Chapter 38

The Mid-Autumn Festival was still two days away, and before it there was a county market fair. Chen Jue needed to go sell medicinal herbs, and this time Huo Jilin was going with him.

They still didn't have an ox cart, so they had to ride on Zhou Shuyao's ox cart.

The market fair before Mid-Autumn was naturally crowded—whether for the festival or for visiting relatives, people needed to buy things.

Those who could walk set out early, while those carrying goods had to take Zhou Shuyao's ox cart.

Uncle Liu didn't need to go sell anything today, so he left early in the morning with his basket, after telling Chen Jue beforehand and instructing Huo Lin to take Chen Jue on the ox cart.

So the two of them rode the ox cart that day.

Zhou Shuyao watched Huo Lin carefully help Chen Jue onto the cart, and his hand unconsciously tightened around the ox whip. He forgot the village head's warning, and blurted out impulsively: "Dalin, you've got money now, why not buy Jue Geer an ox cart instead of making him squeeze in with others?"

Huo Jilin couldn't help glancing at him—it was the first time someone had spoken to him so snidely.

Who was this Zhou Shuyao?

Huo Jilin looked at him, and Zhou Shuyao met his gaze, stubbornly retorting: "What, did I say something wrong? Hoarding all that silver without spending it, making your man suffer like this?"

Huo Jilin raised an eyebrow slightly. If he wasn't being overly sensitive, this Zhou Shuyao had feelings for Chen Jue.

Though he could understand why that was.

Chen Jue stood out no matter where he was.

He drew people's attention.

Even with a belly nearly eight months pregnant, he'd still caught the eye of the Third Young Master of Village Head Zhou.

Huo Jilin first settled Chen Jue, letting him lean against the wheat straw tied to the cart rail, then brushed the straw off his hands and said to Zhou Shuyao: "What you said isn't wrong—it's just that I don't like ox carts. I prefer horse-drawn carriages."

Zhou Shuyao immediately snorted derisively: "You prefer horse-drawn carriages? Who doesn't like horse-drawn carriages? Can you even buy one?"

Before Huo Jilin could respond, the uncles and aunties on the cart widened their eyes and chimed in.

"Hey, Dalin, are you really going to buy a horse-drawn carriage? How much would a ride cost?"

Liu Cuier counted on her fingers: "Shuyao's ox cart costs two coppers, so wouldn't a horse-drawn carriage cost four?"

"Four coppers is a bit pricey—I don't make that many coppers selling this basket of veggies."

"Make it cheaper—if it's three, I might ride it."

Amid the chatter, Chen Jue turned his head away. Huo Jilin wasn't a child who'd make an impulsive purchase just because someone provoked him—he bought whatever he wanted, no goading needed.

Besides, even if he bought a horse here, it wasn't like getting a BMW or Bentley. On these country roads, a horse-drawn carriage wasn't even as good as an ox cart.

Sure enough, Huo Jilin ignored what the uncles and aunties said. With one long stride, he sat down next to Chen Jue.

He said directly to the crowd haggling opposite him: "Uncles, aunties, no need to figure it out. I'm not buying a carriage to haul passengers."

"Then why are you buying it?"

Huo Jilin said: "Just so that one day at the market, no one can talk about it."

The uncles and aunties were taken aback by his blunt words. They hadn't expected this Huo Lin to hold a grudge—he was clearly taking a jab at Zhou Shuyao.

Zhou Shuyao, furious, tried to goad him: "Then I'll wait to see you buy that carriage. Will Jue Geer have a carriage to ride when you come back?"

Aunt Zhang quickly stopped Zhou Shuyao: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Get going—Jue Geer is riding in your cart, so drive carefully and slowly."

She then smiled at Huo Jilin: "Dalin, don't mind him. That kid just doesn't know how to talk. Everything he says is bullshit. Don't let him get to you—what use would a carriage be on these mountain roads anyway?"

Uncle Wang also nodded: "That's right, Dalin. A carriage costs more than double an ox cart. Though your family doesn't have land yet and wouldn't use an ox much, a horse would be even less useful. Think it over before you buy."

Huo Lin used to be a man of few words who didn't have much to do with them, but now he'd earned military merit for the whole village, exempting them from corvée labor and taxes—even if only for three years, the villagers were deeply grateful.

So now they all gave him well-meaning advice.

Aunt Liu also said: "Yes, Huo Lin, instead of spending money on a carriage, you'd be better off buying a few mu of farmland. For us farming folks, having land is what matters most."

To all their kind words, Huo Jilin only gave a faint "mm."

After that, he sat on the ox cart without saying anything more.

Whenever he put on a cold expression, he had an aura that automatically kept everyone at a distance.

Back in the day, this man had overpowered so many shareholders of Huachen Pharmaceutical and so many Huo family nephews to take the position of Executive President. Whether his iron-fisted tactics were formidable was unknown, but that face alone was enough to intimidate.

And the original Huo Lin had been much the same, so the crowd wasn't surprised. They muttered a few things inwardly but didn't dare say them aloud, all falling silent with eyes down.

This was rare. In the past, when Chen Jue rode the ox cart, he'd listen to all sorts of gossip all the way to the market.

In the hour it took to reach the market, he could catch up on all the recent neighborhood news. It was like reading a thread compilation—quite convenient and effortless.

But today, because Huo Jilin was there, the whole cart barely spoke the entire way. The ox worked hard too, and they arrived a full quarter-hour early.

Arriving at the market so early, everyone felt a bit off. Only after the ox cart came to a stop did they start getting off.

