Four Seasons Market

This is a spacious grand hall. Hundreds of massive pillars are scattered across the entire area, supporting a huge arched dome. Brightly lit shops stand around the pillars, shimmering with various lights, their plaques adorned with colorful, swirling clouds, exuding an alluring mystery. Customers in Taoist robes, Buddhist cassocks, and Confucian attire come and go incessantly. Occasionally, a foreigner or two dressed in loose cloaks or magnificent mage robes adds to the lively atmosphere of the hall.

"This is a gathering place for wizards to trade, known as the Four Seasons Market, meaning it's open for business all year round. There are a total of nine Four Seasons Markets in the entire wizarding world, and the Chinese region has three of them: Daming Market, Forbidden City Market, and Jinling Market." Thomas, pulling along a lingering Zheng Qing, explained as they walked, "This is Daming Market, the closest one to your home. Everything on your list can be bought here."

As they spoke, the two passed a grass-green mailbox. Thomas took out his wallet, pulled out a card, and swiped it in the card slot on the side of the mailbox. With a "beep beep" sound, a newspaper smelling of ink was ejected from the top opening of the mailbox.

"Is this magic?" Zheng Qing asked curiously.

"This is an automatic vending machine," Thomas replied, shaking his head as he opened the newspaper.

Zheng Qing awkwardly turned his head, catching sight of a huge headline on the side of the newspaper: "Pan-Chinese Wizard Representative Conference Grandly Opens in Anyi... Ji Zi Delivers Important Speech." Below it, a photo taking up half the page showed a sea of heads quietly positioned, making the figure of a man waving his arms appear exceptionally large.

"Luozu Apparel, your distinguished choice." Accompanied by soothing music, a seductive voice emanated from a nearby shop. Zheng Qing couldn't help but turn his head to look. Behind the transparent glass display window, several stunning models were dancing gracefully to the gentle music. The glimpses of snow-white skin revealed by the music made Zheng Qing involuntarily swallow.

"If you don't have enough strength, absolutely do not come here," Thomas said, flipping through the newspaper without even looking up. "Otherwise, you'll truly understand what merchants mean."

"So beautiful," Zheng Qing said with a slightly dazed look, chuckling foolishly. "I want to buy clothes."

"You will, but not here," Thomas said with a hint of helplessness. He pulled out his brown notebook again, gently patted Zheng Qing's head twice, and sighed. "These guys' suggestive marketing is getting more and more sophisticated. But those puppets really took some effort."

Shivering all over and snapping back to reality, Zheng Qing no longer dared to look around. He clasped his hands and followed Thomas obediently.

"This is it," Thomas said, pushing Zheng Qing into a bustling-looking small shop. "Once you go in, give your list to Yun Mu. After you get your clothes, wait for me here. I'll go buy you equipment like alchemy cauldrons and jade artifacts."

Before Zheng Qing could reply, Thomas disappeared in a shower of starlight.

Zheng Qing sighed and looked up at the clothing shop.

Yunxiangyi.

The name was beautiful, but the shopfront didn't look very large. Zheng Qing pursed his lips and pushed the door open.

Compared to the narrow storefront, the space inside the shop was quite spacious. The store, covering over a hundred square meters, was filled with robes and gloves of various colors.

There was no one in the shop. Apart from clouds and robes drifting around the room, there were no shop assistants, not a sound to be heard, eerily quiet.

Could this be a ghost-run clothing shop? Zheng Qing, who had just come into contact with the wizarding world, was filled with imagination.

"Welcome to Yunxiangyi!" A white cloud floated down from the ceiling in front of Zheng Qing, tumbling and spitting out words formed from mist.

Zheng Qing stared blankly at the cloud, unsure if he should take out his brush to write.

Then he remembered the list in his hand and foolishly handed it over.

The cloud tumbled for a long time, forming the face of an old woman, complete with a monocle.

Zheng Qing roughly understood what Thomas had meant by Yun Mu.

"Ha, a scholarship student!" The wrinkled old face before him immediately bloomed into a chrysanthemum, spitting out a string of ornate characters. "The fabrics in my shop are the most authentic. We just received a batch of aged Cold Silkworm Silk yesterday. As for gloves, how about Yellow Deer Hide? The price is right, and the quality is excellent."

Zheng Qing nodded repeatedly.

"Let me take your measurements first." After spitting out these words, the old woman dispersed into small, delicate clouds. The clouds nimbly circled Zheng Qing, gathering and weaving, quickly forming a well-fitting robe. Zheng Qing understood why the shop was so quiet.

"Stand up straight!" The clouds spat out a giant exclamation mark.

Zheng Qing quickly straightened his body, not daring to move.

"Alright, it will take a few minutes." The robe woven from mist changed its style a few times before leaving Zheng Qing's body and reforming into the old woman's face. "A freshman?"

Zheng Qing smiled and nodded.

"Seeing you young folks makes me happy," Yun Mu said, spitting out a string of ornate characters. "Scholarship students get a free drink. Would you like Green Bee or Amber Light?"

Zheng Qing tentatively pointed at Green Bee.

Yun Mu nodded and slowly flew away, soon returning with a cup of pale green beverage.

"You can go out and look around for a bit," the old woman said kindly to Zheng Qing, a stream of ornate characters flowing out. "This old woman needs to brand the finished product with runes, which will take some time."

Zheng Qing nodded obediently but stood aside holding the drink, looking around, not going out.

Customers came and went in Yunxiangyi, quietly and quickly. Most people bought ready-made robes and cloaks, with very few choosing custom orders on the spot.

"Why won't you let me in!" a gruff voice demanded from the doorway.

Zheng Qing turned his head and saw a bald, chubby man holding a roasted chicken, trying to enter the shop but being blocked by a dark cloud.

"No eating or drinking inside the store," the dark cloud spat out a string of square, regular Song typeface characters.

So these clouds can hear things, Zheng Qing thought silently.

"Why can he!" the fat man narrowed his eyes, spotting the cup in Zheng Qing's hand, and shouted.

"He is a scholarship student, and the drink is a gift from our shop," the cloud replied stiffly and concisely.

The fat man froze for a moment, then shoved the roasted chicken into the saddlebag slung over his shoulder. He casually wiped his greasy hands on the saddlebag and looked back at the dark cloud.

The dark cloud silently drifted to the side.

The fat man, with his triple chin jiggling, squeezed into the clothing shop.

Zheng Qing looked at the unfamiliar scene before him, a hint of melancholy in his heart.

This time yesterday, he was still at a dinner table with his high school classmates, talking animatedly, reminiscing about their youthful days and the girls who sat next to them, and envisioning their future success in three to five years.

Today, he had plunged headfirst into this magical world, watching clouds speak characters, colorful clouds weave clothes, and dark clouds block paths.

Life is sometimes truly wondrous; you never know what kind of self you will face tomorrow.