Ji Huan asked around for a moment before turning onto East Street. The town's largest medical hall and apothecary, Jishi Hall, was there.
This so-called "largest" establishment, in her eyes, just had a slightly wider storefront than the other shops. It wasn't particularly grand, but even so, it wasn't a place an ordinary villager could afford to enter.
The shop attendant saw Ji Huan's patched, coarse clothing and was immediately dismissive. "Are you here for a consultation or to get medicine? The consultation fee is fifteen cents, and medicine is extra. We don't make house calls to the countryside, mind you."
'Snobs who judged people by their clothes were everywhere.'
Ji Huan ignored his dismissive attitude and asked, "Is your Shopkeeper in?"
Seeing that she was neither seeing a doctor nor getting medicine, the attendant grew impatient and shooed her away with his hand. "He's not in! Not in! You think the Shopkeeper is someone you can just meet? If you have no business here, stop blocking the entrance!"
Ji Huan couldn't remember the last time she had been so humiliated. She silently repeated the mantra 'a gentle demeanor brings wealth' several times to keep her temper in check. "I want to discuss a business proposal with him. It's about a hand cream..."
"You? Talk business?"
The attendant was about to mock her when he saw the Shopkeeper returning. He scurried over with a grin, pointing at Ji Huan as if sharing a hilarious joke. "Second Uncle, that country bumpkin over there says she wants to do business with you."
The Shopkeeper of Jishi Hall, Wang De, glared at him. "How many times have I told you not to call me Uncle in public? If people find out I got you this job..."
"What's there to be afraid of, Second Uncle?" the attendant retorted. "Our eldest uncle is the steward of the Bai Mansion and held in high esteem by the master of the Bai Family. You're in charge of Jishi Hall, so what's wrong with helping out your nephew? I'd like to see who dares to gossip!"
Wang De knew it was pointless to argue with him and went straight upstairs.
The attendant shouted after him again, "Second Uncle, that country girl wants to talk about some hand cream business! Aren't you going to meet her?"
Wang De could tell from his nephew's tone that he was just toying with the girl. Without turning back, he snapped, "Throw her out! What does she think this place is?"
The moment Ji Huan heard the name "Bai Family," she had already given up on the idea of doing business there. She certainly wasn't going to wait to be thrown out, so she turned and walked out of Jishi Hall herself.
'What a small world. She had been sold to the Bai Family twice. She'd known they were a major household in the county, but she never imagined Jishi Hall belonged to them too.'
'This avenue was closed. She'd have to find another way.'
There were several smaller medical halls in town, and Ji Huan visited them all, but the result was always the same. The doctors found the suggestion of a clinic selling hand cream completely bizarre and shooed her out before she could even finish her pitch.
By the time Ji Huan came out of a general goods store, she was feeling rather discouraged.
She had assumed a shop that dealt in goods from all corners of the land would have a sharper business acumen. Instead, the Shopkeeper, seeing her youth, had shown her the door before she could even finish. He'd even claimed to have seen "a hundred, if not eighty" similar folk remedies.
Looking up, she saw the sun was already high in the sky. Ji Huan hurried toward the north end of town, afraid she was keeping Widow Xie waiting.
From a distance, she saw Widow Xie talking with someone. By the time Ji Huan reached her, the person was already far away.
He wore a plain cloth robe, faded from countless washings, and a scholar's cap. Judging by his back, he was tall and slender, and he stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.
Seeing her gaze, Widow Xie casually remarked, "That's Song Jing, a relative of the village chief. A very driven young man. Just like your fourth uncle, he's also a child student!"
"Song..." Ji Huan said, confused. "Isn't the village chief's surname Meng?"
"The village chief's surname is indeed Meng," Widow Xie explained. "Song Jing is his nephew. His mother, Mrs. Meng, is the chief's sister."
"Oh, I see." That explained it. Though Dafeng Village was home to people of various surnames, she couldn't recall a single family named Song from her memory.
