HCB Chapter 24 Tracking
Chapter 24 Tracking
After a while, the side gate opened, and a woman in her forties, wearing a cotton coat, came out.
Her hair was neatly combed, her face was slightly serious, and her sharp eyes had seen many hardships, giving off a sense of pressure at first glance.
"Are you the ones selling wild boar meat?"
"Indeed, please take a look, Granny."
Ji Yanwen responded, and the woman then noticed that he was wearing a long gown and dressed as a scholar. Her expression softened, and she stepped forward.
Jiang Bai's face was covered in mud, making him look dirty and his features somewhat blurred. The woman frowned, looking displeased.
This girl is so dirty, I wonder how dirty the meat must be.
Since it's already out, let's take a look. If it's too dirty, we can just leave it.
With that in mind, she lifted the straw mat covering the pork. To her surprise, the pork was very clean, and the whole pig was evenly divided into pieces, with meat and bones separated.
A hint of satisfaction flashed in the woman's eyes.
"This meat doesn't look very fresh. Was it processed after the animal died?"
Nonsense, wild boars aren't disposed of after they're dead, are they? They're not going to be disposed of while they're still alive.
Jiang Bai rolled his eyes, knowing that the old woman was trying to lower the price.
"Look at what you're saying. Wild boars are that big. No ordinary person could handle them. It took the whole village working together to kill these."
"This wild game is something to enjoy because it's rare. Normally, it's not easy for anyone to hunt a big one like a wild boar. You can give me a reasonable price."
It means, don't try to lower the price.
“These items are rare, but if there are too many, no other family can afford them, right?” The nanny in the Chen family is not stupid, especially since she works in the main kitchen. If she doesn’t know how to bargain, how can the main kitchen make any money?
Ji Yanwen was about to say something more, but Jiang Bai tugged at his sleeve and said in a pretentious tone, "Brother, why don't we go to another house?"
The old woman's eyes sharpened, her gaze falling on the girl's face. Ignoring the mud on her face, just looking at her features, this girl...
A hint of hesitation appeared in her eyes.
Jiang Bai seemed startled and hid behind Ji Yanwen, her lowered face showing a thoughtful expression. The old woman's eyes were very strange.
"Oh dear, besides our Chen family, which other family in this county can afford to buy your stuff? Fine, seeing that you're pitiful, we'll just charge you 70% of the price of pork!" The old woman seemed to have backed down, but it was still much cheaper than pork from a domesticated pig.
The market price for home-raised pork is 5 qian per jin. If we calculate based on 70%, that's 3.5 qian per jin.
Seeing Ji Yanwen's hesitant expression, clearly indicating he didn't want to sell, the old woman added, "Three and a half qian is not a low price. You're lucky if you can earn one or two taels of silver a year."
"Alright then! Let's go with this number."
"Okay, pull him in!"
The old woman raised her hand, and the gatekeeper laid a wooden plank on the ground. Ji Yanwen looked at Jiang Bai, but she hid behind him and gave him a look that told him to pull the cart.
How could he possibly pull it?
Ji Yanwen's body stiffened, but fortunately he understood Jiang Bai's eyes, which meant that he should pull the cart while she helped push it.
Is this because they don't want to reveal their strength?
He thought to himself, and went forward to pull the cart. Sure enough, this time it was easy to get it up. Jiang Bai put his hand on the edge and exerted force to reduce the weight of the cart.
"Don't look around, follow me."
The old woman led the way, and soon they passed through a secluded side gate, catching a glimpse of the Chen family's wealthy residence.
The road was paved with blue bricks, and unknown flowers and plants were planted on both sides. There were more than a dozen people tending to the flowers and plants along the way.
This is just the road leading to the main kitchen; one can only imagine how luxurious the master's living quarters in the front and back yards must be.
They pulled the car all the way to the kitchen and weighed it on a large scale.
"A total of 678 catties, which is 237 taels and 3 mace of silver. You, come with me to get the silver."
The old woman raised her hand and pointed at Jiang Bai.
Ji Yanwen instinctively wanted to refuse, but Jiang Bai stepped forward faster and happily said, "Okay."
He seemed happy because he was going to receive so much silver.
What on earth is she going to do?
Jiang Bai followed behind the old woman, looking around curiously, seemingly very curious about the Chen residence.
"Little girl, you've never been to such a beautiful place before, have you?"
"Granny, here's a handkerchief. Quickly wipe your face; look how dirty your little face is."
Unlike before when she had been so stern as she dragged the meat into the house, the old woman was very kind and handed Jiang Bai a damp cloth.
"Thank you, Granny." Jiang Bai said softly, wiping the mud off her face with a damp cloth to reveal her clean little face.
"hiss."
The old woman gasped, forcing a warm smile onto her face.
"What's the little girl's name? How old is she?"
"I...I'm called Bai Ya, and I'm fifteen."
"Hello, hello, hello, which village are you from?"
"From Qingyang Village."
"Huh? Is there such a village in Nan'an County?"
"Yes, our village is in the mountains, and not many people come here on weekdays."
"Is that your brother with you?"
"He is my sworn brother."
Since Scholar Ji had studied at the county school, there was a chance that someone would recognize him and know that he didn't have a younger sister.
"Is he your sworn brother? Who else is in your family?"
Jiang Bai lowered his head dejectedly, his voice slightly choked with emotion: "I'm all alone now."
Okay, okay, it's good to be alone!
A glint of light flashed in the old woman's eyes.
"Mr. Qian, I've come to collect my money."
The old woman told Jiang Bai to wait outside, and then went into the accounting room.
Jiang Bai pretended to be curious, but in reality he was observing the layout of the Chen residence.
"Alright, here are two hundred and thirty-five taels of silver notes and two taels and three mace of silver."
"I'll take you out."
Ji Yanwen had already left, and the old woman warmly saw Jiang Bai off.
"Are you OK?"
Ji Yanwen was waiting at the door. When he saw her come out, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"It's nothing, why are you so nervous?"
“Master Chen’s mansion is filled with wives and concubines, many of whom were bought from outside.”
They say they bought it, but who knows where it actually came from?
"Is that so?"
Jiang Bai turned to look at the Chen residence, where the old woman was still smiling at them.
"Let's go to the money exchange first."
If that's the case, then it must be difficult to get those two hundred taels of silver, right?
On the way to the money exchange, Jiang Bai indeed sensed that someone was following him, and the method of following was quite sophisticated.
"Why are you shaking?"
Did he find out too?
"No...nothing."
Ji Yanwen wiped the sweat from his forehead. The dagger was hidden in his boot. If the people behind him were coming for him, he would probably have to expose it in front of Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai carried a basket on his back, which was covered with a cloth.
She took the silver notes inside, exchanged the 235 taels of silver notes for silver, put them in her basket, and covered them with a cloth.
Then he took Ji Yanwen to a grocery store, a pharmacy, and a grain store, filling the basket to the brim.
The two then headed out of the city.
The people following them were still behind, but they didn't seem to have any intention of making a move on the way.
Why are you sweating so much?
Jiang Bai was fine, but Ji Yanwen seemed even more nervous after leaving the city.
Jiang Bai looked at him suspiciously: "You didn't know someone was following us, did you?"
"What? Stalking?"
He feigned surprise, then nervously tried to turn around to look, but Jiang Bai grabbed him.
"Don't turn around, or we'll alert them."