Chapter 39 Smooth (Two chapters in one) ◇

Because there were only eight days left before reporting to the military camp, Zhou Jin went to Baili Town with Zhou Zesheng, Zhou Zemao, Zhou Zelin, Zhou Po, and Zhou Dai early the next morning. Their main purpose this time was to buy equipment for Zhou Jin and others, and to buy some food for the winter.

The person from Zhou Zelin's family who was destined to serve in the military this time was Zhou Po. Zhou Zelin was too weak and no one would want him even if he went. Zhou Luo wanted to go, but he was only twelve and a half years old, not even half an adult, so he couldn't go even if he wanted to.

Zhou Ruiquan's family decided to send their eldest son Zhou Zemao and eldest grandson Zhou Dai. Their family situation was a bit special. Although Zhou Zemao was Zhou Ruiquan's eldest son, his first few children were all girls. His two sons Zhou Gong and Zhou Dian were younger than Zhou Dai from the second house. Therefore, the title of the eldest grandson of the Zhou family was taken by Zhou Dai from the second house.

There were two quotas for military service in their family this time. Since Zhou Zemao was the only adult in the eldest branch, there was no choice but for Zhou Zemao to go. Grandpa Zhou considered for a long time about the quota for the second branch and finally gave it to his eldest grandson Zhou Dai.

It's not that the old man favors his youngest son and dislikes his eldest grandson, but he thinks what his eldest grandson said makes sense. For someone like Zhou Zesheng who can't carry anything on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands, the possibility of survival may not be as great as his eldest grandson who knows some martial arts.

Zhou Zesheng refused, so Zhou Ruiquan simply let the father and son fight, and whoever won would go! Of course, Zhou Dai won in the end!

The Bai family was once again blessed by the Zhou Zelin family, as the three of them had been registered at the Grand Council Mansion, and were still part of the same household as Zhou Zelin and his son. With only the father and son remaining in the Zhou Zelin family, and the three of them in the Bai family, there were only six people in the family, so only one of them had to serve in the military service, and Zhou Li was lucky enough to stay.

The Bai mother-in-law and daughter-in-law felt very embarrassed about this, but because Zhou Li was the only son left in the family for two generations, they hesitated for a long time and finally did not say anything about letting Zhou Li replace Zhou Po to serve in the military.

Zhou Po didn't care about these things. He felt that he had to go to the military camp regardless of whether his aunt and her family were there or not. On the contrary, because the Bai mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took good care of him and his son during the exile, he was very happy that his family could exempt his cousin Zhou Li from serving in the military.

Due to health reasons, Zhou Zelin and Zhou Zesheng had to let their eldest son serve in the army in their place. They were heartbroken, so when buying equipment for them, they were willing to spend money. Not only did they buy good armor, swords and guns, they also bought a horse for each of them. But except for Zhou Zemao who reluctantly bought an adult horse, Zhou Dai and Zhou Po bought ponies.

The reason why people buy ponies instead of adult horses is because adult horses are too hard to buy here. Not only does one horse cost more than a hundred taels, but there is also a shortage of demand, making it very difficult to buy.

Zhou Zemao's adult horse was bought by luck, and he spent 120 taels of silver to buy it. It was twice as expensive as Zhou Po's ponies.

Zhou Jin didn't want to buy a horse at first. He had inquired around and found that most soldiers like them were poor and few people bought horses. But Zhou Zelin and Zhou Zesheng insisted on buying one for him, and with Zhou Po and Zhou Dai encouraging him, Zhou Jin couldn't refuse no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he had no choice but to keep the favor between the two families in mind and repay them later.

After buying the horse, Zhou Jin insisted on paying for the rest of the equipment himself. For fear that Zhou Zelin and Zhou Zesheng would feel bad and continue to subsidize him, he bought good equipment, exactly the same as Zhou Po and Zhou Dai's. This set of equipment cost him nearly one hundred taels. In addition to the sixty taels that Zhou Zelin and Zhou Zesheng insisted on paying for the pony, Zhou Jin also spent more than thirty taels himself, leaving him with only thirty taels of the sixty taels.

