A good start
Yu Ying left the jelly and mint water at the restaurant, agreed to come back after lunch, and then left to go shopping in the market.
The street market in Yu County is similar to the market in later towns. In addition to some shops, there are also many people selling things or hawking along the streets.
Yu Ying walked around for a while and finally saw the sign of the pawnshop.
It was a very small shop with a very high counter, about as high as Yu Ying's neck, and a fence. There was a clerk sitting high behind the counter.
Yu Ying entered the pawnshop, took out the silver leaf and placed it on the counter: "Boss, take a look at how much this silver leaf can be exchanged for. I'll pawn it."
The pawnshop owner picked up the silver leaf and examined it carefully. He then placed it in his palm to estimate its weight. Then he said a figure in a cold and indifferent tone: "Thirty coins."
Yu Ying was silent for a moment, then calmly and clearly said, "It can be exchanged for thirty-five coins by weight, and it can be made into a hairpin directly without any additional labor costs. Thirty coins is not even enough to replace it."
The pawnshop owner glanced at the woman outside and knew she was not going to be fooled, so he said coldly, "What kind of jewelry can you make with a piece of silver leaf? Just melt it down. I'll give you a maximum of thirty-five coins, no more."
Throughout history, items bought and then sold would always be priced heavily downwards. Even so, there was still room for negotiation, so Yu Ying was not scared off by the pawnshop owner's arrogance.
She remained calm and composed. "I still have one leaf at home. Two leaves can definitely make a hairpin. If it's thirty-eight coins, I'll pawn it in three days. Then the shopkeeper won't just make four coins, he can even make a little more, so he won't lose money."
In the past, Yu Ying didn’t like to bargain, but considering that one penny has to be divided into four parts now, every penny counts.
The shopkeeper glanced at her, then looked at the silver leaf on the table, calculating the account in his mind.
Thirty-eight coins, if used as silver, you can still make a profit of four or five coins. Two pieces are about ten coins. If you make them into jewelry, you can also make a little money.
The pawnshop owner thought for a moment and said, "I'll give you 37 wen first, and next time you pawn the other piece, it'll be 39 wen."
After all, it wasn't a lie, so Yu Ying agreed.
The pawnshop keeper counted out thirty-seven coins for her and strung them together on straw.
Yu Ying had no purse, so she could only wrap the money in rags, then left the pawnshop and went to find a pharmacy.
She brought a lot of herbs, which were not common on the road, but were almost all found in the mountains.
Despite this, a middle-aged doctor came and took a look, picked out some herbs and said they were weeds, and only paid three cents for the remaining half box of herbs.
I discussed with the doctor about giving me more, but there was no room for negotiation.
A penny is also silver, so Yu Ying sold it.
After selling the silver sheets and herbs, Yu Ying didn't dare to buy anything else, but went straight to the grocery store to ask the price of salt.
The salt was coarse salt, costing thirty-two coins per pound. Yu Ying was not well off, so she could only buy half a pound.
After buying salt, I didn't buy rice at the grocery store.
Just now, she was walking through the market and saw someone selling a small amount of rice. However, the quality was not as good as that in the grocery store, and the husks were not removed as cleanly as in the grocery store. But it was cheaper than the grocery store.
After comparison, Yu Ying found the original stall and bought three bamboo tubes of brown rice at three cents each. Since she had nothing to put it in, she could only put it in a ceramic jar.
She weighed it and it was a little over a pound.
Be frugal and cook wild vegetable porridge with brown rice and add a little salt. This rice can probably last for three or four days.
After buying the necessary things, he thought that Luo and Fu Wei would need the medicine for a long time, so he gritted his teeth and bought an extra pot for boiling the medicine, spending another four cents. In the end, he only had eighteen cents left.
Since I was hungry, I just spent a penny to buy a steamed bun to fill my stomach.
With the remaining dozen or so copper coins in her pocket, Yu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that all the jelly could be sold.
She found a big tree, picked a few large leaves and sat on the ground.
The sun gradually set in the west. Yu Ying judged it was noon, based on the time when food in the market was selling the fastest. After waiting for the food shops to gradually empty out, about half an hour later, Yu Ying went to the small food stall.
