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.”

their turn to enter, a sallow-faced city guard sauntered over and

What business

out a few copper coins and, wearing a smile, handed them over. “Captain, they’re from Su Family Village, bringing two young gentlemen into town to seek

then glanced at

the disheveled, listless Zhao Rui, then at the raggedly dressed Su Ming,

this?” He scoffed, waving his hand. “Move

flushed bright, but he did not

blade is far sharper than

mule cart creaked through

moment, then the scene burst

before Su

shining by the years. Lining the roads were

pawnshops... signs of all

silk shirts, women sported silver

Ming feel as if he’d stepped into a surreal

had never seen such tall buildings, such bright fabrics, nor smelled

from rural soil and suddenly planted into a

look! Yes, exactly like that, keep your head down, watch the road. Show a

jumped down from the mule cart

confidence that came from being the Village

his torn clothes, lifted his chin, and resumed that haughty

“dumbfounded” expression, the resentment inside him finally found

voice was low but full of deliberate disdain. “Eyes all wide? Never seen anything before? This

only silently withdrew his gaze, making

to Zhao Rui, was

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 be registered as a Child Scholar depends

to a designated carriage depot,

Ming walked and silently committed the

looked most alert, which alley reeked

passed an herbalist’s

medicine shop

the left, third row—see the plant that looks

Su Ming scanned it.

unremarkable withered weed: yellowed leaves, shriveled roots, mixed among higher-quality herbs as if tossed in