An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

There was a blacksmith shop in the market, and Xia Qingyue wanted to buy some iron tools.

"Okay, then you guys be careful and come back and meet up here later." Li Benfu said and ran towards the shop.

Han Zhibai held the donkey's hand and went to the market with Xia Qingyue.

A donkey with excellent appearance appeared on the crowded street, attracting passers-by to look at it frequently, and some even ran over to ask if the donkey was for sale.

Han Zhibai declined all the offers.

Rushing to the market, Xia Qingyue saw that the flow of people today was obviously more than yesterday, so she went straight to the small grocery store on the side of the market street.

The shop was crowded with people, many of them buying things, and the shopkeeper and his wife were very busy.

While waiting in line, Xia Qingyue looked around the store. Fortunately, there were still some rice, flour, beans and coarse salt.

Although there were many people, they had no money and bought relatively few things, so the line was formed quickly. Soon, there was only one person in front of Xia Qingyue, and she was the next one.

The man said, "Boss, give me five dou of rice and flour each!

Bring me twenty cups of coarse salt!"

Xia Qingyue, who was standing behind him, opened her eyes wide and watched with her own eyes as the shopkeeper scooped out all the remaining rice and flour and put them into bags.

I almost bought it!

There was a flash of regret in her eyes. She should have come earlier.

But soon, he regained his composure.

Generally speaking, at this critical juncture, the shopkeeper cannot take out all the grain and will keep some for himself as a retreat guarantee.

That means there may still be a chance to buy food.

After the man in front finished buying his things, the people queuing behind him complained. Some left in disappointment when they saw that the things they wanted were out of stock.

As a result, there are a lot fewer people.

Xia Qingyue picked up the remaining soybeans, mung beans, sesame seeds, peas, a little coarse salt, the soy sauce, white wine, rice wine, brown sugar that no one wanted to buy because they were too expensive, various seeds, needle and thread for sewing, paper money, lamp oil and other items, and bought some of them.

After counting the money, it cost more than ten taels of silver. Han Zhibai was quicker than her and paid the bill.

The guy packed up the things she wanted, and Han Zhibai carried them out one by one and loaded them onto the donkey.

After she finished her shopping, most of the remaining items in the shop were almost sold out, and a few people came in to buy some beans.

Seeing that the shop was becoming deserted, Xia Qingyue waved to the shopkeeper to talk to a quiet and deserted place on the other side.

She got straight to the point: "Boss, you still have some food left, right?"

The shopkeeper waved his hands and said, "No more, these are all left. As you can see, they are almost sold out. This batch of goods was just brought in from the south a few days ago.

We can only wait for the next batch of cargo to arrive, but due to the severe floods in Dong'an and Huai'an counties, we don't know when it will arrive!"

Xia Qingyue didn't waste any words and took out some change from her cloth bag. "Boss, please be kind and go to the warehouse to see if there is any surplus grain left in the corner. I will increase the price to buy it, okay?"

When the shopkeeper saw the silver, his eyes immediately lit up, his eyeballs rolled around twice, and he smiled, "Sir, please wait a moment, I'll go check again, whether there is any or how much, I can't guarantee it."

He went there happily.

After a while, the shopkeeper came from the backyard with a bag in his hand. He whispered to Xia Qingyue:

"Sir, I really found this small bag of brown rice. My wife is careless at work and may have accidentally dropped it into the corner. How much do you want to buy?"

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Xia Qingyue's hand holding the silver.

Xia Qingyue estimated that the bag of brown rice weighed about 40 kilograms, or a little over three dou. She took out a tael of silver and handed it over.

The shopkeeper took the money, handed the rice to Xia Qingyue, and said with a smile, "Here, sir."

Although she spent more than two hundred coins, she felt a little more at ease after buying the grain.

Han Zhibai saw her coming out with a bag of things. Without asking any questions, he took the things and put them into the iron basket on the donkey.

"Han Zhibai, is there anything else you want to buy?"

Han Zhibai looked around and saw that there were not many shops open. The stalls were selling vegetables, mushrooms or game, which were all available on the mountain, so there was no need to buy them.

"No need, just go to the blacksmith shop. I need to go there to get something."

The two hit it off.

Compared to the grocery store, the blacksmith shop is much quieter. The blacksmith holds a hammer in his hand and bangs on the red-hot iron taken out of the furnace into the desired shape.

Han Zhibai walked over and said a few words to the blacksmith, and then the two of them went into the backyard.

There were some ready-made iron tools in the store, and Xia Qingyue started to pick them out. The hoe at home was too old, and the hoe at Li's family was not very good either. So she wanted four and they could share them equally when the time came.

Get two each of a sickle, a kitchen knife, a machete, a pickaxe and a small knife.

A bite from the big iron pot.

She had almost finished her selection when Han Zhibai and the blacksmith came out from the backyard of the shop, talking as they walked.

Han Zhibai was carrying a wooden box of standard size in his hands.

"Han Zhibai, what did you buy?"

She regretted asking the question as soon as she asked it. The things were packed in boxes, and maybe they didn't want others to see them or something.

"I came here a few days ago to order the iron arrowhead."

"Arrow? Is that the arrow used for archery?" She became interested.

Han Zhibai nodded, walked up to her and put down the wooden box, "Do you want to take a look?"

"Okay." She really wanted to see it and was very curious.

Some of the arrows she used for archery were iron arrows given to her by Han Zhibai when he gave her the bow, and some were wooden arrows given to her by the Li family.

Wooden arrows can be used, but they are not as powerful as iron arrows.

Han Zhibai placed his slender fingers on the wooden box and opened it with a little force. Half of the box was filled with silver-colored iron arrows.

"Wow!" So many!

The Kingdom of Dayuan banned crossbows but not bows. However, iron arrowheads were very expensive, and buying so many at once was definitely a big deal.

She conservatively estimated that it would cost at least several dozen taels of silver.

The price has deterred many people.

Xia Qingyue looked at Han Zhibai in surprise, glanced at the blacksmith who was still working on the ironwork with his back to them, and whispered:

"By the way, do you know the blacksmith? You guys naturally started a conversation as soon as he came in?"

Han Zhibai said truthfully, "Yes, I know him. Two years ago, I went down the mountain to buy something and ran into him by accident. He was kidnapped into an alley by a few thugs and was threatened with his life and money."

At that time, the blacksmith had just learned the craft from his master and had no money at all.

Han Zhibai always patronized that blacksmith shop every time he went to it, so he recognized the blacksmith at a glance and saved him.

"Oh." It turns out there is such a connection between them.

The two of them each paid for their groceries and carried them outside.

The two little ones were guarding outside watching Xiao Hei and the things. When they saw their owner coming out, they happily ran up to greet him.

Han Zhibai first took out the things in the iron basket on the side of Xiao Hei, put the box containing the arrows in it, and put most of the things he took out into a large backpack, which he carried himself, and stuffed a small part into the iron basket.

I originally wanted to leave the market to meet up with the Li family, but when I came out of the blacksmith shop, I found that a new bookstore selling paper, ink, pens, inkstones and books had opened next door to it.

Xia Qingyue's eyes lit up, "Come on, Han Zhibai, go in and take a look."