Entering the small restaurant, the shopkeeper Chen was counting the bills at the counter. Seeing her coming, he smiled and said, "I guess you'll be back soon."
Yu Ying asked, "Can the ice cream be sold?"
She also came prepared for the worst.
Shopkeeper Chen said truthfully, "Not many people came to eat lunch at noon. I sold nine bowls and there were still some left."
It was already good enough to be able to sell them, and Yu Ying did not dare to hope that she could sell them all.
Shopkeeper Chen said, "There are probably more than three bowls left. I plan to buy them and send them to my boss. After deducting the six cents for the sugar syrup, I'll give you eleven cents."
As he said this, he put ten cents on the counter.
Yu Ying knew the amount and said, "Ten cents will be enough."
The other took nine coppers and kept one copper.
Shopkeeper Chen couldn't help laughing: "It's not worth a penny of yours, take it."
Yu Ying said, "I can't charge you a penny more."
Seeing how persistent she was in keeping her public and private lives separate, Shopkeeper Chen developed a favorable impression of her.
He took the penny back and said, "Although we haven't sold out yet, it's a good start. Most people who have tried it today said it's better than sour plum soup to relieve the heat, and they'll order more next time."
At this point, Shopkeeper Chen asked, "How many days can these ice creams be kept?"
Yu Ying thought for a moment and gave a more conservative estimate: "If you hang in the well all day, you can keep it for two days."
Shopkeeper Chen tapped the table and pondered for a few moments.
After a few breaths, Shopkeeper Chen suggested, "How about sending twice as much in three days, still at the same price? You can ask my father to deliver it, or you can do it yourself."
Yu Ying's face lit up immediately: "Of course, I'll deliver it directly to you when the time comes!"
Shopkeeper Chen smiled and said, "Then I'll wait for you to deliver it."
Yu Ying saw a glimmer of hope. Although she didn’t earn much, it was already a good start.
After coming out of the small restaurant, Yu Ying had a faint smile on her face.
She followed the old road to the city gate and waited for Uncle Chen's ox cart.
About half an hour later, Uncle Chen arrived driving a ox cart.
Uncle Chen, who was cold in the morning, now smiled more towards Yu Ying.
"I heard from my eldest son that the ice cream has all been sold out. It's good."
Yu Ying said, "Thanks to Shopkeeper Chen and Uncle Chen."
Uncle Chen said with a smile: "What does it have to do with me?"
Yu Ying helps out at the Chinese medicine clinic every summer vacation. There are quite a lot of elderly people coming there then. She knows what these elderly people like to hear and is not stingy with good words.
"If it weren't for Mr. Chen's kindness in giving me a ride and letting me get some water from Shopkeeper Chen, how would I have been able to sell all the ice cream?"
The smile on Uncle Chen's face became even more pronounced.
The two talked for a while, and then two more people came to get on the ox cart, and then they stopped talking.
It took about an hour to get back to Lingshui Village, and it was almost dusk when we almost got back.
From afar, I saw an old figure standing at the entrance of the village.
Yu Ying felt vaguely familiar, and when she got closer, she realized it was Luo.
Yu Ying was stunned for a moment. Although she knew that Luo might be waiting there because she was worried that she would not come back, she felt a little subtle.
In this strange place, there is still someone waiting for her.
Yu Ying could endure a hard life for a while, but she didn't dare to endure it alone in this strange place.
Now she may never see her relatives and friends again, so she is afraid of being alone and quiet, afraid of having no one to talk to, afraid that even if she dies in this world, no one will collect her body or visit her grave.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why she stayed in the Fu family and was willing to help the Fu family and Fu Wei.
Hearing the sound of an oxcart approaching the village entrance, Luo squinted his eyes and looked at the shadow in front of him, but he could only see a blurry shadow and could not make out anything clearly. It was not until he heard the familiar voice that he felt relieved.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Because the ox cart had not gone far, in order to avoid suspicion from others, Yu Ying called out to her mother.
Hearing the word "mother", Luo was also stunned, and at the same time she couldn't help thinking - since Yu could call her mother, it meant that she really planned to live a good life with Erlang.
Now that Yu can stay, Luo is happy in her heart.
"I'll pick you up." Luo's tone was a little more relaxed.