Thinking that after buying winter supplies and food for the family, the money would be almost spent. After he went to the military camp, the family couldn't be without any cash, so Zhou Jin decided to sell the prey and Ganoderma lucidum in the space first.

Before coming, Zhou Jin specially took out the two bags of pheasants and hares in the space, and brought a few bags of herbs picked by Zhou Ruifeng. He didn't need to find an excuse at this time. He just said that he was going to sell herbs to Zhou Ruifeng and sell the prey he had just caught. He left the remaining thirty or so taels to Zhou Zesheng and asked him to help buy food for his family later. He also asked Zhou Dai to help him carry the equipment and lead the horse. He rented a donkey cart and took Zhou Ruifeng's bags of herbs and two bags of hares and pheasants to the drugstore in town.

Because the town's pharmacy was just across the street from the pawnshop that had ripped him off last time, Zhou Jin wore a large straw hat to hide his face to prevent the pawnshop clerk from recognizing him, and then took the herbs to the Tongji Pharmacy designated by Zhou Ruifeng.

Zhou Ruifeng had come to inspect last time and was very satisfied with the price of medicinal materials purchased by this pharmacy. Since Zhou Ruifeng approved it, Zhou Jin felt that it should be a conscientious businessman, so he did not go to other shops and walked in with a few bags of herbs.

The man who received him was a waiter in his twenties. He was very enthusiastic and the price he offered was indeed fair. After selling several bags of medicinal herbs, the price was almost the same as Zhou Ruifeng's estimate, a total of one tael and eight cents of silver.

Zhou Jin then decided to sell the eight Ganoderma lucidum that his sister had picked in this store as well. He had taken the Ganoderma lucidum out of the space and hidden it in the backpack behind him, but Zhou Jin felt that the young clerk in front of him might not be able to make the decision on such a precious medicinal material. When the young clerk settled the money for the first few bags of medicine for him, he asked if the shopkeeper was there.

The young man knew that he might have something good to sell, so he took him to the backyard without asking the other guests what it was.

He asked him to wait in the yard for a while while he went to another shop through the backyard.

Zhou Jin then discovered that the backyard of this pharmacy was connected to the backyard of the clinic next door. This meant that the pharmacy and clinic in front must have been opened by the same company.

After waiting for a while, an old man with white hair and beard came out of the back door of the clinic. He was wearing an apron around his waist. It was obvious that he was still preparing medicinal materials, and the young man was following behind him.

When the old man came to Zhou Jin, he didn't say anything more and asked directly:

"Young man, do you have any herbs you want to sell? Bring them out so I can see them."

Zhou Jin put down the backpack and took out the eight Ganoderma lucidum inside.

The old man's eyes lit up immediately when he saw it. He carefully picked up a flower and looked at it carefully. After looking at it and smelling it, he said:

"Not bad, not bad. They're Basswood Ganoderma. They were picked at the perfect time, and the flowers are big! I want all of them. Tell me, how much do you plan to sell them for?"

Zhou Jin didn't expect the old man to be so straightforward. He had asked Zhou Ruifeng before coming and knew that the current price of a pound of ordinary Ganoderma lucidum was about four taels of silver, and a good quality one was about five taels. These Ganoderma lucidum he had were about six pounds, so he should be able to sell them for more than thirty taels.

But Zhou Jin did not mention the price. Instead, he let the old man decide the price, intending to discuss it later if the old man was not satisfied with the price.

Upon hearing this, the old man looked at several Ganoderma lucidums one by one and offered a price of thirty taels.

Just as Zhou Jin expected, it was indeed very fair. Zhou Jin felt that his sister could sell any herbs she picked to this store in the future.

So he sold the Ganoderma lucidum happily, and after leaving the pharmacy, he found a secluded place, took out the roe deer in the space, hired a donkey cart again, and went to the big restaurants in the town to sell it.

The brother and sister shot a total of five wild rabbits, ten pheasants, and a roe deer yesterday. Zhou Jin had just asked the driver who brought him here. The price of a pound of rabbit meat here is about eight cents, pheasant is more expensive at ten cents, and roe deer meat is the most valuable, about thirty cents per pound.

The driver also said that the prey he hunted was so fresh that restaurants and hotels would probably like to buy it and it would sell for a good price.

