Carefully counting out two silver coins from his money bag, Zhang Bantang carefully handed them to the innkeeper in front of him, in exchange for the key to a guest room.

On the side of the winding mountain road in Linshi City, there are many inns built according to the land carved out of the gentle road section, providing accommodation services for passing guests.

Although the winding mountain road in Linshi City is not very long, for those caravans with large cargo transportation, this section of the winding mountain road often takes two to three days.

Because of the increasing demand for night rest, the demand for inns on Panshan Road increased, and finally formed the inn business system on Panshan Road today.

It's just that because it is not easy to transport all kinds of materials, the cost of the inn on the winding mountain road is frighteningly high.

For example, the two silver coins that Zhang Bantang spent on renting a night here, even if he took it to Jincheng, he would be able to rent a room with good facilities, and even get a rich meal or two.

However, here, two silver coins can only be exchanged for a small room, and there are no things that come with them, all of which need to be paid for by Zhang Bantang himself.

This made Zhang Bantang feel a little distressed, although it stands to reason that the money should be able to go to the financial department of the Procuratorate for reimbursement, but Zhang Bantang, who has been used to living a hard life since childhood, still feels a little distressed.

The inn he had arrived at now was almost two-thirds of the way to the winding mountain, and if he didn't expect it, he would be able to walk the whole road at ninety o'clock tomorrow morning, and then he would be able to rush back to Linshi City to join Ren Tianxiang and them before the sun set tomorrow.

After walking the winding mountain road like this, Zhang Bantang also understood why this winding mountain road can create such a huge wealth in just a few years.

All along the way, money is spent everywhere. One silver coin needed to pass through the mountain road, two silver coins needed for accommodation, one silver coin needed for meals, etc., all made Zhang Bantang feel abnormal.

Although this kind of price is nothing compared to that of Star City, this is the most remote mountainous area in Xifeng Province! It turns out that the annual income of the people of Linshi City is only five gold coins, and when converted into silver coins, it is only fifty silver coins - that is, they have just passed this winding mountain road fifty times!

Is this what life looks like for the better?

For a moment, Zhang Bantang felt a little trance. Everything had changed so fast, and the Stone City and the surrounding cities in front of him seemed to be completely different from what he remembered.

Walking up to the second floor of the inn, slowly walking to the window at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the inn, looking at the sunset that was almost setting in the distance, Zhang Bantang suddenly felt a little depressed in his heart.

When he left his hometown to study in the central province, he was finally valued by the teachers of the Star Emperor Royal Academy, and went to a class specializing in theory, where he learned a lot of practical knowledge.

Later, he lived up to his parents' expectations of him, passed the national examination conducted by the imperial court for school-age youths across the country, and became a reserve prosecutor in the Imperial Court Procuratorate Department of the Star Emperor State.

It's just that even though he has reached his current height, he still hasn't forgotten all the things that happened in Xifeng Province back then.

Twenty years ago, an earthquake struck near the Xifeng Mountains in the southern part of Xifeng Province, and although the earthquake did not spread widely, several nearby cities were nearly destroyed by the earthquake.

Houses in these cities have collapsed, walls have been broken, fertile fields have been destroyed, and the people have lost their livelihoods.

Although the Governor's Mansion of Xifeng Province sent a lot of relief teams for this purpose, and the Imperial Court of the Star Emperor also supplied a large number of relief materials, the number of people affected by the disaster was too large, and there were still many people suffering from hunger and cold.

Maybe many people can't understand the feeling at that time, but as a person who experienced it firsthand, Zhang Bantang believes that he will never forget the situation at that time.

He was only five or six years old at that time, and his parents were still with him at that time.

The relief materials for the imperial court have been distributed, and the second batch of materials does not know when it will arrive, and everyone is hungry.

At this time, the City Lord's Mansion of their city had already existed in name only, and the officials of the City Lord's Mansion who could survive basically fled to Jincheng for refuge, and there was not even a person who could manage affairs in the city.

When he was studying in the Star Empire, Zhang Bantang looked at the history of the Star Emperor and saw the phrase "the catastrophe of the year" more than once, but unlike others, others have always only been able to imagine such a scene.

He was able to survive thanks to his parents, and thanks to the rescuers who later found him sitting next to his already stiff parents.

After so many years, he thought that he would not return to Xifeng Province, but Zou Chang's case made him unable to sit idly by.

And this winding mountain road...... This is not because Zou Chang's eyes are vicious, but when the previous city lords of Linshi City were in power, there were no conditions for building a winding mountain road here.

