Good luck every time

Li Ruyi put the wooden box on the ground, and a woman came in quickly from the back door.

"Oh! He's really a peddler!"

She rubbed her hands, not knowing what to say, and awkwardly asked Li Ruyi to sit down.

Li Ruyi sat down, and she took a wooden bowl and poured a bowl of water for Li Ruyi.

The top of the bowl is not level, and you can tell at a glance that this is carpentry work done by an amateur.

Li Ruyi held the bowl but did not drink the water. Instead, he sat on his wooden box and started chatting with the woman.

"Aunt, to be honest, I just started to plan this recently, and I just wanted to go around first."

Aunt Song nodded repeatedly after hearing what Li Ruyi said.

"Our place is remote, and we haven't had a peddler here for years. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but there's not even a bowl in this house."

Li Ru found that the other party could speak, so he also continued to communicate.

"So what do we do here? I see there are quite a lot of people."

Aunt Song hadn't seen a new face for many years, and since it was Uncle Chen who came, she had an extra layer of trust in him, so she started talking right away.

"Hey! Live by the mountain and eat by the mountain, live by the water and eat by the water! The young and strong people in the village are all out collecting herbs and hunting. There is a piece of land in the back mountain. It's promising. Let's deal with it!"

Li Ruyi looked at her expression. She was only in her thirties, but she looked old. It was obvious that she was really just getting by.

"That's considered self-sufficient. It's not like in the county, where you have to pay for food and drink."

When Aunt Song heard Li Ruyi mention the county, she also became curious.

"I haven't even met anyone from the county! How do people in the county live?"

Li Ruyi thought about it and picked out some things she knew to tell.

"There are all kinds of shops in the county where you can work and earn money to support your family. Some landlords are also willing to live in the county because it is convenient to buy things in the county."

"The landlord has plenty of food and money, so a little bit that slips through his fingers is enough to feed many people."

Aunt Song liked to hear this and sat on the wooden stool next to Li Ruyi.

"Oh! Doesn't the landlord farm the land? How much would it cost to hire people to do the work?"

Li Ruyi also moved closer to her.

"Hire a temporary worker! He'll be able to do the work quickly. There are families who don't have a good life everywhere. They rely on their physical strength to make ends meet."

Li Ruyi thought that she was also such a family now.

Aunt Song slapped her thigh repeatedly.

"It's better for us to stay in the mountains! At least we can make a living. If we have nothing and no work, we will have to beg for food!"

Li Ruyi agreed.

"That's right. There are many beggars in the county. Some of them don't have enough food to eat. If they die one day, they will be wrapped in a tattered mat and thrown into a mass grave."

"But, those rich people are really rich. I heard that the landlord's house has so much pickled meat hanging that it fills up an entire room. Whenever he wants to eat it, he can just cut off a piece and eat it."

Aunt Song's eyes widened when she heard this.

"That meat, how much salt it takes!"

People in the mountains have no shortage of meat. Sometimes when there is not enough food for one meal, they will go into the mountains to hunt and distribute the meat to every household.

But people in the mountains lack salt.

Even smoked meat needs some salt.

When Li Ruyi heard what Aunt Song blurted out, she finally had an idea in her mind.

She continued speaking along the lines of what Aunt Song said.

"The salt in the county is good, and the salt produced when it is boiled into fine salt is high in quantity. I have also visited the market recently, and the salt I bought at the market near us has a lot of impurities."

Speaking of salt, Aunt Song sighed.

"They are all black-hearted salt merchants! In order to make more money, they mix everything into the salt. They are so wicked..."

Li Ru thought about mixing soil, sand, and stones into the mixture. He would mix whatever was free.

"Auntie, shall we all go to the market to buy salt?"

Aunt Song retracted her curse on the unscrupulous salt merchant and became calm again when talking to Li Ruyi.

"Of course! Sometimes when we can't eat the meat, we can sell it and get some money."

"But this market doesn't open very often, only twice a month. We are far away, so it's very troublesome to go to the market."

If they needed money, they would go there a day in advance, stay at the eldest brother-in-law's house at night, and get up early the next day to go to the market to buy things.

I can use the money from the sales to buy some salt and daily necessities.

The mountain roads were steep and there were no cars, so everything had to be carried on people’s backs, and the things everyone could bring back each time were limited.

People living in the mountains have also adapted to this kind of life. Only children are full of yearning for the outside world, while adults are full of fear of the unknown.

Many people in the village are even reluctant to leave the village.

No one restrains them, but they restrain themselves.

The prison of the mind is far stronger than the prison of the body.

"Oh! It costs money to go to the market. A stall costs 20 cents a day. Your third uncle has this. He found a place to squat outside. Sometimes his things are sold out before anyone can chase him away!"

"Those people are still unwilling..."

"Everyone knows that men in the mountains are fierce. Your third uncle also brought that thing... He glared at people and scared them so much that they dared not get close to him. He sold things like that! Hahaha..."

When Aunt Song couldn't describe something with words, she would use "this" or "that" instead, letting Li Ruyi figure it out herself.

Li Ruyi also nodded in agreement, but she knew in her heart that most of what Aunt Song said was made up, and she herself might never have left the village.

Aunt Song said she was happy, and she started talking nonstop without Li Ruyi even saying anything.

It was not until Song Laosan came out that she seemed to realize that her behavior was inappropriate, and she awkwardly took back the words she was about to continue.

She started to get crazy.

Oh my! Will it scare the children?

Can't I stop coming later?

This road is not easy to walk on, and people are crazy...

Li Ruyi stood up and was now able to shamelessly establish a relationship with Song Lao San.

"Uncle Song."

Song Laosan nodded and said to Li Ruyi.

"Wait here for a while. I'll go tell the villagers to come over and take a look. After they're done, you can stay at my house for dinner!"

Li Ruyi quickly waved her hands.

"I brought food. I brought it myself."

Song Laosan waved his hand and stood in the yard calling for help.

In fact, he didn't need to shout, as there was already a circle of people surrounding the stone wall of the courtyard.

Li Ruyi sat down again, and immediately stood up the next moment.

The room suddenly became dark.

Some people rushed in through the door, while others leaned against the windows.

Especially the children in the village, the small windows on all four sides were filled with children's heads, pushing and shoving each other.

The adults in the family were worried that the children would not be obedient, so they simply did not let them in.

It was the first time that Li Ruyi was stared at by so many people with fiery eyes, and she felt creepy.

She gritted her teeth and opened the box.

As a result, as soon as the lid of the box was opened, there was a loud "wow" sound all around.

"Wow! Her trunk lid is so pretty!"

"Oh, it can be turned over. Oh, how did it become so long?"

"What does he do? A magician?"

"My mother said he was a peddler, selling things!"

A little child was leaning over another child's ear, whispering something in a voice that everyone could hear.

Li Ruyi took out the things and put them on display for everyone to see.

Every time she took out an item, there was some noise around her.

But no one came near, which was completely different from the scene when Li Ruyi usually entered the village.

"Hmm... none of them are useful?"

Li Ruyi's words immediately drew everyone's attention back, and the room suddenly became lively.

It was only at this time that the usual bustle returned, and Uncle Chen was even squeezed out of the house!

Li Ruyi sold a lot of things here.

However, they were all basic necessities, with bowls, chopsticks, and needlework selling the best. The price Li Ruyi offered was similar to what they saw at the market.