Chapter 97: Chapter 96: Qiongzhou Pier
After Chen Jinyu left, Lin Wanwan calculated the time and felt that she could travel through time again.
Even though she had only slept for a little over an hour, her spirit was quite good. At worst, she could catch up on sleep during the day tomorrow. But over in the Great Tang, she couldnât act at night; she had to go now because the primitive forests at night were too dangerous.
After changing clothes and packing her mountaineering bag, Lin Wanwan went through the Space-Time Gate and arrived in the Great Tang. Not long after she stood still, a small elephant that had been lingering nearby let out a joyful cry and ran towards her, carrying a bunch of wild bananas.
Lin Wanwan smiled as she patted its head and said, "It seems like youâve decided to stick with me! Well then, letâs take you back to Mao County to keep my little Qingyu company."
The small elephant affectionately nudged Lin Wanwan and then happily finished eating the small wild bananas.
Lin Wanwan turned her head and saw the few banana trees not far away, and sighed, "If it werenât for the miasma and the many poisonous insects, the Southern region would be such a wonderful place. There wouldnât be anyone starving, with so many wild fruits and vegetables growing. I donât understand why the Guanzhong region, which can only plant one crop a year, looks down on Lingnan, which can grow three crops a year."
After sighing, she took out a compass and continued on her way. This time, luck was on her side. She walked with the small elephant for about half an hour and came across a Han merchant caravan riding mules and mule carts. Communication, unfortunately, was not smooth, as the other party seemed to speak the Qiong State local dialect.
There were merchants who tried speaking in the official language with Lin Wanwan, but regretfully Lin Wanwan couldnât understand the official language either. Fortunately, she was prepared; she took out a charcoal pencil and paper from her backpack and, under the shocked gazes of the people, wrote: "I want to go to the pier, could you give me a ride?"
After the message wrapped around a glass marble was passed through the merchant caravan, the leading middle-aged man looked up and down at the oddly dressed woman in front of him, wearing a wide hat and with a strange cloth face covering, and pointed to a relatively empty mule cart behind him.
Lin Wanwan made a bow, intending to take the small elephant onto the mule cart, but was stopped by the people nearby. With gestures, even though Lin Wanwan couldnât understand what was being said, the body language was clear enough: they didnât want the small elephant on board.
But how could the small elephant run faster than a mule? It definitely needed to ride along, so Lin Wanwan smiled and extended her hand. The person covered his sleeve, gently weighing, and then began to help Lin Wanwan get the small elephant onto the mule cart.
Others saw this and said a few words, but Lin Wanwan still couldnât understand what they were saying.
Sitting on the mule cart made the journey much faster. However, Lin Wanwan was still worried; she was about to witness the grand port scene of Qiong State during the Great Tang era, but the language barrier was a real issue! Sigh, there were two fellow countrymen in the previous tribe, but unfortunately, the people there were so odd that she couldnât ask them to be her translators.
With such thoughts in mind, they arrived at the pier.
Lin Wanwan and the small elephant jumped off the mule cart, bowed in thanks to the Han merchant caravan, and they went their separate ways.
People from the Southern region seemed to be quite short. Looking around, whether male or female, they didnât seem to exceed 1.65 meters, most being under 1.60 meters. Lin Wanwan, at 1.67 meters, stood out like a tall tree in the midst.
As she was about to lift her foot, two small children holding broken bowls came over to block her way and begged from her. Without much thought, Lin Wanwan took out a few copper coins from her pocket and placed them into their broken bowls.
This caused a commotion, as a dozen more equally ragged children swarmed over, each seemingly eager to thrust their broken bowls under Lin Wanwanâs nose.
Looking at the group of skinny small beggars, Lin Wanwan sighed, glanced around, and found a pastry shop, spending over thirty coins to buy more than a dozen flatbreads, distributing one to each of the small beggars.
She noticed that while she was doing this, the shopkeeper was looking at her as if she were a fool. This was fine; she also keenly sensed that there were a few sinister-looking men in the corner eyeing her like they were appraising goods.
Lin Wanwan smirked slightly; she had caught the attention of the local ruffians. Could it be they were the big beggars controlling this group of small beggars?
Though she thought this way, she was unafraid. Even lifting a small elephant, knocking down an adult man with one punch was not an issue. When oneâs strength is sufficient, what need is there to fear the petty tricks?
Thus, with the small beggars forming a tail behind her, Lin Wanwan and the small elephant leisurely strolled through the pier.
Here, many porters and merchant caravans gathered, with hundreds of wooden ships of various sizes berthed in the harbor ahead. As Lin Wanwan walked and observed, she began to get a sense of things.
When they reached the dockside, they happened upon a large merchant ship coming to a stop. The people on the ship, speaking in official language with a Mao County accent, were shouting something to the people below.
Lin Wanwan could deduce from the excited expressions of the porters what was being said; it was instructing them to start unloading the cargo.
She pulled the small elephant aside and bought a bunch of coconuts with gestures, spending over twenty coins at a stall selling coconut fruits and juice. She fed some to the small elephant and distributed the rest to the small tails following her. Since she bought something, the vendor didnât mind her standing in front.
This was a big customer! No one had ever seen anyone be so generous to small beggars. Her outfit seemed out of place, and it wasnât clear where she came from. But seeing her spend so liberally, she certainly wasnât some poor soul from the tribes.
Lin Wanwan looked up at the sailboat and thought: This is a merchant ship from Mao County. I can find someone from it to be my translator. Iâll observe for now; thereâs no rush.
Amidst the bustling crowd, a few hands stretched towards Lin Wanwanâs clearly heavy backpack.
But Lin Wanwan, always vigilant, quickly detected them. With a few light waves, several sneaky, emaciated individuals retreated, clutching their wrists in pain. The instant swelling on their wrists clearly warned those lurking in the shadows that she wasnât to be trifled with.
Besides her, the small elephant also wasnât to be outdone, rampaging through the crowd, clearing space for Lin Wanwan.
The group of small beggars initially sticking closely to Lin Wanwan and the small elephant took a few steps back upon seeing this scene but were reluctant to leave. After all, this out-of-place person was so kind to them, giving them both cakes and coconuts to eat.
The crowd surged, but no one dared to approach any further.
After observing for a long while, Lin Wanwan called over one of the small beggars behind her. A boy, about seven or eight years old and seemingly the bravest, came forward and chattered a few words to Lin Wanwan.
Lin Wanwan was too lazy to engage in cross-talk with him, and directly placed three copper coins and a note in his hand, instructing him to deliver it to a crew member in coarse cloth who had just disembarked the ship.