Chapter 6: Great Zhou

I got up bright and early with Lao Cheng, setting off just as the sky was beginning to pale; this time, I had prepared straps, and we set off carrying the fish in a bucket.

Of course, the fish was definitely carried by Lao Cheng; after all, Cheng Feng was only 16, and it was quite a long walk from the village to the county seat.

With Cheng Feng's small frame, he couldn't handle it!

Indeed, having lived two lifetimes, aside from walking a stretch of road back to his hometown when he was a child, Cheng Feng had truly never walked such a long distance as times developed and society progressed.

Cheng Fu spent the journey imparting his experience to his second son.

From the neighborly relations in the village to the locations of the villages they passed, as well as the famous and notable figures he had heard of from each village.

Lao Cheng could also tell that his "Er Gou" had finally become enlightened after recovering from his illness.

The topics he chatted about last night were either about saving money or getting a wife for Lao Da.

Perhaps he had taken a fancy to some family's daughter.

Or perhaps he had overheard him and the child's mother talking about the family's money and grain.

Watching his second son carefully observing and memorizing the path, he couldn't help but sigh: "The child has grown up."

He had opened up a source of income for the family single-handedly, so there was no need to worry about Lao Da, who could just follow him and farm honestly; he had previously been worried about Lao Er, wondering how to find a way out for him.

Now that Lao Er had opened up a source of income himself and could even teach Lao San a thing or two, it was very good, very nice.

As a simple country man, honest and down-to-earth, it didn't matter if he suffered a little or got tired; seeing his children grow up safely was his greatest happiness.

Cheng Feng did not see the radiant smile on Cheng Fu's face.

Because the county seat was almost there.

It was built with stone bricks four or five meters high, and there were county soldiers patrolling above the city gate.

The two characters for "Qingxi" on the stone plaque had an indescribable majesty, truly capable of intimidating the country bumpkins.

It was a pity that Cheng Feng discovered these were somewhat similar to the Chinese characters of his past life, but he was certain they were not; it seemed his plan would have to include one more item.

There was a long queue at the city gate, and several county soldiers were pretending to inspect the items of the people in line, but in reality, they were itching for these poor wretches to get in quickly so they could change shifts!

The entry fee was one small coin per head; some villagers would discuss what to buy together, have one family go in first to buy the goods, and then split them after leaving the city, which could save a small coin.

Snakes have snake paths, and rats have rat paths.

No matter the era, there will always be people who want to find reasonable and legal ways to exploit loopholes.

The county soldiers didn't care about that; if you enter the city, you pay, and if you don't, stay far away and stand to the side.

More people entering meant more income; no one should think about blocking someone else's path to wealth.

By the end of the day, they could split a few more small coins.

The county seat was divided into an Inner City and an Outer City; the Outer City was divided into East, West, South, and North, which were basically the territories of gangs, merchants, and the local people of the county, while the Inner City was incredible, basically the territory of those noble families and wealthy merchants.

No one wanted their young lady or young master to be bumped into by some low-life.

Thus, they tacitly raised housing prices, land prices, and commodity prices.

Making the Inner City a place that people from the Outer City longed for but could never reach.

In a sense, once you entered the Inner City, you could be considered a person of status in this Qingxi County.

Listening to the various things Cheng Fu spoke of and seeing the longing in his father's eyes, Cheng Feng smiled and said: "Dad, we will definitely be able to enter the city in the future and become city folk."

Cheng Fu laughed and scolded: "You aren't even afraid of being laughed at for bragging; I have no hope in this lifetime, but if you guys are promising, Dad will just wait to enjoy the blessings."

Cheng Feng giggled: "Just you wait and see."

Cheng Fu was only 36 years old this year, in the prime of his life, and Cheng Mu was younger, at 34.

It was just the rush of a farming life and the pressure of survival that made them look slightly weathered.

Cheng Feng had confidence in his heart that he could live a decent life in this era.

The government did not charge for temporary stalls in West City, but there were gangs here; a stall cost two small coins a day, a temporary one cost one small coin for half a day, and if you hadn't cleared the stall after noon, you had to pay another small coin.

As for not selling everything? Who cares if you sold it or not?

