Chapter 243 Iron Mine
Fearing he'd been ripped off, the man shouted in a loud voice, "Everyone passing by, come and see! She said if it's not sweet, it's free, and she asked me to try it. Please be my witnesses!"
If it doesn't taste good, don't try to trick him into buying it.
Yun Zhaoxue didn't stop them; she wasn't afraid of a large crowd when selling things.
Come on, come on, everyone come on.
Products from this space are guaranteed to be of absolutely high quality.
She said with a smile, "The fresh fruit irrigated by the nectar of the mountain is something I wouldn't be willing to sell if my husband hadn't broken his leg while chopping wood and we didn't have money for treatment."
"You're almost due, aren't you? Is there anyone else in your family?"
"have……"
"That's good, it's not too bad."
Yun Zhaoxue suddenly became addicted to acting, her eyes reddened, she squeezed out two tears, shook her head and said, "I still have family. I have a blind mother who is sixty years old, and three children who are just around the corner. They are at the age where they can eat their father out of house and home. My lazy sister-in-law and brother-in-law are pregnant with two more children. They don't know where their next meal will come from... Sigh!"
"Oh my god, this is so pitiful. If it tastes good, I'll buy some too."
"I'll buy some too."
"Thank you everyone, please give it a try."
Yun Zhaoxue washed a peach with spiritual spring water, cut it into several pieces in front of them, placed them on a plate, and let them take as many as they wanted.
The first man to try it took a bite and immediately praised it highly.
"After eating it, I felt much more relaxed. This is no ordinary peach; it's a heavenly peach!"
"I'd like to try other things too. Could I try plums or kiwis?"
"sure."
Yun Zhaoxue generously offered him a plum to try, and peeled and cut the kiwi into several pieces.
The man finished eating and praised it highly, saying, "Give me five catties of each of these three."
"Peaches and kiwis are eight coins a pound, and plums were originally ten coins. Brother, you are the first customer I've ever served, so I'll give you eight coins, making it one hundred and twenty coins in total."
"Okay, girl, you're good at business. When I get back, I'll tell my friends and family and ask them to come and buy from you."
"Thank you, brother." Yun Zhaoxue stuffed two more plums into his hand.
"I want to buy two peaches."
"I want five catties of plums."
"I'll have three catties of persimmons too."
...
Yun Zhaoxue agreed, wrapped the peaches in oiled paper, and handed them to the guest, saying, "These two peaches you requested, elder sister, will cost twelve coins in total. Please take them."
Other passersby, seeing so many people gathered there, assumed there was some kind of performance and were there to join in the fun. It turned out they were selling something, and when they heard everyone saying it was delicious, they wanted to try it too, and a long queue formed.
Yun Zhaoxue kept collecting money, and her cloth bag was almost full. She was very happy to hear the clinking of the copper coins.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that earning 108,000 taels of silver from her spatial storage was not as fulfilling as earning 10 or 18 copper coins by selling things.
Children lined up to sample the fruit, prompting adults to joke, "Hey, where did these little brats come from? Do you have any money to buy these magical fruits?"
"Kids, go play somewhere else and don't interfere with their business. This lady has it tough; her whole family depends on her to support them, and she's pregnant with two babies who are about to starve."
The children's excited faces immediately wilted.
They also wanted to try the plump, juicy fruit and were about to leave the group.
Yun Zhaoxue stopped them: "Children can also try the food. It's okay if they don't buy anything. Seeing them reminds me of my three hungry babies at home."
One of the children said, "We don't have money, but our parents do. If it tastes good, we'll ask them to buy it."
"Okay, thank you very much."
Yun Zhaoxue was very generous in letting everyone try the food, and more than 70% of those who tried it bought it from her.
The children ate something delicious and asked their parents to buy some to take home.
In half an hour, most of them were sold out, with four peaches, three or four pounds of plums, and ten persimmons remaining.
Kiwifruit was a wild fruit from the mountains in those days. Many city dwellers had never seen it before, so everyone found it novel and it sold out completely. They even asked her when she would come next time.
She said she wasn't sure.
After the customers left, a middle-aged man selling mountain products such as yam, wild vegetables, mushrooms, and honey suddenly came over and asked curiously, "Young lady, where did you pick these coconuts? I also live in the mountains, and I've never seen wild fruits this plump before."
"Could it have been picked from Tiger Head Mountain?"
Yun Zhaoxue didn't answer. It was her first day in Ezhou, so she had no idea what Tiger Head Mountain was.
Seeing that she didn't speak, the older man assumed he had guessed correctly and lowered his voice again, saying, "Are you out of your mind?"
Yun Zhaoxue's gossip-loving heart was ignited, and she lowered her voice to ask, "Big brother, what do you mean? What's wrong with that mountain?"
"Tiger Head Mountain is infested with large, ferocious beasts. Many villagers who went into that mountain were bitten to death, and some were even eaten without leaving a trace. Half a year ago, the government sent people to seal off that mountain and prevented people from entering. I heard that some hunters who went into the mountain to catch the beasts were also killed. We herb gatherers all avoid that mountain."
