Chapter 130 Tropical Fruits
Although it took a lot of effort and he incurred new foreign debt installments, Jiangyou was in a particularly good mood after successfully acquiring two refrigerators.
Money is something you have more of the more you spend. Only when you know how to spend money can you earn new money!
"Where are we going next?" Dr. Charles asked as the carriage came up.
"This city is a seaport, right?" Jiang You stroked his jaw, looking thoughtful. "Do they sell fruit shipped from the south here? I want to buy some pineapples."
The main store will open tomorrow, and one of its main products will be fruit beer.
When it comes to fruit beer, the first flavors that come to Jiangyou’s mind are pineapple, lychee, passion fruit and grapefruit...well, all tropical fruits.
As mentioned before, the Principality of Huntington is located at a high latitude, so tropical fruits naturally don't grow there. However, Jiang You had seen pineapples in the Axe family's kitchen. This suggests that the people of Huntington still have access to tropical products, and the most obvious way to think of them is through sea freight.
"Yes!" Lorisa was the first to answer. "I know a shop near the port. They sell a lot of tropical fruits, spices, various types of rice, and sugar. They have a wide variety of goods! But..." She whispered, "It's a little expensive."
The impact of those last three words on Jianyou multiplied as the amount of money in her purse dwindled. Jianyou sighed and weighed her head. Her head, heavy when she left that morning, felt remarkably light now after spending the equivalent of twenty gold coins. She only had three or four gold coins left; buying some fruit for tomorrow's opening shouldn't be too much.
"Let's go take a look first." Since it's a tropical product, the high transportation and import costs are unavoidable! Since I'm here, even if I don't have the money to buy it now, it won't be a wasted trip if I take a flyer and leave a raven cage number!
Their carriage drove towards the port again. Jiang You leaned on the carriage window, taking in the scenery of this beautiful port city with great interest: the Gothic church towering into the clouds with a metal crescent on top, the broad and magnificent square made entirely of white marble, and the harbor with countless large and small ships docked... Although they were all medieval magical city-states, Jiang You had a feeling as if he had suddenly arrived in ancient Rome from the British Empire.
Melori is the closest seaport to the capital. Because of the warm current flowing from the south, it's a rare ice-free port in the Principality of Huntington. Especially in winter, the city becomes a bustling hub. Countless merchants gather here to purchase various goods and supplies, then travel to other parts of the country.
"Over time, this city has become a very important transportation hub. It has well-connected land and water routes. As long as you have a ship or replacement horses, you can reach anywhere in the country within a day. Most of the seafood we eat is shipped from this city. We might as well buy some on our way back."
Dr. Charles de Nome acted like a competent tour guide, introducing the port city to Jiang You as he drove. "Many nobles like to send their servants here to shop, which results in a huge difference in prices. Things that the nobles like are extremely expensive, while things that the nobles are not interested in are very cheap.
"There are many tricks to living in this city. As long as you grasp the rules and know the tricks, you can still live a comfortable life."
Jiang You nodded, thoughtfully - isn't this what the saying goes, the poor have their own way of living, and the rich have their own way of living?
The carriage stopped in front of a small market at the harbor. Lorisa jumped out and pulled Jiangyou towards one of the stalls. As Jiangyou was pulled along, he curiously glanced at the other stalls with his skull. The goods were indeed dazzling and varied, and even the prices, which were often just a few gold coins, were staggering.
"Sister Yadra!" Lolisa walked to a store and called out sweetly to the inside. A moment later, a beautiful woman with black hair, red lips and wheat-colored skin came out of the store. She was dressed like a hot Spanish female pirate: a pirate-style red checkered headscarf on her head, a linen puff-sleeved V-neck shirt on her upper body, fastened with a brown leather rope at the wrists, and a bright red slim-fitting waistcoat on the outside, revealing the beautiful curves of her waist.
A musket belt was tied outside the vest, and two classical revolvers were inserted diagonally behind her back.
She wore an irregular wavy red skirt that was cut at the side, revealing her long legs in black high-top leather boots.
"Hey! It's Lolisa~!" The beautiful woman called Yadra smiled. "What brings you here from the Witch Forest today?"
"Hey, I brought a friend here!" Lolisa pushed Jiang You in front of the female pirate. "This is Jiang You, she's a lich who's really good at cooking! Ah You, this is Sister Yadra Huo Ailin, she's the owner of this shop and also owns a South China Sea fleet!"
Jiang You's eyes curved, and he enthusiastically grasped the beautiful sister's hand with his bony claws: "Hello, hello! I'm Jiang You! I sell soy sauce!"
She deftly pulled out a bottle of soy sauce and a bottle of plum wine from the skull: "These small gifts are not a token of respect!"
"Oh my, what a weird yet adorable lich~!" Yadra smiled, covering her mouth with her hands. "There's even a gift!"
The female pirate accepted the two bottles and waved her hand with great pride: "Since you gave me a gift, I must reciprocate. Take whatever you like in the store!"
"Hey, this is so embarrassing~" Jiang You rubbed his bone claws, his eyes sparkling, "Sister, do you sell any delicious tropical fruits here?"
"Yes! All of them!" Yadra enthusiastically took Jiangyou's armpit, "Come and see what you like."
There were indeed a lot of tropical fruits on the stall. The passion fruit, lychee, and pineapple that Jiangyou wanted to buy were all available. The lychee was actually a potted plant with fruits hanging on it. There was also a magic circle on the big flowerpot that was slowly operating to keep warm and regulate humidity.
Although it doesn't produce many fruits, the bright red ones look particularly tempting.
There are two kinds of pineapples, one kind costs three silver coins per fruit, and the other only costs three copper coins. The pricing is really confusing.
As if noting Takuya's confusion, Lolisa explained in a low voice, "The expensive kind is a special variety sold to the nobility. It's very sweet and won't numb your mouth if you eat it directly. The cheaper kind will numb your mouth and requires some special processing. Usually, only alchemists buy it."
Jiangyou understood: "I see!"
The technological points of this world are probably all skewedly focused on alchemy. This discipline, which combines chemistry, physics and certain mechanical engineering techniques, can do a variety of things. In some areas, it has almost caught up with or even surpassed the modern world where Jiang You came from, while in other areas, it has made no achievements at all.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
