The various differences between the city and the countryside almost start to show from the early morning each day.
No sooner had the first ray of sunlight touched the window lattice than the street outside was already a hubbub of noise. At the entrance of Dong'an Inn, the peddlers selling breakfast shouted vigorously, the wide streets rang with the clear tinkle of bell from the water-carrying ox carts, the helpers downstairs were cleaning and moving tables and chairs with a clamorous din, and the traveling merchants staying upstairs needed to leave early, stomping on the floorboards so loudly and calling out to their companions to hurry out.
Hua Xiaomai had suffered from a serious lack of sleep last night, and this racket woke her up. She struggled to open her heavy eyelids and instinctively reached for the space beside her, only to find it empty.
