Chapter 319 Shopping Spree
"You've gone too far! This stone used to cost only one tael of silver, but now you want five taels! Who can afford that? This is millet, do you think it's polished rice?"
The shop assistant scoffed: "Green rice is ten taels of silver per bushel! If you don't want to buy it, there are plenty of others who will. Get out of our way, don't block our business."
Jiang Nuanzhi grabbed Lü Shizhu, who looked indignant, and turned to go to another grain store.
The price was almost the same as the previous shop, but she gritted her teeth and bought three shi of millet and one shi of green rice. She had already bought nearly a thousand jin of rice before, and sent more than three hundred jin to the dean. Her own family actually had enough to eat. However, with so many people in the family before and after building the house, rice, flour, and cooking oil were being consumed quickly. Jiang Nuanzhi felt that this year was not going to be peaceful, so she thought she should buy more.
One shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice weighs about 120 jin (a unit of weight), and today we bought nearly 500 jin, which should be enough for the winter. The rice is so heavy that even the oxen struggle to pull the cart, so fortunately Jiang Nuanzhi rented two more horse-drawn carts to help with the load.
Then I went to the fabric shop and bought six bolts of fabric to make curtains.
They also bought clothes for everyone.
Each person received two sets of fine winter clothes, and also bought twenty catties of cotton as a backup. The cloth shop alone cost more than a hundred taels.
When he left, Lü Shizhu's legs were weak: "Anuan, how could buying clothes cost so much money? It's one thing for grain prices to rise, but why are clothes going up in price too? This is really terrible! My mother has cut off my money for a long time. If it weren't for your help, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to survive!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuanzhi fiddled with the silver in her hand and couldn't help but sigh.
The blacksmith delivered the doors and windows she had ordered that morning. Jiang Nuanzhi paid part of the remaining balance, which cost over fifty taels.
She hadn't originally planned to have flooring throughout the house, only in the second-floor bedroom. But as the installation progressed, she discovered that flooring was much better than stone tiles and easier to clean, so she decided to install flooring everywhere except the kitchen. She also ordered custom-made flooring for the entire house from Uncle Zhang.
There were also some shelves on the wall, a custom-made doghouse for Dahei, a few miscellaneous large wooden barrels, and the entryway table I forgot to mention. It wasn't expensive, only ten taels of silver. Uncle Zhang promised to cover all the small errands.
Adding the money she had just spent on clothes and rice, she only had six hundred taels left.
These are all essential items before winter; you can't skimp on them.
Fortunately, the price of charcoal hadn't gone up. A quick inquiry while passing by revealed that 1,500 jin could be bought for twenty taels of silver. Jiang Nuanzhi simply spent forty taels to buy three thousand jin. The deliveryman promised to rent a cart and deliver it back.
The two went to the market again. They bought pots and pans for their new house, and also stocked up on plenty of everyday items like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. They also bought small blankets, oil lamps, and candles. They spent another fifty taels on miscellaneous items.
Because she bought a lot, she spent more money, but it was still within Jiang Nuanzhi's means.
However, once the two entered the weapons shop, things took a turn for the worse.
"How much? How much did you say?" Young Master Lu asked, his eyes wide.
"My broadsword can cut a hair with a breath, and I'll give you twenty taels of silver. It's definitely a bargain!"
The shopkeeper, holding a large knife over a meter long, smiled and introduced it to the two men.
"You can judge the quality of this product by weighing its weight."
"Also, I have the arrows that this lady just asked for. A bucket is only five taels of silver. There are twenty arrows in it. How about that? It's a good deal, isn't it? If you want arrows with barbs, it will be more expensive, eight taels of silver for twenty arrows."
Lu Shizhu was stunned for a moment, then immediately pulled Jiang Nuanzhi away from the shopkeeper and whispered, "You just said, how many arrows do you think you need?"
Jiang Nuanzhi held up five fingers.
Lü Shizhu: "Fifty? Isn't that too many?"
Jiang Nuanzhi: "Five hundred."
Lü Shizhu: "!!!"
"Are you crazy! How much money would that cost? Twenty cost five taels, two hundred would be fifty taels, and five hundred would cost over a hundred taels! We also need to buy several large knives and iron hooks and barbs for the city walls. Are you planning to go bankrupt?"
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "The new courtyard is so big. If we don't set some traps around it, if something really happens, we won't be able to save anything in the courtyard. There aren't enough arrows!"
Jiang Nuanzhi glanced at Lü Shizhu and patted him on the shoulder: "If it really is a famine year, money is the least useful thing. Have you forgotten those begging refugees on the way here?"
Lu Shizhu recalled the refugees guarding the city gates when he entered the city, and ultimately remained silent.
After this incident, weapons could only be purchased from armories, and purchases had to be recorded. Ordinary blacksmith shops were not allowed to forge weapons privately. Naturally, they were more expensive.
She bought five hundred arrows and two large knives. After bargaining with the shopkeeper, he threw in two more daggers worth ten taels each. He promised to help her return them, and the total cost was one hundred and fifty taels.
Then they went to the blacksmith shop in the south of the city and ordered some barbs from Uncle Shi and the others to prevent people from climbing over the high walls. Although they needed a lot, it only cost them twenty taels of silver.
After buying such a large amount of stuff, Jiang Nuanzhi breathed a sigh of relief: "Next, all that's left are some medicinal herbs. I opened my herb cabinet, and it's still half empty. Once we fill the cabinet, buy some meat and snacks, we can go back."
