Chapter 6: Starry Sky

Clang—clang—clang.

The two of them listened in frustration to the distant bell and drum, gazing helplessly at the towering walls of Jizhou.

They had walked slowly with the four youths for half the day before the youths mentioned that Jizhou closed its city gates. Although Chen Xin had read about this in some history books, he hadn't recalled it. Despite hurrying, they were still a step too late, and so the party of six was shut outside the city gate.

Fortunately, there were inns outside the gate as well. The six took three mid-range rooms — the three boys in one, the little girl in another — costing four fen and five li of silver in total. Chen Xin also ordered some simple food, altogether eight fen and five li. This time Chen Xin had some experience; he estimated the size of the one-qian piece from that afternoon, took out a lump of silver, and handed it to the shopkeeper, wanting to see how the shopkeeper would judge its weight and make change.

The shopkeeper examined it by candlelight for a moment, then brought out a small steelyard scale from under the counter. After weighing it, he produced a pair of shears and, with practiced snips, cut off several pieces. He weighed it again and said, "Please look, young master," turning the scale beam toward Chen Xin. Chen Xin naturally could not read it; he nodded as if he understood. The shopkeeper then returned the clipped-off pieces to Chen Xin.

Chen Xin studied the silver on the scale again, roughly memorizing the size of eight fen of silver. He casually asked the shopkeeper, "If one used copper cash, what would the price be?"

The shopkeeper gave him an odd look and said, "Young master, do you carry that much copper cash when traveling? If it's Jiajing, Longqing, or Wanli gold-backed standard cash, one tael exchanges for five or six hundred wen. If it's private coinage, it depends on the quality — decent ones exchange at one tael to fifteen hundred, poor ones at one tael to three thousand, that happens too."

Chen Xin nodded, then tossed a one-fen piece of silver to the shopkeeper. "Prepare bathwater for my companions. Make the food good, and serve it after they've washed!"

The shopkeeper, having received the silver, immediately bowed and scraped, ordering the staff to see to it at once.

。。。。。。。。。。。。。

A single lamp, like a bean, flickered on the porcelain lamp stand. The six sat around the table wolfing down their food; not a single person spoke. Chen and Liu had not eaten their fill all day, and the other four had no idea how long it had been since they had. Six dishes and two basins of rice were scraped clean in the blink of an eye.

Apart from Hai Gouzi, the other two young beggars were brothers, also from Haizhou Guard. One was called Zhang Dahui, seventeen, the one who had shouted "The dog is coming!" and then had his nose smashed by Daoba. The other was Zhang Erhui, fourteen, the one who had ambushed Daoba together with Zhang Dahui. There had originally been Sanhui and Sihui, but they had died on the road into the pass. The little girl was called Wang Daixi, thirteen, who could not even clearly say where she was from, only that it was Liaodong. Because they were all from Haizhou Guard, the three youths had banded together, and not long ago they had taken in Wang Daixi.

The four had bathed before eating and changed into the old clothes the two had looted. Clean and fresh, they looked completely transformed. Hai Gouzi's face bore many scars, large and small. The Zhang brothers were somewhat better off, but still had plenty, and it was clear they had suffered greatly since entering the pass; their gazes were somewhat dull. Only Wang Daixi, after washing up, was neat and clever, her eyes darting about with lively spirit; she even remembered to serve Hai Gouzi food twice.

"Big brother, this is the first time I've eaten so much. From now on I'll wash your clothes and cook for you. Can Daixi stay with you always?"

"Yes, yes. It's just that big brother doesn't even have a place to live. If you follow us, you'll only endure hardship," Liu Minyou said, quite fond of Daixi, speaking to her tenderly.

"Daixi isn't afraid of hardship. Big brother is so mighty, he'll earn lots of money soon. When big brother buys a house, I'll sleep in the woodshed, and winter won't be cold anymore. Back home, we only had one blanket. In winter, Mother would hold me as we slept, and then it wasn't cold."

"Home?" Liu Minyou listened, falling into a daze, thinking of his own home that existed but to which he could never return.

"Brother Liu? Did you have a home before?" Wang Daixi looked up at Liu Minyou, her eyes glistening.

"Ah?... Yes." Liu Minyou came back to himself, quietly wiped the corner of his eye, snatched the last piece of meat from under Chen Xin's chopsticks, and placed it in Daixi's bowl.

