A regular room at Yunlai Inn cost fifty coins a day, while the superior room Ji Yuan stayed in cost a hundred coins. Lu Chengfeng and the others had paid the bill before.
Now that they had left, Ji Yuan certainly would not stay here any longer.
What a joke. This person Ji was now someone with property in Ning'an County—why waste money like that?
"Smack!"
Ji Yuan suddenly slapped his hand hard. He remembered that Lu Chengfeng had paid for the residence on his behalf, and he had not even paid him back yet!
So that meant I'd saved another thirty-six taels?
As the saying went, poor scholars and rich warriors—it really made sense. Lu Chengfeng had not even come to ask him for the enormous sum of thirty-six taels. Just how wealthy must his family be?
That was right. Ji Yuan had absolutely no intention of chasing after the carriage to repay the money. If they met again someday and he had money to spare, it would not be too late to pay him back then. If they never met again... well, he would count it as Young Master Lu repaying a little more of his debt for saving his life!
Noon had long passed today. By the inn's accounting, they would charge him for the whole day no matter what, so Ji Yuan settled in and stayed another night at the inn.
With no one treating him to a meal, he made do with a bowl of Yangchun Noodles at the inn.
Early the next morning, Ji Yuan went to the inn counter to check out, and sure enough, he received another tael back.
It had to be said, those young heroes were quite decent people. He just did not know whether they would still have been so warm if they had not thought Ji Yuan was an extraordinary person. Probably, perhaps, most likely... they would not have.
Although many people in Ning'an County knew that the man-eating fierce tiger of Niu Kui Mountain had been brought to justice, and the matter had been entered into the local county annals, with official notices posted as well, the county office had not made public the fact that the Nine Heroes were staying at Yunlai Inn.
This also showed the county magistrate's seasoned handling of affairs. If everyone knew the tiger slaying heroes were at Yunlai Inn, would those righteous men not be treated like monkeys on display? How could they recover from their injuries in peace?
That was the fundamental reason why Ning'an County had been bustling these past few days while everyone could still enjoy some peace and quiet. Naturally, hardly anyone recognized Ji Yuan either.
In fact, even the contents of the official notices and the names of the Nine Heroes were remembered by only a very few people. Most people were merely joining the excitement to look at a tiger skin.
After leaving the inn, Ji Yuan naturally headed straight for the market streets. He planned to buy some bedding and furniture first. There was already a bed in the house, after all. If he hired someone to clean and tidy the place, it would definitely be livable. Even if there was not enough time, buying a quilt and cleaning the bed would surely be enough. In any case, he was no longer paying to stay at an inn.
Ning'an County remained lively. The temple fair would last several days, and the White Tiger Hide displayed for public viewing was still hanging outside the county office. Ji Yuan wandered the streets with his eyes half-open, looking just like an ordinary person. Almost no one around him took Ji Yuan for a blind man.
Listening to all kinds of hawking sounds and hushed chatter, this person Ji swore to heaven that he was not actively prying into other people's privacy. He was being forced into it!
Other people could tell which shop sold what by looking. Ji Yuan could only rely on listening. Following the sounds, he arrived at a place selling sheets and bedding.
Interestingly, right beside this shop was a cotton shop, and "bang bang bang" sounds of cotton beating came from inside.
A cotton-beating song suddenly started playing in Ji Yuan's head with demonic persistence, impossible to shake off. By the time he reached the shop selling bedding, he had nearly started singing it aloud.
"Shopkeeper, do you have quilts, blankets, and pillows here?"
As Ji Yuan spoke, he stretched out a hand and carefully felt the blankets and quilts on the display racks outside, judging their quality by touch.
"Yes! Does this gentleman want ready-made ones, or would you like a set made? The cotton shop is right next door. Fresh cotton can be beaten in less than half a day, and then we can sew the quilt for you!"
The shopkeepers seemed to be a married couple. Seeing Ji Yuan ask about prices, the female owner hurried out from inside to attend to him.
"No need. I'll buy ready-made ones. This one under my hand is one of them, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Everything you're touching there is! Uh, they're all only a hundred and fifty copper coins. Look at that fabric—it's all cloth woven by Xiuer Workshop in the county. It's very comfortable to sleep under!"
