Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Buying Meat
More than half an hour later, the boat arrived at the county town.
From a distance, he could see the county town's wall. The wall was not very high, and Yu Li guessed that he should be able to climb over it.
Of course, she didn't need to climb over the wall now, she should just go in through the city gate.
The county seat is called Shanping County, located in the southeast of Daqing Dynasty. In the eyes of the world, it is already a border area close to the southern barbarian land.
Shanping County is located in a special location, separated from Nanzhao by a large mountain.
Because the imperial court attached great importance to the Nanman area, there were troops stationed nearby, so it was relatively stable. Many people came here to do business, and Pingshan County was more prosperous and lively than other border cities.
After arriving at the county town, Yu Li paid four cents for the boat fare.
Wang the boatman wanted to waive her boat fare, but Yu Li did not accept his kindness. He was a relative of his third aunt Wang, but not of her, and she would not take advantage of others.
Moreover, Wang Xiegong did this only to please the Yu family.
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After entering the city, Yu Li couldn't help but look around.
She had seen the post-apocalyptic city, which was made of steel and full of a cold, high-tech feel. The steel walls that towered into the sky kept humans in a safe city base, protecting them from external pollutants and alien species, but also trapping them.
The cities in this world have very low walls and low houses, mostly made of wood. The streets are not wide and are paved with stone slabs, with busy shops on both sides.
The county town is built by the river. There are several rivers in the city. There are many small boats coming and going in the rivers, doing business, carrying passengers, and transporting goods. All kinds of sounds come together, making it particularly lively.
Lively, noisy, stable, peaceful, busy...
This is the tone of a city. From morning to night, from day to night, people gather here, live here, and spend their lives here.
A smile appeared on Yu Li's face unconsciously.
There may be various bad things in this world. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all very backward. Most people cannot have enough food and clothing. There may be hunger, natural disasters, man-made disasters... There will also be various problems, and there are many bad things.
But people don’t have to face a completely changed world, a completely collapsed natural environment, worry about the terrifying monsters eating people outside the city, or be afraid that monsters will break into the city one day. They don’t have to be trapped in a cold city, surrounded by fear and despair all the time...
Yu Li walked and looked, completely forgetting everything else.
It was not until she saw a group of women washing clothes on the stone steps by the river that she finally remembered that she had come to the city to find work today.
She walked over to a woman who was washing clothes.
There were several basins of clothes beside the woman, all piled full. There were clothes for both adults and children. It was obvious at a glance that this was not the amount of clothes that a family would have to wash.
"Excuse me, Auntie." She said politely.
The lady who was washing clothes looked up. Her face was old, her hair was mixed with silver threads, and her face had the sorrow peculiar to a poor family.
The old lady asked doubtfully, "Sister, what's the matter?"
When the elders here meet a young girl they don’t know, they usually call her “sister”, “a-mei”, “mei’er”, etc.
Yu Li lowered his eyes, looking a little embarrassed: "Auntie, I want to come to the county town to find a job, I don't know how to wash clothes..."
Hearing this, the old lady understood and a look of enlightenment appeared on her face.
In fact, there was no need to ask. Anyone with eyes could see the aura of poverty on Yu Li. He was skinny and his clothes were extremely tattered, but they were washed clean. One could tell at a glance that he was a poor person who had a hard time.
Perhaps Yu Li's poverty made the old lady empathize with him, so she kindly said, "If you want to wash clothes, you can go to the east of the city to take the job. There is an old woman named Cui there. Tell her and she will arrange the job for you. But... sister, do you live in the county town? If not, then Old Woman Cui will not be happy to introduce you. Besides, washing clothes is charged by the basin, and you don't get much money for washing for a whole day..."
She didn't say this on purpose because Yu Li was trying to steal her job.
The job of washing clothes is not an easy one. You have to squat by the river all day long, soaking your hands in water until your skin is wrinkled. It's okay in the summer, but in the winter, it's really a torture. If you are not really poor, who would be willing to take this kind of job?
The people who do this work are all women from poor families. The girl is still young. If she does too much, she might hurt her waist. It's really not worth it.
After learning from the kind-hearted lady that the money for washing clothes was indeed pitifully little, Yu Li gave up the idea of taking the job.
The wages she earned that day were probably not enough for her to have a meal, let alone support her family.
