One Copper Coin to Enter the County Town

After breakfast, Zhou Yao set off for the county town. The night before, he had told his wives, the sisters Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, that he was going to the county town's bookshop today to sell the novel "Dream of the Red Chamber."

He had also promised the sisters that the next time he wrote the storybook "Dream of the Red Chamber," he would let them wait on him at his side. Their husband would dictate the contents of the later chapters, and the two of them would write them down, while Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian happily for their husband Zhou Yao...

At this time, Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian were still fast asleep. When the sisters got up and saw that he was gone, they would naturally know where he had gone.

Zhou Yao could have reached the county town in half an hour using lightness skill, but ever since he had transmigrated to this world, he had never traveled far from home. He also wanted to walk to the county town, so he admired the scenery along the way as he walked.

Because of the drought over the past two years, and with winter already here, the villages along the road to the county town looked bleak and desolate, as though they had little life left in them.

"Alas..." Zhou Yao sighed, then said to himself, "When a dynasty rises, the common people suffer. When it falls, the common people suffer."

Those words, "When a dynasty rises, the common people suffer. When it falls, the common people suffer," made an old man passing nearby shudder all over. He hurriedly looked at Zhou Yao, who stood a short distance ahead.

Just as the old man was about to go up and greet Zhou Yao, Zhou Yao continued on his way. The old man could not keep up with his pace, and after walking for only a few minutes, he was exhausted and gasping for breath.

Just then, a man behind him called out, "Master... Master... wait for us."

In the blink of an eye, the man behind him caught up with the old man.

The old man hurriedly said to him, "Quick... quick... get in the carriage and catch up to that man ahead of us. Quick..."

Seeing how anxious his master was, the man hurriedly helped the old man into the carriage, then drove it swiftly forward.

Only after the man had driven the carriage for quite a while did the old man tell him to stop. The old man had been watching the road ahead the whole time, trying to find Zhou Yao, but even after driving for so long, they still had not found him.

The old man thought it a great pity. Someone who could say, "When a dynasty rises, the common people suffer. When it falls, the common people suffer," was no ordinary person! He was a man of great talent! What a pity... what a pity he had not gone up and made the man's acquaintance. Alas...

In fact, the old man and his companion had already passed Zhou Yao in their carriage, which was how they had missed him. Zhou Yao had needed to relieve himself and had gone into nature to do so, and that was why the old man had missed his chance to catch up with him.

Zhou Yao knew nothing at all about what had happened. He continued walking slowly along, admiring the scenery and taking a look at how the common people of the Great Zhou State lived. He would have been better off not looking, but once he did, alas...

At noon, Zhou Yao finally reached the gate into the county town. He paid one copper coin to enter, then went inside.

In this era, everyone had to pay to enter a county town. This was part of the county's revenue. The county Zhou Yao was in was called Stone County.

Stone County was famous for its abundant stone, which was extremely sturdy when used to build houses and pave roads. Even after many years, the stone produced in Stone County would not weather and turn brittle. It was very sturdy and durable.

Thus, Stone County was quite wealthy, and its finances were relatively comfortable. Even so, the successive years of drought had put Stone County under great pressure, yet it had not collected a few more copper coins from those entering the county town.

After entering the county town, Zhou Yao first went to a nearby tavern for a meal. He ordered a roast chicken, a vegetable dish, some peanuts, and a pot of good wine, then slowly ate by himself.

These days, anyone who could eat and drink at a tavern had money to spare, and of course Zhou Yao was no exception.

In the blink of an eye, it had been a long time since Zhou Yao had eaten chicken. The roast chicken was truly fragrant and delicious, and tasted quite good. Zhou Yao enjoyed it very much.

Before long, Zhou Yao had finished all the dishes and drunk all the wine. Now he was full.

People really were made of iron and food was steel; miss one meal, and the heart would grow restless!

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Yao called the waiter over to settle the bill. He also had two roast chickens packed up to take back for his wives, Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian.

That one meal cost Zhou Yao nearly six taels of silver. He was plainly a wealthy man, a child of a very rich family.

Hadn't they seen how readily Zhou Yao paid the silver? It made the shopkeeper so happy that his face could hardly close.

After more than two consecutive years of drought, business at taverns and restaurants like theirs was not easy either. The people who came in to eat and drink were all very frugal; nobody knew when the drought would end.

And eating at taverns these days was expensive enough to kill a person. Grain, vegetables, and meat were all precious now, and ordinary people could not afford them. Only wealthy and powerful families could.