So he said, "Okay, I'll go to the county town tomorrow and see if you want to come!"
"No, I don't need anything at home. You can go by yourself! Oh, by the way, I need two super big wooden barrels. Can you make those?"
"I really can't do that. I can do the small ones myself, but the big ones will leak if I do them. This requires a professional to do it," Lu Chuan said helplessly.
"Then I'll go with you tomorrow! We can buy a few more big wooden buckets to make sweet potato noodles." Xu Han reluctantly changed her mind.
Lu Chuan found Xu Han's expression both helpless and amusing. Knowing she didn't want to get up early to go to the county town, he then said...
"The livestock market is fixed, so we don't need to get there too early. We can just get up at the same time as usual."
Xu Han blushed instantly after her thoughts were exposed, and stammered, "I'm going to wash my feet."
Lu Chuan, who was struggling to suppress his laughter, finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. Xu Han then quickened her pace.
It seems I don't know if I can make the cured meat tomorrow. In the evening, Xu Han put all the meat that she had washed during the day into her space and will marinate it when she has time!
The next day, after dawn, Xu Han struggled to get up. Although there was no need to rush, Xu Han still got up early. Since she was already there, she was definitely going to stroll around the market!
We can't possibly travel all that way just to buy a few big wooden barrels! That would be such a waste of the trip!
The two arrived in the county town early, first strolled around the market and bought some seasonal items, and then headed straight to the livestock market.
The livestock market was located in a corner of the working-class district, mainly selling large animals such as cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, and mules.
You can buy regular chickens, ducks, and geese at the market; there's no need to travel all this way here.
As soon as the two reached the door, they smelled a peculiar odor, which was absolutely foul. Xu Han frowned slightly, but still followed them inside.
Then a friendly middleman came over.
The people standing at the entrance are all people who specialize in helping customers buy livestock, similar to modern real estate agents. They help buyers choose good livestock and take a commission in the process. The buyer gives a portion, and the seller gives a portion, which adds up to quite a lot.
"Hello, young master, what would you like to buy?" A middle-aged man with a kind face asked Lu Chuan warmly.
"I want to buy a donkey to pull the millstone," Lu Chuan said.
"Young master, please come in with me. This is Zhao's Livestock Shop. They have the best selection of donkeys. Let me show you around first."
Lu Chuan nodded in agreement, and the middleman then led the way.
After Lu Chuan went inside, he immediately spotted a male donkey. Although the donkey looked rather thin, it was in good spirits. Lu Chuan, who often dealt with animals, was naturally able to distinguish between good and bad ones.
Seeing Lu Chuan examining the donkey, the middleman said, "Although this donkey looks a bit thin, it is definitely a healthy donkey. It's probably because its previous owner didn't take good care of it, which is why it's so thin."
Seeing that Lu Chuan didn't speak, he added, "Look at these teeth, it's a male donkey that has just come of age, it can still work for many years! If we take good care of it when we get back, it will be better than it is now."
"How much does this donkey cost?" Lu Chuan asked.
The middleman went to ask the shopkeeper and returned saying, "The seller is asking for twelve taels of silver. It's negotiable."
"It's too expensive. Look how skinny this donkey is, who knows if it's sick!"
Seeing this, the middleman started to bargain. After some haggling, the seller also felt that the donkey was indeed a bit thin, so the price was lowered a lot. In the end, Lu Chuan bought the donkey for 10 taels of silver.
When they came out, Lu Chuan led the donkey and said to Xu Han, "This price is quite low for this donkey. Don't be fooled by how thin it is now; once we get home, we'll take good care of it for a while, and it'll definitely fatten up."
Moreover, the donkey is in good spirits, which means it's not sick; its thinness is simply due to the extremely poor food and shelter it had been provided with previously.
Speaking of food and lodging, Xu Han suddenly realized that they didn't have a place for the donkey to live yet! So she said, "We don't have a place for the donkey to live! Where will we put it after we buy it?"
"It's alright. When we get home, I'll just build a donkey shed next to the chicken coop in the backyard. A donkey doesn't need much space, and it'll be ready in no time. We have bamboo and other things readily available at home, so it won't take much time," Lu Chuan replied.
Then the two of them led the donkey directly to the carpenter's shop to buy a large wooden bucket.
Upon arriving at the carpenter's shop, Xu Han looked around but couldn't find a suitable large wooden tub. So she simply bought four large, round bath tubs. That would do too, since they were all new and wouldn't delay their use.
Fortunately, a bathtub is an essential item in the home, and the carpenter's shop has them ready-made, so there's no need to order one. Otherwise, Xu Han would have had to make another trip.
She had her servant deliver the wooden bucket to a secluded spot, then lied and said that Lu Chuan was going to find someone to fetch it. While no one was around, Xu Han quickly put it into her spatial storage.
Then, he led the newly bought donkey to Manxianglou, and casually took out other wild game he had hunted during this period from his spatial storage.
Upon arriving at Manxianglou, Manager Li warmly greeted the two, saying, "Brother Lu, the matter you asked me to handle before has now been resolved."
Upon hearing what Manager Li said, Xu Han immediately perked up her ears and listened attentively.
"That kid from Xujia Village owes a lot of money to the gambling den. When the gambling den people came to his house to collect the debt, his old lady refused to pay and they argued about it."
Later, when the people from the gambling den were about to break the boy's arm, her daughter-in-law gave her money, and then forced the old lady to take out the family's savings, but that wasn't enough.
So the gambling den people demanded that she give them land and houses as collateral, but they refused. The old lady said she still needed to support her youngest son's education! They said they had no money and told her to take her away!
While they were arguing, his youngest son, who was studying away from home, was carried in by others. It was said that he had offended someone without realizing it and had his leg broken.
In the end, the gambling den forcibly seized ten acres of his family's land to pay off the debt.
Xu Han clicked her tongue in amazement after hearing this; this family was truly a menace!
As expected, the old lady Xu doted on her youngest son the most. Now that her youngest son has been beaten and his leg is broken, he is no longer qualified to take the imperial examination. Let's see how she can be so smug in the future.
We don't know if this family can survive until the natural disaster strikes! We'll just have to wait and see! There's still more trouble to come!
"Thank you for your help, Brother Li. This is some mountain produce that Uncle Li likes to eat. Also, here is four taels of silver that I paid on his behalf. Please keep it safe," Lu Chuan said.
Manager Li was not pretentious and readily accepted the goods. He then had the waiter weigh the game and pay for it before the two of them left the restaurant together and started walking home.
On the way back, Lu Chuan kept observing Xu Han's face. Seeing that she was normal and had not been affected by Xu Family Village, he was relieved.
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