Four Seasons Market

This was a spacious hall, with over a hundred enormous pillars scattered across the entire area, supporting a vast arched dome. Brightly lit shops stood around the pillars, gleaming in every color, while their plaques wreathed in multicolored mist displayed an enticing mystery. Customers in Daoist robes, cassocks, and scholar's garments came and went without end. Now and then, one or two foreigners in broad cloaks or splendid wizard robes appeared, making the entire hall feel especially lively.

"This is where wizards gathered to trade. It's called Four Seasons Market, meaning a place that held market all year round. There were nine Four Seasons Markets in the entire Wizarding World, and three of them were in China: Daming Market, Forbidden City Market, and Jinling Market." Thomas tugged Zheng Qing along as he explained, "This is Daming Market, the closest one to your home. Everything listed on your checklist can be bought here."

As they spoke, the two passed a grass-green mailbox. Thomas pulled out his wallet, took out a card, and swiped it through a slot on the side of the mailbox. Accompanied by a series of beeps, a newspaper carrying the scent of fresh ink emerged from the opening at the top.

"Is this magic?" Zheng Qing asked curiously.

"It's a vending machine." Thomas shook his head and unfolded the newspaper.

Embarrassed, Zheng Qing turned his head aside and caught sight of a huge headline on the side of the paper: "Pan-China Wizard Representatives Conference Grandly Opens in Anyi... Ji Zi Delivers Important Speech." In the photograph beneath, which occupied half the page, a dense sea of heads stood quietly in place, making the man waving his arms seem especially towering.

"Luozu Apparel, your distinguished choice." Accompanied by soothing music, an alluring voice drifted from a nearby shop. Zheng Qing could not help turning to look. Behind the transparent glass display window, several stunning models danced gracefully to the music. The snow-white skin vaguely revealed with the rhythm of the music made Zheng Qing swallow several times.

"If you're not strong enough, never come here." Thomas flipped through the newspaper with a rustle, not even raising his head as he snorted. "Otherwise, you'll truly understand what merchants mean."

"So beautiful." Zheng Qing's gaze was somewhat unfocused as he gave a foolish chuckle. "I want to buy clothes."

"You will, but not here." Somewhat helpless, Thomas pulled out his brown notebook again and lightly tapped Zheng Qing twice on the head. He sighed. "These guys were getting more and more ingenious with their borderline tricks. Still, they really had put some thought into those puppets."

A chill ran through his entire body. Having snapped awake, Zheng Qing no longer dared look around. He tucked his hands away and obediently followed behind Thomas.

"Here it is." Thomas pushed Zheng Qing into a bustling-looking little shop and said, "After you go in, hand your checklist to Yun Mu. Once you get your finished clothes, stay here and wait for me. I'll go buy equipment like elixir cauldrons and jade artifacts for you."

Before Zheng Qing could speak, Thomas turned into specks of starlight and vanished from where he stood.

Zheng Qing sighed and raised his head to look at the tailor shop.

Yunxiangyi.

The name was quite beautiful, though the storefront did not look very large. Zheng Qing curled his lips and pushed open the door.

Compared to the cramped storefront, the space inside was quite expansive. The shop, which covered more than a hundred square meters, was filled with robes and gloves of every kind.

There was no one inside. Apart from clouds and robes drifting all over the room, there was not a single clerk, nor the slightest sound. It was frighteningly quiet.

Could this be a tailor shop run by ghosts? Zheng Qing, who had only just entered the Wizarding World, was full of wild imaginings.

"Welcome to Yunxiangyi!" A white cloud drifted down from the ceiling and landed before Zheng Qing. It rolled about and spat out several words formed from cloud vapor.

Zheng Qing stared blankly at the cloud, unsure whether he should take out his brush and write something.

Then he remembered the checklist in his hand, so he foolishly held it out.

After rolling around for quite some time, the cloud gathered itself into the face of an old woman, complete with a monocle.

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

"Ha, a publicly funded student!" The wrinkled old face before him immediately blossomed like a full chrysanthemum and sprayed out a string of ornate script. "The fabric for clothes in my shop is the most authentic. We happened to bring out 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 too."

Zheng Qing nodded repeatedly.

"Let's take your measurements first." After the old woman spat out those words, she dispersed into small, delicate clouds. The clouds nimbly rolled and gathered around Zheng Qing, quickly weaving themselves into a well-fitting robe. Zheng Qing understood why the shop was so quiet.

"Stand up straight!" The cloud spat out a huge exclamation mark.

Zheng Qing hurriedly straightened up, not daring to move at all.

"Done. You'll need to wait a few minutes." The cloud-woven robe changed styles several times before finally leaving Zheng Qing's body and transforming back into the old woman's face. "A freshman?"

Zheng Qing smiled and nodded.

"Seeing young children like you always puts me in a good mood." Yun Mu spat out a string of ornate script. "Publicly funded students may receive a complimentary drink. Would you like Green Bee or Amber Light?"

Zheng Qing tentatively pointed at Green Bee.

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

"You can go outside and have a look around first." The old woman looked kindly at Zheng Qing, a string of ornate script pouring forth like flowing water. "This old woman still needs to imprint talismans onto the finished product, so it will take a little while."

Zheng Qing nodded obediently, but he stood to one side holding his drink and looking around instead of leaving.

Customers came and went through Yunxiangyi, quietly and swiftly. Many people directly bought finished robes and cloaks, while very few chose to have garments tailored on the spot.

"Why won't you let me in?" A rough, booming demand came from the entrance.

Zheng Qing turned around and saw a bald, fat man holding a roast chicken. He was trying to enter the shop but had been stopped by a dark cloud.

"No eating or drinking inside the clothing store." The dark cloud spat out a line of square, neat Song-style characters.

So these clouds could hear sounds. Zheng Qing silently thought to himself.

"Then why can he?" The fat man narrowed his eyes, spotted the cup in Zheng Qing's hand, and loudly demanded.

"He is a publicly funded student. The drink was provided by our shop." The cloud's reply was stiff and brief.

The fat man froze for a moment, then viciously stuffed the roast chicken into the shoulder bag slung over his shoulder. He casually wiped his greasy hands on the bag before looking at the dark cloud again.

The dark cloud silently drifted aside.

The fat man, his three chins wobbling, squeezed into the tailor shop.

Looking at this unfamiliar scene before him, Zheng Qing felt vaguely lost.

At this time yesterday, he had still been drinking and chatting grandly with his high school classmates, reminiscing about their carefree younger days and the girl who had sat beside him, imagining how spirited they would be three or five years later.

Today, he had plunged headfirst into this wondrous world, watching white clouds spit out words, colored clouds weave clothes, and dark clouds block the way.

Life was sometimes just this marvelous. The you of today would never know what kind of self you would face tomorrow.