Just as the driver said, when Zhou Jin found a restaurant called Yingbinlou and poured out the prey in the sack to show the owner, the owner was very happy to see it.

Since they live in the mountains, they naturally have no shortage of wild animals here, but such fresh prey, with the blood still red, is indeed rare.

Even if hunters here managed to catch prey, they couldn't sell it for at least a day or two. After all, the journey up and down the mountain, and then to town, took quite a while. Sometimes, fearing the prey might spoil, hunters would simply smoke or salt it before selling it. Such fresh prey was rarely seen, even by restaurant owners.

"Little brother, your prey looks like it was just killed, especially this roe deer, the blood is still so fresh. Where did you get it from?" the shopkeeper asked curiously.

"The prey was hunted in the mountains here, but it was immediately transported down the mountain and then transported here by renting a fast horse. So it is fresher than others," Zhou Jin made up.

"Oh, I see. How much do you want to sell this prey for?" the shopkeeper asked again.

"Haha, boss, you see my prey is so fresh. It cost a lot of money just to transport it. You should at least give me a little more, right?

I don't want much, so I'll just charge two cents more per catty than the market price. How about 32 cents per catty for roe deer, 12 cents for pheasant, and 10 cents for rabbit?"

Considering the freshness of the prey, two cents for a little over a pound was indeed not a lot. The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement, thinking that there would be several tables of distinguished guests tonight and these wild animals would come in handy.

"Well, considering your prey is very fresh, I won't argue with you about this. I'll take both the roe deer and the pheasant. As for the rabbit, we just bought a lot in our store, so we won't take it for now." said the shopkeeper.

After saying that, he told the accountant next to him to weigh the money for Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin thought today was really smooth sailing, and hurriedly helped carry the prey to the waiter to weigh it. While watching the waiter weigh it, he calculated the price and said to the banker with a smile:

"A roe deer weighs sixty catties, and at thirty-two coins per catty, that's a total of one thousand nine hundred and twenty coins. Ten pheasants weigh twenty-one catties, and at twelve coins per catty, that's a total of two thousand one hundred and seventy-two coins. That's two ounces and one hundred and seventy coins in silver. Just give me two ounces and one hundred and seventy coins."

That accounting office...

Not only the accountant was surprised, but even the shopkeeper next to him was surprised. He didn't expect Zhou Jin to settle the accounts so quickly.

The shopkeeper and the accountant exchanged a glance. The accountant hurriedly started calculating on his abacus. After a moment, he nodded to the shopkeeper and said,

"Exactly two thousand seven hundred and twelve."

"I didn't expect you to be so good at mental arithmetic! Can you read? Do you want to work as a waiter in our restaurant? If you're willing to come, I can ask Lao Liu to take you in as his apprentice. When he retires, you'll be the accountant at our Yingbin Building!"

The shopkeeper immediately felt a desire to attract talented people. Seeing that Zhou Jin looked to be only in his teens, and was not only good at math but also very generous and smart in speaking and doing things, he thought that if he recruited this kid and trained him for a few years, he would be a great help to him in the future.

"I'm grateful for the manager's kindness. I shouldn't refuse, but my family is a newly assigned military household here. In a few days, I'll be going to the military camp to serve. Therefore, I can't accept this job."

Zhou Jin said with regret. Although he wouldn't have planned to work here as a waiter even if he hadn't gone into military service, it didn't stop him from expressing his gratitude for the shopkeeper's kindness. In this era, being a waiter in this welcoming building was truly a great job for an ordinary farmer's son.

"Oh? Your family is a newly assigned military household? I see you're only about thirteen or fourteen. Don't you have anyone else in your family? Why would they let a half-grown man like you serve in the army?"

When the shopkeeper heard that Zhou Jin's family was actually a military household, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, thinking, what a good boy, why did he have to be a military household. Seeing that this little boy was arranged by his family to serve in the army before he even reached adulthood, he felt a little sorry and couldn't help asking.

"My father passed away a few years ago. I'm the eldest son, so naturally, the duty of serving in the army falls on me!"

