Baoyu sighed helplessly, "After you go up that slope, there are a few osmanthus trees on the left side of the mountain. When I was little, I climbed the trees to pick osmanthus flowers, and you even beat me up. Sister, you really don't remember anything?"
Zhou Chenyu blinked and glanced at him sideways, "I think you're only remembering that I beat you up, aren't you?"
“Of course not,” Baoyu scoffed.
The slope in front of them was about 45 degrees. Baoyu struggled to pull the cart uphill, while Zhou Chenyu went around to the back of the cart to help push it.
The cart full of pheasants and rabbits, plus the chicken coop that Li Xiuju had stockpiled, was too heavy. Zhou Chenyu couldn't keep up with the sliding cart on the gravel ground and almost slipped and fell. After pushing it back and forth three times, he finally managed to get the cart and himself over the slope.
The cart rushed to the top of the slope and then down, the fragrance of osmanthus growing stronger. Looking around, several osmanthus trees with pale yellow flowers grew on the hillside, and a few children of varying ages were climbing on the trees, playing with each other and shaking the osmanthus branches, causing the yellow osmanthus flowers to fall like snowflakes.
As Zhou Chenyu approached, he saw that the person climbing the highest was actually a little girl. He said nervously, "You're climbing so high, be careful not to fall. Come down quickly."
As Baoyu listened to his sister's scolding tone, he seemed to see a reflection of his own mischievous past in these children.
He leaned against the cart, a smile on his face that suggested he was enjoying the show. "Sis, why are you worried about these people? If it were me, I wouldn't warn them. It's good that they've hurt themselves."
Upon hearing this, the little girl nimbly climbed down the osmanthus tree like a monkey, slid down the slope through the mud, glanced gratefully at Zhou Chenyu, and then walked up to the smug Baoyu, coldly snorting, "This young lady is quite skilled; you're the one who fell, hmph!"
Baoyu took a step back from her glare, "Oh dear, this little girl is so arrogant at such a young age."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the little girl's back. Her small body had a more imposing presence than Baoyu's. She would probably be a formidable character when she grew up.
She smiled and said, "Let's go."
The day they entered the city wasn't market day, but since the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunions, was only two days away, they saw many people doing business and traveling along the way. Looking at the people carrying loads on shoulder poles and pulling carts, Zhou Chenyu estimated that the crowds in the city were even more lively than on a regular market day.
She and Baoyu entered the city at a time that was neither too early nor too late, and there were already many sounds of bargaining on the streets.
Baoyu looked at the stalls set up on the street, which displayed all kinds of cakes and pastries, including osmanthus cake, glutinous rice cake, chrysanthemum cake, lotus pastry, and mooncakes, which are indispensable for the reunion festival.
He drooled, "Sis, we finally have money to buy mooncakes this year for the festival."
Looking at the dazzling array of pastries, Zhou Chenyu realized that she had only eaten a handful of whole mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, finding them too greasy. However, she felt that the festival should have the proper sense of ritual.
How can the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunions, be complete without mooncakes?
She replied, "We have money in our pockets now, so we can buy whatever we want! But we have to finish our work first before we can buy anything."
"That's right."
They parked the cart near the market, and Baoyu went to rent a stall, while Zhou Chenyu stayed behind to guard the place.
No sooner had Baoyu left than Zhou Chenyu welcomed his first guest of the day.
The woman, carrying a basket, squatted down to examine the chicken. "Girl, is this a pheasant?"
“Yes, ma’am.” Zhou Chenyu greeted the guest with a smile, quickly moved the rabbits on top, and picked out the two fattest ones to show. “Ma’am, you have a good eye. These are pheasants we caught a few days ago. They weigh seven or eight pounds each. They grew up eating things from the mountains and have never been domesticated. The chicken flavor is even stronger than that of chickens raised in captivity at home.”
The woman didn't press further, but smiled faintly and glanced at the chicken through the cage. "Girl, could you take the chicken out so I can touch it?"
Judging from the woman's attire, Zhou Chenyu must frequently prepare three meals a day for the family and probably know far more about chickens than she does.
Not daring to continue showing off her limited knowledge, she enthusiastically replied, "Okay!"
The rattan ropes binding the chicken coop were untied, revealing the pheasant's feet.
The woman put down her vegetable basket, grabbed the chicken by its wings and pulled it out. She carefully examined the chicken's condition, then parted the feathers to check the color of its flesh. Not satisfied with just this one, she checked another chicken with lighter feathers.
A moment later, she put the chicken into the cage and asked, "Girl, how much is this chicken?"
Zhou Chenyu didn't expect business to come so quickly. However, these pheasants were caught by her and Baoyu with great effort, and there weren't many customers in the morning, so she wasn't worried about selling them.
She boldly raised the price, replying with a smile:
"Auntie, the lighter-colored one is lighter, we'll sell it for 135 coins, the darker-colored one is heavier, we'll sell it for 150 coins."
Zhou Chenyu prepared a series of pitiful words, waiting for the woman to bargain.
But to everyone's surprise, the woman waved her hand dismissively, "Girl, I want both chickens. Tie them up."
Zhou Chenyu paused for a few seconds before reacting, her eyes crinkling into a crescent-shaped smile. "Alright, I'll tie it up for you right away."
After Baoyu finished renting a stall at the market, he saw the transaction taking place here. Fearing that he might disturb the business if he went over rashly, he stopped and waited until the woman left before rushing over.
"Sister, that old lady bought two pheasants at once, which means her family is quite large."
Zhou Chenyu touched the still-warm copper coin, raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Guess how much those two pheasants sold for?"
Seeing his sister's happy smile, Baoyu stroked his chin and raised the price, "I guess one hundred and one?"
“Wrong.” Zhou Chenyu shook his index finger. “The two chickens together sold for two hundred and eight copper coins.”
"Two hundred and eighty?" Baoyu quickly covered his mouth, secretly laughing, "That's several dozen more coins than we expected on the way."
Baoyu stared at the mooncakes wrapped in red paper in the distance, a little thought of rushing over stirring within him. "Sister, I must buy a lot of mooncakes to eat this Mid-Autumn Festival. I haven't had any for years, and I really miss them."
Zhou Chenyu smiled helplessly, "You are the great hero of our family's hunting, so we'll do as you say."
With mooncakes hanging in front, Baoyu worked with great energy. They transported the game to the stall, unloaded a cartload of game, and neatly arranged it in front of the stall, waiting for customers to arrive.
Eating chicken during festivals is a tradition in Qingshui Town. On the day of the festival, every household will slaughter a chicken, drain the blood, pluck the feathers, make a small incision at the chicken's tail, remove all the internal organs while keeping the chicken body intact, scald it in boiling water, take it out, and serve it with mooncakes, incense, and candles to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors before taking it home to eat.
In addition, because pheasants have a more unique taste than domestic chickens, most people who buy chickens for the holidays would prefer to spend more money on pheasants if they had to choose between the two.
Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu sold all ten pheasants they brought to the market before noon. Although not all the wild rabbits were sold, only two remained, which would be easy to transport back home.
But what surprised them the most was the wild deer. They thought that wild deer were rare, and since they could nourish the body and have medicinal uses, they should sell them. But instead, they kept it.
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