Chapter 224

Chapter 224

Since they were going into the city, they had to set out early.

Wang Kangming went back to change his clothes; even a night soil collector paid attention to his appearance when going out, and couldn't be too shabby.

Perhaps worried that without travel permits, they might act rashly and cause trouble instead, the old lady lingered on the bamboo raft to share some pointers with them.

She reached out and touched the little girl who had been staring up at her, her round face simply endearing, and laughed, "Our family business isn't big or small, and one family can't manage it all on their own. Kangming often hires people to help push and pull goods into the city, and sometimes he hires villagers—there's no fixed routine. The city guards are familiar with him; to save trouble, they rarely check identities thoroughly. They know us by sight. At most, they might ask a question. As long as you can answer and don't show any nervousness that makes them suspicious, you'll be fine."

Old Zhao rubbed his hands together and nodded vigorously: "Sister, rest assured. I may not be the steadiest, but I won't show fear at the sight of people." In the past, perhaps he would have, since without a travel permit, being an undocumented person—forget sneaking into the city, even going to the county seat gave him the jitters. Getting caught meant being thrown into prison; those who couldn't handle it would probably flee long before reaching the city gates.

If they didn't flee, they'd be fine; but running would immediately mark them as suspicious. The old lady was probably worried they wouldn't hold up. He guessed that Shi Dalang had told her their background—just a bunch of country peasants with no experience. There's no way she wouldn't have asked, and no way Shi Dalang wouldn't have told her. He understood all that.

"This matter can't implicate you in any way. Haha, I'm not afraid to brag: after experiencing so much, my shoulders can bear more weight. This old face of mine won't flinch at anything short of a major crisis." He slapped his own face, making it crackle. His tone was arrogant, yet his actions were self-deprecating.

"Aiyah, what's all this talk about implicating or not? That's too serious!" The old lady quickly stopped him, feeling a bit awkward at being seen through. She could only pinch the little girl's cheek to ease the tension. "Brother Zhao, don't think I'm being too talkative. Having a clear head keeps you from panicking. Since we can't get a travel permit from the township now, we have to go empty-handed. If you sort out your thoughts in advance, you'll be able to hold up when questioned and won't make mistakes easily."

"That makes sense." Old Zhao nodded with a smile.

The Wang family set up the stage, and they would prop it up. As long as the stage didn't collapse, the actors on top didn't care who was supporting it from below—as long as they didn't fall or get hit.

Money makes the world go round; it had always been that way. Rules only constrain those without money or connections. He figured there were plenty of undocumented people like them engaging in such rackets—smuggling people into the city. As long as no trouble arose that forced the matter into the open, making it hard for everyone to back down, then even if the guards knew something was off, as long as the silver was plentiful and the connections deep enough, those city guards—after all, just a bunch of public servants, just like the minor clerks in the county office—who would be unwilling to skim some off the top? It would be foolish not to, right?

The old lady wasn't foolish, and Old Zhao certainly didn't take her for a fool. She dared to take on this matter partly out of regard for Gan Lei, and partly because the risk was controllable.

She had been a maidservant in a big household, even if it was in her youth. But even Old Madam Shi hadn't managed to break free from the deep mansions and live a good life. This Old Lady Xianzhu had lived to see her children and grandchildren, clearly showing how sharp she was.

Smuggling undocumented people into the city could be blown up into a charge of harboring rebels, and their whole family might suffer.

Helping others shouldn't come at the cost of one's own family—everyone knew that principle.

So, while the old lady hadn't spelled it out, not wanting to sound nagging and lose face, they had to be sensible and repeatedly make things clear to put her mind at ease.

The hillside didn't look big, but it could hold quite a few people and things. Wang Kangming quickly changed into clean clothes. Zhao Ertian, being perceptive, didn't make him wade through the water again; he poled the raft over and even offered a hand to help him aboard.

After another round of instructions, Old Zhao told Shi Dalang and his wife to stay put in Niujia Village and wait until they returned from the city before picking them up.

Today, they had pooled money to buy grain, and the Shi brothers had also contributed their share, clearly intending to go with them.

But what had they talked about during this trip to Niujia Village? What old secrets had they learned? The couple's faces were so wrinkled they could wring out half a bucket of bitterness. Gan Lei, that kid, looked completely lost. The Wang family's old lady seemed reluctant to let him go, probably unwilling to let the child follow the itinerant Shi family's distant relative and wanting to keep him by her side.

It was, after all, another family's affair. Old Zhao didn't feel comfortable asking too many questions or interfering. Whether the kid stayed or left would have to wait until they returned from the city.

...

The disaster hadn't affected the liveliness of the city; people still had to queue to enter.

