Old Lady Yun wiped some residue from the corner of her mouth, and then spoke:
"We heard about it from Sister Luo in Kengkou Village. She said that the chickens raised by the Guan family in the next village are very particular. Those chickens roam freely in the mountains and forests, and their meat is very firm. We were so excited that our mouths were practically watering, so we came here as soon as it was light."
Old Guan was naturally pleased when people praised his local chickens, and he also felt that they were interested in buying them. The more customers he got, the happier he became, his smile stretching from ear to ear.
"Our chickens, well, I'm not just bragging, but you can get your hands on some good stuff, right?"
These words made Grandma Yun subconsciously stop praising the chicken. It wasn't that Old Guan's chicken was bad, but they were there to buy chicken. If she kept praising the chicken, there would be no room for bargaining.
But faced with Lao Guan's overly enthusiastic attitude, she couldn't very well turn her sordid thoughts into a bucket of cold water and throw it at him head-on, so she could only say:
"Yes, yes, this chicken is indeed quite good. I was thinking that if it weren't for Sister-in-law Luo's introduction, we wouldn't have found this place. So I wanted to buy a few and give one to her as a gift. I wonder how much a single chicken costs?"
“Since you were introduced by Sister-in-law Luo, you are all acquaintances. I will give you all 280 coins each. I just hope you enjoy the chickens and will introduce more customers. That way, I will be motivated to raise chickens.”
Grandma Yun nodded. Her price range was around two hundred coins. Two hundred and eighty coins would be eighty coins over the limit. She didn't know if it was because the cost of living in Yuecheng was high, or because of the unrest around the city, which caused the price to rise.
While Old Lady Yun was considering, Yun Ling, having an idea, asked:
"Uncle Guan, do you have any eggs here? Or do you sell any chicks?"
"Of course we have eggs, but they're not cheap. They cost thirty coins each, and chicks cost one hundred coins each."
Although Yunling was mentally prepared, she was still shocked by the price. Chickens in ancient times did not lay eggs as easily as those in later generations. Even if they did lay eggs, the hope was that they would hatch into chicks, so the price of eggs was quite high.
Yunling thought for a moment. Since she transmigrated here, she seemed to have eaten eggs only once or twice. In the past, when she was in Dongtou Village, she had many opportunities to eat them, but she didn't. Now that she didn't have the chance to eat them, she was actually missing them.
Humans really are a bunch of perverted creatures.
"Uncle Guan, how about this, let's buy seven chickens and six chicks."
Old Guan couldn't help but look at Yunling and the others with newfound respect. Such a big mouth, asking for seven chickens and six chicks right off the bat. This family must be quite wealthy. But when money is offered to them, there's no reason for him to refuse. He nodded and happily went to prepare.
Yunling also pulled out three strings of copper coins from her waist. She first placed two strings in Gangzi's hand, then broke off five hundred and sixty coins and put them into Old Lady Yun's outstretched hand. She tied the rest back up, but just as she put the money back in her pocket, she took it out again.
"Grandma, do you think we should ask Uncle Guan if he has any rice to sell?"
Although Yunling and the others seemed to have bought a lot of things, in reality, when divided among their large group, each person received a pitifully small amount. Yunling was trying to find a solution to this problem.
Old Lady Yun joked:
"You silly kid, asking this? Do you think raising chickens is easy, and you can also farm the land at the same time?"
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"
Old Guan came out smiling, carrying a small basket covered with a thin cloth. Lifting it, one could see six chicks inside.
"Winter is approaching, so the chicks need to be kept warm, otherwise they will have a hard time surviving. You need to be careful."
"Okay, thank you, Uncle Guan. Grandma and I were just talking about buying some rice from you. I wonder if you have any? After all, you have to manage this chicken farm, so it's probably hard for you to find time to farm."
Old Guan's eyes lit up, and the corners of his lips turned up in a smile.
"You know what, I actually do have one."
Yunling immediately gave her mother a look that said, "See? I told you so," which made her mother pinch her lightly.
“Actually, after the number of chickens increased at the beginning, I couldn’t keep up with it. I even strained my back once. Then I sold the land in one go, thinking I could focus on raising chickens. But without the land, my wife and I could only buy rice to eat.”
"However, because we are too focused on the quality of the meat and raise the chickens for too long, they are expensive. But for the people in the village, which family can afford to eat chicken every day? So they are not as popular as we expected."
When my son, who lives in the city, found out about this, he bought us a piece of land and hired people to cultivate it. Now we have rice to eat every year.
"It's strange, but ever since we had rice to eat, people in the city have come to know about our chickens, and they've even become famous. That's how we started selling them."
When Lao Guan talked about his son, his eyes shone with light. Yun Lao Niang and Yun Ling couldn't help but praise him for his good fortune, which made him even happier.
"Uncle Guan, you just mentioned that your son bought land. May I ask where he bought it?"
"Oh, I see. It's outside the city, in the opposite direction from our village, a very far place. I heard that it used to be a mass grave, but it was filled in and then used for growing things. There are few people around, and everyone thinks it's unlucky, but there's nothing we can do. It's not easy to buy arable land in Yuecheng. I also regret selling the land in my village back then."
Upon hearing it was a mass burial ground, Old Lady Yun's initial desire to follow suit vanished instantly. She had no idea how many unclean things were thrown into it, and she wondered why they were being thrown there. What if they were sick? That would be terrible…
Grandma Yun quickly pulled Yun Ling back, and Yun Ling knew what Grandma Yun was worried about, so she didn't say anything.
Old Guan knew his words were somewhat unsettling, but it was difficult to lie about things like this, so he had to tell the truth.
"If that's the case, will you still buy rice or paddy? They'll all be the same price."
Yunling looked at Old Lady Yun, who immediately agreed.
"Yes, I want rice."
As long as she doesn't personally go to cultivate the land, Old Lady Yun can simply pretend she doesn't see it and let it go. It's been passed through several hands in between, and any impurities would have been dispersed long ago, so it's not a big deal.
**
They got a huge sack of rice, caught seven henryi, and brought along six chicks; the three of them had a very good haul.
After leaving the Guan family, the three of them walked all the way back to Kengkou Village. They were unaware of how many passersby they attracted, but they didn't care. What kind of big scene hadn't they seen before?
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