After saying goodbye to the kind lady, Yu Li continued walking forward.
It was her first time in the county town, and everything was unfamiliar and new to her. She chose to walk and look around, and familiarize herself with the road.
After turning a street, I happened to see an embroidery shop on the side of the road.
Yu Li took a look and confirmed that the words on the plaque read "Jinhua Embroidery Shop", then walked in.
Jinhua Embroidery Shop is not the largest embroidery shop in the county, but it has a great background. It is said that the owner is from the provincial capital, and the price paid for embroidery here is relatively fair. Many people like to send their own embroidery works here.
There were not many people in the embroidery shop. There were only two customers looking at clothes and the shop assistant was serving them.
When Yu Li came in, a shop assistant came to greet him with a warm smile, and did not treat him with any disrespect because of his shabby clothes.
Upon learning that Yu Li was there to sell embroidery, the shop assistant took her to the counter.
The shopkeeper was counting some embroidery pieces and asked her to take out the ones she wanted to sell.
Yu Li took out two packages from the backpack and opened them.
The shopkeeper only took a glance and knew that the embroidery in the two packages was what their store received regularly, usually once a month, and was brought over by people from the countryside when they came to the city.
Embroidery shops like theirs do not accept all embroidery products and have strict requirements.
Needless to say, Zhou's embroidery is of excellent quality and very popular. All embroidery shops will buy it. Yu Yin's embroidery does not have any patterns, but her embroidery is well matched in color and her work is clever. It meets the standards of embroidery shops, but the price is not as high as Zhou's.
The shopkeeper knew what was going on. While counting the embroidery, he asked, "I remember that it was someone else who sent these embroidery. Why did the girl send them this time?"
Yu Yin's embroidery was sent by the Yu family, while Zhou's embroidery was sent by Da Zhuang.
The shopkeeper knew the person who sent the embroidery.
Yu Li said: "This was made by my mother-in-law and sister. I will deliver it from now on."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper didn't say anything, but just looked at her a few more times, as a way of recognizing her, so that he wouldn't recognize her if she sent him embroidery again in the future.
The shopkeeper quickly counted the number of embroidery pieces and then began to calculate the money.
He tacked his abacus and said, "Your mother-in-law's embroidery is always good and is very popular with the county magistrate's wife, but unfortunately there are not many of them. If she has time, you can ask her to embroider something else, such as a table screen. If the embroidery is good, you can give her three to five taels for each piece."
Yu Li blinked her eyes, which was an eye-opener. Did good embroidery make so much money? Her mother-in-law's embroidery was actually of the high-end style of a noble lady.
She took another look at Zhou's embroidery and confirmed that she definitely couldn't do it, so she could only give up with regret.
A needle as thin as an embroidery needle can be used to kill monsters, but it cannot be used to embroider or something.
Yu Yin's embroidery is only famous for its novel style and good color combination. There are no patterns embroidered on it, so the price is not high and it is aimed at the common people.
It’s not that Yu Yin doesn’t want to embroider some patterns on it, but she doesn’t know how and no one taught her.
Yu Li was thinking, Yu Yin is good at sewing, she is gentle, quiet and very careful, and it seems that she also likes sewing. Should he ask Zhou to teach her?
Of course it’s not free, you can get some compensation.
After the shopkeeper counted the money, he quickly gave it to Yu Li.
Zhou's embroidery was sold for one or two hundred or three hundred coins. This was the embroidery she had saved for two months. Last month, Fu Wenxiao had been in a coma, and she was extremely worried. How could she have the energy to do these things?
As for Yu Yin's embroidery, the total amount was five hundred and fifty coins.
After selling the embroidery products, Yu Li bought some cloth and embroidery thread as instructed by Zhou and Yu Yin.
Yu Li calculated in his mind that it cost him 150 wen to buy cloth and embroidery thread for Yu Yin, so Yu Yin could earn about 400 wen by working hard for a month.
These four hundred coins were not a small amount of money for many country people, and were quite capable.
Then Yu Li tore some more cloth to make clothes.
The shopkeeper gave her a ten-cent discount because she was a regular customer.
Ten cents can buy two bowls of shredded pork noodles and three bowls of vegetarian noodles.
Yu Li thought seriously, then he became cheerful, his eyes curved and he looked very happy.
