Chapter 45 Procurement

Fortunately, He Zhiran completely inherited the original owner's memory, so he was able to recognize these plaques with traditional Chinese characters.

When she walked to a butcher's shop and asked about the prices, He Zhiran was surprised to find that the ribs here were actually cheaper than meat.

Pork costs 18 cents per pound, while spare ribs only cost 8 cents.

He Zhiran bought a rack of ribs without hesitation. Not only was it cheap, it was also her favorite.

People would think she was calculating and unwilling to spend a high price on pork, so she could only buy cheap ribs.

After buying the pork, ask the boss to chop it into small pieces and put it on the wooden cart.

He Zhiran entered a grocery store again.

The owner of the grocery store looked at a loss, sitting at the counter with his head down, not even glancing at the customers who came in.

If he had encountered such a merchant in his previous life, He Zhiran would have chosen to leave immediately.

However, it was different here. She didn't want to waste time looking for another grocery store, so she could only wander around the store by herself.

The goods here were placed in a rather messy manner. After looking around, He Zhiran couldn't find what he wanted to buy.

"Boss, do you have any oil paper here?"

The shopkeeper raised his head listlessly when he heard the customer's question.

"We have some oil paper. How much would you like, young lady?"

He Zhiran thought that in the future she would often take things out of the space, and she couldn't grab them with her hands every time like she did with the braised beef.

Therefore, for her, the more oil paper the better.

"How much oil paper do you have here? I want it all."

The shopkeeper obviously didn't believe what she said.

"Young lady, you are kidding, right? I have a lot of oil paper here."

"I'm not kidding, as long as the price is fair, I promise I'll take them all."

The shopkeeper quickly stood up, went behind the curtain, and soon came back with a large stack of oil paper.

He Zhiran estimated that there were at least more than a thousand of them, which was quite a lot.

The shopkeeper put the oil paper on the counter.

"My dear lady, there are 1,100 sheets of oil paper, and ten sheets for one penny. I guarantee you won't be able to buy them anywhere else at this price."

Although He Zhiran didn't know much about the prices of goods in that era, she intuitively felt that the shopkeeper was not fooling her.

"Okay, I want all these oil papers."

She took out two strings of copper coins from the space using the cover of her sleeves.

These copper coins were stolen from the national treasury, several boxes in total, and she didn't feel bad at all about spending them.

After counting out one hundred and ten coins to the shopkeeper, He Zhiran was just about to go out with the oil paper when he saw a young man running in in a panic.

"Dad, I just went to the inn to inquire again, and the merchant who ordered the oilcloth from us really ran away."

The shopkeeper sat dejectedly on the chair, covering his face with his hands, and I don’t know if he was crying.

The young man passed by He Zhiran and entered the counter.

"Dad, what should we do now?"

The shopkeeper shook his head, his tone full of helplessness.

"Alas... We invested all our wealth in ordering that batch of oilcloth. Now that the customer has run away, we can only find a way to sell it at a low price."

When He Zhiran heard this, he immediately turned back.

She was very interested in the oilcloth that the two people were talking about.

"Boss, could you please show me the oilcloth you mentioned?"

The shopkeeper looked at He Zhiran, still with a helpless look on his face.

"Young lady, please don't make things worse. That oilcloth is used to make umbrellas. You won't be able to use it even if you buy it."

He Zhiran had just wondered whether the oilcloth they were talking about could protect against rain. After hearing what the shopkeeper said, she was completely certain that this was exactly what she wanted.

"Boss, since you have oilcloth for sale anyway, why don't you let me take a look? If it's suitable, I'll buy some."

"Young lady, please wait a moment. I'll get some samples for you to see." The young man was smarter than the shopkeeper and didn't mind the trouble. He quickly got up to get the oilcloth.

Soon, he returned with a piece of blue and a piece of black oilcloth.

"Look, young lady, our oilcloth is thin, and the umbrellas we make are light and durable."

He Zhiran raised his hand and touched the oilcloth. As the young man said, the oilcloth was very thin.

However, the weave is very dense and the quality is obviously very good.

"Hey, young man, how much is this oilcloth?"

The young man probably couldn't make the decision, so he turned around and discussed with the shopkeeper.

"Dad, I think we just need to get back some of the money we spent on this oilcloth. Why don't we just sell it at cost?"

The shopkeeper nodded with difficulty.

"If you want to buy a whole horse, we will charge you our cost price, 500 coins per horse."

He Zhiran didn't understand the prices, but whenever she heard a quote of a certain price, she would think it was cheap.

She inquired about the length and width of each piece of cloth, and finally calculated that if she used this oilcloth to make simple tents, one piece of oilcloth could make two.

"Shopkeeper, how much oilcloth do you have?"

The shopkeeper's eyes widened again: "How much do you want?"

He Zhiran made some calculations and decided that the simple tent she wanted to make could accommodate two people. There were twelve people in the He family, and there were twenty people in the Xie family and the Fang family.

Those police officers who are always trying to take advantage of the prisoners should not be left out either.

With so many people, we need at least twenty-five tents.

"Shopkeeper, I want thirteen pieces of oilcloth."

When the shopkeeper heard this number, he felt that there must be something wrong with his ears, and he picked his ears hard without caring about his image.

Young people still react quickly.

"Wait a minute, young lady. I'll get you the oilcloth."

He Zhiran raised his hand to stop him.

"No rush, I bought so many things, I wonder if your store can deliver to my door?"

"Yes, we can deliver the goods as long as they are within Yunlai County." The young man quickly agreed.

After confirming that the goods could be delivered, He Zhiran bought enough bamboo poles and hemp ropes.

While paying the money, she also did not forget to give instructions.

"Brother, I want eight black and five blue horses, along with the bamboo poles, to be delivered to the inn west of the city."

"Okay, no problem." The young man agreed and ran to the backyard to prepare the goods.

Seeing that the grocery store didn't have what he needed, He Zhiran pushed the cart away.

On the way, she deliberately found a few deserted alleys and took out the food in the space and placed it on a wooden cart.

She also purchased some of the various vegetables sold by the farmers to use as cover for obtaining supplies from the space.

He Zhiran was shopping along the way, while quietly taking out some seasonings and other items from the space.

When she passed by the grain store, she bought a jar of rapeseed oil and also bought two identical empty jars from the owner, filling them up one by one with the peanut oil in the space.

Finally, I bought three large iron pots, three iron shovels, three kettles and other common items from the blacksmith shop.

The wooden cart was getting heavier and heavier, and He Zhiran had a hard time pushing it.

There was no other way. These things needed to be exposed to the light, and she didn't dare to put them into the space and transport them back. She could only push the wooden cart forward with difficulty.

He Zhiran knew that with the physical strength of this body, he probably wouldn't be able to go any further.

Therefore, she had no choice but to return the same way.