After the rations ran out, Cai Tou could only gnaw on dry cakes and sweet potatoes with the other goods, and his temper grew more irritable. Whenever he saw soone who looked like a potential buyer, he'd eagerly rush over to promote his goods.
Qin Huai also tried to find out Zhao Cheng'an's whereabouts.
It was difficult.
This ti, Qin Huai's range of action was extensive, almost unimpeded throughout the market, whether further out in the suburbs or closer to the shacks near the Outer City. It was hard to determine Zhao Cheng'an's location based solely on the range, given the sheer number of people in this area.
Shi Dadan had ntioned to Qin Huai that Mayflies are naturally buried in the soil or subrged in water, sleeping for long periods. If Zhao Cheng'an were to imitate Chen Huihong and bury himself, Qin Huai wouldn't be able to find her on the surface.
He can only wait for him to co out to steal again.
And this wait lasted two days.
Because with a little thief like him around, traffickers dared not extravagantly buy good wine, at, and food. They quickly disposed of the good goods in hand and entered the city; only those like Cai Tou, with unsold goods, were left struggling to hawk their wares outside the city.
These two days, nothing was stolen; perhaps there was nothing worth stealing. But the traffickers were so afraid of being stolen from that even without losing anything, they kept a vigilant eye on each other while cooking porridge.
Watching as their peers sold off their goods at low prices and entered the city to relax, those who hadn't sold everything could still enjoy a hot bowl of porridge daily. anwhile, Cai Tou, who could only drink cold water and gnaw on dry cakes, felt utterly unbalanced, wishing to kick anyone, human or dog, that passed by.
Every day, he either sat on the ground cursing at his goods or stood cursing at them. But cursing alone wouldn't sell the goods. After two days at the market, Qin Huai could see that the goods Cai Tou had were indeed of poor quality, mostly children, often with their ages falsely reported.
They looked only five or six, but might be seven or eight, desperately claiming eleven or twelve. His sales pitch was also lacking; when asked, he'd say a few days of good food would restore them.
These children, all skin and bones, could be knocked down by a gust of wind; a bit of good food couldn't possibly restore them.
After selling off his last woman, Cai Tou viciously eyed the most valuable goods in his possession—children Qin Huai saw initially displayed with their teeth bared to potential buyers.
"If you don't get sold tomorrow, you won't need to eat cakes anymore. I've arranged with the skin, coal, and brick kilns to send you all over tomorrow night."
Upon hearing this, the children lying on the ground, too weary even to sigh, couldn't help but shiver and tremble.
The child threatened by Cai Tou didn't react, lying quietly on the ground.
"What bad luck." Cai Tou wanted to kick him hard but held back, returning to his belongings (just a few cloth bags), pulling out a cake hard enough to crack walnuts, and ate it soaked in cold water.
The sun was about to set.
Qin Huai had been here for two days and sowhat understood the timing when buyers usually appeared. Most buyers with spare money ca between 10 AM and 2 PM. Those with money to buy people usually lived in the inner city, and it took ti to travel from the inner city to the Outer City, whether by horse carriage or rickshaw.
Too early and buyers couldn't get up; too late, and returning after sunset wasn't safe. By 3 or 4 PM, traffickers would typically start to relax, as it was about ti to call it a day.
But just as the sun was about to set, soone ca.
The other traffickers, still drinking porridge by the pot, hadn't reacted. Impatient to sell, Cai Tou put down his cake and cold water, sprinted over smiling like the God of Wealth had arrived. He almost wanted to drag the person over, but carefully maintained a distance of over a ter.
This guest was dressed elegantly, in a black cotton long gown without patches, buttons unworn, with canvas shoes looking new. Most importantly, he was robust yet seed amiable and easy to talk to, obviously wealthy and easily swayed.
In the Outer City, no one was clean; many children had insect and flea bites, and traffickers weren't much better.
Every trafficker with professional ethics knew to be attentive but never to touch the guest directly.
"Sir, take a look at what goods you're interested in. I've got everything here, and the prices are fair. Take a look, boys from seven or eight to teenagers; most were gathered from Jin. Don't be deceived by their frail appearance; it's from the long journey of hunger and dust. Jin's been in drought and famine for years, you must've heard, and only the hardy ones survive. Give them a few good als and they'll recover."
Others by the pot laughed scornfully at Cai Tou's sales pitch, exchanging glances clearly skeptical that he'd close a deal.
The guest asked directly: "Do you have boys around eight years old?"
Sensing a potential sale, Cai Tou's eyes lit up; he quickly rushed to fetch his only valuable goods, dragging him over and deftly opened the child's mouth for inspection: "Look at this, a farr's boy, nine years old, the best goods I have. Before, soone offered four and a half taels of Silver, but I didn't sell. Just hoping to find a good ho for him, and you seem like an elegant person. If you're sincere, I'll sell him for four and a half taels."
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