amaotonovel Chapter 668 Cheban Town
Chapter 668 Cheban Town
In front of the mottled red-painted gate of the Mazu Temple, a hunched old woman leaned against the pedestal of a stone lion, peering out. She wore a coarse indigo headscarf, and her wrinkled face bore the marks of time, like a reef eroded by years of sea breeze. Her cloudy eyes occasionally glanced toward the distant path, as if waiting for someone important.
Her rough fingers kept stroking a faded sachet around her waist, her knuckles deformed and swollen from years of hard work.
Xu Zize stepped forward quickly and bowed respectfully. "Excuse me, old lady, are there any towns or villages nearby?" His voice was gentle and polite, and he spoke deliberately slowly. The old woman raised her head, revealing a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth, and answered with a long string of words in a thick dialect.
The voice was as undulating as the waves, with a strong nasal and guttural tone. Xu Zize was completely confused and could only stand there awkwardly. He looked at Jing Chunxi for help, but found that she was also frowning, obviously not understanding what he said.
Jing Chunxi leaned in closer, trying to catch the familiar syllables in the old woman's rapid speech. As she spoke, he could see her mouth, several missing teeth, and her tongue, stained with dark brown betel nut. She exuded a scent of sea salt and fish, and tiny fish scales clung to her skirt, glistening in the sunlight.
Jing Chunxi noticed that the old woman always touched the copper ring on her ear unconsciously when she spoke. The copper ring had been polished to a shine, and it was obvious that she had worn it for many years.
Seeing that the two of them really couldn't understand, the old woman smiled helplessly and showed an expression of understanding.
She looked around, then pointed tremblingly at a bluestone stele standing at the temple entrance, motioning them to go over and take a look.
The surface of the stone tablet had been eroded by the sea breeze, and moss had grown around its edges. They got closer and examined it carefully, discovering the inscription: "Respectfully erected by the believers of Longtou Village," and the words "Cheban Town" at the end.
The inscription records the process of building the Mazu Temple. Some of the words are blurred, but the basic information is still complete.
"Thank you, old man." Jing Chunxi tried to communicate again, gestured to ask for the direction of the town.
The old woman enthusiastically pulled her sleeve and led them to the beach, pointing northwest. Her skinny fingers trembled slightly in the sea breeze, but she pointed firmly in a direction.
To make them more clear, the old woman even led the way for a dozen steps, around a sand dune covered with cacti, and then stopped after confirming that they understood. Her calloused feet stepped directly on the hot sand, but she seemed to feel no pain.
Jing Chunxi fished out a string of copper coins from her bosom and carefully placed them in the old woman's palm. The old woman clasped her hands together and thanked him devoutly. The coins made a crisp clinking sound in her palm. The wrinkles on her face smoothed out, revealing a toothless smile, and deep crow's feet appeared at the corners of her eyes.
Jing Chunxi didn't dare give more copper coins, fearing that they would cause unnecessary trouble in a strange place. She noticed a few fishermen looking over at them, and quickly pulled Xu Zize away.
Following the direction the old woman pointed, the sand beneath my feet gradually turned into a solid dirt road. Scattered broken fishing nets and piles of shells began to appear on both sides of the road, and the salty smell in the air became increasingly strong.
Less than three miles later, the outline of Cheban Town appeared before our eyes. The town was not big, but it was bustling with activity, and the noisy voices could be heard from afar.
Entering the town, the scene suddenly comes alive. The narrow streets are crammed with stalls, where fresh catches are spread out on straw mats, from gleaming hairtail to sizzling crabs and lively shrimp.
An old farmer squatted on the ground selling vegetables, freshly watered, before him; half a pig hung in front of the butcher's stall, flies buzzing around it. Several women, carrying bamboo baskets, bargained, their voices sharp enough to penetrate the noisy market.
Various smells mixed together: the aroma of freshly fried noodles, the sour smell of rotten vegetable leaves, the smell of fish, the smell of sweat, and the smell of spices that came from nowhere.
A peddler pushed a wheelbarrow and shouted "Fresh oysters", the wheel rolling over the fish intestines on the ground, making an unpleasant sticky sound.
A few ragged children were squatting in front of a fire on the street corner, roasting snails and oysters they had picked up.
Xu Zize looked around and lowered his voice to Jing Chunxi, "I'm looking for a place to buy horses. Xi'er, buy some vegetables, preferably green leafy ones."
Ever since the space was filled with ore, they hadn't eaten fresh vegetables for a long time. The masters in the village didn't grow vegetables at all.
"Okay!" Jing Chunxi agreed readily, and his eyes began to search the market.
She calculated that the livestock on the farm wouldn't be enough to feed five thousand soldiers, and fresh vegetables were even more scarce. Looking at the market stretching two hundred feet before her, a plan formed in her mind: buy all the leafy greens she could, and add some fish and shrimp to improve the rations.
The space has a preservation function, and the current storage capacity is also extremely powerful. It is best to stock up on a ten-day supply so that when they leave, the food grown in the space can be eaten.
She suddenly turned around and shouted to Xu Zize, who had not yet walked far away: "Buy a horse and a carriage, I need to load the vegetables!" The voice was particularly loud in the noisy market, attracting the attention of several passers-by.
Jing Chunxi stuck out his tongue and thought, how can we provide cover without a carriage?
She winked cunningly at Xu Zize in the distance. Xu Zize nodded knowingly, turned around and squeezed into the crowd to ask where he could buy a horse and a carriage.
Jing Chunxi began to wander around the various vegetable stalls, expertly selecting the freshest vegetables. She didn't dare open her wallet and just take whatever she wanted.
Instead, she deliberately bargained with the stall owner in the poor Yamen Village dialect, pretending to be an ordinary girl shopping. Some people actually understood what she said.