The man glanced at the hatchet hanging from Chen Mo's waist and chuckled, "My name is Li Mu, I am the shopkeeper of this fabric store. How should I address you?"
"Chen Mo, the 'Mo' of ink and brush." Chen Mo replied.
The man raised an eyebrow, "Have you studied before?"
"Last year's Child Student." There was nothing to hide, so Chen Mo spoke truthfully.
Li Mu looked impressed. Even in the peaceful years before this disaster, not every family could afford to educate their children.
Besides, a scholar carrying a hatchet and selling wild boar hides felt like a scholar doing embroidery work.
Li Mu said, "The workmanship on this hide is rather crude, but it's more than a finger's width thick. I'll give you a String and a half, what do you think?"
A String of Coins, also known as a string, equals one thousand cents.
A String and a half amounts to one thousand five hundred cents.
Chen Mo thought it was reasonable, "Thank you, Shopkeeper Li."
Li Mu gestured for the cashier to bring the money.
"Count it." Li Mu said.
Chen Mo weighed it in his hand and then put it away, "I trust you."
"Good, you're a straightforward person." Li Mu patted Chen Mo's shoulder and said, "If you have more goods in the future, feel free to bring them to me. I'll give you the local price and buy any animal hides."
Chen Mo nodded. Just before leaving, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Shopkeeper Li, do you have ready-made clothes here?"
"Since it's a fabric store, of course, we do. Are you buying for yourself?" Li Mu asked.
Chen Mo nodded, "One set for me, and a set for my... wife as well."
Originally, he wanted to say sister-in-law, but that would surely be misunderstood, so he said wife instead.
After all, no brother-in-law would buy clothes for his own sister-in-law.
After buying the clothes.
Chen Mo went to the grain store and bought ten pounds of rice, ten measures of millet, and ten pounds of coarse salt.
Also some soybeans and a small bag of sugar.
If one intends to improve their life.
Then, spices for cooking are essential.
In the past, the dishes he ate only had oil and salt.
There wasn't even soy sauce.
The dishes were merely edible, far from delicious.
After a round of shopping, there wasn't much left of the String and a half he had just received.
Chen Mo originally also wanted to buy a blade from the blacksmith.
The government wasn't strict on weapon control among the people, except for armor, crossbows, and such which were strictly forbidden, other weapons could be bought at blacksmith stores.
But when he asked, the cheapest Blade was over three thousand coins.
Custom orders were even more expensive and required a deposit.
Originally, he wanted a blacksmith to craft him a "Tang Blade" he saw online.
Now he could only wait until he had more money.
...
While passing by a vendor, Chen Mo saw some jewelry for sale at the stall, and he was interested in a Jade Hairpin.
Thinking that his sister-in-law was still using a Wooden Hairpin, he decided to buy it for her.
Chen Mo knew a little about jade; this Jade Hairpin was made of ordinary jade, not anything valuable, so it wasn't too expensive.
After haggling, Chen Mo bought it for thirty Wen coins.
Chen Mo wrapped the hairpin carefully and put it in his jacket, planning to surprise his sister-in-law when he got home.
As he walked down the street, a commotion suddenly came from ahead.
"Get out of the way."
"Get out of the way."
"You lowly people, make way for this young lady."
...
A white horse seemed to have been startled and was galloping chaotically down the street, causing pedestrians to dodge left and right, fearing to be caught up in this unexpected disaster.
Chen Mo quickly stepped aside as well.
The rider on the white horse was a woman in black clothing, holding a whip, with a striking appearance and her long hair tied up high, looking valiant and heroic.
The most crucial part was that Chen Mo saw a red number on her forehead, 31+5.
To stop the startled horse, the woman in black fiercely pulled on the reins, eventually causing both horse and rider to fall to the ground embarrassingly.
No matter the world, there are always onlookers keen on entertainment, and naturally, the spectacle created by the woman in black drew a crowd of curious spectators.
Yet, who would have thought, the woman in black got up and immediately lashed out with her whip.
With a crisp "snap," the whipped person fell to the ground, wailing in pain.
"You lowly people, what are you looking at?"
Refusing to back down, the woman in black whipped one person then turned to strike another unsuspecting passerby.
Once again, someone hit the ground in response.
The woman in black showed no mercy.
"Is it that amusing? Look again and I'll dig out your eyeballs."
The woman in black picked up the white horse, seemingly still not satisfied. Although it was the horse's fault she had fallen, she vented her anger on the nearby citizens, landing another whip.
This time, her target was Chen Mo.
Chen Mo swore he had no intentions of gawking. He just wanted to step aside away from the scene; he hadn't wronged anyone else.
Of course, he wasn't about to take a beating, so he quickly moved aside.
The whip hit the stall behind him and instantly shattered it to pieces.
Chen Mo frowned.
Instead of calming her, this only made the woman in black angrier, "You lowly person, you dare to dodge."
She raised her hand, about to swing her whip at Chen Mo again.
"Zhi Ning, behave yourself."
Suddenly, a pleasant female voice came from behind the woman in black, causing her to hesitate.
A carriage slowly approached amidst the crowd, alongside which rode four armed guards, each horseback guard branded with a number on their foreheads, the highest being 92+10.
The voice came from within the carriage, though the person inside did not reveal themselves, simply instructing a guard to compensate the wounded with silver.
"Elder sister, what are you doing? If it weren't for these lowly people, my Snow Dragon Steed wouldn't have been startled," the woman in black complained.
"Zhi Ning, stop being troublesome. If you weren't riding so fast, this wouldn't have happened."
"Sister."
"Zhi Ning!"
"..."
Chen Mo realized he was dealing with a spoiled young lady. Although displeased, he could only swallow his dissatisfaction and prepare to leave.
But the girl called "Zhi Ning" apparently wasn't ready to let it go.
She raised her hand and swung the whip at him.
A sharp "snap" as the whip landed heavily on Chen Mo's back.
Chen Mo hadn't anticipated such brutality; the strike hurt, a fiery pain turned into a near stumble.
"Hiss..." Chen Mo sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Zhi Ning, you've gone too far..." the voice in the carriage scolded the woman in black.
However, it was merely a verbal reprimand. The guards were instructed to compensate Chen Mo with silver pieces instead.
Looking at the broken silver handed to him, Chen Mo felt aggrieved.
But confronted with the 92+10 on the guards' foreheads, he could only swallow this grievance.
He didn't do what they do in dramas, recklessly knocking off the money offered; instead, he accepted it, shot a glance back at the woman in black, and left.
No one noticed the trace of ferocity in his eyes.
Though currently not as strong as them, he could endure and compromise, but never crumble entirely.
He vowed to remember this grudge of a whip.
When he grew stronger, he would return it tenfold, a hundredfold.
ps: Thanks to Webnovel Third Generation for the reward of 500 coins, and thanks to all the readers for the monthly passes, many thanks!!!