"Master Yan, this is Huzhou City. The city gate is not far ahead. The city gate is open day and night, and there is no curfew. The Lingshan Sect's Huzhou Branch is in the city. You will know if you go into the city and ask around..."
"Thank you, Uncle Zhao!"
Yan Liqiang jumped off the carriage pulling the wood and thanked the uncle driving the carriage. Yan Liqiang met this carriage halfway. The driver saw Yan Liqiang traveling alone and asked him directly if he was going to Huzhou City. If so, he could take his carriage. Yan Liqiang got on the carriage on the road and chatted with the uncle driving the carriage all the way here, which saved a lot of effort.
It is not an exaggeration at all that if a man is handsome, he will be loved by everyone and will be installed in every car.
"You're welcome, you're welcome, I'm just stopping by!"
The uncle driving the carriage smiled naively, waved to Yan Liqiang, then shouted "Gee", flicked the whip, and drove the carriage in another direction. The wood on his carriage was to be delivered to a farm outside the city, so he parted ways with Yan Liqiang here.
Yan Liqiang looked at the Huzhou City in front of him and walked directly towards the city gate in the distance.
The state capitals of Shangzhou have rarely experienced wars. After thousands of years of accumulation, they are prosperous and magnificent, and each one can be called a giant city. The city wall of Huzhou City in front of you is nearly forty or fifty meters high from a distance. The height of the city wall alone exceeds that of a ten-story building. The tower on the city wall is also seven or eight stories high and is divided into four sides. Just one tower is more magnificent than the castle tower that Yan Liqiang saw when he traveled to Japan in his previous life.
There is a brazier at regular intervals on the city wall. Now that it has just gotten dark, the fire in the brazier has been lit. The blazing flames illuminate the entire city wall. In the firelight, you can also see rows of soldiers patrolling back and forth on the city wall.
While chatting with Dashu who was driving the coach along the way, Yan Liqiang learned a lot of useful information.
The piece of news that surprised Yan Liqiang the most was that it was already October of the sixteenth year of Yuanping in the Han Empire.
Yan Liqiang still clearly remembered that "yesterday", when he climbed the hill where Qingliang Temple was located, it was October of the 13th year of Yuanping. He didn't know how this body came about. He felt like he had just slept and thought only one night had passed. Little did he know that the "one night" he felt was actually three full years - this new body did not seem to come so easily, at least in terms of time, more than a thousand days and nights had passed.
During these three years, the Han Empire did not seem to be peaceful, and there were some undercurrents. According to Uncle Zhao, the driver, the Han Empire had fought two battles with the Shamans in the north, and the relationship between Ganzhou and Fengzhou and the Black Jie people had also become tense. Four or five vassal states of the Han Empire had successively severed their relations with the Han Empire and joined the New Moon Dynasty in the past two years. The White Lotus Sect in several states in the south began to revive, captured two county towns, and destroyed several local big families. They claimed to establish the White Lotus Kingdom, causing unrest in the local area...
However, the wind and waves tens of thousands of miles away seemed to have nothing to do with the Huzhou City in front of them. There was no sign of anything abnormal in the entire Huzhou City. At the gate of Huzhou City, people were coming in and out bustling like a tide.
Yan Liqiang arrived at the city gate and originally wanted to enter the city, but the entrance fee of three copper coins per person at the city gate stopped him outside the city gate.
Touching his empty pockets, Yan Liqiang turned and left the city gate. Only when you have no money will you understand what it means that a penny can kill a hero.
In order to escape, he didn't dare to eat too much at the lunch. In addition, Yan Liqiang had a voracious appetite since he practiced the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing. The body in front of him was exactly the same as the previous one. After noon, plus the consumption on the road, Yan Liqiang was already a little hungry.
The embarrassment of being penniless has already created a deep sense of crisis in Yan Liqiang.
It costs money to go into the city, to eat, to wear clothes, to stay in a hotel, to do things, and even to go to the toilet and buy some rough paper. Without money, it is like having your hands and feet broken and you can hardly move an inch.
You can eat one or two meals at a free meal, but can you eat there every day? And the accommodation, transportation, and other things all cost money.
No, I must find a way to make some money, otherwise I won’t even be able to enter the city gate, and my future survival will be a big problem.
While thinking about this, Yan Liqiang walked towards the market not far away.
A big city like Huzhou, which has been prosperous for a long time, is already overcrowded, so many places outside the city are also very lively, with many people living there. There are also several bustling large markets. At night, red and orange lanterns light up in the markets, and it is a lively time.
As a complete proletarian without any means of production or interpersonal relationships, it is not easy to make money when coming to a strange place. Yan Liqiang was thinking about ways to make money while walking.
