The Verdant Tent - Interruption

"North-east section… it's here right?" Shu He stood off to the side of the market street looking upwards for the temporary signs that have been posted on the road, unfortunately for him he was small so it was a pain to see things properly when he was surrounded by adults twice his size.

On the few minutes walk it took to get here he had been given numerous odd stares that questioned why he was here, and on two other occasions he was stopped and questioned before he presented the token, after which he was let go, he knew children weren't supposed to be allowed in but being the only one seen walking around made him feel a bit odd.

'A green tent is what I'm looking for' He made his way down the street of the north-east section looking at the roof colours of the large variety of tents and carriages lining either side, he had quickly noticed that the stalls in this section seemed to be geared more towards practical field use, the kind you'd see guards or mercenaries use like weapons, tools, armour and so on.

'I wonder if the stalls are sorted in a specific way to promote chain customers…' Shu He thought to himself, he remembers reading how similar items or items usually purchased together are placed near each-other in super markets to improve sales and that sales data goes a long way to calculating such things, if they are applying such logic here in the way they organise the market…

"This really is a collective of top merchants…" he mumbled to himself as he admired the various items on display.

Soon enough after another minute or so of walking he managed to sight his goal in the distance, it was a tent that was twice the size of other stalls and seemed to take up a larger corner allowing better customer flow, he walked up to it and stared at the verdant green cloth used to decorate the large stall, he could tell it was high quality as it was a flawless colour that glistened in the mid-day sun, it wasn't dull or low quality like a lot of cloth he'd see used in the village.

Shu He looked around before finding the entrance that had a small que lined up so he went and stood in line to wait.

"Hey, who's brat is this, is he yours?" Unfortunately he seemed to run in to some trouble as someone who lined up behind him began to complain, grabbing the shoulder of the man in front.

"Huh? No I don't know him" Obviously confused he brushed him off and stared strangely at the kid before turning back.

"Little brat why are you here? kids aren't allowed! How did you sneak in?" The larger bald man reached towards Shu He to grab him, but Shu He swiftly dodge out of the way before yelling back.

"What was that for?! I've been allowed in properly!" He shouted back.

"Huh?! That can't be right… You've gotta be lying I wasn't even allowed in at first!" The bald man complained back.

"Are you sure that's not because of how you're acting now…" Shu He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!" The bald man still managed to hear it unfortunately.

Shu He quickly rustled though his clothes and pulled out the wooden token showing it clearly to the man.

"Look, see!" Surely he would accept this, is what Shu He thought.

"Huh?" He looked closer at the tablet but then-

"Lemme see!" He grabbed it out of Shu He's hands taking him by surprise.

"Wa- Give me that back!"

"Hmph what are these markings, I ain't seen these before this must be a fake!" He concluded with his bald head.

"What are you talking about? Just because you don't know it doesn't mean it's fake!" Shu He complained.

'Is this guy stupid or something?!' he couldn't help but think.

"Huh?! And why would a brat like you have something different from the rest of us?!" He shouted back.

"WHAT IS THIS RUCKUS OUT HERE FOR?!" Suddenly a booming voice shot out of the verdant tent silencing the crowd.

Shu He and the bald man both looked in the direction the voice came from, there stood a man just over 5 feet tall sporting a scholar's outfit and hat with a gold monocle on his right eye, his long white beard was plaid and was long enough that it almost touched the ground and the eyes behind the glass let out a piercing glare from the chilly blue pupils.

"W-who are you?!" The bald man asked, obviously intimidated by the new man's sheer presence, even Shu He felt a cold sweat travel down his small back at first before he regained his composure and observed the man.

"Who am i? I'm the owner here! You came to my store, and you don't even know that?" He complained.

"And? What's the reason for this little scuffle, I could hear it from inside! It's distracting!" He looked between the bald man and Shu He, demanding an answer.

"T-This brat has snuck into the market! And he even has a fake token to try fool us!" He held out the token and showed it to the old man.

"Snuck in? A fake token? Hmph let me see that-" Before the bald man knew the token was in the old man's grasp.

'So fast!' Shu He barely saw the movement, it was swift and precise; it reminded him of his father's archery.

"This…" The old mans brows furrowed for a second as he looked between the token and Shu He.

"Kid, where did you get this?" He questioned.

"SEE?!" The bald man exclaimed before- "SHUT IT, FOOL" He was shut down again by old man causing him to slam his jaw shut to prevent his mouth running any more.

Shu He stared in to the old mans eyes, he felt that he wasn't a bad person and was truly just asking, so he answered truthfully, he had no reason not to anyway.

"I came here with my father, he had a special token from an acquaintance that the mark on mine came from" He explained.

The old man nodded "I see, that's all fine then; there's nothing wrong here" He returned the token to Shu He as he faced the bald man once more.

"You! Making such a ruckus over a false accusation! Do you even think before you act? Are you a person or a boar?! No, a boar seems to have more sense than you… Go! I will not serve someone like you!" He shouted and reprimanded the bald man and with each successive word the mans face turned a lighter shade of white.

"But- You're the only one that sells the medicine I need!" He complained.

"Tough, you should have thought of that before acting! Everyone else stood in line without doing anything, it was your own choice now suffer the consequences, SHOO!" He waved the man away, and as he did the guards in the surroundings seemed to notice and began walking towards the man in a threatening manner.

"Grrr… Shit!" He wanted to stand his ground, but quickly gave up when he saw the stares and glares of the surrounding people, soon he disappeared in to the flowing crowd.

Very quickly everyone else returned to what they were doing after the small spectacle, a few people quickly greeting the old man before moving on.

*Sigh* "Why do people like him always cause trouble…" The old man sighed and spoke to himself before turning to Shu He once more.

"So? Why did you come here, he was in the wrong but a child usually has no business coming to my stall" He asked out of curiosity.

"Ah- Um, you're Bo Lin?" Shu He asked.

"That's Elder Bo to you!" Bo Lin corrected him, causing Shu He to panic for a second.

"Sorry- Elder Bo; Merchant Yun recommended me to come here, I have some medicine I'd like to sell" Shu He quickly regained his composure, correcting and explaining himself.

"Medicine? You?" Bo Lin seemed to have his doubts as his eye donning the monocle clearly expressed so "Did you parents send you?" He asked, an obvious assumption.

"No… I made it myself". He stated with slight pride.

"Hmmm" He stroked his long beard "What type, how much?" He questioned.

Shu He quickly recalled the list he made in his head.

"Three variations of clotting salve – xx amount

Blood cleansing antidotes – xx amount

Headache medication – xx amount

Numbing solution – xx amount

Painkillers – xx amount

… "

He read out concisely with the amount of each that he had up until the end, Bo Lin listened attentively until the end.

"Is that all?" He asked to which Shu He nodded in confirmation.

"I see… I wouldn't mind stocking up on some of those, the clotting salve in particular we run out of fast so that would be ideal… alright come with me inside, I want to see your work" He gestured to Shu He, leading him inside.

Following him, Shu He rejoiced slightly inside; he had at least cleared the first hurdle.