Chapter 15: Baiqiao Town

Baiqiao Town is built along the water; rows of bluestone houses are interspersed with thatched mud huts, and the bluestone slabs paved on the roads have long been worn smooth by years of people walking and horses treading.

The town has a population of several thousand, making it a large town within a radius of several dozen miles.

Because one must cross a white marble stone bridge to reach this place, it was named accordingly.

When Chen Mo and Ma Cai arrived at the town, the morning sun was just rising, and the townspeople were coming and going in a bustling stream of traffic, quite lively.

"Today is the town's fifteenth grand market, so there are extra people," Ma Cai said, looking at the scene before him, unable to help but sigh.

The commoners from several dozen villages around Baiqiao Town, along with many small vendors traveling from village to village to attend the market, have all flocked here today.

"Brother Mo, let's find a bathhouse to wash up first," Ma Cai suggested.

"Done," Chen Mo nodded; he hadn't bathed in over a month, and he truly wanted to scrub himself clean now.

Ma Cai was quite familiar with the situation in town and, pulling Chen Mo along, quickly arrived in front of a bathhouse.

"Ten wen for the large pool, fifty wen for a private stall," the bathhouse owner said, taking a puff of his dry tobacco.

The large pool is where everyone strips naked and washes together, while the private stall has wooden screens for cover, with one individual wooden tub per person.

Charcoal is expensive in winter, and firewood is not cheap either, so bathing can definitely be called a slightly luxurious enjoyment.

Even if ordinary commoners bathe once a month, they basically use the large pool; no one would be willing to spend money on a private stall.

"Two private stalls," Ma Cai said, taking the initiative to pull a tael of silver from his Huai.

"Alright, come on in, guests!" After accepting the money, the bathhouse owner immediately became enthusiastic.

He hadn't expected that these two, dressed in coarse hemp clothing, would be so generous with their spending.

"Brother Mo, I'll treat you this time," Ma Cai said with a grin, as if he had something he wanted to say.

"Speak, what is it?" Chen Mo saw his intention and asked directly.

"Could you lend me two taels of silver later? My home isn't far from the town, and I want to go back and visit," Ma Cai rubbed his hands, his smile somewhat awkward.

Borrowing money from someone is ultimately a bit hard to bring up; if Chen Mo hadn't asked proactively, he wouldn't have known when he could have said it.

"Fine, but I don't have small change on me right now; I'll give it to you after I break it later," Chen Mo agreed with a smile, not refusing the matter.

He believed Ma Cai was not the type of person to borrow money and not pay it back.

Besides, he was going to join the Personal Soldier camp next, so there was no need to worry about him disappearing directly after taking the money.

"Good, I will definitely pay you back within two months," Ma Cai felt a weight lift from his heart upon seeing him agree.

The bathhouse owner took two wooden plaques from behind him and handed them to Chen Mo and Ma Cai respectively.

As long as the two held the wooden plaques, they could have the bathhouse attendants deliver hot water into the private stalls.

The bathhouse was lit with furnace fires everywhere, making it quite warm.

Chen Mo washed very carefully; he knew clearly that he didn't know when he would have the next chance to wash after this, so he had to wash well.

He also used the scissors and razor provided by the bathhouse to trim his hair and shave the beard on his face.

Growing a beard was not something for someone of Chen Mo's age to do; in Great Gan, only middle-aged men over thirty would grow beards.

As for his hair, he didn't dare cut it too short; although Great Gan didn't have the saying that "the body, hair, and skin are gifts from one's parents," few people in the Xingyuan Prefecture area kept short hair.

Because winter is too cold, long hair can provide warmth.

The reason Chen Mo kept long hair, besides for warmth, was also because if he had to wear a helmet in the future, long hair would be more comfortable than short hair.

Previously, he had no chance to come into contact with armor, but now that he had become a Personal Soldier for Sun Jiangjun, he would certainly come into contact with it.

A Personal Soldier without armor and an elite armored soldier in full gear are two completely different concepts.

