Chapter 28 Visiting the East Market
Xi Lanfang was also extremely tired, his muscles aching and his head feeling dizzy and numb. He said slowly, "We must eat. Only when we are full can we have the strength to continue working."
Deep down in her heart, she also longs to break free from the shackles of labor. However, faced with the helpless reality, what other options does she have?
Xi Lanfang, exhausted both physically and mentally, looked pale with the corners of her mouth drooping. She picked up the bun helplessly and began to chew it mechanically. Yu, who had been planning to vent her dissatisfaction, looked around and forced back the tears that were about to burst out of her eyes.
Amidst the fatigue of hard work, a latent dispute gradually dissipated.
Gu Yuexuan couldn't suppress a smile as she delicately placed the bun wrapper into her mouth. After savoring it slowly, she carefully wiped the corner of Tu Su Minxu's mouth. Then, turning to the old lady with a changeable expression, she asked softly, "Grandma, do you need to change your clothes?"
The old lady seemed a little confused and asked, "Why should I change clothes?"
Gu Yuexuan replied softly, "Didn't we already agree to go to the market to buy some items today?"
"We haven't had any meat in a long time. Life is really hard. We also need to stock up on some essential supplies. If you don't go, how can we get everything we need?"
She could have asked the old lady to allocate funds and gone there alone.
But what if someone slanders her for embezzling public funds?
Gu Yuexuan did not want to cause unnecessary disputes, and her frankness and fairness left the old lady speechless.
She said considerately, "Why don't we go together? You haven't been out for a long time, so this is a good opportunity to get some fresh air and relax."
Yu was worried that Gu Yuexuan would take advantage of her, so she quickly agreed, "Mother, it's indeed good for you to go out for a walk. Staying indoors all day is a big burden on your body." Her tone was full of concern, as if she was afraid that the old lady was unaware of the situation and was giving her a special reminder.
The old lady hesitated for a long time, and finally replied with a brave face: "Okay, I will go with you."
By mid-afternoon, her legs, which felt as if they were filled with lead, were causing her unbearable pain. With a look of anguish on her face, she sat down on a rough rock and gritted her teeth as she asked, "What you mean by 'taking a walk to relax,' do you mean trekking ten miles on foot?"
The old lady used to be a person who valued leisure and luxury. However, during her happy days in her youth, her feet hardly ever touched the ground.
She had suffered a lot of hardships since her exile and boasted that she had developed a pair of strong legs, but traveling in such a hurry was still a huge challenge for her.
Her old bones were certainly tired...
Although Gu Yuexuan was still taking medicine and the doctor had warned her that she was weak and sickly, she looked normal and breathing evenly as she walked along, as if she could do it effortlessly. She could even walk ten miles easily, looking effortless!
She suppressed the corners of her mouth slightly, looked at the old lady with a sad face, and said with a bitter smile: "Grandma, walk three blocks ahead and you will reach the prosperous East Market. I heard that the goods there are relatively cheap, why not go and take a look."
Upon hearing this, the old lady frowned and casually retorted, "Even if there is a discount, how much can it be? Isn't it the same thing if you buy here?"
"I heard that buying a hatchet there can save you more than ten copper coins, which is a considerable amount of money."
Gu Yuexuan sighed softly, her voice filled with helplessness and bitterness. "Second Uncle and his men toil hard every day, enduring countless hardships, all in exchange for a mere dozen copper coins. If we were willing to walk a few more steps, their lives would be a little easier."
The old lady's few moments of self-righteousness were once again choked by these words. She widened her eyes and glared at Gu Yuexuan, but found herself speechless.
This scene happened again.
This stubborn girl does it again!
Originally, she thought she could take a comfortable ox cart out of the village, but when Gu Yuexuan asked about the fare and heard that it only cost one copper coin per person, she immediately covered her chest with her hands and exclaimed that she was reluctant to leave.
The round-trip fare alone costs four copper coins. If these copper coins were saved, how much could be done with them?
The old lady thought of the suffering her son had endured and gritted her teeth to endure it. However, when she trudged to the town market, Gu Yuexuan began to compare the goods of various vendors and bargained non-stop.
She admitted that this would indeed save money, but her old bones were almost broken!
The old lady finally couldn't stand it anymore and was determined not to go on. She said gloomily, "I'll just stand here and wait for you. Go buy it yourself."
Gu Yuexuan seemed a little hesitant: "Grandma, I'm afraid this isn't a good idea, right?"
"If Second Aunt and Third Aunt gossip about me after I get back, I..."
The old lady was extremely tired, and her tone was filled with anger: "I have walked with you all the way here, who dares to say a word?!"
"Go quickly and come back quickly. Once you've purchased all the goods, come straight back to me!"
Having said this, Gu Yuexuan could no longer insist. She took the five taels of silver handed to her by the old lady, turned around and quickly walked towards the East Market.
Freed from the old lady who was acting like an overseer, she asked with a smile as she paid for the backpack, "Sister-in-law, I heard there's a pawnshop in town. Do you know its exact location?"
The town is not big, and there are only a handful of shops like pawnshops.
The eldest sister-in-law raised her finger, pointed into the distance, and said, "Go straight along this road, and you will find the most majestic gatehouse."
"I see. Thanks for the directions, sister-in-law."
Gu Yuexuan slung the backpack over her shoulder and walked briskly in the direction her sister-in-law pointed.
"Ah, dear guest, what treasures do you plan to pawn?"
The shop assistant greeted her warmly with a smile on his face. Gu Yuexuan's eyes wandered over the dazzling array of goods on the shelves. She smiled softly and replied, "No, I'm not here to pawn anything, but to redeem something old."
"redemption?"
"Exactly. Redemption."
A moment later, Gu Yuexuan carefully hid the redeemed treasure close to her body, as the shopkeeper sighed in grief at the loss of the treasure. She then hurried to the neighboring clinic and bought two ointments to relieve the wounds and bruises.
Only after turning the corner did she officially begin to deal with the important matters at hand.
If you want to run a charcoal burning business, in addition to motivating a group of lazy people, you must prepare sufficient tools and ensure that everyone is equipped with a sharp axe.
In that backward era, ironware, regardless of size, was a luxury. Even common farm tools like hatchets and hoes were quite expensive.
Gu Yuexuan bargained with the iron shop owner for a long time, and finally made up her mind to buy three axes and two hoes for a huge sum of money.
The boss was so happy to have made this deal that he couldn't stop smiling. After Gu Yuexuan inspected the goods and found them to be correct, she immediately said, "Boss, you have charged me two and a half taels of silver. Can you write me a receipt?"
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