Market

No sooner said than done.

Fang Yuan did not even pause to catch his breath. After drinking a bowl of hot water, he picked up the chopping knife, now polished to a gleaming shine, and went out into the courtyard again.

The night was deep, with only the snow reflecting faint light from the sky.

Fang Yuan took a deep breath. His gaze was sharp, and every move of his blade followed a precise method.

The chopping knife seemed to come alive in his hands. It was no longer simple hacking and chopping, but glided along the wild boar's joints and the seams in its fascia.

Each cut was precise, each exertion of force skillful. He avoided the hard bones, preserving whole chunks of meat and the precious leaf fat as much as possible.

Butchering such a massive beast was normally exhausting and time-consuming work, yet in Fang Yuan's hands, it was astonishingly efficient.

The dull sounds of cutting and the occasional crisp crack of blade striking bone rang especially clearly through the silent courtyard. Still, his movements never stopped, and sweat soon soaked through his clothes again.

[Basic Saber Technique Proficiency +1]

Listening to the system prompts chime one after another, Fang Yuan worked with boundless energy.

Liu Wanwan held a lantern beside him to provide light. Watching her husband's clean, practiced-butcher-like technique, her eyes brimmed with shock.

How was this still a scholar? Even the best butcher in the village probably could not work so cleanly and decisively.

How could Liu Wanwan have known that a good blade wielder was bound to be a powerful butcher!

At last, nearly half the wild boar had been broken down into relatively easy-to-carry chunks of meat, ribs, and a pile of offal.

Fang Yuan roughly covered the remaining half with snow and temporarily hid it in a secluded spot in the Courtyard Corner.

"All right, this should be enough." Fang Yuan straightened up, wiped away his sweat, and pointed at the pile of meat on the ground that was still steaming. "I'll head to the market now and trade it for supplies while it's early. Watch the house and keep the doors and windows secure. Don't open up for anyone."

Liu Wanwan looked at the small mountain of meat on the ground, then at the sky, and said worriedly, "Husband, it's already dark, and this snow..."

"That's exactly why I need to go early, while there are fewer people." Fang Yuan cut her off, his tone resolute. "The snow can cover my tracks. It's actually a good thing. It's only ten li away, and I'm quick on my feet. I'll be back before dawn."

The market he spoke of was not the distant county town.

The county town was too far away. A round trip took an entire day, so ordinary villagers rarely went there.

Instead, at a three-way crossroads roughly ten li from Fang Family Village, a Rural Market had gradually formed on its own over time.

People from several nearby villages brought things there to trade, while traveling peddlers who went from village to village brought everyday goods such as needles, thread, coarse salt, and sundries in exchange for mountain goods and local produce.

Though it was not large, it was like a sparrow—small but complete in all its vital organs. Most daily necessities could be traded for there.

Knowing she could not stop him, Liu Wanwan could only nod. "Then... then you must be careful."

Fang Yuan said no more. He packed the best cuts of meat and the entire slab of wild boar leaf fat into the large burlap sack he had brought.

It was a heavy bundle, weighing at least seventy or eighty jin. He tested its weight, gritted his teeth, and slung it over his shoulder again.

As he pushed open the courtyard gate, the icy night wind, mixed with flecks of snow, rushed straight into his face.

He turned back and gave Liu Wanwan a reassuring look, then strode away over the snow. Before long, his figure vanished into the hazy snowy mist beyond the village.

Liu Wanwan hurriedly barred the gate. Leaning against it, she listened as his footsteps gradually faded amid the wind and snow. Her heart was in turmoil, filled with both anticipation and fear.

Life in this household was becoming more and more different.

Fang Yuan carried the meat and hurried onward through the snowy night.

Basic Footwork circulated through him, allowing him to maintain a decent pace even under the heavy load. His steps landed lightly, leaving as few traces as possible.

The sky gradually shifted from pitch-black to dim gray, but the snow still had not stopped.

After walking for roughly more than an hour, he could faintly make out the swaying lights and figures at the crossroads ahead. Noisy voices also drifted over on the wind.

The Rural Market had arrived.

Fang Yuan stopped, rested briefly, and steadied his breathing before hoisting the meat sack again.

He walked toward that gathering place filled with every sort of smell and sound.

The sky had only just brightened into a murky gray, and fine snow was still drifting down. Yet the three-way crossroads was already bustling, even earlier than Fang Yuan had expected.

The so-called market was really just an open patch of ground trampled into a muddy mess, scattered with dozens of tents of varying sizes and crude thatched shelters.

The air was thick with a complicated mixture of livestock dung, baked flatbread, cheap tobacco, and all kinds of mountain goods and local produce.

Voices roared all around. Haggling, hawking, and the cries of livestock rang without end.

Farmers and hunters from several nearby villages, along with faces that looked like traveling peddlers, moved through the crowd.

Fang Yuan carried the heavy burlap sack as his gaze swept over the stalls.

There were stalls selling coarse grain, Pickled Vegetables, straw sandals, ironware... a dazzling assortment, though all of it carried an air of poverty.

He needed to find a buyer who looked well-funded, capable of taking this whole batch off his hands, and willing to offer a fair price.

At last, his gaze settled on the largest tent near the crossroads.

It was made from thick oiled cloth and looked far more imposing than the shabby thatched shelters around it. A wooden sign hung at its entrance, bearing clumsy writing: "Buying Mountain Goods and Furs, Selling Daily Sundries."

Several burly men who looked like hired hands were busy moving goods inside. A fat shopkeeper in a thick cotton robe and fur cap sat beside a small brazier at the tent entrance.

He warmed himself by the fire while narrowing his eyes at the passing crowd, looking every bit the shrewd businessman.

This was the place.

Fang Yuan took a deep breath and walked over with the sack on his shoulder.

His heavy footsteps and the bulging sack, from which blood water still faintly seeped, immediately caught the fat shopkeeper's attention.

The man's small eyes rolled between the sack and Fang Yuan.

He especially gave Fang Yuan's bearing a few extra looks—different from that of an ordinary villager, carrying a faint scholarly air yet also a keen, capable edge.

"This... young man, I don't recognize you. Here to sell something?"

The fat shopkeeper did not rise. With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of scrutiny.

"Yes." Fang Yuan kept his answer brief. With a thud, he dropped the sack onto the open ground at the tent entrance, splashing up a little muddy snow.

He untied the mouth of the sack, revealing fresh wild boar meat that still carried a trace of warmth, along with the thick, white slab of leaf fat.

"Oh! Wild boar meat!" The fat shopkeeper's eyes lit up. At last, he rose to his feet and leaned in.

He used his chubby fingers to inspect the quality of the meat, then deliberately squeezed the leaf fat. A satisfied look appeared on his face.

"Ha! Fresh goods, slaughtered not long ago! And this fat—it's thick! Good stuff!"

He looked up and sized Fang Yuan up again, his tone becoming more cordial. "You're quite capable, young man! A big fellow like this isn't easy to deal with. How are you selling it?"

"What price can the shopkeeper offer?" Fang Yuan did not name a price himself, instead tossing the question back.

He knew that he was new here and unfamiliar with the market rates. First, he needed to feel out the other man's bottom line.