Chapter 34 – Cannon Fodder Old Woman Fleeing Famine (Part 4)

After finishing her basic shopping, Wang Daya still had over nine taels of silver left. She had to thank those three would-be robbers—thanks to them, her money pouch was now comfortably full.

However, that amount was still not enough for the travel permits she planned to secure. So, she decided to disguise herself and take out the plainest and thinnest gold bracelet from her space, to pawn it for dead pledge at the largest pawnshop in town.

Since this was a small town, bringing out a finely crafted gold bracelet would immediately raise suspicion—she didn't want people questioning her background.

So, Wang Daya used makeup from her space to darken her skin, making sure she could blend into a crowd without being recognized.

The original host's features were average, but in this era, her fair complexion made her stand out among peers. So, some facial camouflage was necessary before heading to the pawnshop.

When Wang Daya arrived at the biggest pawnshop in town, the clerk didn't show any disdain because of her clothes. On the contrary, he politely asked about her needs, displaying the class and refinement of a reputable shop.

Upon learning that she came to make a dead pledge, they promptly brought out a higher-ranking staff member—judging from his attire, this must be the shopkeeper himself.

This shop did a good job maintaining customer privacy. Instead of openly pawning items in public, clients were taken into private booths, which greatly protected their identity.

Wang Daya was quite pleased—this matched the positive feedback she'd heard about the store, and the service attitude was indeed professional.

When the shopkeeper saw the gold bracelet, he didn't ask questions about its origin. Instead, he calmly took a scale from an assistant and carefully weighed it.

It came out to two taels in weight, and this really was the lightest, most basic bracelet in her space—she couldn't find one of lower value.

The shopkeeper nodded in satisfaction and cheerfully said:

"Though the design is plain, the gold is pure with minimal impurities. Old sir, we can offer you twenty taels. How does that sound?"

After comparing market prices in town, Wang Daya found the offer quite fair, and the shopkeeper hadn't tried to cheat her just because of her appearance. So, she happily agreed.

Before receiving the money, she specifically requested it to be given in small change. This would make trading and spending easier. So now, she had over twenty-nine taels of silver in total.

That was a considerable amount, equivalent to modern purchasing power in the tens of thousands.

Originally, Wang Daya hadn't planned to pawn anything, but since she wanted to flee early, she needed to secure travel permits for the whole family. Without them, once the famine ended, her family would become unregistered citizens, which could cause major problems—especially since her youngest son still needed to attend school.

But getting travel permits wasn't cheap. After all, bribing officials in this era was expected if you wanted anything done properly.

This information was actually provided by her third son. In ancient times, access to information was limited, and only the educated were well-informed.

When Wang Daya passed through the town earlier, she realized she couldn't read any of the characters. From a modern-day university student, she had now become completely illiterate. She had only been able to find this pawnshop thanks to a tip from the general store owner earlier.

Now, Wang Daya planned to visit the academy to find her son and have him help her go to the county office and handle the permits.

Her third son, Lin Tiefeng, studied at Songshan Academy in town. His teacher was Scholar Zhao, who had refused to enter officialdom due to his distaste for court corruption.

Scholar Zhao was an upright man who never looked down on students from farming backgrounds, valuing character and learning above all.

When Wang Daya arrived, she was warmly received by Madam Zhao, who had her wait in the front hall.

The reason she was treated so well was because her youngest son was very promising in his studies. If not for his young age, the teacher would have already recommended him to take the imperial scholar exam.

After about a quarter of an hour, Wang Daya saw her son and Scholar Zhao. She greeted the scholar respectfully and explained that her family's farmland was overwhelming, and she needed her son's help for just seven days.

Scholar Zhao didn't mind at all—such requests had happened before.

Before Lin Tiefeng left, the scholar instructed him carefully to bring his books home and continue studying, so he wouldn't fall behind.

Seeing how much the teacher cared for her son, Wang Daya secretly made a decision—before they left town, she would have her son write an anonymous letter to warn the teacher. It was the least she could do to honor this teacher-student bond.

The reason for the secrecy? The laws of this era were harsh—if someone was caught spreading anti-government rumors, the lightest punishment was jail, the worst was execution for the entire family. So, Wang Daya wouldn't dare openly warn anyone.

After her son packed his things, he followed her to bid farewell to the scholar. Once they had walked dozens of meters away from the academy, she told him:

"We'll be going to the yamen next to apply for travel permits. Just say we're going to join distant relatives."

Though her son didn't quite understand, he still complied—after all, their mother was the final authority in the family.

Eventually, the two exited the county office with travel permits for the whole family. Wang Daya pretended to put them into a cloth pouch, but in reality, she stored them directly into her space.

Thank goodness she had pawned that gold bracelet ahead of time—otherwise, where would she have gotten eleven taels of silver for the bribes?