Chapter 81 Shopping at the Market
Seville held a map in his hand. It would take about half an hour to walk to the nearest market. The distance was neither too far nor too close, so he could just enjoy the scenery along the way.
It should be summer in the Stemino Plain now.
Outside the stone fences on the roadside, some parts of the road are green pastures, while in other places there are large areas of harvested wheat fields, with only short wheat stalks and straw rolls that are almost half a person's height left in the fields.
It looks like a lot of puff pastry rolls rolling down the crispy brown puff pastry.
"Oh, it should be summer now, the wheat has just been harvested, and there are great tomatoes at the market. I think we should buy some tomatoes to make pizza and spaghetti bolognese. Cheese is also essential." Mrs. Fitch said, looking at the golden field.
"I want to eat some fruit. What month is it now? What kind of fruit is available here?" Darien asked.
"Cherries and figs. It should be between July and August now. Figs are as sweet as flowing honey. There are also peaches and honeydew melons. Maybe we can buy some ham to go with the honeydew melon." Seville answered first.
"That's right, there will also be watermelon and cactus fruit. I can't wait! My jam pot is telling me to use it to my heart's content over the next few days!" said Mrs. Fitch happily.
"But we're on vacation, aren't we?" Darien reminded her.
"That's true, but for me, cooking is more of a hobby than a job, so let me learn how to make some delicious food that belongs to the Stemino Plain!" Mrs. Fitch said, patting her chest.
"Then I shall be looking forward to it very much," said Darien.
They talked and chatted, and soon walked from the farmhouse to the market.
The market is in a larger town. Although it is called a town, it is actually just a larger village.
Residents from the surrounding areas come here to do business, selling their own vegetables, fruits, pasta, snacks, cheese, ham, and even young livestock.
As if to make the beige and orange colors stand out, the fruits and vegetables grown here are all exceptionally colorful. The red, yellow, and green tomatoes are even more vibrant, as are the purple and green eggplants, red and yellow cherries, light yellow honeydew melons, and purple figs...
"I want to eat cherries." Darien licked his lips.
"We can buy a lot," Sewell said.
"Oh no!" Mrs. Fitch slapped her head in regret. "We forgot to bring the basket, and we have a lot of things to buy."
"There should be something for sale here, right?" Darien looked around.
"Maybe we can hire a cart." Sewell saw the cart and oxen standing idle.
They had different interests and preferences, so they just went shopping separately. Darian and Sevier walked towards the fruit stall.
"Come buy some fresh fruit! They were still on the tree in my backyard this morning, except for this, they were still on the tree at noon!" The bearded man made a little joke.
"Then they are indeed fresh enough." Darien smiled politely.
"How much do you sell these fruits for?" asked Seville.
"Cactus fruit is 20 copper coins per pound, cherries are 2 silver coins per pound, figs and peaches are the same price, 35 copper coins per pound, and honeydew melons are sold individually at 2 silver coins each. If you buy more, I can give you a more fair price." said the bearded man.
"Can I taste it first?" Darien said after thinking for a moment.
"Of course, no problem. I guarantee that my fruits are definitely the sweetest and most delicious." The bearded man laughed.
Darien tasted the cherry first.
There are two kinds of cherries on this stall, one is red, so red that it looks purple, and the other is yellow, and its bright yellow color is a bit like a bell pepper.
Red cherries are sweeter and not astringent, while yellow cherries are a bit sour, and the sweet and sour taste is also very delicious.
The bearded man took a small machete, wiped it on his handkerchief a few times, then picked up a cactus fruit, picked the peel with a little thorn, and then gently cut the flesh into two halves.
"Try it." He gave each of them a petal.
"Thank you." Darien took the cactus fruit.
The cactus fruit that the bearded man gave him was red and looked like it had a lot of seeds. It smelled a bit like dragon fruit and tasted a bit like it too, with a light and sweet taste that wasn't too bad.
Darian thought it was a bit ordinary, but Sewell liked it very much. He swallowed all the seeds of the cactus fruit. Darian guessed that this might be the taste of crows.
Then buy some.
The bearded man washed the knife and cut some more fruit for them to eat.
Figs taste very sweet, and the soft flesh inside is like crystal honey. They will definitely be sweeter and more delicious after roasting.
The honeydew melon was sweet and crispy, and Darien liked it very much. He hoped to have a honeydew melon roll with ham for lunch today.
"Your fruits are all delicious," Darien said to the bearded man. "I want to buy 8 honeydew melons, 10 pounds each of red and yellow cherries, 10 pounds of figs, 10 pounds of cactus fruit and 5 pounds of peaches. Don't you have watermelons here?" Darien said.
