Shopkeeper Tong, as expected of a worldly person, quickly smiled and greeted Han Yiyi.

"Eldest sister Han, it's been a long time! What brings you here...?"

Han Yiyi naturally noticed the momentary awkwardness on Manager Tong's face when he saw her basket, and seeing his cautious questioning, she couldn't help but suppress a laugh before speaking.

"Oh, it's because we sold the braising spice recipe and had some extra money at home, so we built a few houses. In a few days, we'll be having the roof beam installed and we'll be hosting guests, so we came to town to buy some rice and flour. We were passing by here, so we stopped by to say hello to Manager Tong and ask how the braised meat is selling..."

At this point, Manager Tong was certain that Han Yiyi was doing it on purpose, deliberately telling him that she built the house after selling the braising spice recipe, but he had no proof.

Thinking that he had spent a full eighty taels to buy that recipe, and afterwards not only did he lose a meal for nothing, but a lot of it was also taken away, Manager Tong felt a tightness in his chest.

Manager Tong knew that although his boss hadn't said anything about it, and the price was acceptable to his boss, the look in his eyes when his boss received the prescription clearly showed that he hadn't handled the matter well.

Fortunately, the braising spice recipe was really good, and the owner made a lot of money from it. The business of Yunlai Restaurant was also significantly better than before.

"Thanks to Sister Han, the braised meat business is getting better every day. Do you want to pack some to take home and eat today...?"

Suddenly remembering Han Yiyi's impolite manner, she quickly added, "I'll give you a discount..."

Han Yiyi naturally understood Manager Tong's ulterior motives, but she had important business to attend to today, so she smiled and politely declined.

Watching Han Yiyi turn and leave, Manager Tong still had doubts. Could it be that she really was asking him if braised meat was easy to sell?

After leaving Yunlai Restaurant, Han Yiyi headed to the grain shop. She glanced at the prices and saw that rice cost ten coins per pound, while brown rice was half the price, only five coins per pound.

Perhaps due to the climate here, rice is the main crop, so white flour is much more expensive than rice, costing twenty coins per pound. Black flour is cheaper, costing eight coins per pound. However, the black flour here is mostly made by mixing wheat bran and other grains, which makes it very harsh on the throat.

When the shop assistant saw Han Yiyi carrying such a large basket, he thought a big customer had arrived and hurriedly went to greet her. But after asking about the prices of all the grains in the shop, she left looking so fresh and lively.

The waiter stared at Han Yiyi's departing figure for a moment, then rolled his eyes at Han Qi.

Han Yi didn't see the shop assistant rolling his eyes at her. After leaving the grain shop, she quickly turned into a deserted alley. When she came out again, her empty basket was now full of rice.

When Han Yiyi returned to Zhushan Village, the sun had already set. Zhu Zi was worried about Daya and Shitou being home alone, and he was also concerned that Han Yiyi would be worried if she couldn't find them when she returned, so he stayed with the two children and waited for them.

Seeing that the person had returned, he felt relieved and left. When he saw that the person was about to go back, Han Yiyi quickly spoke up.

“Brother Zhu, go back and tell Uncle Chen that I’m back from town and can come over now to exchange mushrooms…”

Because Zhu Zi had been leading everyone to build a house for Han Yi Yi, he didn't know that his family was going to use mushrooms to exchange for rice for Han Yi Yi. The village chief was worried that the news would get out, so he didn't tell his son. Anyway, he was busy building a house and didn't have time to pick mushrooms.

Since Zhu Zi's way home would pass by Aunt Zhang's house, Han Yiyi asked him to inform Aunt Zhang as well.

Although Zhu Zi was somewhat puzzled, he was not one to talk much, so when he heard Han Yiyi's words, he simply nodded slightly.

After everyone left, Han Yiyi took out a sack and used 500 points to exchange for 50 jin of rice, which, together with the 50 jin in the basket, made a total of 100 jin.

Not long after Zhu Zi left, Aunt Zhang and the village chief's wife, each leading a child, came over. Each of them carried a basket on their backs, and not only that, the village chief's wife and Aunt Zhang were also carrying baskets in their hands.

Han Yiyi was startled to see them carrying things on their backs and in their arms, and quickly welcomed them inside.

After the group put their things down, Han Yiyi could see clearly that they had arranged the mushrooms in layers, with weeds separating each layer. This way, the mushrooms wouldn't be crushed, and each type of mushroom was kept separate, which is why they used so many baskets and carrying baskets.

Han Yiyi couldn't help but marvel at their thoughtfulness.

The locals usually only pick three kinds of mushrooms to eat: black fungus, yellow boletus, and matsutake. As for morel mushrooms, bamboo fungus, chanterelles, and white onion mushrooms, they consider them poisonous and naturally won't pick them.

The group put down their baskets and then noticed the rice that Han Yiyi had placed aside. Sanni, who had come with Aunt Zhang, couldn't resist touching the white rice when she saw it. Aunt Zhang quickly scolded her.

Although the others weren't as focused as Sanni, their eyes were almost constantly glued to the white rice.

Actually, it's no wonder they acted this way. In previous years, Beichen was weak and was bullied by neighboring countries for many years, resulting in constant warfare. Later, it was said that a general emerged who was very brave and skilled in battle, deterring the neighboring countries from attacking again, and thus the war gradually subsided.

However, due to the long years of war, the national treasury was empty. In order to replenish the national treasury, the court increased taxes, which is why every family lacked clothing and food. Let alone eating rice, it was already a blessing for a family not to starve to death. That's why they were so excited when they saw rice.

However, this was only true for ordinary people at the bottom of society. Officials and their families, on the other hand, ate delicacies from land and sea. As the saying goes, "Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, frozen corpses lie." In an era where imperial power was supreme, it was always the ordinary people at the bottom who suffered the most.

Han Yiyi had originally thought that without a scale, there was no way to weigh things. Even if she redeemed it in the system now, the system would probably only have electronic scales. Unexpectedly, the village chief's wife actually brought a scale herself.

Finally, they weighed them separately. The village chief's family had fewer members, and in one afternoon, they picked 25 jin of mushrooms, which could be exchanged for 25 jin of rice. Aunt Zhang's family had more members, and since the whole family was involved, they picked more, totaling a full 38 jin.

Seeing that they had all prepared clean bags, Han Yiyi immediately started filling the bags.

Watching the two of them carefully carrying the bag, as if it contained some rare treasure, Han Yiyi knew that even if they took it back, they wouldn't be willing to eat it. They would definitely take it to town to exchange for coarse rice or black flour. Thinking of this, Han Yiyi couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

Although she was a food vlogger in her previous life, she hated people wasting food, especially those who would order a large table of dishes for the sake of face, and then refuse to pack them up and throw them all away for the same reason.