Widow Xie sighed with emotion as she spoke of Song Jing.
"That poor child. His father died from an illness when he was just five. His paternal uncles falsely accused Mrs. Meng of having an affair, seized their land, and drove mother and son out of Song Family Village. Mrs. Meng tried to return to Dafeng Village, but her own parents were gone. While the village chief was willing to take his sister in, his wife refused to support a daughter who had married out and her burdensome child. So, Mrs. Meng had to settle in town, raising Song Jing all by herself by taking in sewing and laundry. Then I heard last year he passed an examination and became a child student. You know, those clan uncles from the Meng Family showed up that very day and invited them back to our village."
Widow Xie clearly disapproved of the Meng Family's behavior.
"Thankfully, Song Jing is a credit to his mother, so Mrs. Meng's struggles are finally paying off. It's no wonder you've never seen him; he spends most of his time studying in town and rarely comes back."
"Aunt Xie, did you say he's a child student?"
"That's right! Our village has only produced two child students. Your fourth uncle is so arrogant, when he sees us country folk in town, he acts like he doesn't even know us. But Song Jing is different. He's a very polite boy. He always greets us and even offers to help carry heavy things..."
'A top student, especially a well-mannered one, is always a popular figure.'
Ji Huan noticed the envelope in Widow Xie's hand and changed the subject. "Weren't you delivering a letter for someone? How come you still have it?"
"Oh, that!" Widow Xie said with a sigh. "Do you remember Sixth Ancestor Grandma from the village?"
Ji Huan had a faint memory of her—a gaunt, white-haired old woman whose back was permanently stooped. She was from a much older generation, so everyone in the village respectfully called her Sixth Ancestor Grandma.
"Her grandson was conscripted to guard the border two years ago, and there's been no word from him since. With battles raging every day, who knows if he's even alive... Sigh. But you can't say that to her. She's old and her mind is clouded; she barely recognizes anyone. The only person she remembers is the grandson she raised. Now that it's getting cold, she's worried he isn't dressed warmly. She keeps saying his hands always get chilblains, which means he can't hold his weapons properly and will be at a disadvantage in a fight..."
'No matter the era, when the flames of war were lit, it was always the common folk who suffered most. Increased taxes were secondary; the true terror was conscription, which tore families apart and forced the old to bury the young.'
'The court might have had a rule about taking only one man per household, but who bothered with that when the war grew desperate! Sixth Ancestor Grandma was a case in point. She had five sons, and all five went to the battlefield. The youngest was less than ten years old when he was dragged away, not even a man yet, unable to even carry a greatspear.'
'He ended up being the lucky one. He lost half a leg in battle but somehow managed to survive.'
'Sixth Ancestor Grandma had wept her heart out while clutching her only surviving son. Afterward, she would tell everyone she met how wonderful it was. "My son lost a leg," she'd say, "so he'll never have to go to the battlefield again."'
'But who could have known that years later, her only grandson would be unable to escape the same fate. The villagers said she had cried herself blind over it.'
A heavy feeling settled in Ji Huan's heart. 'Better to be a dog in an era of peace than a human in a time of chaos.' In this second life, she wanted no part of such turmoil.
"We couldn't find anyone in the village to write it for her," Widow Xie continued, "so I came all the way to the town academy to find Song Jing. He wrote the letter for me without any hesitation and didn't even charge for the ink and paper." She carefully tucked the letter into her egg basket. "Let's hurry, we can still make it to my mother's house in time for lunch."
"But the letter..." Ji Huan wondered how they could possibly send a letter to the army without an address.
Of course, Widow Xie didn't know either, but she had another way.
"There's an army camp stationed just over the mountain from my mother's home. They're all soldiers there, so maybe we can get some news if we ask around. Coincidentally, someone from our village delivers horse feed to that very camp..."
'...Chilblained hands... unable to hold a weapon... an army camp nearby...'
Her mind raced, and an idea began to form.