Chapter 438 Ticket
The scalper looked at Lin Yuesha with a sincere expression. The reason the tickets were free was because the seats were in bad condition, on the outskirts.
"Today, the Qiuyue Troupe is performing at the Cyclamen Theater. You might as well just open the window in your room and watch. The view from a higher vantage point is much better than a free ticket."
Although it's advertised as free tickets, guests at the Cyclamen Hotel can still see the show regardless. Watching from your room is free, and even if you're in a less desirable spot, you can at least get a high vantage point for a full view of the stage. If you're in the back row with a poor view, you might not even be able to see Xiao Qiuyue's face.
Free tickets are not as good as selling them and getting some money.
"Miss, judging from your fine clothes, you must have some money to spare. But money doesn't grow on trees, so why not exchange it for cash?"
The scalper was quite skilled; he talked a good game and almost convinced Lin Yuesha to exchange her theater tickets for money.
However, she could watch from inside the room, just for fun. Lin Yuesha wasn't enthusiastic about opera, but her parents were different.
The opera troupes in the north are relatively amateurish, and the number of members in the troupe is not fixed. Sometimes, they use people from the surrounding villages to make up the numbers.
And so, a small opera troupe came to Chenjia Village. The whole village turned out to watch the opera, and it was even more lively than the New Year. Chen Shi was a quiet person, but she could talk to Gou Dan's mother for an hour because of the opera.
The Qiuyue Troupe is renowned, so the storytelling must be even more exciting. Lin Yuesha plans to buy Chen a ticket for a closer look at the performance.
She was reluctant to cooperate with scalpers just now, but now she's starting to have second thoughts.
However, Lin Yuesha didn't show it. If she had shown any enthusiasm, the ticket price would have increased several times over.
"Miss, you're staying at Cyclamen, so you're planning to go to the capital, aren't you?"
The scalper looked at Lin Yuesha and decided to change his strategy.
"You noticed that?"
Lin Yuesha nodded. The official ship would depart tomorrow night and arrive in the capital three days later.
"Of course, most people who stay at Cyclamen are quite well-off and want to stay more comfortably. And since it's not far from the pier, it's convenient for boarding ships."
Instead of talking about theater tickets, the scalper asked Lin Yuesha, "If I'm not mistaken, Miss, you've just arrived and shouldn't have bought your boat ticket yet."
Lin Yuesha frowned. "That's right. Madam He booked everyone's boat tickets and sent Jia San to buy them, but she hasn't returned yet."
"Then we'll probably have to return empty-handed."
The scalper seemed quite confident, stating with certainty, "Miss, you won't be able to buy a ticket for the official ship tomorrow night unless you go to steerage and squeeze in with other passengers."
The official ship had cabins, with the lower cabins being the lowest class. Tickets were cheap, and ordinary people, men and women, crammed in. It was inconvenient to use the toilet or wash up, and in the summer, flies and mosquitoes were everywhere. There were also traveling merchants who loved to take off their shoes, making the cabins smell terrible...
The ox covered its nose, pursed its lips, and gave a disgusted look.
Lin Yuesha's lips twitched at his vivid description, as if she could smell the stench of feet herself.
Given this situation, the group certainly couldn't stay in the lower-class cabins. Father needed to brew medicine, and he'd heard that the best cabins had tea rooms, making it convenient to prepare food.
"Are boat tickets really that hard to buy?"
Lin Yuesha frowned. This was also her first time in Cangzhou, and she was unfamiliar with the shipping situation.
"I can't buy a first-class cabin, but I have one."
The scalpers lowered their voices; otherwise, how would they make a living? They had already snapped up the tickets for the official boats and were then reselling them at inflated prices to those who wanted to board.
They had money and were in a hurry to get going, so they could decide how much silver they wanted.
"The first-class cabins to the capital can accommodate a maximum of five people per cabin, and the price is fifty taels of silver per cabin."
The scalper quoted a price that sounded perfectly natural.
"Fifty taels of silver?"
Lin Yuesha exclaimed, "Isn't this price too expensive? The people of the North can't save up this much money in their entire lives, and it costs so much for just three days of water travel!"
"The steerage is charged per person, and it costs only about a hundred coins per person."
The scalper gave Lin Yuesha a breakdown of the costs: for example, if five people lived in a cabin, and each person paid an average of ten taels of silver, then the cost per person wouldn't be much.
"You're using a fallacy to mislead us. Ten taels of silver per person is still a lot."
Staying at the Xiankelai Hotel, a room of the highest rank costs ten taels of silver per night, and the number of people staying is up to you; the innkeeper has no requirements regarding these things.
However, the money spent on this hotel room is for lodging, and no one would feel bad about squeezing in there.
The boat tickets shouldn't cost that much; the scalpers are ruthless and unscrupulous, they've inflated the price many times over.
"So, in order to reduce your losses, you transferred the theater tickets to me, which is equivalent to the boat ticket of forty-five taels."
After going around in circles, the scalper finally revealed his purpose.
Lin Yuesha gave the scalper a thumbs up; she was impressed by his persuasive skills.
However, one cannot simply listen to the scalpers' side of the story. Compared to the opera performance, Lin Yuesha is more worried about the boat ticket for tomorrow night.
If they can get to the capital sooner, their father's illness can be treated sooner; they cannot linger in Cangzhou City.
Lin Yuesha was in a dilemma and was about to take her maid to inquire when Jia San returned.
"Miss Lin, since you're in Cangzhou City, why don't you take a stroll around?"
When Jia San saw Lin Yuesha, he took the initiative to greet her.
Recently, the two groups have been traveling together. He Niangzi has been suffering from the summer heat and has been unable to eat anything. She relies entirely on the ice jelly and other food made by Lin Yuesha. Jia San is quite grateful to Lin Yuesha.
"Uncle Jia, have you bought the boat ticket yet?"
Lin Yuesha didn't answer but asked a question instead. Before she could even leave the house, she was intercepted by scalpers and was now worrying about getting a boat ticket.
"I couldn't buy it."
Jia San honestly shook his head. He went to buy a boat ticket, only to be told that all the first-class cabin tickets on the official ships for the next ten days had been sold out. Unless he went to Beijing ten days later and queued up in the middle of the night, there might be a chance to get one.
Even in ten days, it's not certain that you'll be able to buy a ticket.
Needless to say, someone must have been doing business, buying up all the tickets and then reselling them at a high price.
Before becoming a bandit, Jia San had also done this kind of business. When it comes to ruthlessness, no one is as ruthless as Huang Niu.
"I already told you, you can't buy it."
The scalper shook his head and said, "Even if you give the people who want to buy tickets some benefits, you still can't get them unless they pay more than what I offer. Only then will they be tempted by money."
There are top performers in every profession, and this one, though seemingly simple, is not so easy.
Tickets for official ships are sold by government officials. To get a ticket in advance, you have to maintain such relationships, which involves a lot of eating and drinking, and who knows how much money that costs.
The process is also complicated. Their people come to snatch tickets in the middle of the night, so you have to pay for the tickets in advance. Maintaining relationships also costs money, which increases costs invisibly all the way.
"Miss, do you think we're making a fortune from this business?"
The scalper shook his head, realizing he had made a huge profit, but the money he had lost was also countless. The man who sold the boat tickets was having his grandmother's birthday, and they all had to bring gifts to attend and give her a monetary gift.
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