Huo Jilin helped Chen Jue as he stepped down with big strides: "Take it slow."

After getting off the cart, Chen Jue waved his hand, signaling Huo Jilin to put the carrying basket on his back.

There were more herbs this time, since the two of them had dug them together.

Huo Jilin took the heaviest one and gave Chen Jue the lighter one.

"Let's go over there first and sell the herbs."

Huo Jilin's first reaction upon seeing the packed market was to frown—there were way too many people.

Chen Jue, with his belly, would have trouble moving through the crowd.

It was already early autumn, the weather was cool, and with the Mid-Autumn fair approaching, the market was packed. The conscripted soldiers had recently returned, and the city had been under lockdown for half a month.

Now that the festival allowed people to finally relax a bit, the place was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder.

Chen Jue didn't want to squeeze through the crowd either, so he walked with Huo Jilin toward East Street, to the "Jishi Hall" where he used to buy medicine.

Chen Jue watched Huo Jilin walk toward East Street with such familiarity and asked: "Have you been here before?"

This should be Huo Jilin's first time at the market since returning from war, right? Did he have the original owner's complete memories?

Huo Jilin told him: "I came here before returning to the village."

He had been to this town before—on the way back from battle, the Grand General of Valor had come to this city to issue the ban, and had offered to send him back to Pingshan Village by carriage, which he'd declined.

Before heading back to Pingshan Village, he did a full sweep of the county.

Like Chen Jue, he was a modern person. When arriving at an unfamiliar place, the first thing he did was open up Amap.

He couldn't relax until he'd scoped out the area. Besides, he'd served in the military for three years, so reading terrain was second nature.

So he had a rough idea of where everything was.

He said to Chen Jue, "East Street's where all the herb shops are. After we buy the herbs, we'll head to Jiangnan Cloth Shop to get ourselves some new threads, then go to Qinyue Tower."

He added, "Qinyue Tower's a restaurant—their soy-braised duck is the big draw."

The name of that place sounded like a brothel's.

Chen Jue just went "oh." Since Chen Jue didn't object, Huo Jilin kept laying out the plan: "Don't we need to bring gifts when we visit your folks? I have no idea what's trendy these days, but once we're done eating, we'll hit up Wanfu Gold Shop."

Chen Jue couldn't help shooting him a sideways look—was Huo Jilin planning to blow every penny he'd earned in one shot?

Huo Jilin still didn't get it and went on, "Then we'll meet up with Uncle Zhou at the east market and get him to help us pick a horse. We should have enough time."

As he talked, he instinctively went to roll up his sleeve to check the time, but too bad he was still in that patched-up hemp shirt—no million-dollar Rolex on his wrist, and the cuff had a patch stitched on.

He froze, staring at that patch, and shut his eyes like he couldn't take it.

Chen Jue just watched him perform, stone-cold.

Huo Jilin wasn't acting, for real. Maybe there was some acting involved before—back then, he wanted to see when Chen Jue would figure out who he was.

So he ate the food Chen Jue cooked that even a pig wouldn't touch.

But now that Chen Jue had seen through him, Huo Jilin stopped hiding anything.

Anyway, this was as bad as it got.

All he wanted now was to smooth things over with Chen Jue.

Treat Chen Jue to good food, buy him nice stuff, and a nonstop shopping spree was bound to cheer him up.

That was Huo Jilin thinking like a modern guy.

He figured once he explained everything, Chen Jue's grudge would ease up, and then it'd be easy to cheer him up.

Chen Jue eyed his chest and asked, "You brought all hundred taels of silver?"

Classic move from the CEO of Huachen Pharma—talking about gifts worth hundreds of taels of gold like it's nothing.

Chen Jue was waiting for him to eat his words. He'd gotten to this world before Huo Jilin and knew what things cost around here.

Back when he didn't know Huo Lin was actually Huo Jilin, he figured that hundred taels could go a long way if he was careful.

But now, with Huo Jilin's rich-kid spending habits, it might not even cover today.

After all, this CEO still wanted to buy himself a luxury carriage.

Huo Jilin finally picked up on the sarcasm in his voice—that was rare. Chen Jue never used to waste a single word on him, let alone get all sarcastic.

So Huo Jilin shot a glance at Chen Jue's chest and said, "Didn't you stash a ginseng root on you? If mine runs out, we've got yours, right?"

He was the one who'd helped haul Chen Jue's dowry chest, after all.

Chen Jue just went "oh" again. "Spending my dowry like it's no big deal."

Huo Jilin stared at Chen Jue for a beat, then laughed. That was Chen Jue for you—willing to take himself down just to land a jab. He said "dowry" like it rolled right off his tongue.

Was he actually willing to marry him?

Huo Jilin grinned at him and said, "What's yours is mine, and mine is yours. I'll make a ton of money for you down the road."

Chen Jue let out a noncommittal "hmph": "Hunting for it?"

Given that Huo Jilin was currently taking his shirt off to catch chickens, he probably only had that hundred taels to his name for the foreseeable future.

Huo Jilin was effectively shut up. Chen Jue always hit him right where it hurt.

Back when he was CEO of the Huo Group, Chen Jue only disagreed with him academically, arguing from a work perspective.

Now that he wasn't CEO anymore, Chen Jue went straight for the personal attacks.

Huo Jilin looked around the rundown little county town and coughed. "That day'll come. You'll see."

Did it even matter if that day ever came?

Chen Jue didn't say anything else and walked in silence toward the clinic.

Talking to Huo Jilin was exhausting, and he didn't feel like talking anymore.