Chapter 12 Going to Town

Breakfast was still the same three things, except that the cornmeal steamed buns were replaced with the corn pancakes that Zhang Juexia had baked yesterday.

Zhang Juexia cut the egg into two halves with a knife, and she and Ye Beixiu each took half.

Ye Beixiu didn't refuse this time. Zhang Juexia handed it to him and he took it. "We went to the town today, let's buy some eggs."

"Yes, we have to buy some. It's best for one person to eat one egg a day."

"Um."

Ye Beixiu put down the bowl and went to the yard to tie up pheasants and rabbits.

By the time he had packed the pheasants and rabbits, Zhang Juexia had finished eating.

He went to wash the dishes.

Zhang Juexia took advantage of this time to pack the medicinal herbs he had dug yesterday.

The two of them prepared to go out.

"Is the town far?"

"If we walk, it will take an hour, and if we take the ox cart, it will take an hour and a half."

“Why is the bullock cart slower than walking?”

"We had to take a detour. On the day of the wedding, the journey that would have taken an hour took almost two hours by ox cart, just because of the detour."

Zhang Juexia looked at the pheasant fluttering on the ground, then thought of Ye Beixiu's legs and made a decision, "Let's take the ox cart."

"good."

Zhang Juexia and Ye Beixiu walked for a long time before they reached the place where the ox cart was parked in the village.

Ye Yunhai, who was driving the ox cart, saw that the person coming was Ye Beixiu, and hurried forward to help him put the backpack on the ox cart, "Good boy, you have hunted good things in the mountains again."

"Just a few pheasants and rabbits."

"That's good too."

Ye Yunhai saw Zhang Juexia and said, "I was wondering why you were willing to take the ox cart today. It turns out you are taking your wife to the town."

Ye Beixiu helped Zhang Juexia onto the ox cart and introduced her, "This is our Uncle Yunhai. We are both from the Ye family. He was the one who accompanied me to pick you up when we got married that day."

Zhang Juexia smiled shyly, "Thank you for troubling Uncle Yunhai."

"It's not a big deal. It's not like you can ride in an oxcart for free."

"I already call him uncle, so it's not in vain for you, a stingy old man."

Ye Yunhai spat on the ground. "Bah, Auntie, you can't say that. Except for a few outsiders, everyone in our village has the surname Ye. If I waive the fare, I'll be left with nothing. I..."

Ye Beixiu was too lazy to listen to their nonsense and took out six coins from his pocket and gave them to Ye Yunhai, "Two people plus these things for me."

"Otherwise, why would I like dealing with Bei Xiu? He's honest and never takes advantage of others."

The other two people in the car looked at the piles of things in front of them and turned their faces away.

"Uncle Yunhai, that's enough. At this hour, the villagers who wanted to ride in the ox cart have already taken it."

"That's right, that's right."

Ye Yunhai reluctantly drove the ox cart out of the village.

Zhang Juexia regretted his decision before the ox cart had gone far.

Slow, too slow.

The mountain road was difficult to walk on, and the old cow was pulling a broken cart slowly. The most outrageous thing was that Ye Yunhai would catch every time the old cow defecated, under the pretext of keeping the wealth within the family.

When we arrived at Jinshui Town, the sun was already high in the sky.

When entering the city gate, each person paid a penny of city tax, and only then was they allowed to enter the town.

Ye Beixiu carried the prey on his back and pulled Zhang Juexia straight to the Manfu Restaurant in the town.

When Wan Xi, the owner of Manfu Restaurant, saw that it was Ye Beixiu, he put down his abacus and went to greet him, "What good stuff do you have this time?"

Ye Beixiu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Hello, Manager Wan. These are just some common things, pheasants and rabbits."

Wan Xi glanced into the basket and nodded with satisfaction. "Young man, I am satisfied with the prey you sent me. They are all alive. Okay, send them to the kitchen quickly. Xiao Shunzi, tell the kitchen to settle the bill according to the highest level."

"Okay, boss."

Wang Dong, the kitchen manager, was delighted to see the lively pheasants and rabbits. "If any customers complain about our ingredients not being fresh today, I'll be the first to say no to them."

"Young man, I'll give you twenty cents a pound for pheasants and twenty-five cents a pound for rabbits. Is that okay with you?"

Ye Beixiu was already overjoyed when he heard the price, "You have the final say."

"If you have fresh wild animals like this in the future, please send them to our restaurant immediately."

"That's right, that's right."

The kitchen helper had already weighed the pheasants and rabbits and reported to Wang Dong, "Boss, the pheasants weigh 32 kilograms, and the rabbits weigh 30 kilograms."

After hearing the weight, Wang Dong quickly paid Ye Beixiu the bill. "The pheasant is 640 wen, and the hare is 750 wen, so the total is 1,390 wen."

Zhang Juexia was shocked when he heard Wang Dong quote the price so quickly. Hunting really made money. No wonder Ye Beixiu could afford a betrothal gift of ten taels of silver to marry a wife.

However, she thought of Ye Beixiu's father and his injured leg. This is also a life-threatening job!

Ye Beixiu took the one tael of silver and three hundred and ninety coins from Wang Dong, said a few polite words, and left the restaurant with Zhang Juexia.

"Are you thirsty? If you are, there's a teahouse up ahead where you can have some tea."

Zhang Juexia shook his head and said, "Let's go to the pharmacy first and ask if they accept herbs."

"Then let's go to Li's Pharmacy! Ordinary people go to them for headaches and fevers, and the prices are fair."

Ye Beixiu brought Zhang Juexia into Li's Pharmacy. The shop assistant received them warmly. When he heard that they were selling medicinal herbs, he did not neglect them but just asked the shopkeeper to come out.

Li Yidong, the owner of Li's Pharmacy, came up to them with a smile and asked, "Would you two like to sell herbal medicine?"

"Yes."

Zhang Juexia placed the cleaned medicinal herbs in the backpack in front of Manager Li.

Shopkeeper Li opened it and took a look, then picked up a few and smelled them carefully.

"The herbs are very clean, not bad. The bupleurum and polygala are worth some silver, but the others are common herbs. How about this: I'll give you one tael of silver for the bupleurum and polygala, and one hundred coins for the others. What do you think?"

"Thank you, Shopkeeper Li."

Zhang Juexia bowed to Manager Li with gratitude.

Shopkeeper Li waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, if you dig up more herbs in the future, you can sell them to us."

A basket of medicinal herbs was sold for 1,100 coins, and Ye Beixiu was shocked.

This is much better than hunting. At least he doesn't have to worry about being eaten by wild beasts.

He once again carefully looked at the young wife in front of him and felt that he had really found a treasure.

Once everything is sold, the burden on me will be lighter.

"Let's go buy some cloth, then some necessities, and then go home."

Ye Beixiu's pace became much faster.

After running a few steps, Zhang Juexia remembered that he was so busy selling medicinal herbs that he forgot to do the most important thing.

No, she wanted to go back to the pharmacy, but Ye Beixiu was in front of her and no matter how she called, he seemed not to hear her.