Those young men didn't notice him, and Yan Liqiang seemed to not notice them either. He just walked past them naturally.
The Imperial Capital was not a completely unfamiliar place to Yan Liqiang. He knew that in a place like the Imperial Capital, even those street thugs had a complex network of relationships behind them. If one unearthed the backgrounds of many of those inconspicuous thugs, most of them were spies for various government offices in the Imperial Capital, or even for high-ranking officials. Even the one in the palace had many such spies in the Imperial Capital.
If you don't get noticed by these young men when you walk on the street, it means that basically no one will notice you in the Imperial Capital in the future.
This time the image seemed to be very successful. Yan Liqiang laughed in his heart, then walked forward while eating the pancake.
The prices in the imperial capital were high. No matter food or accommodation, they were not affordable for a young man who had just arrived. So Yan Liqiang did not go into the city. Instead, he wandered around the town like an ordinary young man. When he finished the pancake in his hand, Yan Liqiang had already arrived at the door of an inconspicuous inn. After looking at the inn for a few times, he walked in, asked about the room price, and then asked for the cheapest room.
"Our inn's dormitory room can sleep ten people, and it costs six copper coins per night. You are not allowed to bring anyone with you, and there are no quilts. If you want a quilt, you will have to pay two more copper coins per night. I've told you in advance that you must take care of your belongings in the dormitory room. If you lose anything, our inn will not take care of it, and it will be useless even if you report it to the police. Do you understand?" The innkeeper carried Yan Liqiang into the inn and told him the rules of staying in the inn.
After hearing this, Yan Liqiang could only nod.
The narrow corridor of the inn was filled with a lot of sundries. Most of the people living here were outsiders who had just arrived and did not have much money. During the day, most of the people living here went out to look for work, so there were not many people. A few people living in the inn were playing chess in the yard. When they saw Yan Liqiang, they just glanced at him and then lost interest.
In the blink of an eye, the waiter of the inn brought Yan Liqiang to the dormitory room.
It was indeed a bunk bed. In a room of more than 20 square meters, there were only two wooden beds connected from the door to the corner of the wall. There was a narrow aisle between the two beds. The beds were covered with straw mats and a few tattered bundles, but nothing else. A strange smell mixed with sweat and foot odor floated in the room.
"Look, there are only seven people living in this room now. Just find a place to sleep." The waiter pointed at the bed casually and turned to leave. Even the waiter didn't want to stay in this place any longer.
"Young man, may I ask where I can find a job that can make money in the Imperial Capital?" Yan Liqiang grabbed the waiter's sleeve and stuffed a copper coin into his hand, pretending to know nothing and smiling naively, "I just got here, please give me some pointers!"
The waiter weighed the copper coin in his hand, put it in his arms, and then patiently told Yan Liqiang about several places to find a job in the capital city. Finally, he left after Yan Liqiang thanked him.
After looking around the room, Yan Liqiang threw the package he was carrying on the head of the wooden bed. He did not stay in the inn for long, but went out directly. Following the instructions of the waiter, he went to the nearest place that could recruit people and did not return until night.
When Yan Liqiang came back, the other people who lived in the dormitory had also come back. They were chatting in the room and exchanging information about finding jobs. One of them had already found a short-term job raising horses for a wealthy family, while the others had not found jobs yet.
Yan Liqiang looked sullen and just listened nearby, rarely interrupting. After the group chatted for a while, they went to sleep.
Before he went to sleep, Yan Liqiang checked his bag and found that it had indeed been rummaged through. In the bag were two pieces of rags and a "forged" letter from home, and not a single penny. Yan Liqiang pretended not to know and used the bag as a pillow and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, the room was pitch dark and you couldn't see your hand in front of you. Only the sound of snoring was floating in the room. Yan Liqiang felt a pair of hands quietly touching his body and carefully reaching into his arms, as if to touch something in his arms. Yan Liqiang closed his eyes and kicked the hand. A muffled groan was heard, and then the hand retracted. Nothing happened that night.
Early the next morning, the man who had found a job yesterday packed up his things and left the inn. The others looked normal. After drawing water from the well at the inn to wash up, they also went out. Yan Liqiang was the last one to leave.
When washing his face, Yan Liqiang drew water from the well. He lowered his head and looked at the face reflected in the bucket. Yan Liqiang started to laugh. The face on the water was about 60% similar to Wang Baoqiang, full of rural flavor. Anyone who saw this face would probably not associate it with a master. And this was exactly what Yan Liqiang wanted.
For four consecutive days, Yan Liqiang went out early and came back late, behaving just like an ordinary person. He also joined the army of "North Drifting" in the Imperial Capital City and wandered around those places outside the Imperial Capital City where he could find a job. After several days, he didn't get anything. However, in the inn where he lived, two young men and criminal police came to the inn and wandered around in the night. Several people who slept in the dormitory were called out, but the young men and criminal police who came to the inn just glanced at Yan Liqiang and walked away without even asking a question.
On the fifth day, Yan Liqiang left the inn early in the morning as usual, and bought two steamed buns on the street. While eating them, he went directly to Baijiapu outside the west gate of Dijing City. He had been hanging around Baijiapu in the past few days. Baijiapu was the place where Yan Liqiang hired Xu Enda and others that day.
At dawn, many people had already come to the open space by the river in Baijiapu, on the grass, and under the trees, waiting for work. Yan Liqiang came to Baijiapu and also found a place, waiting for the arrival of "customers".
Today is February 24th, the 16th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire. This is the day he and Fang Beidou agreed upon.
As the sun came out, more and more people came to Baijiapu to recruit people. Yan Liqiang also joined in the fun for a while. When the sun gradually got higher, Yan Liqiang finally saw Fang Beidou...
(End of this chapter)