Before turning towards the peaked tent of the Western Region merchant, Yu was a little worried. "Awan, why don't you come with me to the spice shop to buy the seasoning first? I'll come with you to buy spices another day."
Yu saw with her own eyes that Geng gave Miao Wan half a string of money, and in a blink of an eye, this prodigal sister-in-law spent it and had only fifty coins left, which was not enough to buy even one or two ounces of spices.
Before leaving, Madam Zhang specifically told Mrs. Yu that if Miao Wan didn't have enough money, she should pay for it first.
Yu thought about how lavishly Miao Wan spent money, and she thought the money left after buying the seasonings might not be enough for Miao Wan to use. She decided to go home and ask Aunt Qiao to persuade Miao Wan to buy more next time.
"Then let's buy the seasonings first and then go buy the spices." Miao Wan also wanted to see what was in the seasoning shop.
Yu paused and reluctantly agreed.
Although it was her mother-in-law's instruction, she felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about Miao Wan waiting for her to pay the money so contentedly.
There are many kinds of minerals in the Hehuang Valley area. The spice shops and dye shops in Wa City are mostly run by the Gu people. Their earthen brick houses are covered with cloth, which looks more fancy than tents.
But the shop was not as fancy as the outside, and Miao Wan was a little disappointed.
The productivity of the Yue Dynasty was similar to that of the Tang Dynasty. In addition to salt and sugar, there were only soy sauce, fermented vinegar and black bean sauce.
The sauce is extracted from the bean paste, and it tastes similar to soy sauce.
Lao vinegar is a sour juice made by the fermentation method of turbid wine. Miao Wan couldn't smell any difference between it and vinegar in later generations.
Only the black bean sauce is divided into different types. There are fewer beans in the northwest, so in addition to bean paste, there is also wheat-made black bean sauce, which has a lighter taste.
Yu asked Miao Wan if she wanted to buy everything except sugar.
It wasn't that Miao Wan didn't want to buy candy. At that time, sugar could already be made into white sand-like grains, but half a bucket of sugar cost three strings of coins, which was not something ordinary people could afford.
If the people were really hungry, they could go to an open-air stall and spend twenty cents to buy a pound of malt sugar.
Apart from sugar, salt and fermented black bean sauce are the most expensive. Salt costs five hundred wen per dou, and fermented black bean sauce costs four hundred wen.
The price of soy sauce is one hundred coins per dou, and the cheapest is vinegar, which costs eighty coins.
A dou weighs more than ten pounds. Yu bargained with the boss for a long time, gritted her teeth and asked for a dou each, and gave a total of one thousand coins.
The boss agreed to send his servants to Zhang's house. Anyway, they would send it there by mule cart, and they would also send the two baskets of beets back together.
"If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have asked Dazhuang to make that trip. The mule cart could have pulled it back, saving your elder brother the trouble. A round trip by the mule cart costs ten cents." Yu kept muttering as she pinched her shrunken purse.
An average family can use a bushel of salt for most of half a year, and the same goes for other seasonings.
Yu often went out to buy things for her mother-in-law. Except for buying cloth to make clothes for the whole family during the Chinese New Year, she had never spent money so lavishly. Her heart ached.
Miao Wan quickly comforted her, "If we make braised food every day, these seasonings will be enough for a month. Just think about how much money we can earn in a month."
Qiao was shocked. "What? Only one month?"
Miao Wan: "..." Sister-in-law, you've missed the point.
Seeing Yu clutching her chest, Miao Wan could only suggest, "How about you, sister-in-law, go help the eldest and second brothers keep an eye on the stall, and I'll go look after the spices myself?"
Go count the copper coins, maybe Yu's heartache will be cured.
"Ludan and Goudan are here too. These two boys are smart and can settle accounts faster than me. I won't go over and get in the way." Yu refused. No matter how much she felt bad, she didn't dare to let Miao Wan, a pregnant woman, stay outside alone.
Besides, what can Miao Wan buy with fifty copper coins?
She still has to pay for it. It’s no use. The more I think about her, the more my heart aches.
Miao Wan didn't say anything more and pulled her to look at the spices.
As soon as they entered the tent of the Western Region merchant, the two smelled the rich aroma of braised meat, which even covered up the mixed aroma in the tent, which shows how overbearing the smell of hot braised meat was.
Seeing Yu and Miao Wan come in, the boss with a small mustache quickly stuffed a mouthful of pig intestines, wiped his mouth and came over to greet them, "Ladies, please take a look around and see if you want to buy anything."
Yu didn't say anything. She thought her sister-in-law wouldn't bargain, so she just rubbed her hands and waited. She would ask Miao Wan not to buy too much and then bargain with the boss.
Miao Wan looked down at the spices in the jars. There were many that she didn't recognize, and some that Geng had already bought.
The prices of the items I didn’t buy, such as nutmeg, lemongrass and cumin, were so touching that it made me want to cry.
Nutmeg makes braised pork and mashed potatoes, lemongrass grilled fish and shrimp are incredibly fragrant, and cumin is even better. Who can resist barbecue?
Miao Wan wiped the corners of her lips calmly, suppressed her urge to shop, and looked at the boss, "You only sell spices here, not rose water and aromatic oils?"
The boss smiled and said, "These are only affordable for the nobility. They are usually sent directly to the capital and Jiangnan areas to be sold. I don't have them here, but the shop down the street does sell them. Would you like to buy some, ma'am?"
Miao Wan didn't say whether to buy it or not, and asked again: "Boss, do you know the selling price?"
