It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

The shopkeeper said hurriedly, "Yes, yes, it's a coincidence. The grain transport team just arrived today and hasn't had time to load the goods yet. Please wait a moment, I'll go get it."

After saying that, he ran to the backyard like a gust of wind and brought back two bags of rice in a few breaths.

The shopkeeper opened the grain bag and asked with a smile, "Sir, there are two kinds of rice, one is sticky and the other is ordinary rice. The prices are thirteen and eleven cents per pound respectively. How much would you like?"

"Why did it increase by two cents?"

The shopkeeper explained, "Last year, there was a war at the border, and the trade route to the Central Plains was closed. This has increased the cost of traveling. Sir, do you still want it?"

The man thought about it and finally ordered a pound of glutinous rice.

Song Zhi, however, stared at the food in the shop thoughtfully.

After the customer left, Mrs. Wu hurried forward and said she wanted to buy salt.

The shopkeeper noticed Wu's attire and asked, as usual, "Salt is forty cents a pound. How much do you need, old woman?"

"I only want half a pound!" After saying that, he took out the twenty-two copper coins he had just earned from selling eggs from his pocket, took out two of them, and handed over the rest.

The shopkeeper took the copper coins and started to weigh them.

At this time, Mrs. Wu had already taken out the container she had prepared early in the morning from her backpack and was standing by waiting.

Song Zhi knew from reading novels that salt was expensive in ancient times, but she had never expected it to be this expensive. She couldn't help but ask, "Boss, how much is a pound of sugar?"

The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Young lady, you want some candy? Malt sugar is fifty cents a pound, so this cane sugar will cost seventy-one pounds."

Song Zhi exclaimed, "Sugar is so expensive!"

Fortunately, there were no other customers in the shop, so the shopkeeper said a few more words, "My dear lady, you don't know, this kind of sugar can't be made in the north. I heard that the crops that grow this kind of sugar cane can only be grown in the south. If we northerners want to eat sugar, we have to transport it from the south for thousands of miles, which is very expensive!"

That’s right. In ancient times, if people wanted to eat sugar, they could only rely on sugarcane to make sugar, besides honey and maltose.

The two main raw materials for sugar production are sugarcane and sugar beets.

Sugarcane prefers warmth and cannot be grown in the north, but sugar beets are cold-resistant crops and can be grown in the north.

Song Zhi once learned out of curiosity that beets were actually introduced to China via the Silk Road a long time ago and were used as food and medicine. It was only in modern times that beets began to be used to make sugar.

I just don’t know if there were beets in the Dashun Dynasty.

If she could find sugar beets and make sugar, wouldn't she be able to rise up and sing like a serf immediately?

Just when she was thinking happily, Wu pulled her arm and came closer to ask, "Azhi, do you want some candy?"

Song Zhi came back to her senses and quickly waved her hands, "Grandma, we still owe money, so we can't spend money indiscriminately." After that, she pulled people out of the grocery store.

Mrs. Wu was even relieved, but she also felt sorry for her eldest granddaughter who had been running around for the whole morning.

When he was about to leave the city, he stopped in front of a snack shop and took out his last two cents to buy her some fried cakes.

Seeing this, Song Zhi hurriedly said, "Grandma, I don't want to eat the fried cakes. Use these two cents to take a bus back."

It was almost noon and the sun was bright. She really didn't want to spend more than an hour walking back.

Besides, grandma’s health was not very good. She had been carrying dozens of kilograms of herbs and walking a long way, so she shouldn’t be too tired.

Mrs. Wu looked up at the sun, and seeing her granddaughter's firm attitude, she agreed to her wishes.

After the two men left the city, they immediately saw an ox cart waiting for people parked under the city wall.

At this time, there were already four people sitting in the car, and the old man driving the car was about to leave.

Seeing two more people coming, she hurriedly asked them if they wanted a ride. Wu told them her destination and they were going their way.

The two of them set off on their journey home.

The ox cart swayed all the way, and Song Zhi's head swayed along with it, making her feel sleepy.

Mrs. Wu let her granddaughter lean on her in her arms and let her rest.

Song Zhi was indeed very tired. Not only had she walked a long way early in the morning, but her brain had also been working at full capacity since early morning. Now she had finally sold the herbs and found a way out of her impoverished family's predicament.

At this time, her mind relaxed and Song Zhi felt waves of tiredness coming over her. Like when she was a child, she nestled in the comforting arms and gradually fell asleep.

When Song Zhi woke up again, she had already arrived at the village entrance.

Song Zhi hurriedly got off the ox cart and heard two excited voices. Her younger sister was running towards her with her younger brother on her back.

The younger sister was already thin, and now she was carrying a little person on her back. Song Zhi was afraid that they would fall.

He quickly took two steps forward, took the younger brother from the younger sister, and asked, "It's so sunny outside, why are you waiting outside?"

Song Huan rubbed the hem of his clothes nervously and whispered, "Second Grandma is at our house. I didn't want to stay at home, so I brought my younger brother out to wait for my sister!"

Song Zhi didn't understand her sister's meaning for a moment. Instead, Wu urged her, "Let's go back quickly. Think of it as your Second Madam coming to ask for money!"

Song Zhi immediately understood that he had come to collect the debt!

This is not anyone's fault. Last year, I caught a cold and needed to use some expensive medicines, but Doctor Zheng didn't have them, so I had to go to the county clinic to buy them.

This money was borrowed from my second grandmother's family. It has been borrowed for nearly a year. Although half of it has been repaid, the family really cannot afford to repay the other half.

The four generations of grandparents and grandchildren quickened their pace to go home. As soon as they entered the door, they had no time to put down their backpacks.

Second Madam Zhao, seeing Wu, immediately looked worried and took Wu's hand, saying helplessly:

"Sister, I'm not the one who's pushing you. My old man got up at night and fell. Although his condition has stabilized now, he still needs to go to the county to buy some medicine. We're really short of money at home. Can you see if we can get some advance wages from the master in the mountains?"

Mrs. Wu also felt guilty and knew that it would be difficult to delay the payment of the money. She promised, "We were the ones who were disrespectful in this matter. Sister-in-law, go back first. I will send the money to you later."

Zhao also knew that she needed time to give Wu time to prepare. With her firm words, she felt relieved. She did not insist any further. After telling Wu about her difficulties, she left first.

After everyone left, Yang looked at her mother-in-law with a sad face.

"Mother, how could Dashan get an advance from the Wang family? When the Wang family's sheep were lost, they blamed Aping, and now he's withholding their wages, saying they need to pay back two taels and three cents before they can continue paying them!"

Song Zhi didn't expect this to happen. When she heard this, her head was buzzing. It seemed that misfortune was targeting this family!

If she hadn't passed it on to this little girl, this family would really have no way out.

She really didn't dare to think about what the ending would be...