The carriage reached the north gate of the county town, where they ran right into Xu Laifu.
He had brought Xu Laiyun along to help, but Xu Laiyun could only stay for a few days. Afterward, he would be starting an apprenticeship at the ceramics workshop, taking up his father's trade.
The Xu brothers had borrowed a neighbor's mule to pull a cart full of narrow-mouthed, wide-bellied pottery bottles. Mr. Xu had personally bought them from the ceramics workshop at an insider's price—they were very cheap and perfect for bottling soy sauce and vinegar.
When they arrived on East Street, they spotted someone squatting by the shop's entrance from a distance. As they got closer, they saw it was indeed Zhou.
He clutched a limp bundle wrapped in cloth, which seemed to be all his worldly possessions.
Seeing the carriage approach, Zhou scrambled to his feet and bowed in greeting.
Ji Huan asked, "When did you get here? You must have been waiting for a while."
