Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 17: First Steps into Qing Shi

The black wheat bun was dry and hard, scraping his throat until it ached.

Su Ming nibbled at it in small bites, like a squirrel stashing food for winter; every motion showed how precious it was to him.

The remaining road felt so stifled the atmosphere could be wrung dry.

Zhao Rui hunched on the cart board, covering his head with a ragged coat, saying nothing. He looked like a plucked rooster that could no longer fluff up.

Old Qian’s whip arm had lost much of its strength; he kept glancing back at the empty cart bed and letting out long sighs.

Only the mule still trod tirelessly, the creaking wheels the lone soundtrack of the journey.

Su Ming swallowed the last bite of bun, drank some of the slightly cool water from his waterskin, and turned his gaze to the distance.

At the edge of the horizon, a faint blue-gray line appeared.

As the mule cart drew closer, that line thickened and rose, until it resolved into an imposing city wall.

The wall was built from massive bluestone blocks, each stone mottled and weathered by wind and rain, like the wrinkles on the face of a taciturn old soldier.“Arriving at the Newcomer Village main city—Qingshi Town,” Lin Yu’s voice carried a flicker of interest.

The mule cart stopped at the end of the line before the city gate.

People and vehicles entering the city formed a long serpent: farmers pushing wheelbarrows of vegetables, itinerant merchants carrying crates, and several ornate carriages with curtains tightly drawn, giving off an air of aristocratic unapproachability.

It was the first time Su Ming had seen so many people.

A jumble of sounds poured into his ears like boiling porridge: hawking cries, bargaining voices, the lowing and snorting of oxen and horses, the rumble of wheels...

A complex smell hung in the air: livestock dung, the sour stench of sweat, and an indistinct tantalizing aroma of food drifting from the city.

All of it excited and at the same time instinctively tensed his body.

He reflexively pressed his hand against his chest, where one or two or three qian of silver were hidden, and that cold skinning knife.

That was all the courage he had.

“Don’t be nervous, relax,” Lin Yu soothed. “What you need to do now is observe and learn. Watch their clothes, listen to their accents, analyze their identities. This is a real world, far more vivid than anything in your books.”

sauntered over and prodded the cart board with the

business in the

a few copper coins and, wearing a smile, handed them over.

guard weighed the coins, then glanced at the two boys on

fell first on the disheveled, listless Zhao Rui, then at the raggedly dressed Su Ming, and a

Looking like this?” He scoffed, waving his

his head, revealing a face flushed bright, but he

sharper than a

cart creaked

moment, then the scene burst

revealed itself before Su Ming without

with enormous bluestone slabs, polished smooth and shining

stores, pawnshops... signs

silk shirts, women sported silver hairpins; even the children wore brand-new cloth and chased each other

Su Ming feel as if he’d stepped into a surreal

seen such tall buildings, such bright fabrics, nor smelled such enticing steamed

small weed uprooted from rural soil and suddenly planted

that country-bumpkin look! Yes, exactly like that, keep your head down, watch the road. Show a little humility and timidity—it's

from

familiar bluestone, the confidence that came from being the Village Chief’s son seemed to return

torn clothes, lifted his chin, and resumed that

Su Ming’s “dumbfounded” expression, the resentment inside him finally

low but full of deliberate disdain. “Eyes all wide? Never seen

silently withdrew his

Rui,

or you’ll embarrass my father!” Zhao Rui grew more animated, as if loud boasting could wash away the humiliation of the road. “My aunt handles the records at the county academy; she manages the student registrations for the whole town. Whether you can

Qian drove the cart to a designated carriage depot, then led the two through a maze of

walked and silently committed

sponge, greedily absorbing everything around him: which shop clerks looked most alert, which alley reeked the worst, which beggar in the

an herbalist’s

outside the medicine shop displayed various herbs drying

plaque on the left, third row—see the plant that looks like dry grass

Su Ming scanned it.

weed: yellowed leaves, shriveled roots, mixed among higher-quality herbs as if