Lu Shizhu had become numb by then, but upon hearing this, he still jumped up: "Fill the cabinets?? You made two huge cabinets, and you're going to fill them all? Don't even mention a few hundred taels, a few thousand taels wouldn't be enough!"
He had seen Ah Nuan's medicine cabinet; it was full of ginseng, deer antler, lingzhi, and rhinoceros horn! It was even bigger than his father's cabinet. Besides, even his father's medicine cabinet still had empty sections that hadn't been filled.
"I'll try my best. I picked a lot of medicinal herbs during the summer. But I'm still short a lot."
"How much silver do we have left?" Lü Shizhu asked.
Jiang Nuanzhi took out the silver and counted it again: "There are still more than three hundred and twenty taels left."
She took out a hundred-tael note: "This hundred taels is a treasure to be kept safe. Let's use the rest and continue shopping."
Lu Shizhu blinked and let out a soft sigh: "Alright, let's rent another car, these cars can't hold it all."
"Okay, we still need to find a security escort agency to protect us on our way back."
Lü Shizhu didn't understand, Lü Shizhu didn't get it!
"Grandma, can I have my guards protect you?"
Jiang Nuanzhi ignored him and hurried to continue buying medicinal herbs. She hadn't spent all two hundred taels of silver on the herbs. She still couldn't bear to buy some of the more expensive ones. She only spent a little over one hundred and twenty taels.
When I had some free time, I bought Baozhu a huge bag of candy, lots of all kinds.
I also bought books, paper, and writing materials, spending only a little over forty taels of silver.
She cut another twenty catties of pork and bought a lot of offal. Looking at the forty-odd taels of silver she had left, Jiang Nuanzhi thought to herself that it was really almost enough. Even if there were still some things missing, she couldn't buy any more. Things like everyday soap, she would still have to make them herself.
Little Baozhu sat in a cart full of miscellaneous items, her little face flushed, and excitedly said, "Wow, Mommy, so many new clothes, and so many candies, like mountains!"
Jiang Nuanzhi poked her little face: "Is Baozhu happy?"
Baozhu nodded vigorously: "Happy! If my brothers saw this, they would definitely be happy too!"
Feeling much lighter after shopping, Jiang Nuanzhi got into the car and said, "Everything's settled, let's go home now."
"Now that we've bought everything, we should be able to move in the next couple of days, right?" Even though Lü Shizhu felt he had spent a lot of money, he couldn't hide his excitement when he saw the dagger Jiang Nuanzhi had given him, and he kept rubbing it in his hand.
"Okay, let's tidy up a bit more. Once the windows are installed, we'll pick a good day to move in."
The two chatted idly along the way. Not long after leaving the city, they heard a commotion outside.
"Get away from us, or we'll get rough if you come any closer."
"Grandpa, please have mercy and give me some food."
"That's right, sir, we're starving to death."
"Get out of here!"
The escort agency's men were protecting Jiang Nuanzhi and her group's food cart, pushing aside several lean refugees who came forward.
However, the refugees still did not leave, but followed behind Jiang Nuanzhi and the others' carriage, their slightly empty eyes filled with naked greed.
"Dr. Jiang, we should hurry up and get rid of these people."
The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) Uncle Qian frowned and spoke to Jiang Nuanzhi inside the carriage.
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded naturally: "Thank you for your trouble."
To prevent any trouble, she had the carts carrying weapons and charcoal, along with several horse-drawn carriages she had rented, return together. She also specially hired bodyguards, fearing the journey might not be peaceful.
"Why are these people going on and on? Now I understand why you entrusted the goods to them!" Looking at the few refugees who rushed up at him for money, Lu Shizhu, who was holding a stick, couldn't help but shudder.
Uncle Qian frowned and said, "These are all cunning people! They know there are wealthy families in the city, so they beg here. Occasionally they can get some good things."
The more pragmatic refugees had already built their own thatched huts. In this vast wilderness, you can find food anywhere in the mountains. I saw many refugees already gathering wild fruits and storing them for the winter.
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "That's fine too. If we're careful, we might be able to endure a few more days. But the winters in the Great Wilderness are tough, and they probably won't come unless absolutely necessary."
Uncle Qian sighed, "Yes, the number of refugees is increasing every day. The famine is probably very serious. In previous years, not so many people dared to come to our Great Wilderness. I wonder how many more people will freeze to death this winter."
"well"
On the way back, none of them were in a good mood, but at least they made it back safely.
However, just as they arrived at their doorstep, they saw several tall horses parked in front of their house.
Jiang Nuanzhi looked over in surprise, only to see the little princess standing with her hands on her hips, talking.
"Almond candy, pine nut candy, sesame candy, mmm, they're all so delicious, so good!"
She took out a candy every now and then, took a bite, and looked quite pleased with herself.
In the courtyard, Ping'er was still sweeping the ground, while Xiao Er sat with his head propped up, completely ignoring her presence.
But the village children were all gathered around, staring intently at the candy, their mouths watering.
The little princess was pleased with the way the children around her looked, and waved her little hand: "Give each of them a piece. They can eat standing here."
Then she looked triumphantly at Li Junping and the others inside the house. She wanted to see how long this brat could endure it!
Just then, a clear voice suddenly came from behind: "Brother! Brother! We're back!"
Little Baozhu, carrying a large bag of candy, gave the young princess a cold snort as she walked past her before skipping home.
"Brothers, come and see! Mother bought us so many things!"
Goodnight, my darlings. I'm so sorry for the numerous typos you reported; I'll fix them right away. Next time, I'll proofread it a couple more times. I really can't trust myself too much in the middle of the night.
(End of this chapter)
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