Yu Ying didn't know what she was thinking. She turned around and walked back with Luo Shi, saying, "Let's go back. Let's have something good to eat tonight."
After walking a little further, Mrs. Luo asked, "How are the jelly sales?"
After thinking for a while, he said, "If we can't sell it this time, next time let Fu An walk with the adults in the village to Yu County to sell it."
Seeing that she was walking very slowly and there were stones on the road, Yu Ying reached out and gently pulled her arm, saying, "We've sold everything and bought the pottery jar."
Hearing this, Luo's face froze slightly.
After a long silence, Mrs. Luo suddenly said, "Sixth Mother, from now on, you have the final say on all matters at home, big or small. We will all listen to you."
When she suddenly heard an unfamiliar name, Yu Ying didn't react for a moment. After a few breaths, she remembered that Liu Niang was the original owner's nickname.
When I returned to the outside of the Fu family's fence, I saw the brother and sister in the yard.
Fu Ning stood there stupidly watching his brother chop wood.
Fu An, who was less than four feet tall, was holding a hatchet and struggling to chop off branches that were too long and too thick.
Seeing their grandmother and Yu Ying coming back, the brother and sister looked out of the yard.
Seeing Yu Ying come back, Fu An's face was filled with a hint of surprise. Besides being surprised, he also seemed to think that she would come back.
Yu Ying released Luo Shi, put down the backpack, and took out Aunt He's pottery jar. She ordered Fu An, "Return the pottery jar to Aunt He and tell her I'll go over and thank her tomorrow."
Although Fu An didn't like her ordering him around, he curled his lips, went up to take the pottery jar, and ran out of the yard.
Yu Ying took the salt, the new pottery jar, and the rice into her thatched hut, poured the rice into several bamboo tubes, and also filled a bowl.
She grabbed two handfuls of rice and put them in the clay pot. After thinking for a while, she grabbed another handful of rice and went out to wash the rice.
She put the rice water from the second wash into a basin to use for washing her hair later.
When Fu An came back and saw the new pottery jar, his eyes lit up instantly. When he saw the rice in the jar, his eyes widened and he looked at Yu Ying in disbelief.
Fu An hadn't had rice porridge in a long time. Before his uncle came back, he could still have a bowl of wild vegetable porridge every few days, but later he could only eat wild vegetable soup.
It was a long time before Fu An came back to his senses. He hesitated for a moment before asking Yu Ying shyly, "Do we have a share?"
Yu Ying glanced at him and said, "Go and light a fire. I'll keep an eye on it for a while. I'm going to prepare some medicine for your uncle and grandma."
When Fuan heard that he had food to eat, he was more diligent than usual and hurried to light a fire.
Yu Ying built a simple stone stove and put the pot on it. She then went into the house, took out a handful of red mushrooms, washed them, tore them into several halves with her hands, and put them in a bowl for later use.
When making porridge with red mushrooms, just add a little salt without any other seasonings, and it will be delicious.
Let Fuan watch the fire and call her after the water boils.
She originally wanted to go and prepare medicine, but after looking at the sky, she thought about it and decided to go and check on Fu Wei's legs first, and then see if the bamboo sticks that tied him up had been loosened.
She shook the water droplets off her hands, then lifted the straw curtain and looked up at Fu Wei on the bamboo bed.
Fu Wei leaned against the thatched wall, closed his eyes, and turned his side face towards Yu Ying.
When Yu Ying saw the profile with its decadent beauty, she thought to herself that beautiful people and things can really make people happy.
Moreover, good-looking people will look good even if they are wearing a sack.
Although Fu Wei is now in a state of decline and looks lifeless, people still marvel at his good looks.
Yu Ying walked in, stopped beside the bed, and said, "Let me take a look at your legs."
When Fu Wei heard her voice, he opened his emotionless black eyes and asked indifferently, "Why don't you leave?"
Yu Ying frowned slightly: "Why should I leave?"
Fu Wei was silent for a moment, then turned and looked at her expressionlessly, "The Fu family is a bottomless pit that you can't fill. Furthermore, the son of the Wuling County governor sees me as a thorn in his side. I don't know what will happen in the future. There's no benefit in you staying."
Yu Yingxin said that he was quite self-aware.
But she didn't need to explain anything to him, so she only said three words.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com