The Small Town is built on an oasis, but it doesn’t an that the oasis is as small as the town itself. The lake extends far, eventually disappearing into the desert, with lush green trees and grass accompanying it, all part of the oasis.
The people of the Small Town cultivate the land along the oasis edges and have dug channels to draw water. So even plant lons and fruits on the Gobi, occasionally watering them. Although the fruits are small, they are still very sweet.
In the past, when there were many passing rchants, they would buy the good-looking ones to sell elsewhere, while the less appealing ones were bought by the rchants themselves for quenching thirst, and they would eat them too.
But this year, there are fewer people coming, and even the best fruits in the greenhouse aren’t selling. Naturally, they’re not interested in those Gobi fruits anymore.
Manbao and the others placed the fishing gear on top of the carriage, helped Mr. Zhuang into the vehicle, and then went to bring out their horses, happily riding away.
Yin Huo didn’t want to ride a horse, so he shared the carriage with Mr. Zhuang.
A grand procession set out under the protection of the guards. Within less than half an hour, the whole town knew that the guests who arrived yesterday were going fishing. It was just for fishing, but they brought over a dozen servants, very lavishly.
"It’s a pity the young ones don’t have money."
"I think the elderly gentleman in charge doesn’t seem like a lavish person; their business isn’t easy."
"They’re officials, not rchants, so naturally, they won’t spend too much on such things."
"I actually find them more generous than those rchants. The rchants buy things they can resell, and while they buy a lot, the prices aren’t high. Unlike them, they buy consumables. It’s said that over twenty people washed their clothes today, so everyone in East Town made money, not to ntion the vegetables and at they bought. If they stay for twenty days..."
Upon hearing this, everyone perked up. Soone said, "Then our greenhouse fruits will have a market; if everyone eats one a day, over a hundred could be consud per day."
"Don’t think about it; they find it expensive. Only a few bought yesterday, and those were soldiers. How much money do soldiers have? Not as much as the rchant’s workers."
"Should we lower the price? Otherwise, these fruits will rot in the fields without being sold."
Many started thinking, realizing it might be worthwhile because it’s not just a one-ti business; they could afford to lower the prices a bit.
Riding out of the Small Town, Manbao and others followed the lake, unaware they would face a price drop when they returned. At the mont, they were happily riding along the lakeshore, where the grass was lush. Not only did the horses run cheerily, but Manbao and the others also felt very happy, as it was much more comfortable than running on the Gobi Desert.
A guard rode back, pointing ahead, saying, "Young Master, Miss Man, there’s an open space up ahead. It looks good; why not stop there to fish?"
Manbao didn’t answer imdiately and asked Keke.
Keke replied, "That spot won’t do. The recorded fish species there aren’t much; the host might not catch anything. I suggest going about three hundred ters further; there are more fish there."
Manbao figured the difference of three hundred ters wasn’t significant; they could stop there and walk three hundred ters to fish.
So they arrived at the spot and stopped. The guards began unloading items from the carriage: mats, low tables, then fruits and teas, and finally, the buckets and fishing gear they needed.
Mr. Zhuang wandered about with his hands behind his back, feeling the spot chosen by the guards was quite nice. Stroking his beard, he smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad. Let’s invite Wei Xingren to co along tomorrow."
Manbao asked, "Should we invite Assistant General Nie as well?"
Mr. Zhuang shook his head, "Forget it; Assistant General Nie probably doesn’t like fishing."
Steward Li had inquired and found there were no fishing baits sold here. People usually dig up worms along the lake to bait their hooks. Of course, whether it attracts fish is uncertain.
So Manbao and the others took small bamboo baskets and dicinals hoes to search for worms.
Bai Shan and the other three had experience, and Liu Huan was also experienced. After flipping so grass, he shouted, "Here, here, there are two small holes; there must be earthworms underneath."
The only inexperienced one was Yin Huo. Having never dug for worms or seen many worms, he approached curiously. He saw Bai Erlang already hoeing away, soon exposing earthworms split in half but still wriggling.
He jumped back in surprise, stepping back two steps.
Bai Erlang and Liu Huan were excited, directly grabbing the worms and each holding half to show off, "Look, we found so!"
Zhou Liru glanced over and pulled out two earthworms from the ground, holding them in her palm to show them.
Bai Erlang and Liu Huan were envious.
Yin Huo: ...
Bai Shan and Manbao also had their share of finds. The soil was damp along the lakeside, with rich aquatic plants. It seed few people ca to dig, so there were plenty of earthworms underneath. In ten places, six or seven had worms beneath the surface.
Mr. Zhuang found it amusing and waved Yin Huo over, saying, "Co, let teach you how to handle the fishing hooks."
Yin Huo quickly turned around, took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
After the guards arranged everything, they spread out, searching the area and confirming there was no danger before lazily standing around guarding, not offering to help dig worms.
Bai Shan and the others hadn’t asked for help either. They dug quite a few themselves, bringing them back to show Mr. Zhuang.
"Sir, should we add so seasoning?" Bai Shan asked, "I rember adding so seasoning to earthworms makes them taste better, right?"
Yin Huo couldn’t help but avert his gaze, looking at the calm and clear lake surface, asking, "Have you eaten them before?"
Everyone raised their heads to look at him, clicking their tongues. They knew his cleanliness peaked again. Even Bai Shan loved cleanliness, but playing in the dirt wasn’t part of that.
Bai Shan straightforwardly called Longevity to help his master cut and bait earthworms...
Longevity: ...
Only two small bamboo baskets were available, so Manbao picked two large leaves, scooped a handful of earthworms, wrapped them, and took the fishing gear, saying, "We’ll go to the upper side to fish."
Bai Shan imdiately followed, "I’ll go with you."
Bai Erlang glanced at them, thinking he shouldn’t follow, or he’d be a third wheel, so he stopped the eager Liu Huan, saying, "We’ll find our own spot to fish."
Yin Huo looked around and thought Mr. Zhuang’s area was the cleanest, so he stayed put.
Zhou Liru also took a small bamboo basket, walking with Bai Er and Liu Huan; she didn’t want to disturb her aunt and uncle nor stay by Mr. Zhuang’s side.
Mr. Zhuang recently made her morize difficult articles, much harder than the prescriptions her aunt made her morize, so she had been avoiding him.
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