Chapter 66: I'll be watching over the pickpockets, don't be afraid
Lin Shu quickly tugged at Zhou Ye's arm and whispered, "Aye, I don't want to buy any. I'll just go to a roadside stall and buy two pieces of malt candy."
Maltose is maltose, which is made by fermenting grains such as barley, wheat and millet. It is much cheaper than rock sugar, which is made from sugarcane, and is affordable for ordinary people.
Zhou Ye didn't leave, and the candy vendor, seeing this, immediately greeted him with a smile. "I always come to the market in Jingxi Town to set up my stall. I rely on repeat customers. If you really want to buy, I'll give you two taels of sugar if you buy more than a pound. How about that?"
In the sugar shop on the street, granulated sugar costs 20 wen per liang, and rock honey costs 50 wen per liang, but he sells granulated sugar at only 19 wen per liang, and rock honey at 48 wen per liang, with 2 liang of granulated sugar given for free, which is equivalent to a saving of 38 wen.
Lin Shu curled her lips. It sounded a lot cheaper, but Zhou Ye had to pay eight hundred coins for a pound of rock honey!
I bought something that cost 800 wen and got a discount of 38 wen. How is that considered too much?
Seeing Zhou Ye about to nod in agreement, Lin Shu quickly interrupted, "Uncle, can you make it cheaper? We're carrying this for others, and we'll have to share it when we get back to the village. If you can make it even cheaper, we'll come back to buy from you. How about this: we'll buy a pound of rock honey, and you'll give me four ounces of sugar."
When the vendor heard this, his brows furrowed, but he didn't say no immediately.
As soon as Lin Shu saw his reaction, she knew something was going to happen.
"Young lady, your bargaining is a bit too harsh. If I give you four ounces of sugar, I will lose money. If you are sincere, I will give you three ounces, no more."
Lin Shu insisted, "Four ounces. Uncle, if you give me four ounces of sugar, I'll buy a pound of rock honey right away, and I'll buy it from you next time!"
The vendor hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll give you four ounces of sugar for every pound of rock honey."
Lin Shu glanced at Zhou Ye with her chin slightly raised, and she had to bargain for the price.
Candy vendors like these usually have fat wallets, and they can make far more money reselling the candy than others realize, so they just have to bargain hard. Besides, since they buy so much, the vendors will make a profit anyway.
The vendors selling candy use a balance scale that can weigh up to half a pound at a time.
He used a small hammer to knock off a small piece from a large piece of rock honey, and weighed it. It was nine taels. He knocked off another small piece and moved it away. The weight on the scale was exactly eight taels, not a penny less or more. After all, rock honey was a luxury item, and one tael cost a lot of copper coins. He didn't even give a penny more than the sugar residue.
Weigh it twice and the total is one catty.
Weigh out one pound of rock honey and four ounces of sugar, and wrap each in a piece of oil paper.
Lin Shu was smiling happily just now, but when Zhou Ye took out the money, she could no longer smile and felt pain in her heart.
Eight hundred copper coins! Almost a hundred yuan!
Is she crazy? Did she really spend eight hundred coins to buy a pound of sugar?
When leaving the candy stall, Lin Shu was still a little dazed, and she no longer had the energy she had to bargain just now.
Suddenly, someone bumped into her lightly.
Before Lin Shu could come to her senses, Zhou Ye reacted quickly and grabbed the man's wrist.
In the hand he grabbed was the oil-paper bag that Lin Shu was about to put into the basket.
The oil paper bag contains rock honey worth eight hundred coins!
Lin Shu snatched the oil-paper bag back, and in a rage, she yelled, "You rotten-hearted pickpocket! How dare you steal from me! Ah Ye, send him to the authorities!"
The short middle-aged man was grabbed by Zhou Ye with one hand, and he quickly covered his face with the other hand, begging for mercy: "Please forgive me this time, my dear. I won't dare to do it again next time!"
A crowd of people soon gathered around to watch the fun.
Zhou Ye tightened his grip, and the pickpocket cried out in pain.
"If you do it again, I'll break your hand. Get out!" Zhou Ye frowned and growled, then let go.
As soon as he let go, the thief dived into the crowd like a nimble fish and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Immediately, the onlookers cheered, "Brother, you have great skills!"
"I also encountered a pickpocket last time. He stole my purse. Fortunately, there wasn't much money in it, only about forty coins. Bah! What a bunch of bastards!"
"Tell me, this kind of pickpocket should be brought before the authorities. Why did you let him go, little brother?"
"Yes, yes, this lazy guy should be locked up in the county magistrate's jail and eat prison food!"
There was quite a commotion here, and the soldier outside the grass market immediately shouted over here, "What's all the fussing about? Be quiet!"
The onlookers then dispersed. Someone who was curious told the soldier about Zhou Ye's capture and release of the pickpocket. The soldier couldn't help but look at Zhou Ye several times and said, "There are many pickpockets in our area. They are very slippery and difficult to catch. You are quite skilled."
Zhou Ye humbly said, "To answer the officer, I am just stronger than an average person. The pickpocket stole things from my house, and I happened to see him, so I caught him."
The soldier waved his hand and said nothing more, continuing to drink tea and chat with another soldier.
After the two walked away, Lin Shu felt relieved. "Aye, thank goodness you were quick to catch that pickpocket. Otherwise, he would have stolen the rock honey we just bought. Eight hundred coins! If it had disappeared, I would have been so angry that I would have died!"
After this incident, Lin Shu didn't dare to carry the basket anymore, but held the whole basket in her arms.
Zhou Ye took it from her arms and said, "Let me take it."
Lin Shu immediately let go of him.
"Aye, why don't you catch the pickpocket and hand him over to the soldier?" Lin Shu asked curiously.