"Thank you, Brother Liu. Daixi doesn't dare eat Brother Chen's meat."

Chen Xin laughed and scolded, "Brother Chen's meat isn't even tasty."

Liu Minyou patted Daixi's head. "Daixi, eat it. Brother Chen is full; leaving it would be a waste."

Delighted, Daixi picked up the meat and was about to eat when she remembered something. She placed the meat in Zhang Dahui's bowl instead, saying, "Brother Dahui lost a lot of blood today. Brother Dahui should eat it."

Zhang Dahui swallowed it in one gulp, still too busy to speak, and began filling another bowl of rice.

Once the four youths had eaten their fill, the two declined their offer to help wash feet and sent them back to their respective rooms. Only then did Chen Xin sit down to soak his feet. He said to Liu Minyou, "Tonight we'll sleep in shifts. Don't let both of us fall asleep."

"Why?"

"What if someone comes to steal the silver?"

"You mean those four? They won't."

"Better to be careful. We only just met them today. We were lucky to get silver as soon as we arrived. Without silver, we'd be just like them. Besides, we have to guard against others too. This is outside the city; the boss said there are no night watchmen."

Liu Minyou thought it over and agreed; this bit of silver was now the two men's only asset. He nodded his consent.

"Tomorrow we'll enter Jizhou. But what do we do once we're inside?" Liu Minyou asked, staring at the candle flame.

"Let's get into the city first. We need a place to stay. We don't know how to farm, and this silver we have — I'm guessing by weight it's a few dozen taels at most. Only in the city will we have opportunities. Wandering around with these kids like this, who knows how long this money will last."

"Settle down in Jizhou? Aren't you afraid of running into that demonic fatty, the herb farmer, the shopkeeper, the beggars, and all that again?"

"True. Let's first see what a Great Ming city is like. Buy some clothes and leave, change locations."

"Shall we go to the capital? You love talking politics so much — go talk politics in the capital."

"Forget it. In this era, only those who've passed the eight-legged essay exams are qualified to talk politics. Otherwise, it's those who've practiced the Sunflower Manual. First, I can't pass the eight-legged essay exams. Second, I don't dare castrate myself. Third, I don't even have an identity. If I'd transmigrated into the body of a provincial graduate, would I have needed to con that fatty?"

Liu Minyou said, "How about we go to Tianjin?"

Chen Xin agreed. "In a few days, let's go check out Tianjin first. After all, it's our hometown. The north won't be peaceful in a few years. If we get the chance, we'll take a boat to Jiangnan. Jiangnan had no major upheavals all the way until Chongzhen hanged himself. Anyway, we still have over ten years. With this bit of capital, we can go to Jiangnan, do some business, and drift through life. Late Ming Jiangnan is quite interesting, after all. In any case, we'll take it one step at a time."

Liu Minyou was not familiar with these things, but he felt that Chen Xin, having started recruiting underlings the moment he arrived, did not seem like someone planning to merely drift through life.

It was only around nine o'clock by their old time. Both had originally been night owls who never slept before midnight, but today they were exhausted. It had to be said that in this ancient era, once night fell, apart from inside rooms, there was no light anywhere. If it was overcast, it was truly so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Chen Xin finished washing his feet and went to sleep first. Afraid of disturbing Chen Xin's sleep, Liu Minyou blew out the lamp and sat dryly by the table. Outside, all was utterly silent, with only the occasional bark of a dog. After sitting a while, bored beyond measure, he went to the window and pushed open the shutters.

A gust of night wind brushed his face. He raised his head; outside the window, the sky was full of starlight. The dazzling, winding Milky Way was clearly visible. Liu Minyou stared, transfixed, as if gazing at the once brilliantly lit city. The sky of the later industrial age had long since lost the clarity of now.

Liu Minyou knew Chen Xin was not yet asleep. He asked, "Tell me, which star did the pyramid that brought us across come from?"

"Cybertron, or Pandora, or maybe the moon? Who knows."

Clang—clang—clang. The bell sounded again from Jizhou's bell and drum tower. This time there was no drum, eighteen chimes in all. The clear, bright bell tones seemed almost tangible in the silent night.

"This alarm clock is good. Next time the bell rings, wake me to switch with you. I'm sleeping first," Chen Xin said in the darkness. Then came the sound of him turning over, and before long, a series of snores.

"So this is a night of the Ming Dynasty," Liu Minyou murmured to himself.