With only about 30 kilograms of grain left at home, Yang Cui was worried that it wouldn't last long, and earning money was an urgent matter.
After the meal, Yang Cui planned to go into the city to investigate.
At the village entrance, Yang Cui boarded the mule cart. There were several other villagers on the cart, all members of the Lin clan. The Lin clan members dared not speak to Yang Cui, since Fan had declared that anyone who was on good terms with Yang Cui would be going against her. The Lin clan members were still hoping that Lin Shikang would help them in the future, so they naturally wouldn't want to provoke Fan at this critical juncture.
No one paid any attention to her, and Yang Cui was quite happy to be left alone. Luckily, the owner of the mule bus at the village entrance was surnamed Zhou; otherwise, she would have been exhausted to walk to the city.
——
"Da Ya, are you going to the capital?"
“Yes, my grandma said she’ll be leaving in a few days.” Daya said, her head held high and her tone and expression quite proud and arrogant.
"Da Ya, you'll be a noble lady from now on. Will you come back?"
"Probably not!" I don't want to come back to such a remote and impoverished place!
"Da Ya, look, it's Er Ya and San Ya."
Following the direction Xiaolian pointed, everyone looked and saw Er Ya and San Ya each carrying a rake and a basket of pine needles on their backs.
Daya walked over and asked, "Erya and Sanya, are you guys going into the mountains to collect pine needles?"
"yes."
Xiao Lian said, "You're all so foolish. Why didn't you choose your father? If you had chosen him, you could have gone to the capital to become officials' daughters. Why did you have to stay here as village girls? He's not your real mother. Who knows if he'll even want you in the future?"
"My mother would never abandon us!" Er Ya said angrily.
"She's just your aunt. Now your family has lost all its money, and you won't even have food to eat in the future. Be careful she doesn't sell you off."
"That's right, they're not blood relatives, she won't love you!"
...
These people each had their own opinion, which infuriated Er Ya and San Ya, and they started fighting with them.
Daya stood aside, not helping anyone, only shouting, "Stop hitting! Stop hitting!"
Er Ya and San Ya were outnumbered and outmatched, and quickly got injured. Although they lost the fight, the other side fared better. San Ya was younger and her injuries were more severe. She had several fingernail marks on her neck and a deep bite mark on her arm. The fight ended with San Ya crying loudly.
——
Yang Cui wandered around the city. Although she hadn't decided what to do yet, she did learn about the prices here. Wan'an County was a large county with a large flow of tourists. In recent years, there had been no war in the country, so the price of grain was stable. One dou of rice cost 120 wen, one dou of mung beans, red beans, and millet cost 90 wen, and one dou of sorghum cost 70 wen. One dou was equal to ten jin.
The most expensive items are oil and salt, especially salt, which is priced at unimaginably high prices.
One pound of salt costs one hundred coins! No wonder people say that a bushel of rice costs one pound of salt.
However, since the family was indeed out of salt, Yang Cui gritted her teeth and bought two ounces of salt. She didn't buy any oil because it was hard to hide. She had only mentioned losing money today, and then bought oil this afternoon. What would people think?
After noon, it was extremely hot, so Yang Cui decided to buy some meat and head home.
When she arrived in Wa State, she discovered that there wasn't even pork available in this era!
It's not that there are no pigs, but pigs represent lowliness, so no one eats them or raises them. Yang Cui was helpless; it seemed that her hope of eating meat was gone.
Fish was the cheapest meat dish of the time. Grass carp cost six coins per pound. Yang Cui bought a grass carp weighing more than four pounds and spent twenty-five coins.
Yang Cui went to the pastry shop and bought six mung bean cakes. She always had to bring some food back for her two little girls when she went out. But snacks are really expensive. Six mung bean cakes cost fifty coins. It hurt her heart!
Finally, Yang Cui went to the fabric shop to buy a few feet of soft cotton fabric to make underwear. The original owner of this body had a really good figure. Her breasts alone weighed at least two or three pounds, a proper C-cup. And her two daughters were also growing up, so a girl's underwear couldn't be too bad.
When she arrived at the cloth shop, she learned that the cloth was sold either by the bolt or by the pound, and the price varied greatly depending on the material. Yang Cui chose a soft and comfortable cloth, which cost five taels of silver per bolt and one hundred and seventy coins per pound. Yang Cui bought three pounds.
Yang Cui planned to use one jin to make three pairs of underwear for each of the three members of her family, one jin to make bras, and the rest to make towels.
It cost 510 coins for three catties. I haven't bought much today, but I've already spent more than half a tael of silver. It hurts!
I'm not buying anymore, I'm going home!
Shopping means spending money, so I'm going to splurge!
Yang Cui boarded the mule cart back to the village, her basket filled with brand-new cloth and her hand holding a fish weighing over four pounds, immediately attracting the attention of the people on the cart.
Even though fish is the cheapest meat, ordinary people won't buy it except during holidays like Chinese New Year, because they can't afford it!
Zhou Daqing's daughter-in-law, Bai, stared wide-eyed!
"Xiao Cui, why did you buy cotton fabric? So much of it, it must have cost a lot of money!"
“Sister-in-law, I just lost all my money last night, how can I afford it? It's just that I have a cousin on my mother's side who married into the city, and we happened to run into her today. She's about to give birth and isn't feeling well, so she asked me to help her out and make two new sets of clothes for the baby.” After saying that, Yang Cui waved the grass carp in her hand, “Look, she's already prepared a thank-you gift for me.”
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.
When they got home, Daya and Erya were sitting on the doorstep, their hair disheveled. When they saw Yang Cui, they rushed over to her.
"Mother, sob sob sob..."
"Why are you crying again? What happened to your faces and necks? Did you fight?"
Er Ya and San Ya cried and sobbed.
"You lost the fight?"
Er Ya pouted, "Mother, will you abandon us?"
Sanya cried, "Mom, I'll eat less and work more from now on, please don't abandon us, okay? Waaah..."
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