This Stone Was Too Big Even to Weigh Down Pickles

It was only three in the morning, yet the hotel had already come alive. They later learned that this was one of the hotel's peculiarities. It happened almost every day, unless there was no gambling on stones.

After lunch yesterday, they had slept all afternoon and woken after dark. Then they had eaten dinner and gone back to sleep. By the time they woke again, it was the middle of the night.

Atmosphere mattered. Caught up in the bustle, Zhang Yang no longer felt like sleeping either. He climbed out of bed, washed up, and got ready.

When he left his room, Ling Junsheng was already waiting in the corridor with the young man.

"Mr. Zhang, sorry about this, but gambling on stones at this hour is a local specialty."

Afraid that Zhang Yang would be displeased and that it might affect his judgment, Ling Junsheng immediately bowed and scraped, apologizing and explaining why.

Zhang Yang had no intention of getting angry. It was not that he had grown used to being slighted; he was simply doing as the locals did.

There was activity in every room, and quite a few people crowded the corridor. Zhang Yang figured that if the hotel was this lively, the stone market had to be even livelier. Imagining the scene, he thought it might rival the periodic markets held every few days in remote areas.

Going out in the middle of the night was unusual, so Ling Junsheng had been thoughtful enough to arrange a light meal first. It was hard to say whether breakfast or a late-night snack was the better name for it.

After eating, everyone hurried out. Ling Junsheng led them to a place Zhang Yang and the others had not visited during the day.

It felt like a farmers' market: