Yun Yiyi saw many people coming in out of curiosity, only to leave when they realized they weren't looking for what they were selling. People living in the capital generally had no shortage of food or meat. Although the price of meat was higher than before, it was still available.
Vegetable seeds aren't very useful for people living in the capital. They usually buy vegetables, not grow them themselves. Even if they buy seeds, they don't know how to grow them, and they don't have anywhere to grow them. Those who can grow vegetables in the capital only have large yards. As for hens, even if you buy them, you don't have a place to keep them, and they still need to be fed grain. That's why they can't be sold for so long.
Yun Yiyi thought for a moment, then walked over and asked, "Uncle, how much do your pumpkins, hens, and vegetable seeds cost?"
The young man in the middle stood up and looked at Yun Yiyi. "Little girl, where are your parents? Did you ask the price? Are you planning to buy it?" He looked around but didn't see any adults following Yun Yiyi.
"Uncle, my father is waiting for me over there. He asked me to come over and take a look and ask the price. If it's suitable, I will go back and ask my father for the money." Yun Yiyi said, pointing at Yun the Butcher.
"My pumpkins are huge and very sweet. We sell them for fifty coins each. We also raise our own hens, young ones that are over a year old but less than two years old, and they lay an egg every day. We plan to sell each hen for one or two taels of silver. My mother also picked up these vegetable seeds. They include cucumbers, rapeseed, cabbage, radish, cilantro, and loofah. They are all vegetables we often eat here."
My mother always picks the best-growing vegetables to save for seeds. Don't worry about buying vegetables that won't grow. We plan to sell these seeds for 100 wen. Originally, we weren't planning to sell them, but we're staying with relatives in the city. They've already paid a deposit for my family, provided us with a house, and stocked up on food.
"My mother said we couldn't trouble our relatives anymore. She asked us to sell these things and then buy food. "These days, no one has enough food, and our relatives are a big family. They've helped us so much, which is a big favor," the young man said excitedly.
"Uncle, I bought all these things. Can you calculate how much it costs in total?" Yun Yiyi asked, pointing to the things in the basket.
"We brought out four pumpkins, which cost a total of two hundred coins. The hen is one tael of silver. The vegetable seeds are one hundred coins. All together it's one tael of silver and five hundred coins. To be honest, the price we quoted is really not high, so we can't give you a discount." The young man scratched his head embarrassedly and said.
"It's okay, uncle. I know the price you quoted is indeed not high. However, I have another request. Can you give me these three baskets? We don't have any extra baskets now. We have no place to put the things we bought." Yun Yiyi asked.
"Okay, then I'll give you these three baskets. They are all woven by our family, and we didn't spend any money on them." The young man smiled naively.
"Okay, thank you, uncle. Please wait for me, I'll go get the money from my dad." Yun Yiyi said, pointing at Yun the butcher.
"Okay, little girl. We'll wait for you here. You'd better hurry up. It's getting late." said the young man.
"I'll be back soon, uncle." After saying that, Yun Yiyi ran towards Yun the Butcher.
Yun Yiyi thought to herself that the hen could be left outside. She could then be kept in a basket. Feeding it some cabbage leaves and occasionally some grain would make it easy to keep. Besides, hens don't crow, so it's not easy for others to notice them. Since it lays one egg a day, Zhang would definitely be willing to feed it.
The pumpkin needs to be put into the space. If you have time, you can dig out the pumpkin seeds and dry them. Then, you can plant pumpkins in the space. Also, put the bag of vegetable seeds into the space. When you have some free time, collect the corn and peanuts in the space and plant more vegetables. From now on, you will never lack vegetables to eat. If you find an opportunity, you can also smuggle some out and share them with everyone.
The young man selling things had a pretty big basket. He could sneak a basket of cotton out of the space. Presumably, the cotton would be heavier due to the cotton seeds. A full basket would probably hold 40 kilograms. The grocery store sells cotton without the bolls for 320 wen per kilogram. Without the bolls, I'd tell Yun the butcher 200 wen per kilogram. Forty kilograms, that would be eight taels of silver. With 40 kilograms of cotton in that basket, it should be just enough. As for the extra, I'd tell Yun the butcher was selling it at a package price, so it was cheaper.
Yun Yiyi thought about the corn in her space again. Hmm, let's fill a basket with corn too. That basket could probably hold a hundred pounds. Cornmeal at the grocery store was thirty-five coins per pound. The corn in Yun Yiyi's space was just kernels, not ground into flour. Never mind, let's sneak it out first. As for when it's time to eat it, we can figure out how to turn the kernels into flour later. Let's quote Yun the butcher the price of the kernels at twenty coins per pound. One hundred pounds of corn kernels is two ounces of silver.
Yun Yiyi thought again of the basket where the hens were. Under that basket could hold a good half basket of potatoes. Then she'd put the hens on top of the potatoes. She thought about the weight of the potatoes. Half a basket of potatoes must weigh at least a hundred pounds. She'd just calculate it as a hundred pounds. Buying more would always be cheaper than buying less. She'd give Yun the butcher an offer of twenty-five wen per pound for potatoes, she figured. A hundred pounds of potatoes would be two and a half taels of silver.
The corn kernels, potatoes, and cotton smuggled out of the space cost a total of twelve and a half taels of silver. Adding the hen, it would cost thirteen and a half taels of silver. Yun Yiyi didn't worry about Yun the Butcher running out of money. In her memory, Yun the Butcher had opened a butcher stall in town after marrying Zhang. He didn't make much in the first year, but in the second year, as he attracted more customers, he made more.
The Yun family didn't have any major expenses other than paying taxes and raising children. Therefore, all the money Yun the Butcher earned was saved by Zhang. Originally, Yun the Butcher had planned to buy a few more acres of land in the village, but then he realized that Zhang was too busy to take care of the children, work in the fields, and do housework. If he bought a few more acres of land, Zhang would be even more overwhelmed. Yun the Butcher went to town every day, and there wasn't much he could do to help at home. So, he gave up the idea of buying land.
At the beginning of the drought, the Yun family had no shortage of food. Yun the butcher had kept all the grain they harvested for himself. Unlike the rest of the village, who would sell some of their harvested grain for money, the Yun family never sold any of it.
It wasn't until this year that the Yun family finally finished eating all the food they had grown. However, Yun the Butcher was a business owner in town and well-informed. At the beginning of the drought, when food prices were low, he gradually bought food for his family. Later, when food prices rose, Yun the Butcher continued to buy food every few days.
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