Buying Fish

Jiaqing County, outskirts, fish market.

It was just past the hour of the Rooster and entering the hour of the Dog. The sky had already begun to darken.

Jiangze Huaiye.

A dilapidated black-canopied boat was moored by the shore.

Soon, a youth in a bamboo hat and straw rain cape sprang out of the boat. He quickly tied it to the bank, then slung a basket onto his back and hurried toward the fish market.

Jiang Er felt that his Aura of Fortune was poor today.

He had set out early and should have returned with a full haul.

But halfway through, his net had snagged a powerful fish. It tore the net and slammed into the hull of his long-neglected boat, smashing a large hole in it and causing it to leak.

A black-canopied boat was a fisherman's lifeline, after all.

In that situation, how could Jiang Er worry about the fish? He had spent half the day keeping the boat steady.

In the end, with night approaching, he had barely managed to catch twenty-odd jin of fish.

Autumn had arrived, and it was peak season at the fish market. Fish were cheap to begin with, selling for just thirteen cash a jin.

On top of that, he had missed the busiest hours at Zhengxing Fish Market, so the fish he had would probably fetch even less.

Thinking of his gravely ill father and the steadily rising cost of medicine, Jiang Er felt his heart sink.

If he didn't sell today's fish, his father's medicine tomorrow would be a problem.

At the thought, his brow furrowed even deeper.

"Alas..."

With a quiet sigh, Jiang Er lowered his head and had no choice but to keep walking toward the fish market.

When he arrived, his already hopeless heart sank completely.

The fish market's busiest hours had passed.

Only a handful of fishermen were still selling fish.

Their stalls held skinny or stale dead fish, most of them being sold cheap.

The customers were mostly elderly people in even shabbier clothes, picking through the stalls and haggling fiercely.

"Fine, fine, six cash it is. Just take it!"

One stallholder had been pestered until his head hurt. He waved a hand, letting a gaunt old woman pick through his wares.

"Ha! I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice. You think you can fool me? Not a chance. At least you've got a conscience today..." The old woman looked smug.

Jiang Er felt a fresh wave of bitterness and quietly moved away from her.

He went to another corner of the fish market, hunched over as he watched the people nearby.

Compared to the market's heaps of rotten fish and shrimp, Jiang Er's catch was top-notch.

Before long, a few people had gathered around.

But none of them bought anything right away.

People buying fish at this hour were mostly looking to snap up a bargain, hoping to score the leftovers that others hadn't wanted that day.

Soon, an old man came over and studied the fish in Jiang Er's basket for a while before asking, "Young man, how much for these fish?"

Jiang Er glanced around, then hesitated. "Ten... eleven cash."

"Eleven cash?" The old man raised his eyebrows. "At this hour, you're still asking eleven?"

The people behind him chimed in, too.

"Exactly. Lots of stalls were selling them for six cash a jin just now."

"Right. You're so young, how can you be so greedy?"

"Look at these fish. They're half-dead. They've obviously been sitting here forever. We're doing you a favor by buying them. Otherwise, take them home and they'll be dead by tomorrow. Who'll buy dead fish then?"

Jiang Er flushed with anger. "That's nonsense!"

"I just caught these fish. How are they half-dead?"

The few people around him kept berating him, as though refusing to sell his fish cheap was some great crime.

"I'm not selling!"

Furious, Jiang Er snapped shut the lid of his basket and prepared to carry it home.

He couldn't help sighing inwardly, lamenting his poor Aura of Fortune today.

First his boat had been damaged, then the fishing had gone badly, and now he'd run into these shameless old folks while trying to sell his catch. His heart was full of rage.

Jiang Er hoisted the basket onto his back and quickly left the fish market.

"Honestly, what an ungrateful young man..."

The last rays of the setting sun faded, like Jiang Er's heart sinking into darkness.

He still hadn't sold today's fish, and he would need money to repair his net as well.

He owed the medicine hall a great deal, and there was no money left at home. His father's medicine for tomorrow was still a problem.

He thought of his younger sister, who had come to him in tears a few days ago and said she was willing to become a concubine in the home of Landlord Zhang, in the outer city, in exchange for a small bride-price to pay for their father's treatment.

Jiang Er's heart sank even lower.

Life was hard. So hard.

"Young man, wait."

Suddenly, Jiang Er felt a tremendous force on the basket on his back, stopping him in his tracks.

He turned around and saw a tall, slender figure standing behind him, wearing a bamboo hat.

The man looked up, and Jiang Er got a clear look at his face.

A youth, with a face as beautiful as jade, red lips and white teeth, and a strikingly handsome bearing. He looked about the same age as Jiang Er.

Jiang Er was taken aback. Thinking of his own ordinary features and skin darkened by years in the sun and wind, he felt a little inferior.

But when he saw the other man wearing the same ordinary coarse clothes, his insecurity eased a little.

Lin Yi had been watching from the side for quite some time.

He had spotted a Three-Eyed River Goby at Jiang Er's stall earlier.

Lin Yi had learned about the traits of some common treasures and Treasure Fish.

