Chapter 7 Ancient Bridge Market
Most of the farmers in Guojia Village are self-sufficient and no longer need to work in the fields. Instead, they are either repairing their farm tools in preparation for next spring's planting or repairing the roofs and walls of their houses to protect them from the winter frost and snow. Some older farmers also gather in the ancestral hall in the middle of the village after dinner to share with the younger generation some techniques on leveling slopes and reinforcing field ridges.
If you're lucky, you might even hear some people sharing their farming techniques without reservation.
Guo Baiwen, accompanied by his grandmother, carried a stool and mingled in the crowd, listening for several nights.
Farmers are mostly simple and honest, and they don't use much rhetoric when they speak. They just do what they have to do. However, their local dialect, which has a heavy accent, is a bit difficult for him to understand. He has to ask Grandma Guo in a low voice while trying his best to remember it.
The days passed slowly, and he had been in Guojia Village for ten days.
The items drawn these past few days have been quite similar; he's already drawn three boxes of cold medicine, five packs of toilet paper, and six portions of rice weighing 2.5 kg.
Fortunately, the same items can be stored in the same system warehouse slot; otherwise, he would have racked his brains trying to figure out how to present the items openly to his family.
The warehouse now contains 4 boxes of cold medicine, 1 empty soy sauce bottle, 6 rolls of toilet paper, 7 2.5kg of rice, 2 cans of sugar-free cola, 1 bottle of shampoo, 1 bottle of shower gel, 1 hat, and 2 taels of silver, taking up nine slots.
He hasn't dared to sign in today, afraid that if he draws something different, there won't be any extra slots for him to hide.
It's about time he went to the county. Putting everything else aside, he should buy a bigger cabinet for his room, and he can also take some things out of the system warehouse and put them in his room.
Grandma Guo and Guo Xiaohua aren't the type to rummage through things; at worst, they can just add another lock.
He let out a sigh of relief, picked up his basket, and was about to go out when he saw Grandma Guo and Xiao Hua standing at the door, both carrying baskets. Guo Baiwen was a little surprised, "Are you going out today too?"
“Brother, you’ve forgotten, there’s going to be a market at the foot of the mountain below the village today.”
Although Guojia Village is located halfway up the mountain, it is not far from the county seat. People from villages further away in the mountains and from nearby towns and counties would come to the ancient bridge at the foot of the mountain to buy and sell goods during the off-season.
The ancient bridge is on the other side of the road to the county town. There is usually a large market on the tenth day of the month.
Mountain people would come to sell their autumn harvest crops or the cured meat and animal hides they had hunted. Merchants from the county and town would also come to sell cotton for winter, some farm tools for spring planting, salt, and a small amount of medicinal herbs. Some peddlers would come looking for opportunities to sell copper lenses, children's toys, and some people from the surrounding area would also set up simple food stalls at this time to sell some food when there were many people.
Even at the beginning and end of the market, barefoot doctors sometimes come with their medicine kits to provide consultations, helping the mountain people with minor ailments such as headaches and fevers, and even prescribing some simple remedies.
Because it is a spontaneously formed market, it is usually managed by the elders and clan heads of several nearby villages, and some villagers will also help patrol to prevent petty theft.
Going to the market is much closer than going to the county town.
Grandma Guo was planning to take advantage of today's market day to buy some cotton to make cotton-padded clothes and shoes.
Guo Baiwen wanted to take this opportunity to go to the county town and properly access some items from the system warehouse, but Guo Xiaohua stopped him:
"Brother, why don't you come to the market with us too!"
Guo Baiwen could only nod reluctantly, turn around, and walk alongside her.
I imagine there must be people selling cabinets and wicker baskets at the market, right?
On the way to the ancient bridge at the foot of the mountain, Xiaohua lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "Brother, do you know? I heard from Atao that when her father organized this market, he specially invited several peddlers. He said he was going to buy a beautiful peach wood hairpin for her mother."
Guo Baiwen remembered that Atao was the name of the village chief's daughter in Guojia Village, and said, "...Why would she tell you this out of the blue?"
“Because you brought me back so many pretty strips of cloth last time!” Xiaohua said. “Besides the hair ties I made for you and Grandma, I also made two hair flowers for myself to wear alternately—Atao asked me to borrow them before, but I couldn’t bear to give them to her.”
"She said that there were so many peddlers at the market today, and she insisted on buying a hair accessory that was even prettier than mine, but she wouldn't lend it to me!"
Atao and Xiaohua are about the same age, around eight or nine years old. They usually have a good relationship, and even if they quarrel, they will make up soon after.
Guo Baiwen didn't want to get involved between the two girls at all, lest they make up and then tease him together. But he understood what Xiaohua meant by suddenly bringing this up at this moment, "...Do you want Grandma to buy you a hair accessory too?"
"...I was just saying," she said, knowing that since she already had a new hair accessory, her grandmother wouldn't buy her another one.
Guo Baiwen found her expression somewhat amusing, but didn't point it out.
The three of them walked down the dirt road. They were used to walking this road, so none of them walked very slowly.
When we arrived near the ancient bridge where the market was supposed to open, we found that there were actually seventy or eighty stalls set up along the road, making it very lively.
"Brother, look! There are people selling rabbits up ahead!"
