After passing through the checkpoint without incident, Zhao Lin and Liang Song both breathed a sigh of relief.
The carriage rolled into the county town, where Zhao Lin and Liang Song bid farewell to the young man surnamed Xu before finding an inn for the night.
They couldn't bring themselves to pay for an expensive room, but they also didn't dare risk the large, five-copper-a-night communal bunkhouse. They settled on a double room for forty coppers a night.
Zhao Lin estimated that the round trip would cost four to five hundred coppers for the carriage and lodging alone.
'If you factored in meals, even half a tael of silver wouldn't cover it. You really can't go anywhere without money.'
The night passed without incident. The next day, the two of them boarded a carriage bound for Songyuan County.
This time, they didn't get stuck with a terrible driver. The journey was smooth, and they arrived in Songyuan County by evening.
Songyuan County was one of the three largest counties in Ying Province, even more prosperous than Qinghe County.
Zhao Lin wasn't in a hurry to sell their goods. Instead, he pulled Liang Song over to a cosmetics shop.
"Younger Brother Zhao, this is a cosmetics shop," Liang Song said with surprise, glancing at the shop's sign.
"I know. I'm here to buy face powder," Zhao Lin said with a smile.
Liang Song froze. "This is stuff for women. What are a couple of grown men like us doing going in there?"
Zhao Lin pulled him aside and explained in a low voice, "Just in case—and I'm just saying, what if—the bandits find the gall-less bear carcass and the quill-less porcupine we hid in the cave. They'll definitely be looking for those two items on the market."
"If they trace the goods here, and the shopkeeper describes our faces to them, won't we be exposed?"
Liang Song saw his point. He glanced into the cosmetics shop, but hesitated, too embarrassed to go inside.
"Why don't you wait here? I'll be right back," Zhao Lin said before walking into the shop.
When the shop attendant saw a young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes walk in, she paused for a moment before smiling. "Welcome, sir. What can I help you find?"
"I'm looking for face powder. The best you have—something that doesn't look like makeup when it's on, and doesn't rub off."
"Is it a gift? We have goose-egg powder, fine-milled rice powder, pearl powder, mercury paste, moyi flower powder..."
The attendant was clearly experienced, recommending several types of face powder at different prices.
Zhao Lin was lost. A sudden thought struck him: 'People in this era don't know that lead is poisonous. They often use it for skin-whitening. I can't buy a lead-based powder; getting chronic lead poisoning would be a disaster.'
"What are these powders made of?"
The attendant was surprised that a man would ask such a question, but wanting to make a sale, she patiently explained each one.
After listening to her explanations, Zhao Lin confirmed that two of the powders were completely natural, with no additives.
One was the fine-milled rice powder. It was made by grinding rice into a fine powder and mixing it with water in a bowl. After the powder settled, the water was poured off, and the sediment was dried and ground a second time.
The fine-milled rice powder was cheap, but it tended to cake and rub off easily.
The other was pearl powder, which was made purely from ground pearls. It could be used not only for makeup but could also be ingested to calm the heart, improve vision, and detoxify the body.
Its only downside could be summed up in one word: expensive.
A single box cost a hundred and fifty coppers.
For the sake of a natural-looking disguise, Zhao Lin gritted his teeth and bought a box of pearl powder. He also bought a mirror, and the attendant thoughtfully threw in a small brush for free.
'Sigh, there goes the price of half a pig...'
Holding the tiny box of powder, Zhao Lin thought to himself, 'No matter the era, women are always the easiest customers to make money from.'
Just pearl powder wouldn't be enough. Zhao Lin also went to a nearby pharmacy and bought a box of saffron powder and cattail pollen.
One powder was red, the other yellow. He mixed them separately with the pearl powder and applied them to their faces.
Zhao Lin gave himself a sallow, yellowish complexion, while Liang Song became a red-faced man. They both looked several years older.
The application was crude, but in the dim evening light, the minor imperfections weren't noticeable.
