lcionline Chapter 9 Town
Chapter 9 Town
As evening falls, the sky gradually turns orange; slowing down, one feels only gentleness and anticipation.
The sky was a deep, jewel-like blue, with fluffy white clouds floating by. Sunlight streamed through the clouds, illuminating the rice paddies and making the rice stalks appear exceptionally lush and green, like a green ocean.
In this beautiful rural landscape, a little girl, only about one meter tall, can be seen walking on a country dirt road.
She carried a bundle of branches on her small back, but she didn't seem to be struggling at all. It was as if the bundle of firewood on her back had no weight at all, and she even had a smile on her little face.
The little girl greeted everyone she met warmly, calling out to this grandpa, that grandma, and then greeting the uncles and aunts who passed by.
Her little mouth was as sweet as honey, making people feel warm inside.
Xiaoyue saw her at that moment and ran over, saying, "Xiaoya, where have you been all day? I went to look for you, but Auntie said you went into the mountains."
"What if you get hurt going into the mountains alone? Auntie, aren't you worried at all about whether you'll get hurt?"
Before Yun Dan could react, she heard Xiao Yue unleash a flurry of random attacks, giving her no chance to speak.
"Xiaoyue, I'm fine. I told my mom not to worry about me."
"Thank you, Xiaoyue."
Seeing how indifferent Yun Dan seemed, Xiao Yue became even more worried.
"You can't sneak into the mountains alone next time. What if something happens and no one knows?"
Okay, I'll do as you say.
Of course, Yun Dan would never tell her about going into the mountains to cultivate.
Yun Dan went home, while Xiao Yue stayed in the fields to help.
Finally home, Yun Dan carried firewood all the way into the house, calling out to her family.
Then she went into the kitchen and placed the small bundle of firewood in the corner.
Some might ask, doesn't she have her own space? Why would she bother carrying this bundle of firewood for such a long distance?
Yun Dan only took out firewood from her spatial storage and carried it on her back when she was almost at the field road.
If she suddenly took something out of her spatial storage while she was at home, wouldn't that scare the whole family?
After leaving the kitchen, Yun Dan put down her belongings and went to the main hall.
She politely greeted her grandfather, uncle, and father, then poured herself a bowl of water and slowly drank it.
Just then, Lin's father said to his grandfather, "Dad, I'll go into town tomorrow to arrange for some of the necessary goods."
Upon hearing this, Yun Dan's eyes lit up, and she immediately asked excitedly, "Dad, are you going to town tomorrow? Can I go with you?"
Upon hearing Yun Dan's words, Lin's father replied without much thought, "Alright, then you can come with me tomorrow morning."
Before long, it was time for dinner. There was a big carp, a bowl of rice, a plate of stewed green beans and eggplant, a dish of dried radish, and a dish of soybean paste. The dishes had all been changed to a different variety.
Yun Dan ate dinner absentmindedly and then told her mother that she wanted to go out and play with Xiao Yue next door.
Even though it's next door, it's still more than 20 meters away.
He called out "Xiaoyue" and went into Xiaoyue's house to greet her family.
Xiaoyue's family also asked Yundan if she was in any pain or if she was feeling better. Yundan responded to Xiaoyue's family one by one.
Yun Dan then told Xiao Yue about her business in town the next day.
Before she knew it, Yun Dan was starting to act like a child again, sharing many things with her best friend.
The two huddled together and chatted away for a long time, and before they knew it, an hour had passed.
Nothing happened that night, and soon the sun rose in the east. The chickens in the house started clucking, as if they wanted everyone to know they were hungry.
After getting up and washing up in the morning, I realized I had no money and that when I got to town, I could only wander around and see what was new.
There was nothing in Yun Dan's space; it was completely empty. Yesterday, he was so focused on cultivation that he hadn't thought about trying his luck and catching a few mountain delicacies. He silently thought to himself that he must be more careful next time.
It wasn't until last night that I learned from Xiaoyue that there is a market in town every 5th and 20th of the month.
On market days in town, every household brings their accumulated eggs and wild fruits, as well as the catches that hunters have made in the past few days, to town to sell.
The women also take their embroidered items to town to sell, and also buy some daily necessities from the town.
Although life was very impoverished, in families that raised pigs, the children would go out to cut pig feed every morning.
If we see any wild vegetables or fruits, we'll pick them and bring them back to add some food to our household.
Last time, Lin Xiaoya accidentally slipped and fell while picking wild fruit, which led to Yun Dan's arrival.