"You have to go to Rita's to sell watermelons. Her watermelons are the sweetest, crispest, and most delicious. Her stall is over there. That girl with two red braids is her." The bearded man pointed to the other side. "Can you carry all the fruit you want? You don't have anything with you, no baskets or bags."
"Weigh it and put it aside first, Seville. I saw some wicker baskets for sale over there. Let's buy five, no, eight. We will definitely buy more." Darien had no confidence in his self-control.
"Okay, master." Sewell nodded.
The bearded man was still weighing and calculating the price of their fruit. They bought a lot, and when Seville came back with the wicker basket, he still hadn't finished counting.
"It's 60 silver coins in total. Since you bought a lot, it's a little cheaper." The bearded man finally finished the calculation.
"Give me the money," Darien said to Sevier.
Sewell took out his wallet and paid the bill.
They left a few baskets, put the fruits they bought in them, and temporarily left them with the boss while they continued shopping.
No one knew where Mrs. Fitch and Fitch had gone, but the last time I saw them, they were picking tomatoes at a vegetable stall. I guess they bought a lot of tomatoes.
They simply skipped the vegetable stand, confident that Mrs. Fitch would buy some.
Darien grabbed a handful of cherries and put them in his pocket, eating them as he walked, with the cherry pits in his cheeks. Soon, one side of his cheek bulged out.
"Do you want to vomit?" Sewell poked him.
"Yes." Darien turned his face around, half of his face looking like an angry pufferfish.
Sewell tried not to laugh.
Darien glared at him before spitting out the cherry pits.
When I stopped to spit out the cherry pits, I happened to stop in front of a jam stall, but most of the jams sold there were nut jams.
"Gentlemen, would you like some jam? It tastes delicious when spread on bread," asked the woman at the stall.
"What's this green thing?" Darien asked.
"The green one is pistachio sauce, this one is walnut sauce, this one is melon sauce, and this one is lemon sauce..." The woman immediately introduced them enthusiastically.
"Can I try it?" Darien asked.
"Of course." The woman took out a small basket of hard bread with two table knives on the side. "What would you like to taste?"
“I want to try the pistachio and lemon sauce,” Darien said.
"Here's peach jam, thank you," said Sewell.
The woman cut three small slices of bread neatly, then took out some jam and spread it on the three slices.
Darian tasted the pistachio sauce first. It tasted sweet and fragrant and delicious. Before he tasted the lemon sauce, he turned to look at Sevier. The expression on Sevier's face was not right.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
"This peach jam is spicy." Sewell's expression became strange.
"Yes, that's right. This is peach almond chili sauce. It has a little almond slices in it, which makes it crunchy." The woman said with a smile.
"I want to try it too." This taste aroused Darien's curiosity.
So he gave the lemon-cured bread slice to Seville, and the woman gave him a new slice of bread with spicy peach jam.
Darien smelled it and found it sweet and not too spicy.
He took a bite and it was sweet and spicy, with crunchy almond slices, and it tasted unexpectedly delicious.
Buy! Buy them all!
You can buy more of these jams, which are long-lasting and can be placed in the tower's kitchen to add various flavors to snacks.
After walking around the market for half a day, Darien felt a little pain in his legs and didn't want to walk anymore, so he went to hire a car.
After a while, Mrs. Fitch and Fitch also came out with big bags and small baskets.
"Wow! Shopping is such a joy! I haven't been so happy in a long time!" Mrs. Fitch's hands were full, and she had a big ham on her shoulders.
"That's a lot." Darien couldn't help but exclaimed.
"That's not too much at all," Mrs. Fitch said as she unloaded her things. "I think I bought too little. The things here are good and cheap."
"How much did all this stuff cost?" Darien asked.
"It only cost two gold coins and fourteen silver coins," said Mrs. Fitch.
"So many things so cheap?" Darien's eyes widened.
Mrs. Fitch bought not only a whole ham, but also a lot of sausages and cheese, all of which were not cheap.
"Don't you bargain?" Mrs. Fitch looked at them strangely.
"Forgot..." Darien said.
"Leave the shopping to me next time! You are all too naive!" Mrs. Fitch snorted proudly.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Mrs. Fitch. You're the most capable person here," said Darien.
"Oh no, I'm not a human, I'm the most capable mouse," said Mrs. Fitch.
The pile of things they bought could not be loaded into an ox cart, so Darien hired another horse-drawn carriage, and they squeezed in and rattled all the way back.
After the trip and the time spent at the market, it was almost time to make lunch when we got back to the farmhouse.
But something went wrong here in Lyon.
"Leon? Leon!" Darien was puzzled. He walked around the farmhouse but couldn't find the clock. "Where's my clock? Has anyone seen my clock?"
"I'm here! I'm here! Help!" Leon's voice came from behind the farmhouse.
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