Chapter 37: Heading to the Black Market

After speaking, Lu Chuan returned to his room.

Chen Miaomiao stood alone in the courtyard.

Suddenly, a loud wolf howl echoed from a distance. She shuddered, panic flashing in her eyes.

Quickly, she returned to her room.

“I… I was wrong!”

Chen Miaomiao gritted her teeth and said, “I will stay!”

After saying this to Lu Chuan, she returned directly to her room.

Su Ruan glanced curiously at Lu Chuan. “What happened to her? Did you fool her?”

“How could that be?”

Lu Chuan felt a bit guilty.

What a joke, everything I said was the truth!

How could telling the truth be considered fooling her?

Lu Chuan shook his head seriously and then said to Bai Siyu, ” Xiaobai knows, I’m an honest person, a pure person, someone who has risen above lowly tastes!”

“Bah!”

Bai Siyu, for some reason, suddenly blushed.

What?

Lu Chuan looked at Bai Siyu’s red face.

What’s making you blush now? Blushing at this moment is just tarnishing my reputation!

I’ll make sure to deal with you properly tonight!

At night, it’s all bare, coming and going in the same state!

Sometimes taking things easily, sometimes getting all tangled up in emotions!

…

The next morning.

Lu Chuan had breakfast and practiced two sets of punches.

Chen Miaomiao had been watching the whole time, and as she saw the punches Lu Chuan threw, she realized that his identity was definitely not simple!

His punches were full of power, every move was sharp and decisive!

Moreover, most of them were lethal moves.

How could such a person possibly be just an ordinary farmer?

Who exactly is he?

After finishing his practice, Lu Chuan wiped the sweat from his body, then went back to his room to wipe off a bit more, changed into a new set of clothes, and carried the remaining pork out of the house.

Sun Laizi was already waiting for Lu Chuan by the brick kiln.

“Brother Chuan, you’re here?”

Sun Laizi hurriedly spoke. “Shall we set off now?”

“Mm!”

Lu Chuan nodded.

Right now, he still had some money. After selling this pork, it would be enough to pay the remaining balance for the grain.

However, it certainly wouldn’t be enough to buy coal.

But, this time, Lu Chuan mainly wanted to visit the black market and see if there were any business opportunities.

First, he went to find Xu Houxiang.

Xu Houxiang didn’t ask many questions. After receiving all the pork, he gave Lu Chuan 13 taels of silver.

The deal was done.

In the mountains, wild boars this big were hard to find.

With this wild boar, Xu’s family would have meat for the New Year!

“By the way!”

At this moment, Xu Houxiang spoke up, asking, “Can you get a few more badger carcasses?”

“After Mrs. San ate the badger you brought, her energy and spirits improved quite a bit. But it was such a small one, after making a few soups, it was gone, so we’ll need to find more!”

As he said this, Xu Houxiang continued, “If you’re capable, go find some more!”

“The master of the household said!”

“These things, three or two aren’t enough, ten or eight aren’t too many!”

Xu Houxiang’s eyes held a playful smile. “And the price is negotiable!”

“Wait! These things are worth that much?”

Lu Chuan was somewhat puzzled, his eyes showing a hint of surprise as he asked.

“Normally, this wouldn’t be worth much,” Xu Houxiang continued, “but after Madam San tried it, she found it actually worked, so now it’s valuable. Of course, if that were the only reason, we wouldn’t be buying so much!”

“But the real issue is that the master of the house heard somewhere that after eating this… it can ‘revive one’s vitality!'”

“So…” Xu Houxiang’s eyes held a touch of playful amusement as he spoke, “That’s why it’s become in high demand. Although Madam San drank quite a bit of the soup, the master drank quite a lot too!”

Lu Chuan looked at Xu Houxiang with a puzzled expression.

Damn, are you really airing out your master’s private matters? Does he know?

At the same time, it made sense.

In reality, men often don’t like to spend money on themselves. But in one particular case, they’re willing to spend most of their money.

In that situation, men will happily pay.

“I’ll take a look, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

Badgers are rare creatures that rarely show up during hunting. To find one, you’d need to look for a badger den. But it’s all about luck.

Sometimes, you’ll find nothing in a badger den.

Other times, you might not find a den for days.

I’ll just have to keep an eye out the next time I enter the mountains.

Since hunting them doesn’t require much skill and is relatively safe, plus they sell for a high price, Lu Chuan was naturally interested in keeping track.

“Alright, I hope you bring me good news!”

After bidding farewell to Xu Houxiang,

Sun Laizi asked curiously, “Was that the head steward of the Xu family?”

“Mm.”

Lu Chuan nodded.

“You know him?”

“Mm, a bit. He’s quite famous in Bingzhou. He’s been with the Xu family since he was young and was even given the Xu surname. Several times, when the Xu family was on the brink of danger, he was there, sharing life and death with them!”

Sun Laizi chatted excitedly as they walked.

Lu Chuan had initially thought Xu Houxiang was just a greedy man, but now, he realized he was also a loyal and righteous person.

Although Sun Laizi wasn’t much, having been out in the world for so long, he knew quite a bit about things.

Soon, he led Lu Chuan to the entrance of the black market.

The black market was located in the old town of Hongtu County.

There was only one road leading to it. As they neared, they saw that many of the buildings were connected, and thick coverings obscured the view inside, making it hard to see what was really going on.

“Impressive!”

Lu Chuan couldn’t help but admire.

The person who set up this black market was definitely a talented individual.

The reason the black market was so hidden was so that it could be easily escaped from. Although it looked like there was only one road, once you entered, you’d realize the place was a maze of interconnecting paths.

Many areas had been opened up, making it easy to hide goods and avoid capture—it was all very effortless!

Even if the officers came, they wouldn’t be afraid.

About 500 meters away from the black market, on a desolate stretch of road, there was a tea stall!

“Hey, hey, two gentlemen, would you like to rest and have some tea?”

“Two bowls of tea! Hurry, we need to keep moving soon!”

Sun Laizi quickly pulled 200 coins from his pocket and handed them to the young attendant at the tea stall.

Lu Chuan smiled as he watched all this unfold.

Damn, this is getting interesting.

This tea stall, like some roadside stands selling CDs, was there to act as a lookout!