After drinking the fragrant beverage, Sun Miao'er felt the summer heat dissipate considerably. A sedan chair bearer carried a sedan chair past and called out to make way for the others.

People came and went. Sun Miao'er held Xiaoman's hand and walked forward. Several flower-selling girls squatted by the roadside and offered her a bunch of gardenias. Sun Miao'er was about to refuse when she suddenly remembered something. "I don't want to buy your flowers. How about you sell me some gardenia berries instead?"

The girl never expected that someone would ask for fruit instead of flowers. Since fruit wasn't worth much, she took the flowers back.

"Don't worry, here's five coins. Use the money to buy fruit." Sun Miao'er bent down and placed the coins on the stall.

The little girl picked out the gardenias from the bamboo basket behind her and collected the copper coins.

"Why did you buy this, sister?" Xiaoman picked up a candied hawthorn again. It was indeed better than the ones sold by the peddler in the village. He ate while shaking his head. The city was really fun, much more fun than Er Ya had described.

Sun Miao'er wasn't thinking about anything else; she was thinking about this gardenia, also known as yellow gardenia. As the name suggests, its fruit can be dyed a bright yellow, which would be perfect for Aunt Pan to see.

After walking for half an hour, the number of people gradually decreased, the roadside stalls became sparse, and many shops appeared in front of us.

Forget about those fabric shops; Sun Miao'er was short of money. The fabric shops only sold the latest styles from the capital. She glanced at them from the outside and saw that the exquisite fabrics were practically embroidered with the word "expensive." At this hour, the noble ladies and young women in the city were all taking a nap at home, avoiding the sun. The fabric shops were deserted, and the shop assistants were not very enthusiastic.

After a quick stroll through the street, they finally arrived at the place they were looking for. The shops on the street were obviously not as bright and spacious as the ones on the previous street. The small shops were piled high with goods, and there were no hired helpers. The shopkeepers themselves greeted customers at the door.

"Boss, how much is this fabric?" Sun Miao'er took a liking to a piece of fabric that wasn't particularly fine but felt quite soft to the touch, and asked the price.

The shopkeeper was quite enthusiastic, saying, "Six coins a bolt."

The shopkeeper's price was reasonable, cheaper than the other shops I had asked earlier.

After all, it's not linen, it's yarn, so it's better than cotton and linen in both comfort and appearance.

"Shopkeeper, I need half a bolt of yarn and half a bolt of fine linen. Can you give me a discount?"

"Six qian of silver."

Sun Miao'er took out the silver ingot, put together a bolt of cloth, and even got four coins in change. The two materials were of different textures, but each had its own unique uses. However, she couldn't help but sigh at how expensive the prices in Pingnan City were. They were nothing compared to the worthless white hemp she had managed to find for a penny at a peddler's.

Upon arriving in Pingnan City, Sun Miao'er truly understood what it meant to be penniless and unable to move an inch. Fortunately, she had the support of Aunt Liang, as one bolt of cloth was enough to make several sets of clothes.

After leaving the fabric shop, I walked for about a mile and there was a monkey show where people were entertaining birds. The birds were mimicking human speech, saying, "Thank you for your patronage, thank you for your patronage!" This amused the onlookers, who laughed continuously. There were also some spices being sold at the stalls next to it.

This was exactly what Sun Miao'er needed. There were very few spices available in the village, mostly just bay leaves. But this stall had a wide variety, including fennel seeds. She picked out a few of each to make up a tael of silver.

Xiaoman kept asking for snacks. The two siblings carried the cloth, which looked a bit heavy. When they arrived at the snack shop in the south of the city, the popular items had already been sold out, so they could only pack mung bean cakes and hawthorn pastries to go.

"Xiaoman, you can only eat this box of mung bean cakes. The hawthorn pastry is something I brought for Master."

Although things in Pingnan City were expensive, they were exquisite and had everything one could need. As long as one had money, one could buy anything. After purchasing almost everything that the family needed, it was time to go. Sun Miao'er carried the cloth and Xiaoman carried the snacks, and they arrived at the city gate.

"I heard that the King of Wei has rebelled!" The two soldiers guarding the city faced the sun, squinting, with no proper posture and no trace of military bearing.

Sun Miao'er leaned against the wall, waiting for the oxcart, listening intently.

"So what if they rebel? They won't bother us anyway!" Another soldier lazily picked up his sword and yawned.

“When a real war breaks out, even Pingnan City won’t be able to escape. Back when the King of Wei was demoted to Yingzhou, you were still playing in the mud! Speaking of which, although we won’t reach Pingnan City, we can’t avoid Yingzhou. When those famine refugees come, let’s see if you can still defend your city gates! We’re living a peaceful life now, but we might end up as a refugee city!”

The soldiers beside him were unconvinced. "We have the county magistrate in charge, what are we afraid of? Anyway, it's not some kind of auspicious place, they won't be interested in us. Let's fight."

Sun Miao'er had long heard that things were not peaceful outside, but Pingnan City was a small place. It was neither a natural stronghold nor a fortress. There were only two post roads that had been in disrepair for many years and few people had been traveling on them lately. Now, listening to the soldiers' idle talk, she felt that these peaceful days would not last long and that she should prepare in advance so that she would not have to carry her whole family out to escape famine.

She's prepared; if a real fight breaks out, maybe that'll be her chance.

The oxcart on its way back to the village was filled with swill, and the smell was even worse than when it arrived. Sun Miao'er was afraid of soiling the cloth, so she carefully lifted it up and sat with her back against the swill bucket. Xiao Man, on the other hand, held the two boxes of pastries tightly in his arms, wrapped them up tightly, afraid that the smell of swill would seep in and spoil the pastries that he had gone to so much trouble to buy.

It was already dark when they arrived at Fushui Village. The siblings returned home, and Sun Miao'er, holding a cloth, wanted to tell Grandma Sun her plans.

"Miao'er, Grandma doesn't understand these things. Since you want to do it, why not give it a try? But Grandma still hopes you will follow Doctor Fu and learn medicine properly. It's not good for a woman to be out in the public eye doing business." Grandma Sun didn't object to her granddaughter's idea, but she felt it was inappropriate.

Sun Miao'er understood Grandma Sun's good intentions and said frankly, "Grandma, don't worry. I heard something in the city today. They say there might be a war soon. I need to hurry up and save as much money as possible. If a war really breaks out, and since we don't have any men in our family, having extra money will give us confidence. We won't be afraid of going anywhere then!"

"A war?" Grandma Sun took a breath. "Grandma has lived in this village for decades. I've heard that several emperors have come and gone, but our Fushui Village has always been peaceful. God help us, please don't let it touch us this time!"

"It's better to rely on ourselves than on God. Once I finish making Aunt Liang's clothes, this first sale will be done. After that, my granddaughter can set up a stall in the city. City people are different from us in the countryside. They are very generous. As long as we sell them at a slightly lower price than in the city, we can still make a lot of money!"

Grandma Sun was displeased. She tapped her cane and said anxiously, "Nonsense! Miao'er, it's fine if you do some small business in the village, but please don't go to the city. Those old men in the city are wicked! Grandma is just worried that you'll get taken advantage of."