He must be a hunter from the mountains. He had set up a stall along the road, with bamboo racks behind him hanging full of finished rabbit and squirrel pelts, and some fresh rabbit meat on the stall in front. The boots he was wearing were also made of rabbit skin, and they looked very warm. His arms, exposed in the weather, looked strong and powerful as he sharpened a knife and cut meat for someone.
A few live rabbits were found in a woven bamboo basket at her feet, catching Xiaohua's attention. While rabbit meat might not be considered high-class, some people enjoy it, especially since it's cheap. This area is located in the southwest, where it's damp and cold year-round, and the local cuisine tends to be spicy.
Not to mention the county town, there are quite a few people in Guojia Village who like to eat this. In addition, a couple of years ago, some merchants introduced chili peppers as a condiment, and soon almost every household here started growing chili peppers.
Even if you're sweating profusely while eating spicy rabbit, many people will still spit out sweat as they eat.
He had previously bought laying hens in the county town. A small hen usually cost about 100 coins, while a good hen could sell for 200 coins.
At that time, he planned to buy two hens, and it took him a long time of haggling with the shopkeeper before he finally bought them for 300 coins.
Grandma Guo had bad teeth and didn't particularly like rabbit meat, but she had her eye on the skin hanging on people's backs.
Seeing his grandmother chatting with the stall owner, Guo Baiwen, under Xiaohua's expectant gaze, chose a rabbit. Each rabbit weighed about four or five pounds, and there were eight in the cage. Because the area was mountainous, rabbit meat was cheaper than in the county town, five copper coins per pound.
However, live rabbits are priced differently because their pelts are intact, so they are more expensive. A live gray rabbit costs seventy coins, and those with nicer markings are even more expensive.
Keeping two rabbits at home is a good idea. After all, rabbits reproduce quickly. If you buy them and take good care of them, they can give birth to a litter even in winter.
We'll only be able to eat meat a few more times at home.
After eating the meat, the leftover fur can be pieced together to make a quilt for winter use.
Watching Grandma Guo skillfully haggle with the person opposite her, Guo Baiwen realized that although rabbit fur wasn't considered high-quality, because rabbits have thick fur in winter, as long as it wasn't damaged, good colors like white and light gray could sell for forty coins a piece, while other colors were cheaper, at thirty coins.
If they're badly damaged, they can still be sold for twenty coins each.
The price is almost half that of the county town, but the damaged leather can't be used to make hats and knee pads, though it's suitable for making linings for patchwork short jackets.
Besides Grandma Guo, several other people also took a liking to these damaged leathers.
Grandma Guo planned to buy a few damaged rabbit pelts and a few squirrel pelts. Although the squirrel's markings weren't very pretty, they would be quite good for making gloves or hats.
They picked out three gray squirrel pelts and five damaged rabbit pelts, which cost 190 coins. In addition, since Guo Baiwen and Xiaohua both wanted a pair of rabbits to take home and raise, that would cost 330 coins.
Even though she knew that raising a pair of rabbits would save her a lot of money on meat, Grandma Guo still used all her skills to haggle with the hunter's wife who sold the furs for almost half an hour, and finally managed to get rid of the remaining thirty coins.
Grandma Guo, who was delighted with her first victory, packed the things into her basket and gave each of them five coins. "There are many stalls in the market. Since you've come all this way, take a look and see if there's anything you like. Remember to bargain like Grandma does, and don't go too far."
"Okay!" "Okay!"
It's already early November, and many families have started preparing cured meat. This time, a pig butcher from the village brought a freshly slaughtered pig on a cart. Whether you eat it right away or prepare it for curing, it's fine.
Having already bought a pair of rabbits, Guo Baiwen only stood outside and glanced at them without going closer.
He still wanted to find a cabinet or a cheaper wicker basket to store things.
Although the market couldn't compare to the bustling town, it was still quite lively today with hundreds of people gathered.
Guo Baiwen strolled around and looked around, and unexpectedly saw people playing chess in the market.
As he approached, the host, who had been standing to the side brewing tea, came over and asked, "Young man, would you like to play a game of chess?"
Gambling on chess?
He asked out of curiosity and found out it was a local chess stall.
The host family came from a chess club in the county town. High-end chess clubs are usually frequented by scholars and officials, so they play Go more often. However, this family mainly plays Chinese chess, which can be played by ordinary people, merchants, and craftsmen.
Inexpensive chess games like these mostly use ceramic or wooden pieces and boards. For those interested, a game costs two coins, and a pot of tea costs one coin.
As for the gambling game mentioned by the host, it is a more popular way to play. It can be a single game with the two players setting their own bets to determine the winner, or you can watch the game from the sidelines and bet on the players.
In order not to violate the law, the bet of a commoner in a game of chess cannot exceed ten coins. However, just by playing a game of chess, one can earn a few coins. If one plays a few games, the small amount can add up to a decent income.
Therefore, chess stalls in places like temple fairs and markets still do quite well.
In his previous life, Guo Baiwen also enjoyed playing chess. Although he wasn't a professional, he won more often than not when playing against those around him.
He thanked the stall owner quietly, then stood aside and watched for a while as a few people played chess.
Having a rough idea of the skill level of these people, he touched the five copper coins in his pocket and walked towards the chess stall owner.
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