"So expensive."
Wei Yuyan was somewhat surprised, as she only had one hundred coins with her. If she wanted to buy two, it would cost forty coins.
"This is the cheapest lock I have here."
The blacksmith thought to himself that he didn't make much money anyway, mainly because the materials were expensive.
"Brother, I... I didn't bring enough money today. Can you sell me one for eighteen coins?"
Wei Yuyan's voice was a little weak as she spoke. She gritted her teeth and decided to just buy one; buying two was just too expensive.
"Oh well, never mind, take it."
Seeing that Wei Yuyan was a delicate and frail young woman, the blacksmith knew that he was least capable of dealing with such haggling, so he waved his hand and agreed.
"Thank you, brother. I'll buy from you again next time."
When Wei Yuyan saw that her elder brother had agreed, she happily took out eighteen coins from her money bag.
Having bought the lock, and with a clinic right in front of her, Wei Yuyan went inside.
"My lady, what medicine do you want to buy?"
The young apprentice looked up at Wei Yuyan.
"Um, I wanted to ask if you buy processed Panax notoginseng?"
Wei Yuyan didn't know if they would accept privately sourced medicinal herbs.
"Yes, did you bring it? We have certain requirements. The price will be determined based on the quality, ranging from five to fifteen copper coins per ounce."
Seeing that no customers had arrived, the young apprentice patiently explained the situation to Wei Yuyan.
"I didn't bring it. It's not fully dried yet. I'll bring it when it's done. Thank you."
Upon hearing the answer she wanted, Wei Yuyan couldn't help but smile; the price was also reasonable.
"Okay," the young medicine boy nodded.
Wei Yuyan knew that she could sell her medicinal herbs for money, and now she could buy meat to eat.
Wei Yuyan went to the market to buy pork fat.
There were several meat stalls in the market. Wei Yuyan looked around and chose a stall whose owner looked honest and kind.
"What kind of meat would this lady like to buy?"
The boss sharpened the knife twice before preparing to chop the meat.
"Four catties of pork fat, how much is it per catty?"
Wei Yuyan thought for a moment that four catties of pork fat could yield two catties of lard, which should be enough to last for half a month.
I never want to eat vegetarian food again; I need to add more oil.
"Eight coins a pound, four pounds is thirty-two coins."
After the boss finished speaking, he swiftly cut off a large piece of pork fat and weighed it.
"Four catties and one ounce".
The boss threaded the pork fat onto a rope and handed it over.
"Boss, I'd like another pound of pork belly. Hey, do you sell these big bones?"
Wei Yuyan looked at the meat on the stall and thought that pork belly was suitable for the children.
Looking to the side, I saw a pile of large bones, seven or eight of them, but the meat had all been removed.
Wei Yuyan immediately became interested; this pork bone would make a delicious soup.
"If you buy pork belly, you can have the bones for free."
The boss figured that since no one was going to buy it anyway, he might as well do a favor.
"Do you have pig offal?"
Wei Yuyan thought about it and realized that offal was also delicious, especially pig liver, which was good for replenishing blood.
"Ah, what do you need pig offal for? I have some here..."
The owner was somewhat surprised that he rarely encountered customers asking for pork offal, mainly because pork offal really doesn't taste good.
There really was a set of pig offal in the bucket downstairs that morning, so I took it out to show Wei Yuyan.
"Forget about the offal, give me the pig liver instead."
Wei Yuyan thought that there was already a lot of meat this time, and the offal would be hard to clean, so she decided to get the pig liver.
He took out another ten coins and handed them over, feeling a pang of regret. He had only brought one hundred coins with him today, and he had spent sixty coins on the lock and meat.
The owner carefully threaded the pig liver onto a rope, put the rest of the meat into a basket, and held the pig liver in his hand.
With so much delicious food, the two kids are probably going to be overjoyed.
She still needed to buy salt. Wei Yuyan turned around and went to the salt shop. She asked and learned that salt cost forty coins per catty.
Wei Yuyan was utterly astonished; it was so expensive, enough to buy ten kilograms of rice.
"I want half a catty."
Wei Yuyan didn't want to save money on this, so she readily took out twenty coins and bought half a catty of salt.
With twenty coins left, Wei Yuyan strolled around the street, hoping to find some candied hawthorns.
"Chirp chirp chirp~".
Instead of seeing the candied hawthorns, Wei Yuyan was drawn to the chicks by the roadside.
It was an old man selling chickens by the roadside; he had all kinds of chickens: old hens, young chickens, and chicks.
"Grandpa, how much are the chicks? Do you have both males and females?"
Wei Yuyan wasn't very good at distinguishing between male and female chicks.
"Three coins for a chick, ten coins for four, both male and female, the price is the same."
When the old man saw that someone was asking about the least profitable chicks, he patiently answered.
"Grandpa, I want three roosters and five hens."
Wei Yuyan didn't expect that while chicks weren't expensive, it wouldn't be enough without a hen to lay eggs, as they weren't very nutritious.
Wei Yuyan readily paid twenty coins.
"Alright, this little cage is for you."
The old man was surprised to have sold eight so quickly. He was so happy that he gave them a small cage as a gift, since it was just something he made up himself and it wasn't worth much.
"Thank you, sir."
Wei Yuyan happily took the chicken coop, as if she could already see it full of eggs.
Well, that's it. I never expected that I'd spend all 100 coins and not have a single one left.
Not to mention bringing the children delicious food, but I believe the children will be just as happy to have meat to eat.
Looking at the pig liver in her left hand and the chick in her right, Wei Yuyan was filled with anticipation for her future life.
On her way back, Wei Yuyan still took the small path, and unexpectedly encountered two villagers.
"Oh, it's Wu Chen's wife! Oh my, what are you buying with all these bags?"
One of the older women came over to take a look.
"I didn't buy much, just a few chicks. My two children are very thin, so I thought I'd raise some chickens to lay eggs for them to eat."
Wei Yuyan didn't know whether she was friend or foe, and her tone was just right, neither cold nor warm.
"This is meat... is it pig liver?"
The older woman initially thought she was carrying meat and assumed the woman was doing well, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was pig liver.
"Fifth brother's wife, what are you thinking? How can a woman with two young children afford to eat meat?"
"Hurry back, to Wu Chen's house."
Another woman in blue ran over to help, urging Wei Yuyan to go home quickly.
"Thank you, Auntie."
Wei Yuyan remembered what the aunt looked like, but she didn't know her name. She would need to know at least a couple of people in the village in the future.
Wei Yuyan quickened her pace, leaving the two behind. What if that gossipy Aunt Wu saw the few pounds of pork fat and pork belly in her basket?
I'm afraid my aunt will come over this afternoon. It's not that Wei Yuyan is afraid of her; she just wants to avoid trouble.
Upon arriving at the courtyard gate, Wei Yuyan found it tightly shut. She put down the chicken coop and began knocking.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