If he wanted to find an ordinary job or hard labor to earn money like an ordinary person, it would probably not be difficult, but this path is not what Yan Liqiang wants. This kind of job earns little and slow money, which can only make a living and cannot solve his urgent needs. He now wants to go to the Huzhou branch of Lingshan Sect to take the exam. I heard that the Huzhou branch of Lingshan Sect only has the last three days to recruit disciples. If he is delayed this time, he doesn't know how many times it will take to have the same opportunity in the future.
In addition to this path, he inherited his father's craft and can also forge a little iron, but forging iron also requires a blacksmith shop, which he does not have now. Even if he can find a blacksmith shop, the rules of the blacksmith industry will not allow a newcomer like him to work in a blacksmith shop. Even if he has the money to rent a shop, he cannot do so because he is afraid that the things he makes will offend the customers and ruin the reputation of the blacksmith shop.
Finally, after much thought, Yan Liqiang could only think of a way to make money in the shortest time with the least resources - drawing for people!
This was the means of making a living he used when he first entered society in his previous life. He didn't expect it would come in handy now.
The portrait he painted for Shanfeng was only seen by a few people around him, and the painting had long been burned by the Lu family and had not been spread out. This place was a long way from Ganzhou, so there was no need to worry that his painting would be recognized as being painted by one person. Even if it was recognized, there was no need to worry, because the previous Yan Liqiang was already dead...
…
Just when he had figured out how to make a living, Yan Liqiang had already entered a market town outside Huzhou City. Yan Liqiang's stunning looks immediately attracted many people in the market town to look at him.
Because there were so many eyes on him, Yan Liqiang didn't notice that one of them was "special"...
If one wants to draw a portrait for someone, one naturally needs the most basic tools. Yan Liqiang was walking in the market, thinking about where to find some charcoal pencils, wooden boards or cardboard, and how to start his business, when suddenly a person jumped in front of him and blocked his way.
He was a middle-aged man with greasy hair and powdered face, about forty years old, wearing a brocade robe, but it could not hide his vulgar aura. The man rushed in front of Yan Liqiang, opened his mouth and smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, which was disgusting.
"I wonder if this young man is visiting Huzhou City for the first time?"
As soon as this man opened his mouth, Yan Liqiang was reminded of the messy agents and pimps who found girls for people that he had seen outside train stations in several cities in his previous life.
Yan Liqiang frowned slightly and glanced at the man, "So what?"
"Young man, do you want to find a job that can earn a lot of money quickly? It's not a problem to earn a few hundred or a thousand taels of silver a year..." The man took a look at the old clothes Yan Liqiang was wearing, with an eager look on his face.
"I don't want to..." Yan Liqiang shook his head and continued walking forward. This man's lies might be able to fool those young people who are not well-versed in the world, but as for Yan Liqiang, how could he believe in the good thing of pie falling from the sky? At this time, the bigger the pie, the deeper the pit behind it.
The man was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Yan Liqiang to reject him so straightforwardly. He quickly chased after him and kept chattering, "I mean well. You look very talented. I guess you just left home to make a living. You are alone outside and don't know anyone. Why don't I invite you to the restaurant over there for a while..."
As the man spoke, he grabbed one of Yan Liqiang's hands and tried to pull him to the restaurant next door.
"Let go..." Yan Liqiang stopped and looked at the man with a frown.
"Hey, brother, don't you keep people at a distance? Didn't your parents tell you that when you are away from home, more friends mean more opportunities..." The man smiled, looking like a seasoned businessman. One hand was still tightly holding Yan Liqiang's wrist. He didn't take Yan Liqiang's words to heart at all. "Let's go, let's go. Brother will treat you to a good meal over there and we can have a good chat..."
Yan Liqiang stopped talking. He shook his hand and broke free from the man's hand, then continued walking forward.
"Hey, brother, why are you so unreasonable? I'm just treating you to a meal..." The man was still smiling and stretched out his hand to grab Yan Liqiang's wrist.
Yan Liqiang knew that this man was just taking advantage of his youth and lack of social experience. If he were an ordinary 14 or 15-year-old boy facing this situation, he might not know what to do. Maybe he would think this man was a kind-hearted person and follow him to eat, and then he would not even realize that he was being tricked.
Before the man's hand touched Yan Liqiang's wrist, Yan Liqiang had already raised his hand and slapped him.
"Pa..." Yan Liqiang slapped the man directly on the face. With just a little force, the man fell to the ground and was stunned by Yan Liqiang.
"Get lost..." Yan Liqiang shouted coldly.
The man got up after a while, wiped his swollen face, looked fiercely at Yan Liqiang's back as he walked away, and said harshly, "Just wait for me." Then he disappeared into the alley of the nearby market in a somewhat embarrassed manner...
(End of this chapter)