Chapter 10 Chapter 10 He returned to the festival...
He returned to the sacrificial paper stall and said to the stall owner, "Sir, most of the people who come to your stall to buy sacrificial paper have to write petitions, so why are you pushing the money away?"
"Why don't we work together? Let me borrow your stall. You sell the sacrificial paper and I write the petitions. I'll give you a hundred coins for every petition you sell."
"Can you write a petition?" The stall owner was naturally excited when he heard that. But she looked at him with some suspicion and asked, "Since you can write, why don't you set up a stall and write by yourself? And you want to share the money with me?"
Chen Xuan said to him, "I'm setting up a stall by myself, who knows I can write petitions? How can I compare to working with you and making more money?"
After hearing this, the stall owner thought this made sense, so he agreed and gave Shen Xuan a blank sacrificial paper, asking him to try writing on it first.
Shen Xuan thought for a moment, then picked up his pen and started writing. The format of his petition was very neat, leaving only the space for the name blank. Although the calligraphy of small characters with hairpin flowers is not amazing, it is enough for writing a memorial.
Shen Xuan gave the written petition to the stall owner and asked him to hang it in front of the stall for customers who came to buy sacrificial paper to see.
Sure enough, just after I finished writing, a customer came over to ask about it.
"Stall owner, after I buy sacrificial paper from you, can I write the petition directly?" asked a middle-aged woman.
"Sure, but I'll charge you another 100 yuan." Chen Xuan immediately answered, "You can write whatever you want. If you don't know what to write, you can directly refer to this sample essay. Just change the name."
The woman thought Shen Xuan was a handsome man. Seeing that he looked heroic and called her sister sweetly, she blushed and said, "One tael of silver per piece is cheaper than other places. I see that your handwriting is also good, so just write one here."
You should know that the price of silver is high now. One tael of silver can be exchanged for one thousand two hundred coins. In other places, writing a petition costs one or two taels of silver, but here it only costs two hundred coins less, and the price is more favorable.
In addition, Shen Xuan is not as aloof as those scholars. He is sweet-mouthed and good at speaking, and he also writes beautiful petitions. In less than half an hour, a long line formed in front of the stall selling sacrificial paper.
Not only those who bought sacrificial paper at the stall, but even some who bought sacrificial paper outside came to him specifically to ask him to write petitions.
Shen Xuan wrote furiously, one sheet after another without stopping.
Each of these petitions was worth a heavy copper coin, but in just an hour and a half, Shen Xuan wrote more than twenty petitions, and he did not stop even when his wrists were sore and swollen.
However, when the time came to the afternoon, there were still many people queuing behind.
Chen Xuan finally spoke to the stall owner and said, "It's too late today. I will just write for the people in the queue behind me. You can talk to the customers who bought paper. If there are still people who want to write, they can come back tomorrow."
If it is too late, you can't go back and have to stay in the city for another night, which is not cost-effective. And Lin Ye was still waiting for him at home, and Shen Xuan didn't want to make the other party worry.
"Then come earlier tomorrow." The stall owner said with some regret.
He agreed to Shen Xuan's cooperation today with the idea of giving it a try, thinking that he could make some free money.
He didn't expect that Shen Xuan's memorial would be so popular. In just half a day today, the profit he got was no less than the profit he made from selling sacrificial paper, and it also brought him a group of new customers.
"Okay." Shen Xuan nodded and continued writing for a while. He wrote a total of thirty-two letters before he finally finished all the petitions that were ordered today.
At this time, the sun was setting and the sky was gradually getting dark. Shen Xuan hurriedly counted today's income with the stall owner.
Thirty-two letters mean thirty-two strings of cash. Although three strings and two hundred coins needed to be distributed to the stall owner, the remaining twenty-eight strings and eight hundred coins was still a huge sum of money for Shen Xuan now.
Adding the remaining money from before and the profit from selling eels today, there are more than 29 strings of cash.
Shen Xuan collected the money, said goodbye and left. But he did not go back directly, but went to a clothing shop not far away.
There are many ready-made clothes hanging at the door of this shop, and some exquisitely crafted embroidery works are placed inside.
Lezhou is located in the south, where weaving technology is well-developed and the craftsmanship of its garment shops is well-known far and wide.
Especially since this shop is located on Koi Street, it serves wealthy customers, and the styles and workmanship of the clothes are quite exquisite.
Shen Xuan looked at it for a while, then asked the shopkeeper about the price and size of the clothes.
After choosing for a long time, he finally picked out a navy blue, fine cloth, narrow-sleeved gown that cost only one tael of silver.
This dress only has hems on the belt and collar, and the style is very simple and neat. It was not bought for himself, but was specially picked for Xue Fenglin.
He thought that Lin Ye was still wearing his old clothes. Although he was tall, he was still a boy after all. Lin Ye put on his clothes, and the sleeves and hem were shorter.
He also took out a black piece of clothing of the same style and handed it to the store owner, thinking that two sets of clothes should be enough for Lin Ye to change.
After buying Xue Fenglin's clothes, Shen Xuan asked the shopkeeper to bring the shoes over to try on.
The shoes he was wearing now were worn-out ones from the Wang family. Not only did they not fit his feet, but the soles were as thin as paper.
