Chapter 329 Bai Ziyi

Having been comforted by the words of Dr. Liang and the young boy from Shaoyang, Li Sanniang has been busy on her days of duty and has forgotten about those nitpicking words.

After finishing her shift today, Li Sanniang sent Nineteen to the West Market.

In the past few days, Li San Niang has seen many merchants bringing cattle and sheep to sell, and there are even more than a dozen carts carrying wool, which is quite a sight.

"It's getting cold, winter has arrived, we should eat some mutton to nourish ourselves."

There are plenty of sheep now, so they should be much cheaper. If they're significantly cheaper, we'll buy two; otherwise, we'll just buy one to take home and eat.

Li San Niang then spoke to Qiu Xiang and Shi Jiu in this manner.

Sure enough, as soon as the carriage was parked outside the West Market, before it even entered the market, Li San Niang could smell a strong, pungent odor of mutton.

Despite the discomfort, Li San Niang quickly pulled off the sachet from her waist and brought it to her nose to smell.

In the end, Nineteen was allowed to buy it himself, while Qiu Xiang and Li San Niang waited by the carriage.

By the time they returned to the Li family home, it was already dark.

As soon as she got off the carriage, Li San Niang saw Li Da Sao waiting at the door.

Nineteen picked up the lamb, which had been tied up at the back of the carriage and had already been skinned and gutted, from the back of the carriage.

"Oh dear, Third Sister, why did you bring sheep back too?"

"also"?

Li San Niang wondered, why was someone in her family going to buy sheep?

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong? You went to buy some? I specifically asked Nineteen, and she said that no one went to buy any sheep during the day."

Faced with Li San Niang's questioning gaze, Shi Jiu quickly replied, "San Niangzi, I really didn't buy any when I left home."

Sister-in-law Li clapped her hands, urging everyone to hurry inside, and said to Li San Niang, "Hey, what a coincidence!"

No sooner had Shijiu left than Qiu Niang and Tuva arrived with Bai Ziyi and a few others.

They brought two skinned and cleaned lambs, along with their entrails in a basket.

Li San Niang then understood the whole story; it was just a coincidence.

"Haha, it's alright, sister-in-law. We have a lot of family members. Let's invite Madam Qin, Master, and Junior Brother, plus Bai Ziyi and the others. Tiger Head and the others are also at the age where they can eat a lot. We'll probably be able to eat a lot today."

As they walked into the courtyard, Li San Niang added to Li Da Sao, "Sister-in-law, don't forget to save some for your elder brother in advance, lest we all get to eat while he doesn't."

Sister-in-law Li couldn't help but smile, "I know, I won't forget your elder brother's contribution."

After washing her hands, Li San Niang picked up Lu Zhu'er and carried her into the main hall, where she saw Li's father, mother, and second brother accompanying Bai Ziyi and the others who had come to visit the Li family.

The main hall, which was a fairly large space, now seemed rather cramped to Li San Niang.

Besides Tuva, there was also the eight-foot-tall strongman Kesong, whom I had met a few times before, and Li Shan, who was also very tall. With all these people sitting there, the chair looked a whole size smaller.

It was Shen Qiu Niang who first noticed Li San Niang at the door. "San Niangzi, you're back?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Li San Niang asked Bai Ziyi, the person in charge among them, "Brother Bai, it must have been quite a long time. It must have been about a month and a half, right?"

Judging from your expressions, the sheep-buying trip must have gone smoothly?

Bai Ziyi grinned and stood up to bow to Li Sanniang.

"I must thank Third Sister for the information. If Third Sister hadn't told me in advance, I would have taken Qi Mu back to the tribe and ordered the sheep earlier. I'm afraid I wouldn't have gotten such a great deal."

"Oh? What does Brother Bai mean?" Brother Li asked curiously.

Before Bai Ziyi could reply, Ke Song, who was sitting to the side like a black mountain, suddenly stood up and started gesturing wildly at everyone.

"Hey, the boss led us on horseback back to the tribe where Qimu Deta Aye lives. We met with several families and talked for several days before we finally settled on the sale of the sheep."

A few days later, the Tuvans arrived in their carts, bringing goods and money to trade.

We were lucky; we had just finished our transaction when the great merchants from the Western Regions sent someone over to say they wanted to buy cattle and sheep!

They offered 20% more than we did, but we had to make them deliver it to the border themselves.

"We all got to the border thanks to people Hatake found, so it didn't cost us much."

After Ke Song finished speaking, Bai Ziyi chimed in: "I only found out later that there was a big merchant buying wool, and of course, he also bought live sheep."

The price of cattle on the grasslands has increased by more than 20% this year, not to mention sheep; I'd say it's increased by about 35%.

Upon hearing this, Li Sanniang thought to herself, "It seems that this is what I suggested earlier: that the tribes of the Western Regions grasslands raise cattle and sheep on a large scale, especially sheep, in order to control the number of horses they raise."

Thus, the plan to further erode their cavalry was put on the agenda.

However, the question that Li San Niang asked was: "Brother Bai, what do those sheep that are collected use for?"

Bai Ziyi didn't expect Li Sanniang to ask about wool, but he did go and inquire about it.

"I did ask, and they said they wanted to use wool yarn to knit some kind of wool sweater. I don't know what else it could be used for."

Mr. Li, however, was concerned about the sheep intestines, so he asked, "Young Master Bai, has the sheep intestines that were to be collected under the contract with the Imperial Medical Bureau been handed over?"

When Bai Ziyi saw that it was Li's father who was asking the question, he sat up straight and respectfully replied, "Doctor Li, it was entrusted to me when we were outside the pass."

The Imperial Medical Bureau hired a skilled craftsman who slaughtered the animal on the spot and took it away immediately.

They set up tents there; there must be some special method they're using that they can't reveal to outsiders.

Mr. Li nodded, indicating that he understood.

After chatting for a while, as it grew late, Bai Ziyi stood up and said, "We'll take care of those two sheep. There are too many people, so don't trouble your wife with all that work."

Without waiting for Sister-in-law Li's reply, the group went straight to the kitchen, gathered firewood, built a bonfire in the yard, and set up a whole sheep.

Ke Song chuckled and took a cloth bag from the basket beside him. "Hehe, I told you I should bring the seasonings, but the boss thought I was being a nuisance."

As he spoke, Kesong untied the cloth bag, grabbed some seasonings, and smeared them on the skinned sheep.

Finally, one lamb was roasted, and the other was stewed.

When everything was ready, the Li family of more than ten people, along with Wu Qiaolan and Baoya who were staying there, and Dr. Liang, the young boy from Shaoyang, and Mr. Qin who lived in the next courtyard, together with Bai Ziyi and the others, ate the two sheep clean.

Brother Li suggested that they all stay overnight in the courtyard next door, but Bai Ziyi shook his head: "Brother Li, don't bother. We've already paid for the inn in the neighborhood, so we can't waste it."