Hitching a Ride
Lin Xiaoyue woke up with the thought of going to town today.
Then, she started a fire to cook the noodles.
After the noodles were ready, Lin Xiaoyue went to call her brother.
Then, the three of them had breakfast. Without washing the bowls, they were ready to go out.
“I will take Xiaozhi to Aunt Wang’s house,” Liu Shi said to Lin Xiaoyue.
“Okay. I’ll tidy up and wait for you at the intersection,” Lin Xiaoyue said.
Then Liu Shi took Lin Xiaozhi and left.
Lin Xiaoyue carried two deer on her shoulders and soon set off with a basket on her back.
She didn’t wait for long before Liu Shi arrived.
Lin Xiaoyue looked around and used her spiritual power to confirm that there was no one around. Then she took out the basket from her interspatial ring.
In order to keep this a secret and avoid unnecessary suspicion, they did not put the things in the space. Instead, they decided to carry the things with them.
Under the morning light, while the villagers were still in bed, the mother and daughter went on the road.
On the way out of the village, except for the barking of dogs and the crowing of chickens, they did not meet anyone.
After leaving the village, they went on the main road. After walking for a while, they saw some people.
Almost all of these people carried baskets on their backs. Many of them were carrying wicker baskets. Almost all of them were farmers who were going to town to sell their goods. Some of them who were familiar with each other greeted each other and chatted while walking together.
The people on the road were shocked when they saw the mother and daughter bringing so many prey along and when they saw Lin Xiaoyue carrying two deer on her tiny body.
Some of them came up to ask questions, but Liu Shi and Lin Xiaoyue managed to deal with them.
Lin Xiaoyue’s eyes were full of yearning when she saw the occasional ox-cart passing by.
After resting for a while, Lin Xiaoyue finally couldn’t hold it in anymore when she saw another ox-cart pass by.
“Mom, why don’t we take a ride?”
The two deer she was carrying weighed more than 80 catties, and the hare and pheasant in the basket on her back added up to 50 catties.
She could walk with these on her back for a short period of time, but not for too long.
Moreover, her mother was weaker than her.
Since she didn’t usually go out, walking this far was strenuous. In addition, she was carrying around 20 catties of pheasants and eggs, so it was even more unbearable for her.
A hint of hesitation flashed across Liu Shi’s face.
“Um… we’re almost there.” They had already walked more than half of the way, so it wasn’t worth it to hitch a ride.
Lin Xiaoyue wiped the sweat off her forehead and patted the deer that she had placed beside her.
“If we sell these things, we can earn them back.”
Before this, she did not wait to ride the village ox-cart because she did not want the villagers to know that she had hunted so many animals. But now that they were already very far from the village, there was no need to be so apprehensive.
“Alright. But we have so many goods. We might not be able to get one that can carry us. Even if they could, the fare will probably be twice as expensive,” said Liu Shi.
She couldn’t take it anymore. It seemed that she couldn’t save the money.
“Even if it’s triple the price, we’d take it!” Lin Xiaoyue said and quickly went to hail a cart.
Soon, another ox-cart arrived.
The driver was an old man. There were two women in the carriage, each carrying a basket. The space looked quite big.
“Need a ride?” The old man asked Lin Xiaoyue before they arrived.
“Yes! We are going to Qingshi Town with these goods. Old man, how much do you charge?” Lin Xiaoyue asked sweetly.
The old man looked at Lin Xiaoyue and Liu Shi, who were sweating profusely, and then glanced at their goods. He was a little surprised that their family would let two women go all the way to town to sell goods. Moreover, they had so much on them, yet they didn’t have a ride.
“Five cents,” the old man said.