Apart from those selling various small items, many people have brought out fabrics, laid out on oilcloth on the ground, with brightly colored cloths.

There were also various strange patterns on them, making Manbao unable to resist looking repeatedly, so Bai Shan simply held her hand and led her forward to look.

The vendor enthusiastically unfolded a piece of cloth to show them the pattern, "Isn’t the color of this cloth especially vibrant? The pattern is meticulously painted, and it’s top-quality material."

Manbao reached out to feel it. The color was attractive, and the pattern was stunning, but the material was a bit coarse, not as smooth as fine cotton, let alone compared to silk.

Such fabric is somewhat non-breathable on hot days.

Bai Shan also felt the material was merely average but reckoned it was okay for casual wear, so he asked for the price.

The vendor, having just observed them bargaining over stone prices, gave a quote after some thinking, "One tael of silver."

Bai Shan: ... Do we really look like foolish people with lots of money?

He glanced at the vendor, recalled the price of fine cotton, and then said, "Three hundred wen per piece, deal or no deal?"

The vendor hesitated, seeing the pair looking at him with round, inquisitive eyes, suspecting that if he quoted any higher, they might walk away like they did with the previous vendor, so he hesitated a bit before nodding, "Deal."

So Bai Shan bought a piece of cloth for three hundred wen.

The vendors nearby, seeing the transaction, became even more enthusiastic, putting out surplus fruits from home, but unfortunately, Manbao and the others had already eaten melon earlier this afternoon. Being cold in nature, melon upset the stomach, thus Manbao instructed them not to eat excessively.

So, everyone just glanced at the fruits without buying, merely inquiring about the price, deciding they might compare prices tomorrow.

A bit regretful, they retracted their hands and turned back, whispering among themselves, "Didn’t they say the fruits here are unsellable? Why is it more expensive than in the capital?"

Manbao said, "Tomorrow, I’ll have a look around, maybe there are cheaper options elsewhere. It’s really nice that stalls are set up right at the doorstep, how convenient."

Bai Shan, unaware that the stalls were temporarily set up for them, nodded, "The small town looks quite lively, even if fewer outsiders come, the locals are bustling."

The vendors watched them head indoors, feeling somewhat frustrated, but luckily, the soldiers accompanying them came out to join the bustle after dinner and a bath. Although not many were buying, transactions were being made, and most importantly, the place was lively.

Since April this year, visiting traders hadn’t arrived, and the small town had been silent for two months.

Normally, this time of year was the busiest for the town; whether merchants traveling from Central Plains to the Western Regions or vice versa usually passed through here. Otherwise, the town wouldn’t have been built so well.

Typically, from June to September is the peak visitor season for the town, with earnings from these four months surpassing those from a year of herding and farming.

Bai Shan and the group initially didn’t know this but learned after staying here for a few days,

Assistant General Nie instructed his team, allowing them to shop and hunt in the small town but forbidding conflicts with local residents, "Anyone who bullies locals causing trouble will be dealt with by military regulations."

So at first, the soldiers didn’t dare wander far, doing drills in the yard every morning followed by sleeping.

They’d been traveling constantly, even fighting mountain bandits days ago; exhaustion was inevitable, so they spent the first couple of days doing nothing but catching up on sleep indoors.

Manbao and the group, however, were quite different. Early morning, as sunlight streamed through the window into the room, Manbao opened her eyes amidst the rays, blinked, then cheerfully bounced from bed upon fully waking.

Having slept well, her body felt light and relaxed. She stretched lazily, turned around, and opened the window to take a quick peek outside.

Outside was already bustling; not many were shouting to sell, but many were busy by the lakeside, washing clothes and cleaning vegetables, separated by area.

Manbao leaned on the windowsill, chin propped, gazing outside. It was a large lake, bordered by dense woods extending from the shore. If not for the yellow desert seen at a distance, she’d almost think this place was as water-rich as Yizhou.

Zhou Liru, separated by a screen, seemed to be awakened by her. She yawned getting up, peeked past the screen, saw her small aunt’s eyes gleaming, then shrank back, pulled up the quilt covering herself entirely, and said while yawning, "I’m not going anywhere today..."

Manbao felt a bit disappointed, "Alright, then I’ll get up myself."

Like Zhou Liru, many chose to linger in bed the next day, of those awake were only Mr. Zhuang and Bai Shan.

Meeting in the yard, Mr. Zhuang nodded contentedly, saying to the two, "Don’t bother with them, let’s go out for breakfast."

Thus, the three master and disciples took Daji along with two guards and went out.

The guards resting in the west and east rooms peeked once then continued lying still. The yard had four carriages parked, two empty with blue cloth, and two filled with luggage. Yesterday, they only unloaded the masters’ daily-use luggage; items like jewelry and fabrics were still in the boxes, likely unpacked and stored in rooms later in the afternoon, so they had to be cautious not to let anything be stolen.

Watching Bai Shan’s group head out, the guards closed the door and turned to their masters.

Bai Shan and Manbao pointed out, "Sir, we went there yesterday; there are many shops and even restaurants."

Having dined at Ale’s inn last night, they planned to eat at a different place today.

Mr. Zhuang glanced along the way, turned his steps, and said, "Then let’s go, check it out there."

Here, breakfast commonly consists of pancakes, and noodles are scarce, let alone porridge.

However, there’s plenty of sheep milk here, costing one wen per bowl, three wen per bowl if boiled with tea leaves.

Remarkably, sheep milk isn’t expensive; it’s the tea leaves that are, quite the opposite of the Central Plains.

Bai Shan tried a bowl of sheep milk without tea leaves, eventually setting it aside after a sip, opting for the tea-infused sheep milk instead.

The three master and disciples took bites of pancakes alongside sips of milk, eating with relish.

The guards nearby had good appetites too. On the road, they could never relax, especially after fighting bandits and treasure hunting days ago, feeling more tense. Now, fully unwinding, even the guards felt somewhat lazy.

To the small town residents, the new visitors seemed amiable, even the guards appeared clueless and easily duped. Unfortunately, the young masters and missies didn’t seem to handle money, so were rather stingy, not buying if items were expensive and being quite picky.