CH 80

Chon Zheng had left for the Upper Valley with his caravan already. Mo Yan and Lu Junming were going there on horseback as well.

Although they were only going for a few days, Mo Ling still gave Mo Yan a bag, including two changes of clean clothes inside.

When she left in the morning, she bid farewell to Mrs. Liang. Before she could say anything, Mo Ling ushered Mo Yan out of the house.

When they arrived at the market, Lu Junming was already there, waiting by the road. Mo Ling couldn’t help but tell him to keep Mo Yan safe, but he replied, “Don’t worry! I’ll return her to you safe and sound.”

When she saw them fade into the distance on horseback, Mo Ling actually hoped they didn’t return. That village and that family of theirs wasn’t a warm home to go back to at all.

They hadn’t gone far when they encountered a fork in the road. Lu Junming pointed to the left, “That’s the road to Yi City.”

“How far is it?” Mo Yan asked.

“Fifteen to twenty kilometres.”

That distance could be travelled in a single day, but Mo Zhenian only came back once every year. Mo Yan really wanted to know what he was doing there.

Lu Junming went to the right. There was still unmelted snow on the side of the road, which the sunlight glinted off of. It slowly melted, exuding a slight mist.

The view was good, and their worries slowly sloughed off them.

The Upper Valley wasn’t large, but there were a lot of roads leading to it, and thus there were a lot of merchants and businesses.

As he was afraid Mo Yan would get motion sickness, Lu Junming didn’t ride too quickly, so they arrived the next day just before noon.

She said her legs were dead, so he carried her out of the saddle. With one hand leading his horse, and one hand holding onto her, they slowly walked on the streets.

Two chubby women walked out of the dried goods store in front of them, and they spoke as they were eating.

“Sister, the beef jerky at this store is very good. It has a lot of chew.”

“Yes, we should buy more.”

The women were extremely rotund and looked very comical. Mo Yan wanted to take a few more looks, but she was dragged to an alley by Lu Junming.

“Who are those two?” Mo Yan asked.

He gave a perfunctory reply, “No one in particular.”

“Then why were you avoiding them?”

“I wasn’t, I was taking a shortcut to where we’re having lunch.”

Mo Yan raised her head and saw a restaurant at the end of the alley. It looked roughly as high-end as Dengyun Tower. Lu Junming gave the reins of his horse to an employee and took her into the restaurant.

The first floor had tables, while the second had private rooms. They were going upstairs when someone called from above them, “Lu Junming! Where have you been?”

The person speaking was also a young gentleman, maybe a year or two older than Lu Junming. He didn’t look bad either, he just had a slouched posture and a lazy expression.

When he saw Mo Yan, he said excitedly, “This young lady is…”

Lu Junming stepped in front of her, “She’s from the same village as my grandfather, and she’s my business partner.”

Mo Yan initially thought this was just an acquaintance and they’d go their separate ways after greeting each other. However, he then pulled Lu Junming into a private room, and she was forced to follow.

He asked, “Lu Junming, where have you been? Your dad’s put out a reward for any of us who’ve found where you are.”

“So you’re here to claim the reward?”

He waved his hand, “Do I seem like that kind of person? But why are you avoiding your dad?”

Lu Junming sighed, “I don’t want to take the imperial examination and become a scholar, nor do I want to bring glory to the family.”

After that, he followed up with, “Don’t waste time, let’s eat first. I have business to conduct.”

As he ordered food, Lu Junming finally introduced him to Mo Yan, “This is my good friend Chi Jie. Despite his appearance, he isn’t a bad person.”

“Then why did you avoid those two chubby women from before? Who are those?”

Chi Jie replied, “Those are probably his sisters.”

Lu Junming didn’t look anything like his sisters, and Mo Yan couldn’t help but giggle. When he asked what she was laughing about, she replied, “Your sisters look very funny.”

After lunch, they went rushing to inspect their goods. Chi Jie wanted to follow, but he was persuaded not to after a lot of convincing by Lu Junming. Mo Yan asked, “Why don’t you want to take the imperial examination? Cao Zhang left his hometown to study because of it!”

“I don’t want to bring glory to my family, because I don’t consider my father’s official wife my mother.”

When they were walking, they saw Zhong Cheng walk out of a grain store.

Mo Yan said happily, “Brother Cheng, you’ve arrived early. Have you already sold all your goods?”

“Almost. Since this is the first time we’re selling grains to these people, we didn’t take too many grains. The fields nearby didn’t have a good harvest this year due to a flood, and we’re offering high-quality and fresh grains, which are in high demand. I’ve talked to the manager, and we’ll be exporting more grains next time. How about on your end?”

“We haven’t started yet!”

“Then good luck! Let’s get the goods and return early, so your sister won’t be worried.”

Lu Junming told Zhong Cheng they’d meet up at the Changsheng Inn at the south of the city, before going to arrange the imports with Mo Yan.

They bought the lotus roots and seeds from where Lu Junming bought them last time, so the transaction went very smoothly.

Afterwards, they went to the dried goods store, which was the same one Lu Junming’s sisters had been at.

All of the goods were delicious and exquisite. Mo Yan tried a few goods, and they tasted excellent, especially the beef jerky.

After checking the price, they found out it wasn’t very expensive and bought a few items, to be picked up in the morning of the next day.

Finally, they went to look at the fabrics, which was Mo Yan’s aim of this trip. Lu Junming said he knew the location of a fabric shop with quality products and reasonable prices. However, he didn’t buy any because he didn’t know anything about colours and patterns.

On the way, they saw an embroidery shop called Hongling Embroideries. She took a look at them, and he asked, “Do you want to take a look?”

“It’s fine, I’m not buying embroideries anyways.”

“This shop also sells clothes,” he said before leading her in.

A thirty-something woman in red clothing greeted them as she came over. She first looked at Lu Junming, who nodded towards Mo Yan. Then, she shifted her attention to her.

“What clothes would you like to buy?”

Despite saying she wasn’t looking to buy anything, Mo Yan’s eyes wandered around the store. Lu Junming said, “It’s fine to browse even if you’re not buying.”

The woman said, “The clothes are here, please look freely.”

Mo Yan liked blue, and a blue dress caught her attention. It had good craftsmanship and was made of a high-quality material, so it went without question it wouldn’t be cheap.

Lu Junming shot a look at the woman, who told someone to prepare tea. When it was ready, he told Mo Yan to come over for tea.

Post-translation notes: Yeah, I have nothing to add this time.