It was already mid-April, and the weather was noticeably hot. After walking for half a day, Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Xiaohua were drenched in sweat.
At first, both of them were preoccupied with thoughts of their family and said little. They traveled in silence.
After walking for a long while, their moods gradually eased. Looking at the bright scenery, their hearts slowly opened up. Smiles appeared on their faces, and they began talking more.
Watching horses gallop past from time to time, Zhang Xiaohua could not help asking Zhang Xiaohu, "Second Brother, it's such a long journey from Guo Village to Pingyang City. How long will it take us to walk there?"
Zhang Xiaohu looked at Zhang Xiaohua and smiled. "It's several hundred li. If we rely only on our feet, I reckon it'll take at least seventy or eighty days."
Zhang Xiaohua stared blankly. "That long? Wouldn't it already be cool by the time we reached Pingyang City?"
Zhang Xiaohu said, "Of course we can't rely entirely on walking. Didn't you hear Mr. Liu say that there are carriages from Lu Town to Pingyang City? Once we get to Lu Town, we'll find a carriage headed for Pingyang City and pay them some silver. Otherwise, by the time we got there, autumn would truly have arrived. These clothes of ours wouldn't do at all, not to mention our shoes. I could tell you weren't listening properly when Mr. Liu said it."
Zhang Xiaohua flushed and muttered, "I don't know when Mr. Liu said that. How come I didn't know?"
The two talked as they walked, so the journey did not feel lonely. By noon, they had reached Lu Town.
Since the New Year, this was Zhang Xiaohua's first time coming to Lu Town. Looking at its still-bustling streets, countless