Three to five hundred elite armored soldiers, placed in this era, are already enough to sway the outcome of a war involving ten thousand men.

And as the Personal Soldiers that Sun Jiangjun had painstakingly trained, he would certainly equip his subordinates with armor as much as possible, so as to maximize their effectiveness.

After trimming his hair and beard and tidying himself up, Chen Mo changed into the clean clothes he had brought earlier.

Although it was still a set of coarse hemp clothing, it was much cleaner than what he had been wearing.

"Let's go, find a clothing shop; I'll buy two sets of clothes and exchange the silver I have to give to you," Chen Mo walked out of the private stall and said in a low voice to Ma Cai, who was resting on the side.

He did indeed have some money now, but as the saying goes, one should not flaunt wealth, so this matter could not be proclaimed loudly.

There were three clothing shops in town, and Ma Cai was quite familiar with one of them.

Among clothing materials, silk is the most expensive, cotton is second, and hemp is the least.

Chen Mo bought two sets of cotton undergarments, paired with two sets of thick hemp outer garments, plus two pairs of wear-resistant thousand-layer cloth shoes and four pairs of cotton socks; the owner also threw in two square cloth headscarves made from scraps and a pouch.

These items added up to a total of two taels and seven qian of silver.

This was still because Chen Mo didn't buy all cotton clothing; otherwise, the price would have been more than a tael higher.

Changing into the newly bought clothes, he packed his old clothes and the dirty ones he had taken off into the bundle for clothes; although these clothes were not good, they could still be worn, and it would be too wasteful to discard them.

As for the old shoes whose soles were about to wear through, they could be thrown away directly.

Chen Mo changed his clothes and took out the silver to pay.

He had no objections to this price; these were all fair prices.

Shops of this kind had been open locally for decades, spanning two or three generations, and they all did local business; if there were any rumors of cheating people, they would have been unable to stay open long ago.

Although he was not a local, he still had a local with him, so the owner would not cheat him.

Taking the small silver change from the owner, Chen Mo counted out two taels and handed them to Ma Cai.

"Many thanks, Brother Mo; I estimate I'll be back at the military camp later, you go back first," Ma Cai did not invite Chen Mo to be a guest at his home; the relationship between the two of them had not yet reached that point.

"Fine, anyway, just be back at the camp before dawn tomorrow," Chen Mo said casually, and the two parted ways.

Carrying the remaining five-plus taels of silver, Chen Mo first found a restaurant to have a wonderful meal, and then bought two catties of white sugar, two catties of snacks, and one catty of high-quality tobacco leaves from the grand market.

He bought these things mainly to give to He Maguan.

When he arrived at the military camp, the old man had given him quite a few things, and even the cotton quilt he was currently using was one that He Maguan had lent him.

Not to mention how much he had been cared for; even when he stole and ate a lot of horse feed, he had turned a blind eye.

A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring; Chen Mo dared not say he could achieve that.

But since one has received a favor, one should keep it in mind and look for an opportunity to repay it.

Once he left this time, he reckoned it would be hard to return to this military camp; he had no grudges to settle, so it would be enough to repay the favor before leaving.

After finishing this series of tasks, the silver in his hands rapidly shrank to just over four taels and five mace.

He placed half of the silver in the pouch he had bought earlier to carry with him, and carefully wrapped the other half in a headscarf and kept it close to his body.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket; this way, even if he encountered a pickpocket, his money wouldn't all be stolen.

Only after doing all this did he step out and leave this small town, walking toward the military camp thirty miles away.

On the way, he spent two wen to catch a donkey cart for a stretch, leaving Chen Mo with only two or three miles left to walk.

When he returned to the military camp carrying his large and small bundles, Ding Bao was directing two other newly arrived Soldiers to shovel manure.

With Chen Mo and Ma Cai gone, he was the only groom left with any experience.

Naturally, the rough work could not be left to Horse Official He, so he could only lead the other two Soldiers to do the work.

Chen Mo paid them no mind; he put down the bundle filled with clothes and carried his gifts to find Horse Official He.

(End of this chapter)