When that big earthquake happened, the Xifeng Mountain Range was shaken out, and Linshi City had the conditions to build a winding mountain road.

Later, after the completion of the winding mountain road, the Imperial Court of the Star Emperor was afraid that another major earthquake would occur here and cause the road to collapse, so it sent people from the Engineering Academy to strengthen the mountain with the earth element more than once.

Zhang Bantang couldn't tell what he thought of this winding mountain road, since he came to Xifeng Province, his mood was very complicated.

But no matter what, you always have to complete the task assigned by Lord Ren first.

While thinking, Zhang Bantang walked into his room.

This house is not bad, and it can be seen that the owner of the inn has also put a lot of thought into it. Both the furniture and the wall decorations are exquisitely crafted, making people feel at a glance that their two silver coins are worth the money.

Of course, in this inn, the room with two silver coins is not the most expensive, but the cheapest, and there are even more expensive rooms that Zhang Bantang can't even look at.

Looking at the bed, which looked very soft, Zhang Bantang suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion.

He walked to the edge of the bed, then leaned forward, allowing himself to fall heavily on the bed.

After he rushed over from Jincheng, he was called here by Ren Tianxiang before he had a good rest, and spent several days on horseback in a row, which made him really tired, and now that no one was looking at him, he didn't have to care about his words and deeds.

The whole face was buried in the sheets, and Zhang Bantang stretched comfortably.

If what happened back then hadn't happened, maybe he would still be guarding his family business with his parents......

Turning over, Zhang Bantang looked at the ceiling in a daze, a little distracted.

"Dad, mother...... I'm going to get ahead......"

His mouth murmured, as if he were talking to himself, and as if he was speaking to someone.

His eyes gradually became firm, as if he had rediscovered the feeling he had felt back then.

And just then, there was a knock on the door of his room, and the voice of the waiter who had just received him came from outside:

"This guest, the dinner you ordered is ready, will you come to the restaurant or will we bring it to you?"

The waiter's voice was gentle, and he didn't dismiss Zhang Bantang just because he rented the cheapest room - the cost of these services could be counted in the food anyway.

This is the characteristic of this inn, and it is the most attractive point of the rooms in the same price class of other inns.

"I'll go to the restaurant and help me get ready. ”

Zhang Bantang immediately got up, packed up his clothes, and then walked out of his room.

The restaurant in this inn is not lively, after all, most of the people on this road are from the Chamber of Commerce, and these people will choose to let the waiter bring their food to the room, and the restaurant is noisy, so they will not want to stay in that kind of place.

In fact, Zhang Bantang didn't want to stay in so many crowded places, but in order to collect more information on all aspects of the mountain road, he still came to the restaurant.

The meal he had ordered was one of the cheapest in the inn, and it only cost a copper coin to buy it.

A not very delicious but rich dinner...... After Zhang Bantang silently commented on his dinner in his heart, he picked up the porcelain bowl in his hand and took a sip of soup.

At this moment, an old man dressed in shabby clothes walked in from outside the door of the restaurant. He held an iron bowl and walked past every table in the dining room.

Zhang Bantang saw the old man, and also saw that the waiter in the restaurant did not stop the old man, and frowned slightly.

In a short time, the old man had already reached the table of Zhang Bantang, but there was still nothing in his iron bowl.

Looking closer, the old man was quite kind-faced, and after a few more glances, he seemed to be able to see a sense of kindness.

He looked at Zhang Bantang, stretched out his iron bowl, and said, "Young man, it's okay, I haven't eaten for two days......"

Zhang Bantang interrupted the old man without waiting for him to finish speaking, and then he beckoned to the waiter standing in the corner of the restaurant and said, "Give this old man a dinner and put it on my account." ”

Hearing Zhang Bantang's words, the old man's eyes widened a little - he didn't seem to expect that Zhang Bantang didn't just give him something to eat casually, but specially asked the restaurant to serve him one.

After ordering the meal, Zhang Bantang smiled at the old man, then got up and said, "Old man, you wait here, dinner will come soon, at least you can eat a little more today." ”

The old man looked at Zhang Bantang, then at the tableware that had been eaten cleanly, the corners of his mouth twitched, and then asked, "Young man, what are you ......?"

"I've already eaten, and there are still some things, so I won't accompany you. Zhang Bantang nodded at the old man, didn't pay any attention to the old man, and walked directly upstairs.

Returning to his room, Zhang Bantang opened his door, looked at the mess in front of him that had not yet had time to clean up, and nodded lightly.

But...... What are they afraid I'll find?

............