One of Li's favourite things about traveling was always the revisiting of familiar places, finding out what changed and what exciting new thing was waiting for him to discover. In Tanhuang, the first novelty was a street vendor stand selling a variety of snacks - most of all, excellent dango. Li came back to his wagon with three skewers, very satisfied with his purchase.
Overall, it was a very good morning. Li's new purse was heavy with the weight of markers and his old wagon was much emptier, now that most of his stock was sold out. He would still stay in the city for a while, for the word to spread and any late customers to have a chance to visit. He wanted also to visit any suppliers, share the news with anyone hungry for stories from the greater empire, maybe even make some new friends. Plenty to keep him busy for the remaining days!
He was finishing his first skewer when he noticed a kid watching him. The messy hair, dust and mud were pretty much par for the course for their age, but not a single worn-out article of clothing looked to be their size, and the way their eyes bore into the dango was troubling. Of course, it could be just a rapidly growing kid who grew hungry after a rejuvenating round of play, but it was more likely he was dealing with an urchin.
He considered waving him over, but the kid would have probably just ran off. Instead, he chose a bolder approach. He pulled the one remaining dango off the second skewer, took aim and tossed it directly at the suspect. The child reacted with a frankly surprising speed, darting forward and shoving it into his mouth immediately. It was then that Li realized the fault in his idea. What if the kid choked on the dango? It was not meant to be devoured whole, not by small mouths! He did not want to end his day with attempted murder by the means of an unconventional weapon!
Fortunately, the child managed to chew through the entire dango in the matter of seconds, laying Li's fears to rest. As they swallowed the last bite, they fixed their fierce gaze on the very relieved culprit. Goodness, that was some impressive evil eye. He should visit the shrine and beg some favour of the local spirits to counter that.
"What?" the kid demanded, stomping across the street towards Li and shoving a dirty finger in his face. "Feeling sorry for me, are you? You think I'd just accept some alms for the needy from your high-and-mighty self?"
This pride truly was the quintessence of Sheng-gu. Li met the accusation with a smile on his face and some bullshit ready to fall from his lips. "Not in the slightest. I simply overestimated my stomach's capacity. And it would be insulting to the cook's fine work to just toss the remains out. Thus, consider that dango to be advance pay. See, I have a business proposition for you."
That did wonders to abate the indignation. "I'm listening."
Li pointed the remaining skewer at the kid. "I'm done with my sales for today, and I was thinking of taking a walk around. You can have the rest of the dango if you watch the wagon for me."
"You'd leave me alone with your wagon? Aren't you worried that a grubby urchin like myself is going to steal all of your stuff?"
That kid wasn't making it easy for Li. "What's your name, anyway?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well, if we are to be business partners, it would be nice to know how to address you" he argued. "I'm Li Heiyue."
"I didn't ask" the kid grumbled, but relented soon. "Fine. I'm Song."
"Well then, Song, my reasoning is simple" Li declared with boundless confidence. "If your pride was insulted by the idea of receiving alms, I don't think it would allow you to stoop to stealing."
Song glared at him with a face that implied they were about to call his bluff, but the expected retort didn't come. Instead, they wiped a hand against their tunic and extended it to Li, expectantly. "Fine. I agree to your business proposition."
The merchant obediently handed the dango skewer over and hopped down from his seat. "Here you go. Don't let the oxen fool you into trying to share, they've been fed already."
"If they make me a better offer, I can't promise I won't" Song shot back, climbing onto the seat. "And you better come back before nightfall! I'm not gonna just wait here indefinitely!"
"Got it!" Li called, waving goodbye as he turned away and headed for the side streets. It was time to explore!
Half an hour later, after sharing a lovely chat with one of his suppliers, Li continued his journey of re-discovery. There was a shop he'd already checked out on his last visit a few years ago, some residences, a hostelry he was considering spending some nights at, and- oh, that looked like a new establishment! He stopped, taking a moment to read the sign - those weren't the characters he saw used frequently! Oh, a soothsayer! Perfect - he was still feeling a little under the weather from his new business partner's evil eye. It was best to get ahead of any disaster the future would hold.
He knocked politely on the door before entering. The small room welcomed him with the comforting scent of frankincense and a mystical atmosphere - very promising, Li could already feel some of the bad luck disappear. "Good morning to you too!" he chirped in response to the greeting. The soothsayer in session appeared to be quite the mysterious being, their clear voice not giving away any indications of aspects such as age or gender, and with a mask covering their face. Very intriguing, but it would be rude to stare!
"What would I seek indeed! Well, what kind of services do you offer?" Li questioned. He did have a few in mind, but pretty much every establishment of such nature that he's visited had a different set of options. He's seen fortunetellers specialising in divination, matchmakers focused on relationships between people, mediums communing with spirits, truly a wide range of experts. He could have visited almost every professional in this area that Shijie has gathered, and still get no closer to being able to recognize one's specialties at a glance!
