As they left Huo Family Pharmacy, Jiang Zhi said to Er Rui and Xiao Man, "You must remember this in the future: when you do things, always look for smart people. If there are conflicts, they will find their own solutions instead of trying to blame others."
Xu Errui nodded honestly, still in a daze from selling medicine.
The three large bags of medicine sold for nearly two taels of silver. In the past, how much grain would you have needed to buy to earn two taels of silver?
Those medicinal herbs were wild vines from the mountain, which used to be used as firewood.
Actually, he misunderstood. With medicine prices rising, food prices would be even higher. If he were to buy food, he would only buy less than before.
Beside her, Xiaoman blinked: "Aunt Jiang, you always used to blame others..."
Jiang Zhi remained unfazed: "I've only said half of what I wanted to say. If you want to provoke me or start a fight, then do the opposite and blame everything on someone else, regardless of who's right or wrong."
"Ah! You can do that too!"
The three walked and talked, and before they even reached the agreed-upon inn, the gong sounded to signal the start of the curfew, which was to begin 25 minutes later.
The curfew came too quickly, and the streets were filled with vendors hurriedly packing up their stalls and pedestrians rushing out of the city to go home.
After 15 minutes, no one is allowed to wander around anymore.
Jiang Zhi also found an inn, where Xiang Dejin and Wu Hongmao had already booked two rooms.
They shared a room, while Jiang Zhi had a separate room.
The inn provided meals, and Jiang Zhi took out some silver to prepare some hearty food.
They set off before dawn and had been on the move ever since, only managing to eat some dry rations along the way. The group was starving.
The food was laid out in the lobby of the inn: a few multigrain steamed buns and a large bowl of sweet potato porridge for each person.
The food was also good: a big bowl of braised tofu, a bowl of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, a bowl of braised pork belly with palm-sized slices of meat, and a bowl of kimchi.
This is the kind of food that an ordinary inn can offer right now, after all, it's not a peaceful time yet.
There's no need to distinguish between men and women; everyone sits together and enjoys a hot meal, the best meal of the day.
Each person gets a slice of braised pork belly, leaving everyone with greasy mouths.
Originally, Xiang Dejin and Wu Hongmao had told each other that they could just have a bowl of kimchi porridge and not spend money on such expensive dishes.
Grain is expensive now, and meat is even more expensive. A single meal can cost over a hundred coins.
But Jiang Zhi's view is that when you're out and about, you have to deal with all sorts of problems at any time, so you need to keep your energy up and be well-fed and watered.
Unexpected events can happen at any time; don't end up starving.
We're broke now, so we'll just have to make do. When we have more money, we'll eat better.
The money is in her pocket, so naturally she has the final say!
No one present really objected to Jiang Zhi's habit of eating whatever she could get without regard for the next meal.
More than half a year has passed, and Errui and Xiaoman have long since gotten used to the saying that they need to eat well to have the energy.
Over the past six months, they have also clearly felt changes in their bodies.
Xiaoman's height is growing like crazy, like wheat seedlings that have been parched for a long time meeting sweet rain. She is now half a head taller than Xu Errui.
Xu Errui was also quietly growing taller and stronger, and no longer needed to get up in the middle of the night.
Even Xiaoman's grandparents have accepted this lifestyle.
Xiang Dejin and Wu Hongmao knew that the two families on the mountain stewed meat soup every day and were very generous when it came to food; they were just worried that it was too expensive.
The inn wasn't doing well, with only a few people scattered around the lobby. Jiang Zhi's behavior caught the attention of two people at the next table who were eating dry cornbread and drinking noodle soup.
The older man took a bite of the pancake, chewed it with difficulty, choked, stretched his neck, and finally swallowed it with great difficulty, cursing, "A good-for-nothing woman will not produce offspring. I wouldn't want such a spendthrift woman even if she were given to me."
The younger one didn't say anything, but his eyes glanced at the sliced meat on Jiang Zhi's table and he couldn't help but swallow.
He dared not say anything; there were four strong young men over there, and he was no match for any of them.