The crowd was bustling, carrying loads on poles and baskets, sedan chairs, and donkeys—a lively scene.

It seemed no matter what happened outside, the city's vitality remained unaffected. Mingling in the crowd, the group looked at the passersby and found it hard to sense any trace of the floods that had ravaged the outer areas.

The folks went on with their daily lives, some worried, some laughing, their words and actions full of everyday life. Only the occasional low cough snapped them back to reality.

They had hidden the raft in a secluded spot along the way. Wang Kangming also took them to a quiet little compound, from which he pulled out a flatbed cart piled with wooden buckets that, even after washing, still reeked. One whiff told you they were used for night soil—the Wang family's tools of the trade.

"Don't let the flood outside fool you; life in the city is the same as always. Business is even livelier, especially the grain and salt shops—prices change daily. Half of our village is flooded, but our family's business goes on as usual. If we miss a day collecting night soil, the government runners come to nag us. You can't let that stuff sit; it has to be hauled out of the city." Wang Kangming was a talkative fellow, chatting with them about everything under the sun. He went into the city every day; when he talked about business, Old Zhao wasn't interested, but when he spoke of city affairs, Old Zhao perked up his ears and listened intently.

"At this time of year, whether the stuff sells or not—ha, the officials don't care about that. They only care about keeping the city clean and tidy. If we were to drop the job, we'd offend every household and the county office too—we can't bear that responsibility." He said this with a hint of gritted teeth, clearly having a tough time and holding back anger. Even to these outsiders, he could grumble a few words. "Right now, it's all grin and bear it—all the bitterness and tears have to be swallowed alone."

"Oh man, that's rough." Old Zhao didn't dare to jump in, just nodded at every word.

Judging by his words, that was the case. Night soil was collected for what? For fertilizer, of course. But with the floods outside, who knew how many people had died? Probably a lot of regular customers were gone too. The collected goods had no market, yet they couldn't just quit. The business their ancestors had greased couldn't be abandoned at a moment's notice. They had to grit their teeth and keep it going, even at a loss.

But of course, this wasn't a business with any capital to lose; at worst, they'd hire day laborers to help transport the goods, and then there was the disposal issue. Aiyah, thinking about it, no wonder Niujia Village stank to high heaven. Could it be that they had nowhere to dump the stuff and were piling it all in the village?

He thought to himself, but his face didn't twitch, and he listened to the complaints very attentively.

The line moved slowly, donkey hooves clattering and the occasional snort.

There were two people ahead. Wang Kangming was carrying Zhao Xiaobao, sneaking a look at the city guards and figuring out whose shift it was. He was lucky—no problems. The two guards scowling and sternly questioning the commoners were exactly the ones he knew well and got along with.

"Your daughter's so cute and well-kept. I'll take the liberty of saying she's my eldest brother's child, kicking up a fuss to come into the city for fun. On this trip, I'll bring her along to buy snacks." Wang Kangming leaned in and spoke quietly to Old Zhao. "Otherwise, it's hard to lie. You guys are my hired helpers—how could I bring a kid along for work? We'll just bluff it. Once we're in the city, everything will be fine."

Old Zhao nodded and said stiffly, "You're real thoughtful."

Hearing that, Wang Kangming immediately laughed: "Uncle, there's no one else around. No need to call me that. Even if there were, you don't have to. When I hire workers, I usually find villagers or distant relatives. Why not give the money to my own people to earn? You gotta look out for your own, isn't it? Whatever way you look at it, we're family or close kin. You're much older than me—just call me Kangming. No outsider will suspect a thing."

Old Zhao also laughed, nodding: "Alright, then I'll call you Kangming."

"There, that's better." Wang Kangming smiled amicably. Seeing the person ahead had finished the check, he moved forward with the crowd and continued, "We've got a small yard in the north of the city. It's not big, just two rooms, where we crash. Not much furniture, but there are beds, and we can make it work. Up to you, Uncle. If you don't mind, you can crash at my place. If you have other plans, I can help you find a rental. You can't let your daughter sleep on the street for a few days. And you'll need a place to store whatever you buy."

"It's fine to find your own place too." Wang Kangming, a night soil man who was buddy-buddy with the soldiers who ate public grain, was real considerate. "There are quite a few short-term rentals in the north of the city. If you're not picky about the environment and don't haggle over price, just ask any old lady around there. Even if her house doesn't have a free room, her neighbors or relatives surely will."

The person ahead had just been checked, and it was almost their turn. Old Zhao could only smack his lips quickly and say, "We men take up a lot of room and make noise just moving around. You, Kangming, have to go out at night for work. Our coming and going might disturb your rest. We're already grateful that you helped us into the city. We don't want to put you out. Once we're in, we'll find a little place to rent on our own."