Shen Xuan picked out a pair of new shoes for 200 wen. Although it is just an ordinary cloth upper, the upper is thick and the sole has a thousand-layer sole, which is a full finger thick. It is much more comfortable to wear than the previous pair.
Shen Xuan was very satisfied with the shoes, so he bought two pairs. After thinking about it, he increased the size a little according to his own size and bought two pairs for Xue Fenglin.
After buying the shoes, Shen Xuan looked at the clothes he was wearing.
He worked too much every day, and the silks and satins would get damaged when he wore them. Besides, he now lives in the village, so it’s better not to pay too much attention to him.
So Shen Xuan picked around and finally chose two simplest cloth clothes.
One is misty blue, the other is green. The misty blue dress has wide sleeves, while the green dress has narrow sleeves. The material is also fine cloth, the same as the one I bought for Xue Fenglin. The price is also one yuan.
"This young man is so handsome. If he puts on my clothes, he will be even more handsome." The shopkeeper who sold clothes was eloquent. While taking the copper coins from Chen Xuan, he took the clothes and let him try them on.
Shen Xuan took off his patched outer garment and put on new clothes.
However, it was a simple piece of fine cloth without even a single extra embroidery, but it outlined his slender figure and immediately added a touch of nobility to Shen Xuan.
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that even his cheapest clothes could be worn so beautifully by Shen Xuan. He stared in amazement.
Shen Xuan was also quite satisfied, so he simply wore the green narrow-sleeved clothes and did not take them off, and only asked the shopkeeper to pack up the other things.
The shopkeeper immediately went with a smile, tied the remaining clothes together with coarse cloth into a bundle and handed it to Shen Xuan.
But I spent four strings of cash and four hundred coins at once to buy two new sets of clothes!
Shen Xuan couldn't help but sigh that he earned too little and it was not enough to spend. I also gave up the idea of buying other things.
In order to save time, Shen Xuan carried his bag and spent five cents to get a carriage to the dock outside the south gate of the city.
Arriving at the market near the pier, Shen Xuan got off the car and saw a roadside condiment shop that was still open, so he bought more than a dozen condiments including cane sugar, pepper, cumin, and bean paste.
These seasonings were not cheap, but Shen Xuan spent a full guan of money on just a few taels of each.
After buying the seasonings, he bought five kilograms of vegetable oil. Adding some vegetables, ham, mutton and other items, the total cost was more than 800 coins, and he only stopped when he filled the bamboo basket on his back.
At this time, the sun was still a while away from setting, so Shen Xuan hurriedly inquired about the oxcart heading back to the village, but found that the farmers who had entered the city in the morning had sold their grain and had basically all left after noon.
It takes at least an hour to take a ox cart from the city to the official road near the village, not to mention walking back.
Even if we could walk as far as we could, it would be dark halfway through. It is difficult to walk at night. I don’t know when it will be midnight when I get home.
Shen Xuan hadn't expected that the first time he entered the city, he might not be able to return because of the delay.
He was speechless, thinking that if he didn't come home all night, he didn't know if Lin Ye would be able to stay at home. Are you worried about yourself?
Shen Xuan looked around and found that the mule and horse market next to the dock was still open.
With an idea in his mind, he walked into the mule and horse market. I saw a huge fence inside, and many cows and horses were eating grass inside. There is a small hut next to it, where the horse-trading shepherd seems to live.
"Is anyone else here? I want to buy a horse." Shen Xuan knocked on the wooden door of the hut, and an old man who sold horses walked out.
He glanced at Shen Xuan and said, "A top-quality warhorse costs thirty taels each, a medium-quality horse costs twenty taels each, and an inferior horse costs ten taels each. Which one do you want?"
When Shen Xuan heard the price, he was shocked. The worst inferior horse cost ten taels each! He remembered that the old ox in the village chief's house seemed to be worth only eight taels of silver each, which was two taels less than this inferior horse.
"Are there any cheaper horses?" Shen Xuan asked. Ten taels of silver was twelve strings of cash, which was still too expensive for him!
"Horses are always expensive. If you want something cheap, just buy a mule."
The old man took a look at Shen Xuan and saw that he was dressed quite simply and had a bamboo basket on his back. He thought he was not a rich man, so he led a blue and white mule out of the fence.
"This mule is five years old. It is used by camel drivers to pull goods. It is also fast. I only want five taels of silver. Do you want it?"
Compared to the more expensive horses, mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey. Because they cannot reproduce and produce little mules, their price is much lower.
When Shen Xuan saw that the blue and white mule was strong and no worse than an inferior horse, and it only cost five taels of silver, equivalent to six strings of cash, he liked it.
He patted the blue and white mule's back, and the mule snorted happily as if it had a soul.
Chen Xuan pulled the reins and climbed on. The mule was very obedient and let Chen Xuan ride on its back. It just kicked its legs and took two steps forward without making any noise.
"Very well behaved." Shen Xuan stroked its mane with satisfaction and counted out six strings of cash to the man selling the horse.
Then he rode away on his blue and white mule, heading towards Yunshui Village.
He has to go to the city to do some business tomorrow, and it would be a lot more convenient with this mule. If we walk faster, we should be able to get home before dark.
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