Jiang Zhi and her group didn't care what others said. They wolfed down their food, finishing every last bite. They even ate the last drop of the braised pork belly and left no kimchi.
Xiang Dejin wiped his mouth, put down his bowl, and went back to his room to rest. However, he was walking unsteadily and accidentally bumped into the elderly man.
The dried cornbread, torn in the old man's hand, fell to the ground with a "thud."
Xiang Dejin grinned and strode away.
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhi, accompanied by Er Rui and Xiao Man, also returned to her room.
After one night, the lodging fee was settled the next day, and after having breakfast, half of the one tael of silver was spent.
Errui and Xiaoman, who had been indifferent yesterday, suddenly felt heartbroken and pounded their chests, regretting that they had been so greedy for that piece of meat.
The two of them worked for several days, and even with the high wages, they only earned a little over one tael of silver. After a good night's sleep and two meals, the money was almost gone.
Jiang Zhi also felt it was expensive, but she didn't regret it; the feeling of being waited on was just different.
Money flows like water; however you spend it, you earn it back in the same way.
Before heading home, the group strolled around the streets for a bit.
Jiang Zhi and her group stopped in front of a cosmetics shop: "It's rare for us to come to the city, so let's bring some things back for our families!"
Errui, Xiaoman, I'll give you each one hundred coins. You can use them as you see fit.
Xu Errui and Xu Xiaoman earn eighty copper coins a day for working on the kang (heated brick bed), so it's only right that they get paid now.
The two of them weren't used to spending money, and they were stunned when they held a small string of copper coins.
Jiang Zhi didn't care how they wanted to use it. In her mind, everyone should have their own thoughts. If they couldn't even manage a small amount of money well, they would have even less ability to manage a large amount.
Leaving her two children behind, she took Xiang Dejin and Wu Hongmao on a rough tour of Pingchuan County.
Zhang Zheng once said that Pingchuan County has a population of 130,000.
According to ancient standards, a population of 100,000 would be considered a superior county, and this place was also considered a wealthy county. However, due to recent setbacks, the population may drop below 100,000.
Excluding the county government office, the town had a permanent population of about 20,000 to 30,000 ordinary people, making it a bustling county town. Xu Errui and Xiaoman were overwhelmed by the sights.
But in Jiang Zhi's eyes, it was very dilapidated.
Apart from the road outside the county government office, which was paved with bluestone slabs, most of the other streets were dirt roads.
All the shops were gathered at a crossroads, numbering in the dozens, with some workshops in other streets and alleys, which was about the level of a modern town market.
The refugees had just been dispersed, but traces of their lingering presence remained everywhere.
Yes, the corners were full of excrement and urine, and there were dilapidated courtyard walls and burned-down houses.
The wealthy person has already fled, leaving the house wide open. It must have been looted, and repairs would be a considerable expense.
Xiang Dejin then recounted their battle outside Yuzhou Prefecture: "Yuzhou Prefecture closed its city gates in advance, and with its waterway docks, it was a very tough battle. Later, when the city was reopened, much of the interior was also destroyed."
Since these wars were all internal squabbles among the feudal lords, Jiang Zhi, who was familiar with the changes of the past few thousand years and had memorized several thick history books, felt that there was nothing to discuss about right or wrong, and he did not ask her about it.
As long as the feudal dynastic system remains unchanged, no matter who becomes emperor, there will only be some initial changes, and for ordinary people, it will all be the same.
While there were still few people entering the city in the morning, the shop assistants took down the door panels and busied themselves sweeping the street in front of their shops.
Jiang Zhi walked into a tung oil mill, where the owner had just laid out oil barrels and the oil residue from the previous day's pressing.
"Shopkeeper, are you buying tung seeds?" Jiang Zhi asked.
The man setting up the buckets quickly said when he saw a customer, "We buy them. Tung seeds are eight coins per catty now. We buy all tung seeds."
Now that the refugees have scattered, no one is picking tung seeds anymore, and the price of tung oil is rising again.
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