Looking at Yunling's carefree attitude, Zhang was truly at a loss for words. She hugged her tightly and murmured "Be careful in everything, and be sure to come back safely" at least ten times before letting go.
"Mother, I'm leaving."
Zhang's eyes reddened again, her throat tightened, and she couldn't even speak for a moment, only able to bite her lip and nod.
As the carriage drove further and further away, Zhang's heart seemed to follow it.
"Grandma, your mother treats you so well."
"Did your mother treat you badly?"
Chen Jie didn't reply, and the atmosphere in the car immediately became awkward. Yun Ling also realized her rashness. If this guy had a mother, he probably wouldn't be a hoodlum.
"Sorry, just pretend I was talking nonsense."
"fine."
Yunling would rather he scold her, but his calmness made her feel guilty. "You, me, my mother is also your mother. You call me 'Grandma,' so my mother is also related to you."
"real?"
"Of course! My grandma treats you very well too, doesn't she?"
Chen Jie nodded, secretly glancing at Yun Ling's face, and happily scratching his ears and cheeks.
"Grandma, what are you going to Qingcheng for? Although there are many new and interesting things there, the people are also quite diverse."
"I'm going to buy cotton and beef tendons. I'm going to open up a new market. I'm going to..."
Yunling started talking nonstop, but last night Zhang couldn't sleep and sat by her bedside talking all night. Now that the carriage was bumping around, she was instantly sleepy.
Chen Jie took out his coat and draped it over Yun Ling's shoulders. He then stepped out of the carriage and asked someone to slow down. Just after passing the wine shop ahead, they met up with the Lu family's carriage.
Upon seeing Lu Yinghuai in the carriage, Chen Jie, considering their working relationship, pulled on the reins, got off, and went forward to greet him, "Young Master, what a coincidence."
Lu Yinghuai quickly raised the carriage curtain and leaned out, "Hey, I remember you just came back from a delivery mission a few days ago, where are you rushing off to now?"
"Oh, I'm taking my great-aunt to Qingcheng."
"That's a coincidence. We just came back from Qingcheng. If you go there, you'll be back for the New Year."
Chen Jie looked behind the carriage and saw three large flatbed carts, all covered with burlap, making it impossible to see anything clearly. "Is the young master going to Qingcheng to buy goods?"
"This material is for lanterns during the Lantern Festival; it's only available in Qingcheng."
"Lanterns? That guy surnamed Qin pushed this onto you?"
Lu Yinghuai smiled, his brows softening with tenderness. "No, I want to ask someone to go see the lanterns."
Chen Jie found it hard to understand why people would go to such lengths to buy materials and make lanterns themselves just to invite someone to see them. He couldn't do it if it were him, but if it were his great-aunt, there might be a tiny bit of a chance.
"Young Master, are you meeting up with someone you admire?"
Lu Yinghuai smiled without saying a word, but the doting look in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Chen Jie couldn't help but shiver.
"Oh right, you just said your great-aunt is in the car? I'll go and greet her."
"Young master, you're too kind. She's just sleeping."
Lu Yinghuai stopped thinking about it, considering that the elderly were old on the day of the festival and the journey was bumpy. Since he was already asleep, he shouldn't disturb his peaceful sleep, so he gave up on the idea.
**
Yunling and Chen Jie didn't rush their journey, prioritizing comfort. They arrived in Qingcheng just before winter was approaching. The winter in Qingcheng wasn't as cold as they had expected; the climate was quite comfortable.
Instead of rushing into the city, they first enjoyed a cup of tea at a teahouse outside the city.
"Grandma, come here."
“Hey, watch your address, call me Ling-ge’er.”
Chen Jie lightly patted his mouth and whispered, "Savings, savings."
Chen Jie was about to speak again, but the tea shop owner had already come forward, set out teacups and tea powder, and asked with a smile, "Gentlemen, are you here in Qingcheng?"
Yunling nodded, "The shopkeeper has a sharp eye. I wonder if there's anything exciting happening in Qingcheng lately that we can join in on?"
As the shopkeeper brushed the tea leaves, he replied, "That's quite a coincidence. The Huo family is holding an auction tomorrow at the Lanling Night Market. There are plenty of interesting things there, not to mention rare birds and beasts, even people..."
He stopped there and didn't continue. Yunling could imagine what kind of people he was talking about. They treated people like animals, keeping them locked in cages for everyone to watch. Some were even chained up and made to fight against wild beasts like monkeys.
"I wonder if you gentlemen are interested?"
"interested."
"Ling-ge'er, shall we still..."
Chen Jie kept Zhang's instructions firmly in mind, buying the necessary items early and not delaying too much. However, upon catching a glimpse of Yun Ling's little glance, he stopped nagging and changed his words:
“Let’s go, all four of us should go and see for ourselves.”
The shopkeeper exclaimed "Eh!" and respectfully placed teacups in front of the four of them. "If you buy tickets from me, it will only cost one string of copper coins per person. If you buy them at the nightclub, it will cost three strings of copper coins per person."
Yunling had no objection to this. She just wanted to go in and see for herself. As for the location, the service, and how the people inside viewed her, she didn't care at all. So, a discounted ticket of one copper coin would suffice.
"Then I'll have to trouble the shopkeeper."
Yunling took out four strings of cash from her waist, exchanged them for four rather simple bills, and after having tea, she used the guide to enter the city for lodging.
The innkeeper also recommended the auction to them, but a ticket cost two strings of copper coins, using the same terminology. Come to think of it, Yunling was somewhat glad that she had secured the ticket at the teahouse.
The next day, in the late afternoon, the group went to the Lanling Night Market. To be honest, there were quite a few people attending the auction, and the queue was very long. It took the four of them fifteen minutes to get into the venue.
The venue was huge, a circular shape like a gladiatorial arena. Yunling and Chen Jie could only sit on the steps at the edge of the arena. As for the private seats and private rooms, those were reserved for the powerful and influential people in the area.
After everyone was seated, another half hour had passed. Yunling yawned several times in a row, and all the sour candies in her pocket were gone before the auction officially began.
"Welcome to the Huo Family Auction. Please allow me to introduce the items for this auction: one thousand-year-old ginseng, one hundred-year-old lingzhi mushroom, one snow lotus, two pairs of deer antlers, two boxes of matsutake mushrooms, three jars of royal jelly, five bolts of Song brocade, five pieces of Xiangyun yarn, six bolts of silk velvet, six sharp blades from the previous dynasty, Longquan celadon, and six sets of Song Ru celadon glaze."
"The grand finale of this auction will be a pair of virgin boys, which will be presented to everyone at the very end of the auction."
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