Steward Chen hurried to check on the driver, who had slowly regained consciousness but was still dizzy.
Li Zhong and Wang also came over to help, using melted snow to clean and dress the driver's and steward's wounds.
After some fussing, the driver was barely able to sit back on the carriage shaft. Steward Chen thanked them again and again, then invited Li Xuan and his family to travel with them:
"Benefactor, the town isn't far from here. Why not travel together, so we can look out for one another? Once we reach town, my master will certainly reward you generously!"
Li Xuan had not wanted to get any more involved, but their carriage and horses had suffered damage, their people were wounded, and these woods truly were unsafe. He nodded in agreement:
"All right. We're heading into town for the market anyway."
And so the two groups joined up and slowly made their way toward town.
Along the way, Steward Chen recounted the robbery, still shaken by the ordeal.
Li Xuan merely explained that he was a hunter from the mountains, accompanying his elder brother and sister-in-law to sell some mountain produce.
Shen Qingyi sat quietly inside the carriage most of the time. Only occasionally did her gaze fall through a gap in the curtains onto the young hunter walking beside it.
Her eyes held a complicated mix of gratitude, curiosity, and a trace of reassurance she could not quite put into words.
The town gates came into view in the distance, and the stream of people grew thicker.
Steward Chen solemnly thanked him once more, then took a calling card from inside his robe and handed it to Li Xuan:
"Benefactor, this bears the Shen family's address and my master's name. Words cannot repay such a great kindness, but please do accept it. If you ever encounter difficulties in town, or need anything the Shen family can help with, present this card. Everyone at the rice shop will do their utmost for you."
Supported by her maid, Shen Qingyi stepped out of the carriage again. She bowed gracefully to Li Xuan and said softly:
"Brother Li, I will remember your lifesaving kindness until my dying day. My father will certainly repay you generously. Please... do take care of yourself."
She raised her eyes, her clear gaze lingering on Li Xuan's face for a moment.
As though trying to commit her rescuer's features to memory, she then blushed faintly.
Accompanied by her maid and Steward Chen, she hurried off in another direction within the town, presumably eager to report the incident to the authorities and notify her family.
Li Xuan looked at the finely textured calling card in his hand, printed with the words "Shen Family Fengyu Rice Shop."
He glanced once more at the slender figure disappearing around the street corner, then carefully put it away.
He turned to his brother and sister-in-law, who were still a little dazed:
"Brother, sister-in-law, let's hurry too. We'll find somewhere to sell our things, buy what we need, and get home early."
The bustling town market lay before them, its clamorous voices washing over them as though that brief, bloody encounter in the woods had been nothing but a dream.
But the texture of the calling card against his chest, the faint scent of blood that seemed to linger beneath his nose, and that elusive hint of fragrance all reminded him.
In a world like this, if he wanted to live in peace, the bow in his hands and the strength in his body were his only true support.
Stalls crowded both sides of the flagstone street, with vendors' cries, haggling voices, and the calls of livestock mingling into a single din.
With the medicinal herbs on his back, Li Zhong stared at the bustling scene, at a loss for what to do, his face flushed bright red.
He opened his mouth several times, but the cry of "Herbs for sale" seemed to stick in his throat, emerging as faint as a mosquito's whine before being drowned out at once.
His sister-in-law also clutched the bundle cloth nervously.
Li Xuan smiled at the sight.
Most people really did struggle to overcome their embarrassment about hawking goods in public.
But with something like this, once they called out the first time, it would never be a problem again.
"Brother, sister-in-law, there's no need to be nervous. Let me."
He swept his gaze around and found a relatively spacious, clean patch of ground near an intersection.
There, he spread out the wild goat hide, tanned soft and thick, its fur glossy.
The grayish-brown fur gleamed with a healthy sheen beneath the pale winter sun, immediately drawing the attention of passersby.
Next, he untied the bundle, revealing six crucian carp frozen solid, though their plump size was still plain to see.
He laid them side by side beside the goatskin. Their eyes still held a faint glimmer from before death, and their scales were intact.
He cleared his throat and sank his breath into his lower abdomen. His voice was not especially loud, but it rang out with exceptional clarity, instantly rising above the surrounding clamor:
"Come take a look! Fresh wild goat hide from the mountain behind us! Thick and warm, with glossy fur, properly cured and not a bit scratchy! Make it into bedding or a vest for winter-nothing better!"
"And here we have big crucian carp, freshly caught beneath the river ice! In this freezing weather, fresh fish are hard to come by! Tender flesh, milky broth, wonderfully nourishing! Build up the strength of your elders and children, or help new mothers bring in their milk-you couldn't ask for better!"
"Fine dried yellow essence and poria, gathered and dried by our own family! Genuine mountain produce, quality goods at honest prices! First come, first served! Pass this village by, and you won't find another shop like it!"
His pitch offered both selling points and practical uses, delivered in a clear, confident voice. It immediately drew the attention of quite a few people nearby.
Several respectably dressed women stopped to inspect the goatskin:
"This is a nice hide. Softly cured, and the fur's thick too."
An old man squatted down and squeezed the stiff body of a crucian carp:
"Mm, fresh fish, caught from under the ice. Not much fishy smell."
Seeing their interest, Li Xuan immediately struck while the iron was hot.
He picked up a fish and pressed hard around its gills with his fingers, displaying the still-bright-red filaments:
"Look at these gills, everyone. Bright red, aren't they? Pulled straight out of a hole in the ice this morning-not a trace of muddy odor!"
Then he lifted a corner of the goatskin and gave it a vigorous shake, showing its suppleness and thickness:
"This hide's cured all the way through. Feel it for yourselves!"
He also deliberately placed the two finest-looking large fish and the most intact hide in the most conspicuous spots to serve as his "showpieces."
When anyone asked the price, he answered clearly:
"The goatskin is intact and well cured: seven hundred copper coins. The crucian carp go by size: forty for a large one, thirty-five for a medium, thirty for a small. The yellow essence and poria are both dried, priced according to quality."
These prices were a little higher than ordinary pork from a butcher's shop or common fish.
But considering how hard wild game was to come by, the nourishing reputation of fish caught beneath the ice, and the quality of the goatskin, they were reasonable enough.
"The hide's certainly thick, and the fur's smooth."
The steward nodded, but then said, "Still, this curing... isn't quite up to scratch. Feels a little stiff. Six hundred copper coins, and I'll take it."
Li Xuan was in no hurry. He lifted a corner of the hide and shook it hard to demonstrate its suppleness:
"You've got a keen eye, sir. This hide was roughly cured up in the mountains. It can't compare with the work of an old master here in town. But as you can see, it's cured right through, without any stiff patches, let alone insect damage."
"The important thing is that it's whole-a single hide from head to tail. You could make a short jacket or a bed mat without wasting any of it. One look at you tells me you're a man of discerning taste. If you truly want it, six hundred and eighty copper coins. I really can't go any lower. Carrying it here took some effort too."
The steward felt the underside of the hide again and fell
silent in thought for a moment.
A hide of this quality was indeed hard to come by, and it was large enough too.
He stood and dusted off his hands. "All right, lad, you've got a way with words. Six hundred and eighty it is. Wrap it up for me."
He promptly counted out the money.
Then a young married woman carrying a child squeezed to the front, her eyes fixed on the fish, especially the largest one.
She cautiously touched its body with a finger and asked quietly, "This... this biggest one, how much is it?"
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