Quick Transmigration: Even Extras Want to Be Leading Actresses

I wonder if Shi Qi can still live well in this era. This time, she'll be able to make money too.

Gu Shijiu took out her purse, her temporary little treasury, counted the money, and then hid it close to her body.

I miss my old secret stash of money.

Gu Shijiu felt sad when she talked about this. She couldn't take the money she had saved up in two consecutive worlds with her. Was there anything more painful than this?

The person is gone, but the money is still there.

"Ah Jiu's back! You weren't hurt today, were you?" the landlady greeted her.

Gu Shijiu replied politely, "Thank you for your concern, Auntie. I'm fine."

This village is closest to the Jin people, and in previous years it would suffer some losses every winter.

Due to the restrictions on household registration, villagers could not settle elsewhere, as the imperial court did not allow it.

If there is no one on the border, it will be easy for the Jurchens to occupy it.

In order to keep the border in place, the imperial court was willing to lose some people every year.

For the villagers, the government does not allow them to change their household registration, so the villagers can only stay in this godforsaken place.

Unless you become a vagrant.

For ordinary people, no one wants to become a refugee unless absolutely necessary.

One wrong move and you could be captured and enslaved, or die silently on the road.

After Gu Shijiu arrived here, she originally wanted to join the army, but no one would accept her as a woman.

She had no choice but to use the money she had swindled from human traffickers to rent a house there and wait for winter.

The villagers were fairly honest and kind, especially after two hooligans came to cause her trouble and broke her legs.

Gu Shijiu finally had a peaceful life.

When she had nothing to do, she would go to the border to look for the Jurchens, but she didn't encounter a single Jurchen. Instead, she encountered several caravans trying to kidnap people.

Gu Shijiu was originally very poor. The human traffickers had not accumulated much wealth, and she was worried that she would not have enough money to last until winter.

Unexpectedly, after being robbed several times, the "compensation" he received kept increasing.

Gu Shijiu felt that her life was not bad.

The border town wasn't as dilapidated as she had imagined. Although the village was nothing special, the county town was quite prosperous.

The main reason is the large number of caravans coming and going.

The caravans here are almost like organized crime; without a certain level of fighting ability, they simply cannot make their way.

Even if you hire bodyguards, there is still a risk of being hacked.

Therefore, ordinary merchants did not dare to do business here.

Otherwise, he wouldn't get so excited when he sees Gu Shijiu and treat human trafficking as a common occurrence.

Gu Shijiu had money, so he asked his landlord to help with housework. When he had nothing to do, he would go to the county town to eat and drink, and then go to the border to get robbed.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and deep winter is just around the corner.

With the weather freezing cold and food scarce, this was the most difficult time for the Jin people.

Looking south, though it's cold, at least there's food, drink, and a heated brick bed. How can one not be envious and have red eyes?

So when Gu Shijiu went to the county town that day, he saw a notice posted outside the county government office.

She leaned closer to look, but... she couldn't read the words.

Gu Shijiu's formal education was only junior high school. Although he later audited classes at university, his cultural level remained low.

She had to learn the simplified Chinese characters used in China for several years.

In this day and age, she would be considered basically illiterate.

Fortunately, government notices are read by designated personnel, and complex ones are explained.

"The Jurchens have repeatedly invaded our borders, and everyone has the right to kill them... We are now issuing a reward: five hundred coins for killing one person, a new household registration for killing ten people, and a trial appointment as a centurion for killing one hundred people..."

Gu Shijiu understood now; the Jurchens had arrived.

One tael of silver is equal to one thousand coins. Even if a moderately well-off family of several people works, they may not be able to save one tael of silver at the end of the year.

Of course, silver will be more expensive in actual exchange.

Even so, five hundred coins is still a great reward.

The position of Trial Hundred-Household Officer was a sixth-rank official, half a rank higher than that of a county magistrate.

This reward is quite substantial.

Gu Shijiu began preparing dry food that very day, carrying his small savings and luggage with him. The next day, he bid farewell to his landlady and entered the mountains.

Three days later.

Gu Shijiu sat under a tree, resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought.

Even though it was winter, she still felt very uncomfortable because she hadn't changed her clothes for three days.

We've almost finished our dry rations. There's plenty of wild game on the mountain, but we can't eat wild animals.

They thought they could capture the golden statues as soon as they came out and cut off their heads to make money.

I didn't expect to stay outside for three days and not even see a golden statue.

Only the hunters from the mountains would talk to him when they passed by each day.

This hunter is a bit annoying; I haven't seen him catch any prey, so why is he always pacing around?

"Young lady, I have a bear paw at home that I'm about to stew. Would you like to try some?"

Seeing that Gu Shijiu had been eating dry rations for several days, the hunter finally mustered up the courage to strike up a conversation and invite her to his home for a meal.

Bear paws! Gu Shijiu had seen them before, but had never eaten them.

He sighed heavily: "Do you have any meat at home that isn't from wild animals?"

The hunter didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from being enthusiastic: "Girl, I've seen you sitting here for three days. Is your family hiding you here because they're afraid the Jurchens will come?"

Gu Shijiu, wearing a cloak and leather boots, sat in a sheltered spot from the wind.

He was holding a hot water bottle in his arms and carrying several other things on his person.

There was a bonfire nearby, with a large kettle on top.

Gu Shijiu didn't feel particularly cold, but she still needed to take the necessary precautions against the cold.

Upon hearing the other person mention the Jurchens, she abruptly looked up: "The Jurchens are here?"

The hunter quickly comforted her, "It's alright, don't be afraid. There aren't many prey in the mountains now, and the Jurchens rarely come in."

Gu Shijiu was only concerned with the reward money: "Did you see the golden statue?"

"I went down the mountain this morning to exchange some things. I heard I was heading towards Niujia Village." The hunter hesitated, "But I can't be sure."

"Oh no!" Gu Shijiu slapped her thigh and ran down the mountain in a flash, not even having time to pack her things.

"Hey girl, where are you going?" The hunter looked at the figure in the distance with a hint of melancholy.

Niujia Village was where Gu Shijiu was temporarily staying. Because he had paid protection money to the Jurchens, and the village itself was not large, it was not originally the Jurchens' target.

The Jurchens would typically prioritize raiding villages that were densely populated and wealthy.

They not only robbed grain, but also women, and then slaughtered all the men in the village.

In places like Niujia Village, once they've received the money, they won't do anything.

Of course, it's not about doing good deeds, but about giving the village time to develop.

After a prosperous village is massacred, the surrounding smaller villages will gradually prosper over the next few years.

We'll try to grab another batch then.

This appears to be an unspoken agreement between the Jurchens and the emperors of the Central Plains.

But for the villagers, this was far too cruel.

This year, the Jin people broke with tradition and didn't even spare villages like Niujia Village.

There are only two possibilities: either they are preparing for a major offensive, in which case they will simply take over the small villages on the border.

Or perhaps this winter is particularly difficult, and simply robbing wealthy villages isn't enough to make up for the Jin people's losses, so they have no choice but to take every last bit of flesh from the planets.

Gu Shijiu couldn't understand this logic. All she knew was that the money she hadn't yet received was running away, and it might even affect the house she was paying for.

There are still some leftover beef jerky and sausages at home.

Thinking of this, she ran even faster.