"Isn't it enough to just kill the ferocious beasts? Closing off the mountain will cut off our livelihood as ordinary people?"
"The government sent people to besiege them, but they were all wiped out, so they had no choice but to close the mountain."
"So that's how it is. That's terrifying."
What kind of ferocious beast could even defeat a hunter?
The older man then said, "You didn't pick your fruit from there, did you?"
"no……"
Before Yun Zhaoxue could say anything, the older brother had already made up a whole bunch of things in his mind, "I knew it, wild fruits in the mountains don't grow to be that big, you grew them yourself, right? You're just saying they were picked from the mountains so you can sell them for more money. Only business people know this, do you think I don't?"
"Yes, yes, please don't expose me, brother. I only lied because I had no choice but to do so in order to support my children. Here are some fruits for you to take back and share with your wife and children."
"No need, no need. We're all unfortunate people. I didn't do anything wrong. You've had a hard life too..."
The man felt bad about taking her fruit for free, so he gave her a small jar of honey in return.
"Wild honey is good for pregnant women. When my wife was pregnant, I searched for wild honey for her every day, and the baby she gave birth to was big and fair-skinned."
"Thank you so much, brother. You're such a kind person. I've heard that men who love their wives will prosper. You're sure to become a very wealthy businessman in the future." Yun Zhaoxue praised him generously as she put fruit into his basket.
"Haha, I never even dared to dream of being rich. It would be good enough if I could feed my family." The older brother was so pleased with himself that he couldn't stop talking and went on and on about the strange things that happened at Tiger Head Mountain.
"Tiger Head Mountain is located in the western suburbs. It is named for its shape resembling a crouching tiger, which guards a certain area."
Yun Zhaoxue was certain that there was an iron mine in Tiger Head Mountain. After the government officials discovered it, they did not want to report it to the imperial court and wanted to mine it privately. To prevent being discovered, they pretended that there was a ferocious beast killing people and prevented the villagers from entering the mountain.
If it weren't so late tonight, she would definitely go and scout ahead. But she's not in a hurry. The escorts and the prisoners have run out of money, so they'll probably stay in Ezhou for a few days.
She has so much fruit in her online space that she can't pick it all, so why not do her a favor?
The man wasn't greedy; he only took a few fruits. "Little sister, you should take these home and eat them yourself, or save them for next time. A few are enough."
"Thank you, brother. You're such a good person. I have children at home, so I have to go back now." Yun Zhaoxue said, then pushed the cart away.
Suddenly, two people caught up with them.
Xiao Mingshu said, "Big sister, please wait a moment. I saw many people carrying peaches and plums on the road. I heard they bought them from you. We would like to buy some for my third sister-in-law. Do you still have any?"
Yun Zhaoxue looked in the direction of the voice, and lo and behold, it turned out to be one of her own people. Luckily, she had disguised herself.
Xiao Mingshu and Xiao Xuanwu went out to buy medicine and groceries for Yun Zhaoxue. They also bought several pigeons to help Yun Zhaoxue recover her health, killing one every day.
She lifted the coarse cloth covering the basket and calmly said, "There's more, but these are all that's left."
The rest was given to the older brother, and there were still two peaches, two pounds of plums, and eight persimmons left.
"These remaining ones are a bit ugly, so I'm going to close up shop now. I'll sell them to you cheaply for five coins a pound. I sell them to others for ten or eight coins a pound."
"Thank you, elder sister. My third sister-in-law likes peaches and plums, so I'll take the rest. The persimmons... they look quite sweet too." Xiao Mingshu swallowed as she saw the persimmons; they looked delicious.
"Would you like some? Peaches and plums will cost fifteen coins in total."
"No need, we don't have that much money."
Knowing that she liked to eat, Yun Zhaoxue wrapped up the rest and gave them to them.
The siblings looked at her suspiciously, doubting that she was trying to force them to buy something, and waved their hands in fear, not daring to accept it.
"This is too much, too much. I don't want so many. We only want two peaches and a pound of plums. We don't want persimmons..."
When they left, Xiao Xuance gave them ten taels of silver, but they were reluctant to spend more than that and wanted to return the rest.
"The persimmons are free. I'm packing up and heading home. I'm too lazy to carry them around, so I'll give them to you."
In the end, they were only charged fifteen coins.
The siblings were very excited and thanked her profusely, even giving her an extra five coins.
"You promised to give it to me, so I can't accept the money. Please take it back."
Xiao Xuanwu said, "Elder sister, please accept it. I heard that you have a blind mother who is sixty years old, a husband with a broken leg, three children who are not yet grown up, and a lazy brother-in-law and sister-in-law."
Xiao Mingshu also said, "We need to hurry back to brew medicine for Third Sister-in-law. Kind lady, please take care on your way back."
Yun Zhaoxue put away the copper coins, but why did she feel inexplicably guilty?
Never mind, I'll buy them some food later, or rummage through my spatial storage to see if there's anything they can use.
After putting away the money, she prepared to push the cart to find an empty alley to change clothes, buy some things, and return to the inn. She had only taken two steps when suddenly a hand reached for the money pouch at her waist.
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