Seeing that the shopkeeper had a good attitude, Yu Li took the opportunity to ask him: "Shopkeeper, do you know where the county town is recruiting? I want to find a job in the county town."
Hearing this, the shopkeeper couldn't help but look at her with a slightly weird expression.
This was the first time someone came to sell embroidery and asked him what kind of work was available in the county. He almost thought that she wanted to find a job in the embroidery shop and took the opportunity to ask him.
However, they have enough people working in their embroidery shop and will not hire any more people.
Even if they want to hire people, they will only hire acquaintances. This is the rule of many stores. They will not hire strangers casually, and they will feel at ease only when they employ acquaintances.
The shopkeeper was not angry at her rash question, and asked kindly: "What kind of job do you want to find, young lady?"
He was very calm. There was nothing wrong with a country girl coming to the city to find a job. Looking at her clothes and appearance, he knew that she came from a poor family, and it was normal for her to want to find a job in the county town to support her family.
Shanping County is a border city in the southeast. The atmosphere here is open, and there are many women struggling to make a living. It is very common for women to go out to find work.
"It's all right." Yu Li said, and put forward his own request, "I have strength and want to do some hard work, but the money can't be too little."
She absolutely cannot do technical work like embroidery.
So her goal is very clear, to find physical work, as long as it is physical work, she can do it.
Shopkeeper: “…”
For a moment, the shopkeeper didn't know what to say.
However, the shop assistant next to her burst out laughing, then quickly turned his head away and pretended to be busy, but in his heart he thought the girl was really funny.
When girls look for work, they usually look for work that doesn't require too much physical effort, but she actually wanted to find work that required physical effort.
The shopkeeper didn't quite believe what she said about her strength, because Yu Li's appearance was too deceptive. It was hard for people to believe that she was so strong. Some people even thought that she was just desperate to find a job to earn money to support her family, and that she was just trying to show off.
The shopkeeper was understanding, but he really had no idea what to do at the moment.
As I said, many jobs in the county prefer to find acquaintances. The shopkeeper is a respectable man, and all the suitable jobs he can think of are relatively respectable, and he does not accept outsiders. The shopkeeper and Yu Li just met for the first time, and he is not kind enough to help her find a suitable and respectable job.
Yu Li was not disappointed. Seeing that there were customers coming in, he stopped disturbing them, put the things he had bought into the backpack, left the embroidery shop, and continued to stroll around the city.
There were many things sold in the county town, most of which Yu Li didn’t recognize—probably because the original owner didn’t recognize them. She had no memory, so naturally she didn’t recognize them either, and she was dazzled by what she saw.
Passing by a pastry shop and smelling the sweet aroma inside, she paused, swallowed secretly, and then continued walking.
Although I really want to eat it, I don’t have a job now, so I have to save money first.
After walking for an hour, Yu Li's impression of the county town was that there were so many delicious foods and the people living here were so happy.
Of course, happiness only comes from having money to buy food.
As she walked along the way, she discovered that there were many poor people in the county town, and not everyone could buy food as they pleased.
Yu Li brought some silver out today, but this silver was to be used to buy food and could not be spent as he pleased.
At this moment, she suddenly had a strong desire to make money, to make a lot of money, hoping to live a life where she could spend as much as she wanted.
It was almost noon when Yu Li arrived at the county dock.
The county town's wharf is not small. There are many cargo ships parked on the wharf. A group of porters are busy moving the goods. The shouts of small vendors can be heard from the wharf, and the scene is bustling and noisy.
The sun was scorching and the people on the dock were busy and sweating profusely, doing hard physical work.
Yu Li looked towards the pier and saw a lot of food stalls nearby. She was also hungry, so she went to a roadside noodle stall.
The store is not big, and there are not many people eating noodles now.
Yu Li sat down in the store and ordered two bowls of vegetarian noodles.
A bowl of vegetarian noodles costs three cents, and a bowl of shredded pork noodles costs five cents, which is two cents more expensive.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to eat meat, but as I said before, without a job and no income, she has to spend money frugally.
A middle-aged couple was busy in the store. When she ordered two bowls of vegetarian noodles, the plump middle-aged woman smiled and asked, "Girl, do you have any companions coming over?"