Today is the 20th, and early this morning, the family packed up the things they were going to sell in town.
Originally, her uncle, aunt, and mother were going to the market together. They had a month's worth of eggs stored at home, and her mother had embroidered five handkerchiefs, all of which they were going to sell. They also needed to buy some oil and salt.
However, because my uncle had something to do today, my grandfather asked Yundan's father, his sister-in-law, and Su to go together. Of course, Daya and Yundan will also go together today.
Yun Dan doesn't go to markets in modern city life; she only occasionally sees videos of rural markets on her phone.
She was quite excited because it was the first time she had encountered such an event to participate in.
The journey was long, so Lin's father, mother, aunt, and two children, Daya and Yundan, went together.
After walking for a full half hour, Yun Dan's feet were practically burning. In the end, she had no choice but to use a little bit of her internal energy to speed up the journey, which made her feel a bit better. Along the way, she saw many people from the neighboring village.
Some were carrying packages, some were carrying bamboo baskets and leading children, some were around ten years old and carrying things, and some were pushing carts.
A large group of people walked all the way before finally arriving in town.
Yun Dan had long forgotten about the bowl of porridge she drank in the morning; she was starving.
Upon arriving at the town gate, Yun Dan's eyes lit up when she saw the two traditional Chinese characters "Feng Dang" engraved on the gate.
It turns out that the characters here are the same as the traditional characters on Earth, which makes the font selection much easier.
Yun Dan has been here for a few days and still hasn't seen what the world's fonts look like.
Once inside the town, the group found the market in the east of the town, having arrived a little late. They set up two baskets in a corner: one small basket of eggs and the other a small basket of wild vegetables and fruits.
Others also had things like cherries, wild fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and mountain produce, and then they started selling them.
Her aunt then led her and Daya towards the embroidery tower.
Mr. and Mrs. Lin stayed at the stall to do business.
Upon entering the embroidery building, the eldest aunt seemed to know her way around well, clearly a regular customer who sold embroidery there.
The 12 embroidered items sold for 72 coins. This was because the embroidery shop added 1 coin to each handkerchief because of their exquisite embroidery.
Aunt and the female manager of the embroidery shop were handing over the reins, while Yun Dan looked around the embroidery shop. The ancient embroidery shop was completely different from the modern shops of later generations.
The feeling it exudes is antique and elegant, something that modern times simply can't compare to.
After the aunt finished handing over the work, the three of them returned to the stall together.
The eggs, which cost one coin each, were almost sold out, but the wild vegetables and fruits seemed to be unwanted. This was because everyone was selling roughly the same things; what you had, others also had.
After watching for a while, Yun Dan realized there was nothing for her to do, so she asked her older sister if she could accompany her for a walk.
She said to the adults, "Father, Mother, Aunt, my older sister and I are going to take a look around somewhere else first, and we'll be back in a bit."
"You two shouldn't go too far. Just stay nearby and wander around. Be careful and don't get into any arguments with others."
"Okay, Mother. Let's go for a walk and take a look."
Yun Dan and her sister spent an hour browsing around without realizing it. Although they didn't buy anything, Yun Dan certainly had a good look at the sights.
While Yundan and her older sister Daya were returning to their stall, the adults were packing up their things.
The eggs at the stall were sold out, and there were only a few wild vegetables left. There was nothing that could be done about it; every household needs eggs, and the limited quantity meant they sold out quickly.
Every household in the village came to sell their wild goods, and everyone had some left over.
When Lin's father saw the two children return, he said to Yun Dan and Daya, "We'll go eat after we've tidied up. What would you two like to eat?"
Yun Dan looked at her older sister Daya and then said, "Dad, we'll eat whatever you eat."
Mr. Lin smiled and said, "Alright, let's go eat noodles then."
After the five people finished packing up their stall, they walked towards the roadside stalls not far away.
The roadside stall owner greeted them warmly when he saw them arrive.
They ordered five bowls of noodles and then sat down at the table to wait.
Soon, the noodles were served. Yun Dan and her older sister Daya looked at the steaming noodles, their mouths practically watering.
The three adults smiled at the two girls. They then picked up their chopsticks and began to eat slowly.
After dinner, Yundan and her older sister Daya followed the adults home.
They chatted and laughed all the way home and arrived quickly. Once home, Yundan and her older sister Daya helped their mother, Linmu, with housework.
The three adults talked about their income that day, as well as the rice, oil, salt, and other necessities they had bought.
That evening, Yun Dan reflected on the day's experiences, her heart filled with happiness and contentment, already considering herself a member of the family.