Even with soldiers guarding the place, pickpockets still appeared. These pickpockets are really bold.
"Look at that soldier. When he found out I let the pickpocket go, did he feel resentful?" Zhou Ye said calmly, "This soldier is the town supervisor's man. He only cares about order in the market. They're too lazy to interfere with petty thefts like this. If you were to take the trouble to catch the pickpocket and hand him over to them, they would at most give him a beating and then let him go. They wouldn't bother sending him to the county government office. And the pickpocket won't blame the soldier for the beating, but you and me. If it's a lone pickpocket, it's okay. But if you run into a group of them, if you beat up one, the whole group will hate you. I'm taking you with me today. It's better to have less trouble than more."
When Lin Shu heard this, she felt a little scared.
If these pickpockets were truly organized, they would be like cockroaches, impossible to kill.
Rather than seeking momentary pleasure, it is better to turn a blind eye.
Just thinking about it this way still makes me feel a little depressed.
"Ah Shu, we'll just be more careful next time. Don't be afraid, I'll be watching."
Lin Shu shook her head. "I'm not afraid of that. They're just petty thieves, not bandits. Ultimately, our area is too poor. These people are lazy and idle, and they can't find a legitimate way to make a living."
Just like the one just now, he is thin and cannot do physical work, but many jobs require physical strength.
Zhou Ye said coldly, "Some people will never steal or rob, no matter how poor or miserable they are. Ah Shu, there's no need to be kind to such people."
Lin Shu had no good intentions. When she thought about how her 800-wen belongings were almost gone, she wanted to kick the pickpocket hard.
Thinking of something, she suddenly asked, "Aye, when you came to town to sell mountain products, you made a lot of money. Did you get targeted by these pickpockets?"
Zhou Ye glanced at her.
Lin Shu:?
Zhou Ye said in a nonchalant tone: "It's useless to target them. I'm tall, and they can't reach me even if they want to steal things."
Lin Shu couldn't help but burst out laughing.
This expression and tone really deserve a beating. However——
"Are you saying I'm short?!"
Zhou Ye shook his head seriously, "No, you're not short, I'm too tall."
Lin Shu couldn't stop laughing.
She was actually short in the capital, but she was beautiful, so people would describe her as petite and delicate. But when she returned to Tianshui Village, she was definitely not short.
Most of the men here are around 1.7 meters tall, and it is rare to see anyone over 1.8 meters tall. Most women are less than 1.6 meters tall, so her height of just over 1.6 meters is considered tall in comparison.
It’s just that Zhou Ye was too tall and too strong, so when she stood next to him, she looked petite against him.
After laughing for a while, Lin Shu stopped thinking about the pickpocket and talked to him about business. "Aye, I still need to buy vegetable seeds and salt. I didn't see any in the grass market."
Zhou Ye explained, "Salt is strictly controlled by the government. In Jingxi Town, only the salt shops and grocery stores in the market sell it. As for the vegetable seeds, most of them are bought by farmers. There's no need for vendors to set up stalls in the grass market. You can go to the city gate later and have a look. You should be able to find them."
The two returned to the market and went to the salt shop to buy salt.
Lin Shu was slightly surprised when she learned the price. A pound of salt cost eighty cents.
Sugar is a luxury item, so the more expensive it is, the more expensive it is. You can just not eat it, and you can save on oil if you can, but you can't save on salt. It's a daily necessity for ordinary people, yet it's so expensive.
No wonder A'niang had that expression on her face when she first saw her wasting salt.
Lin Shu didn't buy much this time, only one pound. One pound of salt can last for a long time and can fill A Niang's small salt jar several times.
Because they had no worries about business, the guys in the salt shop all looked very arrogant. Lin Shu bought some salt and left the shop quickly.
"Aye, do you know who owns this salt shop?"
Zhou Ye was stunned by the question. After a while, he said, "I'm not sure who it is, but it's most likely a wealthy family in town."
"Is there a wealthy family in this small town that can be called a noble family?"
"Yes. The wealthy families in this town are mostly branches of the wealthy and powerful families. These wealthy and powerful families occupy the prosperous counties and prefectures, and we ordinary people can't afford to offend them."
"Aye, you know so much."
Zhou Ye's expression was indifferent, "It's the same everywhere."
Lin Shu guessed he was thinking about something from the past. After a moment's pause, she changed the subject and said, "My cousin Yushu and I have an appointment to meet at the bookstore at the end of the street. It's still early, so let's go directly to the city gate and look for the vegetable seed stall. Maybe we can run into Aunt San and my cousin Yushu beforehand."
Aunt San sells straw sandals, and setting up a stall at the city gate is the best choice. Not only is there a large flow of people, but they are all target customers for straw sandals.
The last time she went to the back mountain to pick mushrooms, the threads of her straw sandals were pushed out after she had walked a short distance, let alone these villagers who were walking to the market.
Not to mention the common people who came to the city to sell things, whose straw sandals were even more worn out. Common people at the market might not be willing to buy new straw sandals after spending money elsewhere, but these vendors would still be willing to spend the money on a pair of comfortable straw sandals, so Aunt San's straw sandals were never a problem to sell.
When she arrived, the city gate, or more precisely, the fence gate, was crowded with people. Third Aunt might have already arrived, but she just didn't see her.
The two walked towards the city gate and soon came across a small stall selling vegetable seeds. However, Lin Shu was a little disappointed after taking a quick look. The vegetable seeds sold here were common ones. They could just ask the vegetable farmers in the village for some. There was no need to spend money to buy them.
It wasn't until she saw another stall that Lin Shu's eyes lit up slightly.
The stall owner is an elderly man. The vegetable seeds he sells include not only the common cucumber seeds, broad bean seeds, pea seeds, and mung bean seeds, but also watermelon seeds!
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