So the family left the house happily, with Lin Xiaoman watching them go.
Along the way, we encountered many familiar neighbors. Everyone had tacitly chosen this day to go out with their families, to walk through these familiar yet unfamiliar streets, and to feel the joy of surviving the disaster.
There weren't many shops open on the street. I don't know if they left too early and the shops weren't open yet, or if they simply closed their shops and went out for a stroll like my family.
After seeing this situation, the Cheng family members unanimously decided to go to the East Market as soon as possible, hoping to find some good deals.
As the name suggests, the East Market of Huaishan County is located at the east gate of the county town. Next to the gate is a large open space enclosed by a wooden fence. At the exit of the fence is a prominent archway with the words "East Market" written in large characters. No one can possibly go to the wrong place.
When they arrived, the stalls in the East Market were full, but there weren't many customers. The whole market was not as lively as the Central Street. Although everyone found it strange, they were excited when they saw the dazzling array of goods and instantly forgot their doubts. All they could think about was buying!
However, reality is still cruel. You won't know until you ask, and you'll be shocked when you do. The prices of almost all goods have increased several times over.
Ruyi wanted to cook some fish soup to help Xiaoman replenish her milk supply, so she went to the fishmonger to ask about the price. Normally, grass carp would cost eight or nine coins per catty, but now they were asking for fifty coins. Four hundred coins for an eight-catty grass carp was outrageous!
Soon everyone understood why there were so few customers here: many people came, asked about the prices, and were immediately scared away.
Xu Cui found a stall selling eggs, but the price had increased several times over, reaching ten coins per egg. Faced with this outrageous price, she immediately turned and left, unable to afford it.
"Let's go! Let's go to the West Market, it'll definitely be cheaper there. They'll sell them for ten coins each, people will think they're selling golden eggs!" Xu Cui said indignantly, pulling Ruyi and the others away quickly.
In fact, after walking around for a while, Cheng Ruyi found that although there were many people setting up stalls, the variety of goods was not very large. About half of them were selling wild vegetables, and many others were selling mountain products such as mushrooms. The few remaining stalls sold fish and eggs, but she didn't see any chickens, ducks, geese, or sheep, let alone rabbits.
She was somewhat disappointed. She had passed by Yang Liuer's pork shop on her way to the East Market, but it was closed. It seemed the chances of buying meat today were slim...
Traveling from the East Market to the West Market crosses the entire Huai Shan County. Ru Yi happens to pass by Jinxiu Street and Qingyun Street, and plans to visit the largest grain shops in the county to check on the current grain prices.
All the grain shops were open, but surprisingly there weren't many people buying grain. Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the prices at all the grain shops were exactly the same as the prices when the government opened its granaries.
As a result, many people who had bought grain during the previous three granary openings left immediately after asking. Only a few people gritted their teeth, muttering curses under their breath as they took out their money to buy. These people probably bought less grain during the previous openings and had little grain left at home, so they had no choice but to buy.
The Cheng family currently has a fairly sufficient grain reserve, so there's no need to buy expensive rice now; it would be a waste of money. They can wait until the price of grain drops before starting to stockpile.
So the group hurriedly left the grain shop and headed straight for the West Market. Fortunately, the small county town wasn't big, and with the family deliberately hurrying, they arrived at their destination in less than 15 minutes.
The so-called West Market is actually an area in front of the western dock and a few nearby streets, where all kinds of small vendors can just set up a corner anywhere.
The West Market lacks the orderly planning of the East Market. In addition, the docks are bustling with people and carts carrying goods, making the whole place seem rather chaotic. However, because there are no boundaries, it actually occupies a lot of space, so there are more stalls and the prices are always cheaper than in the East Market, especially for seafood, since this is the dock.
Unfortunately, apart from having a wider variety of fish, the types of goods sold here are basically the same as those in the East Market.
After Cheng Ruyi spent one tael of silver to buy two grass carp weighing ten catties and one crucian carp weighing two catties, Xu Cui used her silver tongue to haggle with a stall owner for almost fifteen minutes and finally bought all fifty eggs from the stall at a price of three for ten coins. Together with the food at home, it was enough to last for several days.
As noon approached, the number of pedestrians in the West Market increased, and things gradually became a bit chaotic. Ruyi even saw several bald men, which startled her. For safety reasons, the group decided to head straight home after discussing it.
The Cheng family didn't actually have anything in particular that they were short of, but after spending the morning wandering around the city, they still bought a lot of random things, so much so that when they got home, almost everyone was carrying several items in their hands.
Xu Cui held Yun Le in one arm and carried several large bags in the other. Inside were a foot of fine cotton cloth and some scraps of fabric she had bought from a fabric store. Ruyi planned to make some women's products and underwear, something she had been holding back for months.
She herself had a basket of eggs in one hand and three fish in the other.
Cheng Yan was carrying some rather heavy daily necessities. In his left hand, he was holding a set of ceramic bowls and plates. The thief had knocked over several of them when he entered the kitchen, which meant that they were always short of dishes. In his right hand, he was carrying a basket of roof tiles. He didn't know why, but recently, roof tiles kept breaking off and sometimes even falling down. It seemed he would have to find time to repair them properly to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
Cheng Yunping and Cheng Yun'an took the least; one carried a large bucket of rapeseed oil, and the other carried a small basket containing only some dried fruit, candied fruit, and pastries.
And so, the Cheng family concluded their first shopping trip after the lifting of the lockdown.
During lunch, Cheng Yunping excitedly told his wife about what he had seen and heard that morning. Xiaoman also gave him face by occasionally exclaiming in amazement, and even Mande responded with babbling in response, which made Yunping feel very accomplished.
In the afternoon, Cheng Ruyi and Xu Cui took Xiaoman out again, mainly to buy some seasonings, salt, and sugar.
However, when they passed by the coffin shop and saw that it was crowded with people, they realized that today was the Ghost Festival. So they immediately joined the queue and planned to buy some incense, candles and paper money to offer sacrifices tonight.
While queuing, they heard many people ordering coffins. These people had lost relatives during the lockdown, and because they couldn't go out, their loved ones' bodies had to be left unattended. They hadn't been able to properly hold a funeral service to send them off, let alone bury them. The three of them felt heavy-hearted listening to the occasional crying.
When it was their turn, Ruyi casually asked the shop owner a few questions. The shop owner said that the alleys around them were considered relatively lucky, as not many people had died. In other places, people who wanted to order coffins had to wait for at least several months!
Ruyi was overwhelmed with emotion after hearing this. She knew very well that without the system, she and her family would have been among those who suffered, or even worse.
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