"No." Yu Li said calmly, "I wanted to eat it myself."
aunt:"……"
After the vegetarian noodles were served, Yu Li blew on the noodles and then ate them quickly.
This noodle is not fine white flour, but mixed with bean flour, dark brown in color, rough and hard in the mouth, and a bit grainy. But the soup is good, it is bone soup, and it should be boiled with other things, which has a particularly fresh and fragrant taste.
tasty!
Yu Li's eyebrows curved, and she was in a very happy mood after eating something delicious.
If there is anything she likes about this world, it is that there are a lot of delicious foods, all of which are pure natural, have no strange taste, and she will never get tired of eating them.
Seeing that she actually ate two bowls of noodles, the old lady was really surprised. She looked so thin, but she could eat so much.
The portion of their bowl of noodles is not small, most people can definitely eat it to their heart's content, and rarely would they order a second bowl.
After Yu Li finished her noodles, she felt that the two bowls of noodles were just a base, but she didn't order any more.
When checking out, she took the opportunity to ask the lady about her job as a porter at the dock.
The old lady was a straightforward person. She thought that a man in her family wanted to come to the dock to carry goods and make money, so she immediately told her what she knew. Anyway, everyone knew the news.
What the old lady said was not much different from what Yu Jin said. If you want to carry goods at the dock, just go find the manager.
"The man sitting over there drinking tea under the shade of the tree is the manager. He is in charge of the porters' cargo handling business. You can go find him, but the commission he takes is very high. I heard that sometimes if he is in a bad mood, he will take most of the wages and only give you a small half..."
Yu Li frowned, "No one cares?"
Isn't this exploitation too much?
The old lady curled her lips and whispered, "Those who can come here to be managers usually have backers. Even if they take most of the money, no one dares to make trouble..."
Unless you don’t want to work in the county town anymore.
Those who come here to do the hard labor are ordinary people with no background. They earn some hard-earned money and take as much as they can, unless of course the manager really goes too far.
These managers are also smart. They always act within people's bottom line and won't really make people's lives miserable. Over time, everyone gets used to it.
As she was speaking, she saw a customer coming into the store and she hurried to greet him.
Yu Li picked up the backpack and left.
Braving the scorching sun, she strolled over to the dock, watching the porters carrying goods, working in an orderly manner, and then looking at the managers sitting in the shade of trees, enjoying the cool air and drinking tea. She felt a little uncomfortable.
Yu Li was not in a hurry to find a job at the dock and decided to wait and see.
Then she continued walking around the city and saw a shop selling maltose. She went in and bought five pieces of maltose for a total of ten cents.
This piece of maltose is not very big, but it is sold by the piece. This shows how expensive sugar is these days. No wonder ordinary people can't afford it. In the original owner's memory, she only ate candy once when she was a child, and the sweetness made her remember it for a long time.
Yu Li's understanding of this world was based on the original owner's memories, so he was not aware that the sugar-making technology of this era was very backward, sugar was a luxury, and most people could not afford it.
After buying the candy, I walked forward for a while, turned a street, and suddenly saw a butcher shop on the side of the road.
Meat!
Meat!
Yu Li's eyes lit up and he walked over without thinking.
After coming into this world, she didn't eat much meat except for the bacon rice and the two chickens she ate at the beginning.
The Fu family usually eats frugally. Like many country people, they seldom buy meat. When they are craving for meat, they just steam or fry eggs. The most sumptuous dish is tofu stewed with lard and homemade soybean paste. It is so fragrant and tasty that Yu Li can even eat half a pot of rice.
If the lard is so delicious, the meat must be delicious too!
Yu Li had twenty taels of silver in his hand. Even if he bought some grain, he still had money. It wouldn't be too much to buy some meat, right?
After noon, there was not much meat left in the butcher shop. In addition, the weather was hot and humid, and meat would easily go bad if left for too long, so it was sold out early. Only a few cleanly picked bones were thrown there randomly.
Yu Li was very disappointed. He should have come earlier.
Just as she was staring at a few bones in a daze, a voice rang out.
"Leaving mother?"
Yu Li looked up and saw Boss Tu coming out of the butcher shop. He nodded at him and continued to stare at the bones on the table.
I really want to eat meat, how about buying the bones as well?
You can buy it and cook it in soup or something, add some kelp and peanuts to stew it, and it can also have a bit of meat flavor...
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