"You're pretty quick-witted, kid," the leader said, weighing the silver coin in his hand and smiling at Jiang Qinyu. "Ask me anything you want to ask!"
"Thank you, sir. I'd like to ask you which inns in town are the cheapest? Where can we buy the wild goat meat and hides we brought? And where can we buy things like grain and cloth? Also..."
Jiang Qinyu didn't stand on ceremony at all and asked everything she wanted to know. She had paid for the service, so of course she wanted to get her money's worth.
The leader burst into laughter at his question, pointing at him with a wry smile, "You little brat... alright, alright, who told you to invite us brothers for tea? I'll find someone to answer you. Ji Xiaoqi, you tell this young man!"
Ji Xiaoqi was a native of Yukang Prefecture City. He had been born and raised here since childhood and was very familiar with the city. He had also seen Jiang Qinyu slipping silver coins to their leader earlier, so his reply was exceptionally detailed.
Jiang Qinyu smiled obsequiously and showered the guards with compliments until they had no choice but to close the city gates before leading Meng Tianze and the others inside.
As soon as they were out of sight of that group of people, Chen Shao and Liu Yazi looked over with admiring eyes.
Chen Shaoxing's eyes sparkled. "Sister-in-law Lu, why did you think of asking the gatekeeper for information?"
"Yes, yes, we were just wondering who to ask, but we didn't expect that you, Sister-in-law Lu, would solve this problem as soon as you arrived." Liu Yazi nodded in agreement.
Jiang Qinyu understood their feelings quite well. After all, in this era, "the people do not fight against the officials," and it had even reached the point where ordinary people would avoid government officials.
Her action was purely subconscious; she didn't realize there was anything wrong with it.
"It was just asking for directions, nothing at all," Jiang Qinyu said with a smile. "It's getting late, let's go to the place Ji Xiaoqi mentioned for the night!"
Ji Xiaoqi had just told them about a cheap and clean inn near the city gate. Jiang Qinyu planned to check in there tonight, and if the place wasn't good, she would change it tomorrow.
The group drove the carriage toward the inn, constantly looking around as they went.
Dingshui Village is too far from Yukang Prefecture. None of the people who came this time had ever been here before. The older ones were fine, but people like Chen Shao and Liu Yazi were a bit uneasy, their eyes full of curiosity.
"The streets of the prefectural city are so wide! Five carriages can drive side by side!"
"The shops along this street look so neat and impressive."
"There are many things that our county doesn't have!"
"The city is so nice..."
Jiang Qinyu was also curious about what ancient big cities were like, but when she first entered the city, she glanced at it briefly and found that apart from its antique charm, it did not arouse her interest.
Neither the roads nor the shops could compare to modern streets, especially since Ngoc Khang Prefecture was the most remote prefecture in Dai Viet, and its urban development was not standardized.
Take the road under their feet, for example. Jiang Qinyu had thought it would at least be paved with bluestone slabs, but the section they were walking on into the city was paved with small, fine stones, which was not very comfortable to walk on. It could only ensure that they wouldn't get muddy feet on rainy days.
After walking for about 15 minutes, Jiang Qinyu and the others finally arrived at their destination.
The sign for "Kangyue Inn" looked quite old, and the lettering was not very clear. Luckily, it wasn't dark yet, otherwise Jiang Qinyu and the others might not have been able to find it.
"Oh dear, please come in, esteemed guests!" The waiter, who had been idly wiping the table with a rag, glanced up and saw Jiang Qinyu and her group. "Are you here for a meal or to stay the night, esteemed guests?"
The waiter's eyes were shining; at this point, he could easily tell that the person wanted to stay at the inn!
Judging by the number of people, this is a huge business!
Jiang Qinyu and Meng Tianze stepped forward and politely inquired about the price. Chen Shao and the others gasped when they heard what the waiter said.
"Each room in the lowest class costs ten copper coins a night?"
In Yongshan County, a strong laborer only earns fifteen coins a day. Who would be willing to spend ten coins to stay overnight?
"Hey bro, do you guys have any large dormitory-style rooms? The cheapest kind?" Meng Tianze asked with a forced smile.
Surprisingly, the waiter wasn't angry when he heard this, and still replied with a smile, "Sir, we do have large communal sleeping areas, but there are only eight seats left tonight. It's two coins per person, how about it..."
There are seventeen of them. If only eight of them can sleep in the dormitory, the remaining nine will have to book rooms. Jiang Qinyu will definitely need a room by herself, so they will have to book at least three rooms, which will cost them a total of forty-six coins per night!
Those who were good at math immediately figured it out, and then everyone except Jiang Qinyu looked at each other in bewilderment.
Are they staying at this hotel or not?
"How about this," Meng Tianze finally said, "we'll park the carriage in the backyard of the inn, book two rooms, five people can sleep in the carriage, seven people can sleep in the shared room, the remaining four can stay in one room, and my sister-in-law can have a room by herself."
That way, it only costs thirty-four coins a night, saving you about ten coins.
Upon hearing this, Chen Shao looked at the waiter and asked, "Young man, can we park the carriage in the backyard and stay in the carriage?"
The waiter's expression changed, and he looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sir, it's not that I'm unwilling, but... if you don't book a room at our inn, we can't let you park your carriage in the backyard!"
Most importantly, with so many of them and five carriages, if they were all put in the backyard, they would take up all the space, and the manager might not be happy about that.
Seeing this, Jiang Qinyu quickly asked, "Waiter, how about this? We can book one room plus six beds in a shared dormitory, and then buy some dry food here, okay?"
Before the waiter could refuse, Jiang Qinyu thought for a moment and added, "We're here to sell some wild game. If your shop needs it, we can give you a discount."
"You're here to sell wild game?" The waiter's eyes lit up. "What kind do you have?"
Upon hearing that there was hope, Jiang Qinyu quickly said to Chen Shao, "Ah Shao, go and bring the things over to show the waiter."
"Alright!" Chen Shao quickly ran out to the carriage to get the things, and returned in a short while. "Look, brother, these are the wild goats, wild boars, tigers, and wolves we hunted in the mountains!"
After the work point system was established, everything brought back from the mountain became public property, since it was calculated from the day they went up the mountain. Jiang Qinyu didn't argue with the village because she really hadn't contributed much.
However, there was too little hyena meat, so Village Chief Li kept it in the village to treat everyone, instead of selling it.
"They even have tigers and wolves?" The waiter looked at the processed meat, unable to recognize it either, and quickly said, "I'll let the manager take a look!"
After saying that, he went to call for help.
A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed neatly and smartly came out from behind and hurried up to Jiang Qinyu and the others. "Do you have tiger meat? Where are the tiger bones?"
Jiang Qinyu was slightly taken aback. Did he specifically ask about tiger bones because they had some other meaning?
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