Glass Sight

Chapter Three 三

He tsked. "Alright, grab on again and let's keep walking." A few seconds had passed and she hadn't grabbed on. "Hey, are you deaf too—" he stopped speaking when he saw her stand up and stubbornly insist that she would be fine. "Fine. Do it your way. If you get lost, then it's all on you." If she wanted to play to keep her pride, then Zixin would let her. She would be the one suffering in the end, not him.

They walked an hour further and Zixin realized that she was following the sound of his footsteps very well. For someone so young, her senses were decent. He purposely made his footsteps gradually lighter and lighter until the sound of them disappeared. He stood one zhang from her and watched her reaction. At first, it seemed like she didn't notice and continued to walk straight.

Then, she paused.

A flash of panic appeared on her face despite her doing her best to be calm.

Zixin watched her, wondering what she was going to do. To his astonishment, she continued to walk straight with her arms straight in front of her to feel any trees or such before she bumped into them. Her slow walk would've slowed down the trip by a few hours, so Zixin came out and scoffed. "You're seriously not going to ask for help?"

"Why ask when I know it won't be offered?"

He humphed and grabbed her small hand in his and they strode forward in silence. Zixin didn't think she was so stubborn, but her words made him realize that she had a deeper story then she intended.

And as Zixin thought, Ying Yun's words weren't just directed at Zixin, but her entire life. People had assumed the worst about her beloved mother and never offered to help them, even when she had pleaded with all of her might. Though she was surprised when the young master had grabbed her hand in his. He was willful and purposely driving her away, but Ying Yun senses that he had a good heart.

They walked for another hour until she finally heard lots of footsteps and voices.

They had arrived.

"Don't stray away from me or else you might really get lost. Even though we came early, it seems like today is really busy as merchants from both countries had stopped by." Zixin warned, although he wouldn't have minded if she really disappeared. It would mean that she wouldn't need to bother him and his shifu again. Jin Village was the small town that bordered both countries of Kang—their current country—and Xi, where Ying Yun had escaped from.

She nodded and gripped his hand harder as he lead her around with the list of things.

The stall owners greeted Zixin as though they were familiar with him, meaning that it wasn't the boy's first time running this errand for his teacher. The smell of different types of herbs hit her nostrils every time they went to different places. Although some were very similar in smell, she began to slowly distinguish between them. A couple were familiar smells and she used her memory to remember them and their appearance. However, most were unfamiliar to her. Either unfamiliar from never having been in contact with them, or unfamiliar from having been originating from the country of Kang. Had it not been for the incident of her old village and her meeting Li Jianyu, then she would've never been near such herbs.

They finished all their shopping by a few hours and it was already near the end of si shi. To Ying Yun's dismay, the large amount of herbs they had bought had nearly costed them an entire silver tael. She didn't think that medicinal herbs would be that expensive, but as they had also bought a large quantity of each, it was somewhat expected. They had a couple of copper coins and one silver tael left over and Zixin purchased a couple of meat buns as they sat on a table to eat. She recognized the smell but didn't ask for any. He waited for her to open her mouth to say she wants one, but she didn't say anything which annoyed him.

"You're so stubborn! Don't you want one?" Zixin placed one in front of her, but Ying Yun made no movements to grab it.

"For me?" It shocked him how astounded she was. Even though he didn't like her company, he wasn't greedy enough to starve her. But he didn't know that she wouldn't starve since Ying Yun's body had adjusted to going several days without food.

"Yes! Now eat because we need to leave quickly." She hesitatingly grabbed the bun and began to munch on it with small bites.

"We still have one silver tael left over. Don't you want to buy anything for yourself?" He wanted to see what this greedy girl leeching on his teacher was going to do with the leftover money. He was sure that his shifu had given them the extra money to test her as well.

"No. It's not my money to spend." She answered carelessly as she was still eating her food.

Tsk! Let's see how far you're willing to carry that lie.

As they had finished their initial task and purchased everything, Zixin purposely took her around the market to tempt her.

"You don't want this?" He pointed at the tanghulu and remembered that she couldn't see and added, "the candied strawberries are mouthwatering!"

"No thanks, I don't like candy." I've never had it. But Ying Yun felt embarrassed to admit that so she pretended like she didn't like candy.

"How about these silky clothes? They're so soft, I'm sure you'll look very cute in them."

"No. It's not appropriate for me to dress like that." Ying Yun knew that she was a servant. Maybe Li Jianyu was going to pretend like he was interested in her as a student for a bit longer, but once his interest was over...she would just quietly finish doing her daily chores to stay there.

Zixin frowned and pointed out a couple of other things, which her reply was the same thing: no, no and no.

The market was bustling and she gripped his hand harder, but he felt so frustrated! How long is she going to drag her stubborn lie for?

Zixin felt that the only wait to expose her greedy nature was to let her go around with the money on her own. He released his hand and planned to follow her around, but there were so many people that his eyes lost sight of her small figure which was swept along the horde...

Some notes:

Chen shi: (辰时) 7-9 am. Ancient China functioned on two-hour intervals.

Mao shi: (卯时) 5-7 am.

Zhang: One Zhang (丈) = 10 Chi (尺). A Chi's length had varied in dynasties and regions (from 28 to 40 cm), so I'll just follow a chart image that I found which states 1 Chi = 33 cm (12 in). The chart says 1 Zhang = 3 m (9 ft 10 in).

Si shi: (巳时) 9-11 am.

Also, I literally spent three hours researching how gold/silver taels & copper coins work and I've gotten so much written down for it. So essentially, what I've decided for this book is:
1 silver tael = 1000 copper coins.
1 gold tael = 16 silver taels = 16000 copper coins.

Meat bun (baozi): (包子) delicious pork or chicken meat stuffing in a bun. I've had this and it's so yummy and most of the time, sweet. But there are some other receipts that make it with different flavors. They also can use vegetables (pickled) for stuffing.

Tanghulu: (糖葫芦) is candied fruit. Hawthorns is the classic but strawberries and other fruits are used too. I've never had this but I want to try it so badly since it seems so delicious.

That should be everything, but let me know if you have any questions. This was an extra chapter because I love you guys <3

This chapter actually ended up being very long, so I had to split it into two. The next part will be posted Friday!

- Scarlettt