked: "Tuan Tuan, you ate a lot for breakfast; can you still eat more?"

Tuan Tuan tilted her little head and said, "Of course!"

Luo Zhenjiang looked up at her and said, "Little snack cat!"

Tuan Tuan pursed her lips and asked, "Can I be a little snack cat for a day?"

"Fine!" Luo Zhenjiang replied cheerfully, and walked to a stall selling oysters: "Hurry and bring me a portion! My child wants to try it."

"Alright!"

Xiao Ningxun whispered beside Xiao Ningchen, "Second Brother, look, there are not only Han people here, but also natives and Red-haired Barbarians."

Xiao Ningchen nodded, "The three teachings and the nine streams are all here."

He turned and called, "Feng Zhou! Stay close…"

"Where's Feng Zhou?"

Tuan Tuan perched up high, looked around, and saw Feng Zhou squatting at a stall selling deer hide, fiddling with something.

She pointed with her little hand, "There!"

Xiao Ningchen walked over, patted Feng Zhou's shoulder, "What are you looking at? So many people, you can't fight, don't get lost."

Feng Zhou excitedly pointed at a deer bone, "Second Young Master, this piece is fine, the size and shape are just right; I was thinking of fitting it onto a firearm…"

Cai Tong, who had just arrived, paled at the words.

Xiao Ningchen clamped his hand over Cai Tong's mouth and hauled him up from the ground, "Stop pondering now; once you take this back, do whatever you want with it."

"Okay." Feng Zhou only then walked away reluctantly.

The group moved forward slowly with the crowd.

Tuan Tuan pointed with her little hand, "I want to drink that!"

Luo Zhenjiang looked down and saw a woman in her thirties with a six- or seven-year-old girl standing by the stall, a small wooden bucket placed before them.

He stopped, set Tuan Tuan on the ground, and asked, "What is this?"

The little girl replied timidly, "It's the sugarcane juice my mother and I pressed early this morning."

"One bowl, please!"

The woman hurriedly lifted a ceramic bowl, filled it, and handed it to him, "One wen per bowl."

Luo Zhenjiang pulled out a copper coin, gave it to the girl, took the bowl, and fed it to Tuan Tuan's mouth, "Taste it."

Tuan Tuan lifted the bowl and took a sip, "Wow! So sweet! Uncle Luo, you should try a sip!"

Luo Zhenjiang also took a sip; the clear sweet flavor refreshed his palate, "Not bad."

Tuan Tuan waved her little hand and shouted at the brothers, "This is especially tasty! Come quickly!"

Xiao Ningxun smiled, "Let's go, Tuan Tuan's calling us."

Before they could walk away, three Red-haired Barbarians in military uniforms were already standing at the stall, pointing at the wooden bucket.

The little girl shrank behind the woman, whose face also showed a hint of fear.

She hurriedly filled three bowls and handed them to the men.

The three Red-haired Barbarians lifted their bowls, drank in one gulp, clicked their tongues a few times, and set the bowls down.

One of them wiped his mouth, pulled out a one-wen coin and tossed it at the woman's feet.

Then, together with the other two, he laughed loudly, turned his head, and left.