I only manage the stalls, not your business; are you going to blame the gang if your business is bad?

If you dare to be arrogant in the morning, your legs will be broken by the afternoon.

If you eat the gang's food, you have to do the gang's work.

There is nowhere that feeds idlers, unless your ancestors had a massive estate, or you just don't come here to sell!

Like I'd spoil you, you poor wretch!

Cheng Fu had clearly inquired about this; pay what must be paid, keeping safe was the priority.

He set down the bucket, sat on the ground, and waited for customers to come.

Cheng Feng thought Cheng Fu was tired, but after waiting for a long time with no movement, he asked: "Dad, are we just going to sell like this?"

Cheng Fu had a face full of question marks: "That's how you sell! Good things never worry about selling, what are you afraid of!"

Cheng Feng was left speechless by his father's attitude; listening to the hawking of the surrounding vendors, he felt out of place.

Looking at the unmoved Lao Cheng, Cheng Feng had no choice but to step forward himself, shouting his own sales pitch: "Fresh river fish, fresh river fish, river fish that beautify and nourish the skin!"

The people coming to buy vegetables were mostly women, and they found this pitch quite fresh.

Interested, they came over one after another to ask, surrounding Lao Cheng, who was still a bit shy and unable to speak.

Seeing this, Cheng Feng was anxious and stepped in to help: "Fresh lake fish, basically all 6 jin, sold by the whole fish, one big coin per fish."

Some women thought it was expensive, some wanted to haggle, but Cheng Feng shut them down directly: "Beautiful and generous ladies and misses, we only have three fish, first come first served, once they're sold, they're gone; you definitely won't find them cheaper at other stalls, right?"

The sales principles he learned in his past life—praise plus comparison—could make people more certain that they were getting a bargain.

Not haggling was to let the customer confirm the value of the product.

Then use a little bit of hunger marketing tactics.

The ladies, happy to be called such, opened their purses generously.

And Cheng Fu, who knew his son's personality well, was left speechless and choked up watching Cheng Feng, who was acting so clever and well-behaved, as if he were a different person.

So, it could be done like this.

"Dad, don't just stand there, hurry up and weigh it for the ladies to see," Cheng Feng called out to Lao Cheng.

He also tucked the three agreed-upon large coins into his pocket.

Cheng Fu took Cheng Feng along, shopping and strolling the whole way.

Cheng Feng, for his part, asked about this and that everywhere.

Cheng Fu was also patient, explaining whatever he could, and asking around for whatever he didn't know.

News in the mountain villages was truly too isolated; they didn't even know what the country was called.

There wasn't a single person who could read or write either.

Cheng Feng finally knew now that the country he was in was called Great Zhou.

Great Zhou was divided into eight Daos, each Dao having four Prefectures, each Prefecture having four Counties.

In total, there were thirty-two Prefectures, one hundred and twenty-eight Prefectures, and five hundred and twelve Counties, with countless villages.

Cheng Feng was currently in Qingxi County, which was under the jurisdiction of Lianshan Prefecture City, Wofeng Prefecture, Huangyun Dao.

Great Zhou was not any dynasty that Cheng Feng knew of.

Cheng Feng felt deeply powerless, but he quickly shook off this feeling.

No matter what, he had to seize the present first.

Being indecisive would lead to nothing.

He had to have a plan, so Cheng Feng asked around about how one could learn to read.

Upon hearing it cost one tael of silver a month, Cheng Feng knew that he couldn't even afford to go to school right now.

He could only let it go for now and talk about it once he had saved up enough money.

After buying a small jar of mountain salt and ten catties of coarse grain, the three large coins were all spent.

Cheng Fu had actually wanted to buy all coarse grain, but Cheng Feng hurriedly refused, saying that fish without salt had absolutely no flavor.

It took a long time of talking before he finally convinced him.

After all, the fish were caught by Cheng Feng, and being able to trade them for so many things was truly unexpected.

Moreover, when Cheng Feng said there would be more in the future, Cheng Fu finally relented.

After this trip, Cheng Feng also felt that bringing Lao Cheng along really meant having no autonomy.

He made up his mind not to let Lao Cheng come along in the future.

Otherwise, being so restricted was just too unpleasant.