Zhou Jin looked like he couldn't refuse, which made the shopkeeper sigh again. It was unclear whether he felt pity for him or sympathy. After the cashier settled the bill for him, he asked again:

"Do you have any literate brothers at home, over ten years old? If so, you can come to my shop and be an apprentice. The pay isn't much, only six hundred coins a month, but it provides food and lodging, and the work is light. You just need to help with the accounting and take care of customers in your free time. It's better than staying in the countryside to open up wasteland!"

Zhou Jin had not expected that selling prey would bring him such a good deal. He then thought of Bai's son Zhou Lilai and felt that this job was suitable for him. He hurriedly said,

"My brothers are still young, but I have a cousin who is sixteen this year. His name is Zhou Li. He is better than me at writing and accounting. He originally passed the examination for Tongsheng and was planning to take the Xiucai examination this year, but his family encountered an unexpected change, so he came to Liaodong. I wonder if the shopkeeper thinks he is suitable?"

"Oh? It's actually a tongsheng master?" The shopkeeper was surprised. In this frontier area, it was hard to find a literate person, let alone one with a degree. He immediately became interested and asked again.

"What kind of character do you have, brother? Let me tell you first. If he's just a bookworm, no matter how knowledgeable he is, I won't want him!"

"Don't worry, boss. Although my cousin is good at studying, he is not a bookworm. He has a very good temper and always smiles when he sees people. I guarantee you will be satisfied when you see him!"

The Bai mother-in-law and daughter-in-law educated Zhou Li very well. Apart from being a little indecisive, he was a good man who knew how to act and was well-mannered.

"Then let him come over and give it a try. Let's try him out for three days. If he works well, I will definitely not treat him unfairly!"

In their reception building, the only one who can read is the accountant, Old Liu. I'm afraid Old Liu will retire in two years, and the shopkeeper has long wanted to find a literate boy to train!

"Okay, I'll send a message back and ask my brother to come over tomorrow."

Zhou Jin quickly responded, then smiled innocently, "Boss, I have a request."

When the shopkeeper heard this, he smiled and asked what was the matter.

Zhou Jin pointed at the roe deer on the ground and said:

"Because my uncles have always strictly ordered me not to go into the mountains, I have kept the fact that I went into the mountains to hunt roe deer a secret from the clan. If they knew about it, they would inevitably nag me again. If my brother comes tomorrow, please help me keep it a secret and just say that I came here to sell pheasants and rabbits. Don't mention the roe deer! Hehe..."

"What?! You said you hunted this roe deer by yourself in the mountains?" The shopkeeper was shocked again after hearing this. He didn't expect that the teenager in front of him was so capable. He thought there was a mature hunter in Zhou Jin's family!

But at the same time, he was surprised and worried for Zhou Jin.

"If you ask me, you'd better not do such dangerous things in the future. Your uncles are right. There are many tigers and bears in the deep mountains. You are lucky that you didn't encounter one this time. You can't say for sure what will happen in the future!"

"Yes, I won't go again without someone to accompany me. This time, my family was really short of money, so I took a risk..."

Zhou Jin agreed with a smile, thinking that he would be going to the military camp in a few days and probably wouldn't have much time to hunt.

"By the way, may I ask your name, boss? When my cousin comes tomorrow, should he come directly to you?"

"Haha, my name is Zhang Jin, and I've been the shopkeeper here for over ten years. Tomorrow, when your cousin comes, have the waiter bring him to me in the back hall!"

Shopkeeper Zhang smiled and patted Zhou Jin's shoulder, but he still felt a little regretful that he couldn't keep Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin exchanged a few words with the shopkeeper Zhang before leaving. Before leaving, he handed the five rabbits in his hand to the shop assistant.

"I don't have anything to show for myself, so I'll keep these rabbits for Shopkeeper Zhang to drink at the bar!"

After saying that, he strode away!

This made Zhang the shopkeeper sigh again. What a smart boy, yet he chose to join the army! Alas!

The author has something to say:

[Please add this to your collection!! Cai Cai's new book "Fei Shi Yan Ran" - please go to the author's homepage and add it to your collection!! Please please!!]

Still asking for collections, comments, and flowers... Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution between 2022-06-23 14:02:31 and 2022-06-24 08:59:09~

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