Time passed quickly, and a light drizzle fell that day.
There were few people on the streets, but the Old Woman still hawked her Heartless Vegetables with a smile. It had rained today-she had guessed right again.
She sold her vegetables in the West Market, where Jiang Ziya told fortunes.
To be honest, among the fortune-telling stalls at the Four Gates, Old Jiang's business was the worst.
The nobles were now organizing large merchant caravans to trade, and commoners with a head for business could easily find employment.
This was an exceptionally rare path to a better life. Essentially, anyone with a little business sense could live comfortably, even if they were born a commoner.
Before he started telling fortunes, however, Jiang Ziya had been a businessman. He had tried his hand at business four times.
The first time, Jiang Ziya wove a shoulder pole's worth of bamboo strainers and carried them to the market to sell. After half a day, he had not sold a single one. His stomach was growling by then, so he had no choice but to carry them home again, traveling more than seventy li there and back for nothing.
The second time, Jiang Ziya followed the advice of Song Yiren, the manor lord living outside the city, and carried a load of flour out to sell. He visited all four city gates without finding a single buyer. When he finally found one, a horse happened to kick over his basket, spilling the flour onto the ground, where the wind swept it clean away.
The third time, with funding from Song Yiren again, Jiang Ziya opened a tavern at the South Gate of Chaoge City. The location was good, but it was the height of summer, and one torrential downpour left all his pork and