vrcanaries Chapter 22 Pickup
Chapter 22 Pickup
The three entered the town and arrived at the noodle stall, only to find that the noodle stall was not set up.
Many shops in the town were closed, even the grain and oil shops that used to have long queues were now shut down.
Many migrants who entered the town wandered around aimlessly.
Moreover, the entire town was filled with ragged refugees, and even just now, each person had to pay two coins to enter the town.
Su Yue had no choice but to let Su Erbao drive the mule cart, while Su Dabao led the way to a noodle shop.
After finishing their meal, Su Yue sent the two men to Su Ershu's house to wait for her.
Su Yue didn't know how to drive a mule cart, so she had to pull the mule cart to the general store.
When Su Yue arrived at the general store, she found it closed. She knocked on the door for a long time before someone finally opened it.
"Oh! It's you, little girl! The town has been in chaos these past few days, I thought you weren't coming." The shopkeeper opened the door and let Su Yue in.
Seeing that Su Yue was still pulling the mule cart, they let her come in through the back door.
Once the mule and its rider were inside the backyard, the shopkeeper began loading the items Su Yue had ordered onto the mule cart.
Su Yue asked curiously, "Shopkeeper, so many people have come to this town, why are you still closing the door and not welcoming guests?"
The shopkeeper quickly stopped her: "Little girl, you should leave town soon and don't come back for the next few days. These refugees have been here for three days. When they first arrived, they knew to pay for the things they took, but now that there are so many refugees, they just rob people as soon as they enter. Several shops have been robbed. If I hadn't been waiting for you, I would have packed up and gone back to my village. These refugees are really scary."
Watching the shopkeeper move things without helping, Su Yue asked again, "Isn't anyone from the county government going to take care of this?"
"There are only a few people in the county government office, how can they handle everything? Look at how many refugees there are outside. Okay, count them and see if it's enough."
Su Yue looked around, nodded, and took out the remaining silver from her crossbody bag.
The shopkeeper counted the money and was about to go inside to find more when Su Yue stopped him: "Shopkeeper, take the rest of the silver and give it to me to make a few earthenware pots! It's so chaotic outside, I don't dare to come here again. Take a few more with you!"
The shopkeeper was worried that he had too much stuff in the shop, and if he just left, he would lose everything. Now that someone wanted it, he couldn't be happier to sell more.
"Little girl! Look, how about you pay another ten taels of silver, and you can take as much of the shop's contents as you can fit in it?"
Su Yue looked at the items in the shop and found a few that she wanted. She paid another eight taels of silver and began loading the items onto her mule cart.
Only when the mule cart was completely packed with people did he say goodbye to the shopkeeper with a smile on his face.
The shopkeeper thought Su Yue was just a little girl and couldn't carry much stuff, but when he looked at her, he realized she had almost moved his entire counter.
This plan backfired.
Su Yue, pulling a cart full of goods, dared not wander around, fearing that the refugees would come up and rob her.
He led the mule through the alley, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and quickly put the items into his spatial storage.
Next, we went to the blacksmith's shop. It was probably a bit out of the way, as the door was only half open.
Su Yue tied the mule to the door and went inside to find the blacksmith.
"Master Tie, are you inside? I've come to pick up the things I ordered three days ago."
Hearing someone call from inside the back room, they started walking out while replying, "Hey! Coming, coming."
"Oh dear, little girl, you're quite punctual. I've prepared everything, but your parents aren't here! How are you going to take it with you?!"
"Oh, I came with a mule cart. Just load everything up." Su Yue didn't answer the blacksmith's question.
"Okay, I'll move it for you now. Did you bring the rest of the money?" the blacksmith asked as he moved the items.
Recently, many refugees have come to the town. He heard that many shops have been looted, and he doesn't want to work hard only to not get paid.
"Master Blacksmith, don't worry about the money! I'll take it with me and give it to you once everything is moved." Su Yue walked around the blacksmith's shop to see if there was anything she needed.
The blacksmith quickly packed the items, and Su Yue checked them and found they were just right. She then took out a fifty-tael coin from her satchel and placed it in the blacksmith's hand.
"Master Tie, keep the change. Just give me those two curved knives hanging behind your door." Su Yue glanced at them as soon as she came in and immediately took a liking to them.
"No way, I just got these two scimitars yesterday, and I was hoping to sell them for a few more taels of silver." The blacksmith quickly waved his hand and refused to sell.
"Master Tie, don't refuse so quickly. I think this scimitar doesn't look like ours. It looks more like the Xiongnu's. If you don't want to cause trouble, why don't you just give it to me?" Su Yue had only heard Su Dabao mention the Xiongnu when she was learning to read.
She really liked the two knives, so she casually made a bluff at the blacksmith.
Before Su Yue could speak, the blacksmith took the two knives off and told her to take them quickly.
The blacksmith originally intended to keep it for himself, but with the town becoming increasingly chaotic, he also wanted to keep it for self-defense. Now that it had been discovered, he decided to sell it to avoid trouble.
Holding the curved sword, Su Yue was so happy that her eyes crinkled with laughter. She said goodbye to the blacksmith, then led the mule to a deserted alley and put everything into her spatial storage.
We've been out for quite a while now, we need to hurry to Uncle Su's shop to find Su Dabao and Su Erbao.
After all, the town was a bit chaotic, and the two of them were more obedient than before, making them easier for her to manage.
On the way to Uncle Su's shop, Su Yue noticed several vagrants trying to rob her, but seeing the thing in her hand that looked like a spoon but wasn't, they didn't dare to go forward and just followed behind, waiting for an opportunity.
Among these refugees, Su Yue also spotted several people who didn't look like they came from this area.
However, Su Yue didn't pay much attention. She soon arrived at the entrance of Uncle Su's shop and found that Su Dabao and Su Erbao were just sitting at the entrance waiting for her.
Uncle Su's pickle shop was tightly closed.
"Su Dabao, Su Erbao, what's going on?" Su Yue asked, pointing to the gate.
“Sister Yue, Uncle San isn’t here. Look, all these shops are closed. I just asked around, and they said they were robbed by refugees from town a couple of days ago. Every food stall on this street is closed.” Su Dabao pulled the mule from Su Yue’s hands and explained.
"Forget it, since it's not open, let's go back now!" Su Yue got on the cart and called to Su Erbao to leave.
As soon as he sat down, Su Erbao leaned closer and whispered, "Sister Yue, have you noticed that there are many people in town who look like refugees, but are different from them?"
Su Yue looked at Su Erbao with suspicion, not expecting that this kid who only thought about eating meat all day could discover these things.
"Su Erbao, you've learned something new, that's great!" Su Yue patted Su Erbao on the shoulder.
"Sister Yue, you've noticed too, although these people are dressed like refugees, they look just like the Huns that the teacher talked about in school," Su Dabao whispered to the two of them.
"Brother, are you sure those people are Xiongnu? Could it be that they're also suffering from drought and need to flee? But why are they fleeing towards us? We don't have any water either!" Su Erbao asked, puzzled.
"Idiot, this is the closest town to theirs. They have no water, and neither do we. They must have come here for this reason. We can't control that. We should hurry out of town and go home." Su Dabao just wanted to get home as soon as possible and didn't care about anything else.