Chapter 194: Get Out of the Way!
Because there were so many students, many of whom brought their families with them, quite a few houses nearby the Academy were long-let to these students and their families.
Gradually, the area around the Academy had become just as bustling and prosperous as the county town itself.
Wang Yongzhu had a good idea of the situation and thought that Wang Yongan’s family must be living in a house they had long-rented or purchased near the Academy.
After inquiring about everything she wanted to know, Wang Yongzhu asked some questions regarding the Tianfeng Escort Agency’s service of escorting mountain goods.
The Dahei Mountain range stretched on for who knows how many miles, sustaining the residents living at the edge of these mountains. Most of them relied on their fields to make a living, but there were also those bold and skilled or desperate from life’s pressures who would venture into the mountains during the spring and autumn to gather mountain products.
They would then sell them to merchants, who, after acquiring the mountain goods, would employ the escort agency to transport them to the county town, take them downstream via waterways, and distribute these mountain products across the country.
The Tianfeng Escort Agency, originally based in the provincial capital, saw this business opportunity and established a branch in Jing County, as well as in several slightly more prosperous small towns below it. By protecting these merchants and mountain goods, they not only made a profit in silver but also built up a considerable reputation.
As for Wang Yongzhu, she knew almost nothing about this time and space apart from Qilidun, so this information was crucial to her.
All along the road, Wang Yongzhu played the part of a country girl, naive and longing for the outside world, showing interest in everything and asking about everything. She greatly satisfied Laoliu’s vanity as a man; one asked, the other answered, leaving Wang Yongping and Song Chongjin out of the conversation.
Wang Yongping had things on his mind and couldn’t sleep on the swaying cart. It bugged him that his little sister and that Laoliu were talking, and he couldn’t get a word in. They had been traveling for half the day, and there wasn’t much to see on the way—just mountains and more mountains, which he found extremely dull.
So he nudged Song Chongjin lightly, "Brother Song, what are you going to do in the county town?"