"Will this work? My complexion has changed, but my features haven't," Liang Song said, looking at himself in the mirror with uncertainty.
Zhao Lin nodded confidently. "It's enough. If someone asks the shopkeeper to describe us, they'll just say it was a sallow-faced man and a red-faced man. Any further details about our features will be useless."
Once they were ready, they walked the streets, searching for the shops Zhou Pao had mentioned.
The bear gall was to be sold at an apothecary, while the porcupine quills would go to a curio and jade shop.
Since they already had a good idea of the market prices, the two didn't waste much time. After a bit of haggling, both items were sold.
The bear gall sold for thirty-eight taels, and the porcupine quills for eighteen.
The silver ingots came in five and ten-tael denominations. They didn't feel heavy, but it was more money than most people could earn in their entire lives.
Suddenly in possession of such a large sum, the two were both excited and nervous. They each took half, keeping it hidden close to their bodies for fear of losing it.
The first thing they did upon waking the next day was to check their chests...
Zhao Lin and Liang Song traveled by day and rested by night, returning to Qinghe County two days later.
When Zhou Pao saw them return, he did a double-take. "Why is your face so yellow? And why is yours so red?"
"It's a special wax to keep the cold out. Gives you a healthy glow..."
Zhao Lin cracked a joke before saying seriously, "It was a disguise, of course."
They went inside to wash the "makeup" from their faces. By the time they came out, Zhou Pao had already called for Zhu Dachun.
After several days of recuperation, Zhu Dachun's health had returned. It seemed Widow Wang was taking good care of him; he had even put on some weight.
The first thing Zhu Dachun asked was, "How much did you get?"
"Fifty-six taels," Liang Song said with a wide grin.
Zhu Dachun grinned from ear to ear, already counting on his fingers how much his share would be.
"How much did you spend on the road?"
Zhou Pao took out a small ledger. It recorded the expenses from their hunting preparations and both trips to Songyuan County.
"Four hundred coppers for the carriage, one hundred and eighty for lodging..."
Zhao Lin only mentioned the costs for travel and lodging; he didn't bring up the money he'd spent on the face powder.
Zhou Pao deducted these expenses, added the twenty taels they had taken from the bandits, and scribbled down some calculations. The total sum to be divided came to about seventy-five taels.
"Younger Brother Zhao, what's your take on how to split the last share?"
Zhou Pao laid the accounts on the table. His gaze swept over the others before finally resting on Zhao Lin.
The division of the spoils had been agreed upon in advance: Zhou Pao and Zhao Lin would each take three shares, while Zhu Dachun and Liang Song would split three shares between them.
The final share was to be distributed based on performance. Since Zhao Lin had contributed the most, Zhou Pao asked him first.
One share was seven and a half taels of silver—no small sum. Zhao Lin considered for a moment before speaking. "I'll take two taels. Brother Zhu was injured and had to spend a lot on medical care, so I think it's right to give him three taels. The remaining two and a half can be split between Brother Pao and Brother Liang."
In truth, based purely on contribution, no one could have complained if Zhao Lin had taken the entire share for himself. But that would have shown a lack of grace, and he knew better.
"That sounds good to me. What about you two?" Zhou Pao asked with a smile.
"It's fair."
"Thanks for looking out for me, Younger Brother Zhao."
Liang Song and Zhu Dachun said in turn.
"Everyone pulled their weight. It's only right."
Zhao Lin calculated silently, 'Last time, I took thirteen taels. I used ten to bail out my brother, and I gave Qian Sanming a red packet with five hundred coppers.'
'This time, my share is a little over eleven taels. Added to what I have left, I'll have just under fourteen taels.'
'It seems like a lot of money, but it would only last half a year at most if I use it for martial arts training.'
'Ever since I absorbed the bear's Essence Soul, my appetite has been growing by the day. I eat enough for three men, and I need meat at almost every meal.'
'My strength keeps increasing, but the cost of all this food is getting to be too much.'
'Looks like I need to find another way to make money!'