At first glance, a Three-Eyed River Goby looked no different from an ordinary river goby: its body was long and scaleless, its back blue-gray, its belly milky white, its underside faintly pink, and its tail flattened at the sides.

The only differences were its more jade-green coloring and a tiny bump between its brows. Its third eye only opened after it died.

That made the Three-Eyed River Goby an exceedingly hard-to-spot Treasure Fish for ordinary people.

"Young man, what do you mean by this?" Seeing Lin Yi's imposing bearing, Jiang Er couldn't help adopting a more respectful tone.

Lin Yi smiled. "How about selling these fish to me?"

Compared to the stingy old men and women from earlier, Lin Yi's refined bearing was like heaven and earth apart. Jiang Er immediately took a liking to him.

Jiang Er asked tentatively, "Brother, how much are you offering?"

He had already made up his mind: as long as the price wasn't too outrageous, he'd sell them, even for eight cash a jin.

Lin Yi already had a pleasant face, and he felt a little spiteful, too.

Lin Yi raised a hand and held up five fingers.

Jiang Er froze, and a fresh wave of resentment surged in his heart.

He had thought Lin Yi was so refined, but it turned out he was just another cheapskate!

"Fifty taels of silver."

Lin Yi's voice came calmly.

The resentment that had risen in Jiang Er's heart vanished instantly.

"Y-young man, don't joke..."

Jiang Er stammered.

He had only caught twenty-odd jin of fish. Even if he sold them at the season's highest price, he would get no more than fifteen cash a jin.

That would only come to three hundred cash.

One tael of silver was worth a thousand cash.

Fifty taels of silver?

Jiang Er couldn't even begin to imagine such a huge sum.

"Fifty taels of silver!" Jiang Er cried out. "Young man, don't joke around and toy with me."

Lin Yi reached into his bundle, took out a cloth pouch containing silver he had set aside in advance, and held it out to Jiang Er. "Count it."

Hearing the silver clink and clatter inside the pouch, Jiang Er swallowed and hurriedly waved his hands. "N-no, you don't need to give me so much! At ten cash a jin, all these fish are worth at most two hundred cash. You're paying far too much."

Though he came from humble origins, he still knew the principle that a gentleman should earn wealth through proper means.

Lin Yi gave the youth an approving look, then said seriously, "It's fine. Your fish are worth this much."

Worth this much?

Jiang Er froze, then suddenly thought of something.

A few years ago, rumors had spread through the fish market that someone had caught a Treasure Fish worth almost ten taels of silver per jin.

Could he have caught a Treasure Fish, too?

Jiang Er asked tentatively, "Could there be... a Treasure Fish in there?"

Lin Yi smiled and nodded. "So, will you sell them?"

Jiang Er nodded eagerly. "Sell them! Of course I'll sell them!"

Treasure Fish were only useful to qi refiners. They could strengthen the body's qi and blood and raise one's cultivation.

Ordinary people had no method of martial training. Eating one could even overtax their bodies and leave them injured.

Jiang Er had no doubts about Lin Yi.

He was poor and destitute, and had mistaken a Treasure Fish for an ordinary fish, selling it without knowing its worth.

The man before him could easily have taken advantage of him, but instead, he had told him the truth.

With this money, Jiang Er could finally put his family's affairs in order.

His father's medicine would be taken care of, and his younger sister would no longer have to worry every day about marrying the landlord as a concubine.

The man before him could be considered his benefactor.

After successfully buying the Treasure Fish, Lin Yi was delighted, too.

Treasure Fish were rare and could not be sought out at will. They were especially important for his upcoming breakthrough through the Martial Pass.

Bang!

A crisp sound brought Lin Yi back to his senses.

Lin Yi raised his eyebrows at the youth kneeling on one knee before him. "Young man, what are you doing?"

Jiang Er lowered his head, his voice earnest and low. "To be honest, brother, my name is Jiang Er. My family has fallen on hard times, and we're in dire need of money. I mistook a treasure for an ordinary fish, not knowing its worth. You had the discerning eye to recognize it, but instead of taking advantage of me, you gave me money. This is a great kindness, and I won't forget it."

"If there's ever anything you need, anything within my power, just say the word."

"You flatter me, Brother Jiang." A trace of amusement flickered in Lin Yi's eyes.

Lin Yi had accumulated hundreds of taels of silver in just a few years. Naturally, he had found plenty of bargains along the way.

As the saying went, you'd have to be a fool not to take advantage of a bargain.

As for why he hadn't taken advantage of this one today, the reason was simple.

Lin Yi looked at the man kneeling before him.

In Lin Yi's eyes, the man was surrounded by a dense golden glow.

It was the clear sign of his abundant Aura of Fortune.

A person blessed with such abundant fortune and so sincere in nature was well worth befriending.

"Brother Jiang, please get up. We were only each taking what we needed, so there's no need to take it to heart..."

Just as Lin Yi was about to help Jiang Er up, a mocking, sneering voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Well, well, if it isn't Jiang Er! Aren't you usually such a tough guy? Since when did you start kneeling to people?"

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