When they arrived at the city gate, Zhao Meng was waiting there with a few packages of cakes in his hands. He saw An Dashan and his men coming over, walked up to them and said, "Brother An, these are some cakes I bought for my niece to eat on the way."
An Dashan did not refuse. After accepting the cakes, he said, "Thank you, brother. We will go home now. Bye." After saying goodbye to Zhao Meng, the three of them went out of the city gate and headed home.
An Dashan and his companions did not return to the village directly, but went to the grain store in the town again. Because An Dashan went to the grain store in the county town to ask, the grain in the county town was one cent more expensive than that in the town. An Dashan thought that since he would pass by the town on his way back, it would be cheaper to buy directly in the town. Don't underestimate this one cent. Ten kilograms of grain is ten cents, and one hundred kilograms of grain is one hundred cents. This is not a small amount.
The town is different from the county town, where you can drive the carriage to the door of the grain store. Gao watched things in the carriage while An Dashan and An Ning went into the grain store.
There were not many people in the grain store now. There were still wild vegetables on the mountain at this time. The poor people lived on the little food they had stored at home and the wild vegetables on the mountain, and rarely came out to buy food. An Dashan had been coming quite frequently in the past few days, so the waiter quickly recognized the two of them. He walked up to them enthusiastically and greeted them, "What are you two guests buying this time?"
An Dashan now had some money in his hand, so he wanted to feed his family, so he said, "Give me a hundred kilograms of brown rice."
An Ning, who was listening nearby, quickly stopped him and said, "Dad, let's not buy so much brown rice now, let's buy some polished rice as well."
An Ning didn't want to eat the rough rice that made her throat dry. Now that she had money, she might as well buy some polished rice. But An Dashan was used to being poor. He was very happy to have enough to eat. He never thought about eating white rice every day. Seeing that An Dashan was hesitant, An Ning leaned close to An Dashan's ear and whispered, "Dad, we have money now. There's no need to save on food. Besides, don't we have to go to the mountains tomorrow? Maybe we can pick some Ganoderma lucidum again."
After hearing what his daughter said, An Dashan was still a little hesitant, but he hardened his heart and said to the waiter, "Give me 50 kilograms of polished rice, 50 kilograms of brown rice, and 20 kilograms of white flour."
When the waiter heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "Okay, sir, please wait a moment, I'll weigh it for you." Then he started weighing the food skillfully.
An Ning added, "Dad, let's buy some food for grandma's family. They sent a lot of food these two times. I think the family must be starving."
An Dashan said in annoyance: "Look at my memory. I was just thinking about this matter, but now I have forgotten it. Daya, what kind of food do you want to buy for your grandma's family?"
An Ning thought for a moment and said, "Dad, let's buy 50 kilograms of brown rice first. If we buy polished rice, it will be hard to explain where we got so much money."
An Dashan nodded and said, "Well, what you said makes sense. Let's do as you say." Unconsciously, An Dashan had already become accustomed to listening to An Ning's opinions on everything.
After the waiter had loaded the grain, An Dashan said to the waiter, "Weigh out another fifty kilograms of brown rice for me." The waiter agreed and went to weigh the brown rice swiftly.
After weighing all the food, the waiter asked with a smile, "Do you two need anything else?"
An Dashan shook his head and said, "No need. Can you please calculate the total amount for me?"
The clerk said, "Okay, please come this way." Then he took An Dashan and An Ning to the accounting desk and told the accountant what An Dashan had bought.
The accountant was clacking on his abacus as he said, "One hundred catties of brown rice is nine hundred coins, fifty catties of polished rice is one thousand five hundred coins, and twenty catties of white flour is six hundred coins. The total is three taels of silver."
An Dashan took out three taels of silver from his purse with some heartache and handed it to the accountant.
After the accountant confirmed it was correct, he smiled and said, "Sir, it's exactly three taels of silver."
After seeing An Dashan pay the silver, the young man helped An Dashan move the grain out. Under An Dashan's guidance, he put the grain on the ox cart and then returned to the shop.
Seeing An Dashan buying so much food, Gao was a little surprised and said, "Are you not celebrating? The new food will be delivered soon, why are you buying so much food?"
An Ning said hurriedly, "Mom, I asked Dad to buy it. Let's leave here first. I'll explain to you when we get to a place with fewer people."
Gao looked at the people walking around and immediately shut up and stopped talking. An Dashan did not stop either, and drove the ox cart out of the town and headed home.
After leaving the town and there was no one on the road, An Ning said, "Mom, now that we have money, there is no need to starve. Besides, grandma's family has helped us a lot in the past few years, and grandma's family is not rich, so dad and I bought 50 kilograms of brown rice. When we have time, we will go to grandma's house and give it to them."
After listening to her daughter's explanation, Gao still felt a little sorry for the money, but she did not blame the two of them. Instead, she said, "You are really thoughtful."
When An Dashan and his companions returned to the village, it was already the afternoon. At this time, every household was cooking or eating, and no one saw An Dashan and his companions returning with a full load.
After returning home, An Dashan moved all the things down. He put the food in the kitchen, the cloth in Gao's room, and the packages of pastries were stuffed by Gao to An Ning.
After An Dashan moved the things down, he went to cut grass. He was going to cut two bundles of grass before sending the ox cart back to Uncle Liu's house next door.
It was getting late, so Gao went to the kitchen without taking a rest. An Ning walked around the backyard, picked up three eggs from the chicken coop, and then walked into the kitchen. Seeing Gao preparing to cook porridge, she said, "Mom, I want to eat hot noodle soup. How about we have hot noodle soup tonight?" Gao smiled, stretched out her finger and touched An Ning's nose, and said, "Okay, today mom will make hot noodle soup for you, little greedy cat."
An Ning smiled, handed the eggs in her hand to Gao, and said, "Mom, don't forget to make three poached eggs."
Gao took the eggs, smiled and said, "Okay." Then she washed her hands and went to knead the dough.
Seeing that there was nothing for An Ning to do in the kitchen, she went to the backyard again. She had been so busy "picking up" eggs that she forgot to check on the rabbit.
An Ning saw that the rabbit was in good condition, but it might be a little hungry. When it saw An Ning coming, it jumped over from the corner of the cage. An Ning pulled a handful of grass from the space and fed it to the rabbit, and the rabbit immediately started eating. After the handful of grass was eaten, An Dashan also came back. He not only cut two bundles of grass for the cow, but also cut a small bundle for the rabbit. An Dashan put down the grass and went to return the ox cart next door.
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