"Rose water costs one tael of silver per bottle, and the scented oil is more expensive, five taels of silver. They both weigh two taels."
Miao Wan understood. She had asked Geng, and she knew it was twice as expensive in the capital, so it would be fine if it could be sold at this price.
She pulled out a small clay pot from her purse that held her salt and unwrapped the oil paper. "Boss, take a look here. I have some aromatic oils from the capital. They're not only good for burning, but they can also invigorate the mind, dispel cold, and even treat skin rashes. Would you like some?"
Before the boss could say anything, he smelled a slightly spicy mint aroma coming from the jar. He took the jar and, after getting Miao Wan's permission, he dipped a little of it with a clean cotton cloth and rubbed it under his nose.
The cool and stimulating fragrance was inhaled into his lungs, making his head shiver. Apart from anything else, it was definitely refreshing.
The boss' heart skipped a beat, his eyes flickered, and he handed the jar to Miao Wan. "This smell is too strong. It's not as good as the aromatic oil we make. I'm afraid no customers will like it."
Miao Wan could see through the businessman's tricks. She smiled and said, "This is pure essential oil. Dilute it with other vegetable oils to give it a refreshing minty scent. If the boss thinks it's not suitable, I'll go ask around the street."
Seeing the two of them about to leave, the boss quickly stopped them and said, "Wait a minute, ladies. I wonder how much you can get after dilution? If you get a lot and the price is right, I can take it."
Miao Wan smiled. "This small jar is two taels. After dilution, it can be made into about one catty. I won't sell it for less than twenty taels."
This time, not only the boss widened his eyes, but even Yu, who had been listening silently, widened his eyes.
"Twenty taels? I'm afraid the young lady is trying to steal it?" The boss expressed Yu's thoughts.
His face darkened. "The shop sells it for five taels of silver a bottle. That's the selling price. No one would buy it for that price."
Miao Wan smiled and nodded. "So I asked for five taels less silver. Besides, I'm not greedy. If you want me to accept, just give me five taels of silver, and I can use spices to pay for the rest. How about that?"
The boss frowned, "Isn't that still twenty taels?"
"You know how much it costs to buy these spices. You only need five taels of silver and you can sell them for at least twenty-five taels. How much silver did you sell them for? I'm sure the shop owner down the street will definitely calculate this."
The boss gritted his teeth and made an expression as if he had suffered a huge loss. "Okay, but you can't bargain for the spices anymore."
"I bought fifteen taels of silver worth of spices at once, so you should at least give me a little bit of money. How about giving me one tael of silver for every pound of braised food you like?"
Yu was still a little dazed until she left the tent.
Miao Wan saw Yu almost bump into someone's stall and quickly pulled her back, "Sister-in-law, are you okay?"
Yu looked at Miao Wan with complicated eyes, "It's okay, sister-in-law just feels that she is a little blind."
Miao Wan: “…”
Yu thought to herself, what a good guy! She had seen all kinds of bargaining, and she herself was an expert at it. The most exaggerated thing she could do was to get only one out of ten.
As for Miao Wan, she took a small jar of oil that was no bigger than a palm, and not only did she not spend money on the purchase, but people even gave her money.
That’s not all. After giving her the money, she also had to give her some money as a gift. It was obvious that Miao Wan never thought of asking her to pay for it.
Yu touched her hot face and felt that she had really broadened her horizons. In the afternoon, she was not too surprised to see Zhang Dazhuang and his brother closing their stall early.
Oh, it's selling well? That's normal. It's so delicious, it would be strange if it didn't sell well.
Oh, do we have to kill a pig tomorrow? Yes! Anyway, we have to cook a few good meals for all the helpers digging wells and repairing houses.
Zhang Dazhuang returned home carrying a heavy money box. He was so excited that he almost jumped up and down like his son Goudan. Seeing his wife so calm, he felt a little embarrassed.
"You're the one who can hold your own. Today, the restaurant ordered 20 pounds of offal, even the pig's head, and 20 pounds of meat. The rest was sold out at the tile market. That's nearly 3,000 coins a day! I'm so tired that my arms hurt."
Yu was stunned for a moment, her voice almost cracking, "How much?"
How much did she spend today? After listening to Zhang Dazhuang's repetition, she no longer felt bad. She didn't even bother to be surprised. She stood up and ran to Qiao's house.
Zhang Dazhuang was startled. "Where have you been? It's almost time for dinner. I've been busy all day and only had two vegetarian cakes for lunch. I'm starving."
"I'll go call Aunt Qiao and her daughter and Awan to come over for dinner. I'm the best at preparing rabbit meat. If you're hungry, there's steamed bread. After you finish eating, get some water and wash up quickly. Don't let Aunt Qiao and Awan dirty their eyes."
Yu felt that she was not only blind, but also had a poor brain. Her sister-in-law was not only good at spending but also at earning. She was clearly a god of wealth, with money falling from her every inch of her body.
Zhang Dazhuang: ???
After being helped by Yang to wash up, Zhang Erzhuang saw his sister-in-law running to Qiao's house and was a little confused. "What's wrong with sister-in-law?"
Zhang Dazhuang was also confused. Yu used to love him the most, even Goudan had to take second place, but now he suddenly became a hindrance.
He felt a little cold in his heart, but he had to count the copper coins to warm his heart.
The author has something to say:
Yu's morning: My sister-in-law is such a spendthrift~
Yu Shi in the evening: God of Wealth, let me take care of the rabbits! You just focus on shopping and eating!
Miao Wan: ...
The information on seasonings and spices was retrieved from Baidu Library.
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