"Leave me an address. When we're done, we'll come find you." Thinking about it, he felt a bit troubled and added, "I saw leaving the city's no problem. Can we just walk out? I'm worried our timing won't line up. If we can leave by ourselves, we'll just go back to Niujia Village."

With outsiders around, they couldn't hide things. They'd have to push a cart loaded with stuff out—way too obvious.

But then he thought about having to go to Niujia Village to pick up the others—another hassle. Still, no matter. They could split into two groups: have the second and third boys take Xiaobao back first, and figure out how to fool the villagers on the way.

If they couldn't fool 'em, no big deal—they could just talk over 'em. Who's gonna check?

"Why not?" Wang Kangming bounced Zhao Xiaobao in his arms. The person in front of them had just put their carrying pole on their shoulder and passed the check. It was their turn. He took a big step forward, put on a smile, and replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito, "I only handle getting in, not getting out."

...

Four guards stood at the city gate: two blocking the way, one checking identities, and one inspecting goods.

Wang Kangming strode forward, holding Zhao Xiaobao with one hand, and waved a slip of paper at the guard who was scowling as he checked identities.

Even though they were familiar, since he was on duty, they didn't exchange pleasantries. One acted professionally by handing over a travel permit, while the other obediently held the child and answered questions.

"From Niujia Village?" the guard asked, though he already knew.

"Mm." Wang Kangming shifted the child to his other hand. He was familiar with the procedure and answered methodically: "I'm from Niujia Village, doing business in the city. This time, I brought hired helpers to work."

The guard waited, but when no more travel permits were offered, his sharp eyes immediately fell on the three people closely following Wang Kangming.

"The village was hit by the disaster. Everyone just fled for their lives; we didn't bring anything, and there was no spare paper or ink to write slips." Wang Kangming said without changing expression. "Anyway, we're all from the same village, so I wrote it all on one slip. The writing is small—look more carefully. Their household registration info is there. They're all honest farming families, upstanding commoners."

The guard holding the travel permit felt his temple twitch. What a blatant liar! "Small writing" my foot—the writing was perfectly clear. And it didn't have anyone else's household registration, just Wang Kangming's own info.

Clearly, Wang Kangming wanted to bring some undocumented people into the city and was just putting on a show with the travel permit for others to see.

He took a deep breath. The smell of wine and meat seemed to linger between his teeth. Come to think of it, although Wang Kangming dealt with shit and piss, when he thought of him, there was nothing filthy in his mind—just tables full of meat and fine wine and good food.

This guy was generous. Festival gifts never stopped, and he never caused trouble. When nothing was asked of him, if he happened to forget his travel permit, they'd just wave him through with a blind eye. It was an easy favor, nothing serious.

Although it was not said explicitly, it was clearly a request brought to his doorstep.

Each had their own duties; he was in charge of verifying identities. As long as he nodded and let them pass, no one would step in to question whether he had missed something in the inspection.

He quickly weighed the matter in his mind, showing nothing on his face as he pretended to scrutinize the document for a while.

After a moment, he carefully folded it, and with a stern expression, looked over the three brawny men following closely behind him. Such builds were rare, and for a split second, felt a momentary unease—and nearly wanted to turn them away.

But his alcohol-fogged mind hesitated for a moment. They clearly looked like farming families, with dirt still under their fingernails. When faced with his scrutiny, they were not exactly cowering, nor did they make him feel particularly wary.

He was not good at recognizing people, but he had never been wrong about identifying bandits. These three had no ruffian air about them, and even less of a murderous intent.

The scales in his heart tipped instantly. Holding the document, he raised an eyebrow at the little girl in Wang Kangming's arms and, out of habit, picked a fault: "And who is this girl? You bring a child to work?"

"Of course not," Wang Kangming said with a smile. "Well, I've hired some fellow villagers, so there's someone to do the work. I'm just taking the kid into town to buy some snacks, and then we'll grab a nice meal at an inn, have a good drink."

He added with a meaningful tone: "There's been a disaster outside, and there are no more peddlers. The kids have been clamoring every day for something sweet. My old mother has only this one granddaughter, and she dotes on her endlessly. She told me to bring her into town and buy her only the best—food, drinks, no regard for the cost. I have to make sure the child is satisfied, right?"

The soldier didn't know about the girl's satisfaction, but he was satisfied himself.

So with a grand wave of his hand, he stuffed the travel permit back into Wang Kangming's hand, scowling, and bellowed, "All clear! Next!" People behind began to push forward. Old Man Zhao kept his head down, not daring to look too much, and together with his two sons flanking him, the three of them shoved hard at the cart loaded with empty barrels, following Wang Kangming into the city.