A hundred and fifty coins? I believe you like I'd believe a ghost! Before I came over, I clearly heard you whispering with your husband inside that you could still make a profit at a hundred and twenty coins. You're trying to cheat me out of thirty coins?
Ji Yuan frowned.
"What about having new ones made?"
"New ones are a little more expensive. Including the cotton-beater's labor, about a hundred and eighty coins."
Fine. Presumably that was inflated by another chunk too.
"How about this, madam? I intend to buy three sets of bedding, plus two pillows and two blankets. How about four hundred and fifty coins in total?"
Hearing the price quoted by this somewhat thin customer, the shop owner's wife was stunned. It was exactly the lowest price at which she could sell the goods.
"What do you say? If you sell them to me, deliver them to my residence. I can add twenty coins for the labor. It's in South City, not very far."
Perhaps thinking she had run into someone who knew the trade, the shop owner's wife did not hesitate long before agreeing. Ji Yuan paid a small deposit first and told the shopkeeper to deliver the goods in two hours.
After Ji Yuan left, the shop owner's wife took the small note he had left behind and returned to the shop.
"Dear, isn't that strange? Not only did he set the price so precisely, the bedding he chose was good too. But when he spoke, it always seemed as though his eyes were closed. Here, look at what he wrote for the delivery address."
The woman could not read, so she handed the slip to her husband.
"Why worry about so much? At least it's the first sale of the morning."
The male shop owner took the note from the woman's hand. One look at the paper showed neat handwriting, every stroke carrying strength through the back of the page. Even with his shallow literary education, he felt it was fine writing.
"Hmm... Ju'an Pavilion, eastern corner of Tianniu Quarter..."
"Oh dear... it can't be that Ju'an Pavilion, can it?"
The woman asked uneasily.
"How many Ju'an Pavilions are there in Tianniu Quarter? That place can actually be sold?"
The male shop owner did not look too well either.
Ji Yuan wandered around the market, buying all sorts of household necessities. Besides bedding and blankets, he bought towels, washbasins, and some simple furniture, such as a washbasin stand and wardrobe, along with brooms, mops, and the like. He even found a stonework shop and had the old craftsmen deliver a stone table and four stone stools, intending to place them under the jujube tree in the courtyard.
Naturally, he had not forgotten to hire several people to clean the house.
Besides that, Ji Yuan had not forgotten his earlier idea. He specifically found a decent fabric store and bought several sets of clothes, basically copying the style of that Third Master.
Only, Ji Yuan was even more flamboyant. Right there in the clothing shop, he had himself styled with a short topknot and inserted a jade hairpin purchased for two hundred coins. His forehead was covered by bangs, temple hair fell on both sides, and hair that was not exactly short draped down his back. By the standards here, the style was simply neither fish nor fowl, yet it was surprisingly harmonious and refined.
And it was true—clothes made the man, gold adorned the Buddha. Though he was not as handsome as Luofeng, this shabby beggar had not been born with poor foundations either. He might not have been dashing and elegant, but Ji Yuan now gave off an abundance of upright, transcendent air.
In Ji Yuan's understanding, he was now simply a model for ancient costume shows!
With everything more or less prepared, Ji Yuan headed for his own residence, ready to welcome the "renovation team" to his door. The route he had only walked once was exceptionally clear in his mind, so he did not even need to find someone to guide him.
Ji Yuan was quite satisfied with the name Ju'an Pavilion and had no intention of changing it.
Unlocking the copper lock and pushing open the main gate, he saw the large jujube tree in the courtyard still swaying with the wind. But this time, he was alone, with no broker chattering beside him and leading him this way and that. As Ji Yuan walked into the courtyard, he could not shake an indescribably strange feeling.
"Is Mister Ji here?"
A shout came from the gate, and from the footsteps, there was more than one person.
Ji Yuan had originally arranged for them to come after the hour of Wei. Unexpectedly, when the sundials around the county reached noon, some merchants had already shouldered their goods and come to his door. Fortunately, he had returned a little early too. Otherwise, would they not have been left waiting here?
Tomorrow, high energy