Li Wen's rambling made the villagers understand clearly.
The city was full of disaster victims who not only had no money to buy things, but were also threatened by a group of people who might rob them at any time.
Meanwhile, even small families in the prefectural city were struggling. They had some savings, so they prioritized buying grain and couldn't bear to spend it on wild game.
They weren't exactly well-fed, so why would they have money to buy lean rabbit meat instead of pork? That's highly unlikely.
Selling goods on the street is not only risky, but you also might not be able to sell them.
Even those onlookers who knew the product had already been sold couldn't help but worry upon hearing this.
Then they heard Hu Wenhua leading everyone around in a maze, until they reached the side gate of a wealthy family's house—it turned out that wealthy families had many gates, and not just anyone could walk through the main gate.
Li Wen knew this when he worked in the prefectural city, but he always dealt with the supervisor and never knew the kitchen purchasing agent. Moreover, the wages for the laborers were always agreed upon in advance. If they wanted to work, they could work; if they didn't, they could leave. He didn't know how to ask for a price or how to negotiate it, let alone that he had to give the kitchen purchasing agent a bribe.
Yes, we also need to give the kitchen purchasing department a kickback!
Otherwise, why would anyone buy from you?
Even if their rabbits are plump and tender, it doesn't matter. It's not for them to eat, it's for the masters to eat.
If there's no rabbit meat, there's mutton, pork, chicken, duck, goose, wild boar, wild rabbit, and pheasant—it doesn't matter what you eat!
"Our rabbits are plump. The buyer said the large ones cost 120 or 130 coins, and the small ones cost a little over 100 coins. Plus, we keep the rabbit pelts." Rabbits caught in the wild range from 50 or 60 to 80 or 90 coins, but wild rabbits only weigh two or three pounds at most. Ours weighs a full six or seven pounds!
It's perfectly normal for meat to be more expensive.
Finally, the price of the rabbit was announced, and the onlookers gasped in unison.
Weird!
"It's more expensive than a whole hen!" A laying hen weighs over two jin (approximately 1 kg) and can sell for seventy or eighty wen (approximately 30-40 coins).
Although it's much lighter than a farmed rabbit, that's because it's fed by a hen and then stops gaining weight.
It's not like we don't feed it!
Moreover, the feed for old hens should be mixed with rice. They certainly can't afford to give them grain, but they should at least be given some bran. You know, people can eat this when they're starving during famine years, so it's also part of the cost.
To encourage them to lay more eggs, we have to dig up earthworms and catch large green caterpillars to feed them from time to time.
From hatching chicks to laying eggs, more often die than survive, and that adds up to significant costs.
It's not easier than feeding rabbits at all; in fact, it's much more troublesome!
"Raising rabbits is good, raising rabbits is good!"
"By the way, what about the rabbit fur?"
Li Wen became even happier when the topic of rabbit skin came up.
Hu Wenhua said that since they could not possibly make another trip to sell the few rabbit pelts they purchased, they included them in the rabbit price, so the price above is after discount.
"Sold. The rabbit skin collector said that it's hot now and rabbit skins don't fetch a good price. If it were late autumn, a rabbit skin could sell for more than thirty coins, but now I can only offer twenty-three coins."
The onlookers stared wide-eyed.
They had thought that rabbit skins wouldn't fetch a good price, maybe ten or twenty coins, but they never expected to get twenty-three coins!
This time, there was no need to strike the gong, and the scene was unusually quiet.
"The purchasing team said that if they have any more in the future, we can deliver them again."
"The entrance fee to the city has gone up again. It's four copper coins per person now, and the cart also costs money!"
"The city is much more chaotic than last time. Let's all go home and check, calculate the amount of grain and the number of rabbits that can be sold later, and figure out how long it will take to make a trip. If we're not selling grain, we should bring fewer carts."
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