My humble days in ancient times

"Once upon a time, there was a little boy who grazed sheep in the mountains every day. One day, while grazed, he shouted to the villagers working at the foot of the mountain, 'Wolf, wolf,'"

"Sister, that's really nice. Can you tell me another one?"

Xu Ruyi sighed, the plot was not right, he should be asleep by now, why did he become more energetic the more he listened?

Xu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "How about telling the story of the tortoise and the hare?"

"it is good."

Xu Ruyi began to talk: "Once upon a time, in the forest, there lived a rabbit and a tortoise..."

"Sister, you tell stories so well. How come you can tell stories? Why haven't I heard you tell stories before?" Xu Ruyuan was a little bit unbelievable.

Xu Ruyi was secretly shocked. "Sister, I just have a rich imagination and I was just telling it for fun. By the way, do you know what these two stories teach us?"

"Well, the story of the boy who cried wolf teaches us not to lie, and the tortoise and the hare teaches us not to underestimate each other."

Xu Ruyi was delighted. She hadn't expected her younger sister to be so clever. "The story of the boy who cried wolf teaches us to be honest and not lie. Only honesty can earn others' trust. The tortoise and the hare race teaches us to be humble and not proud. Pride makes people fall behind. We must persevere and not give up halfway. The hare gave up running early and sat down to rest, which is why it lost to the tortoise..."

"I know, sister."

"Okay, go to bed early!"

Over the next few days, Xu Ruyi wandered around the mountain every day to familiarize herself with the environment and brought back some different wild vegetables every day.

Xu Ruyi also wanted to visit the town or the county seat. Xujia Village wasn't too far from either town or the county seat; the town was eight or nine miles to the west, and the county seat was about ten miles southwest. But the villagers were used to going to the town, as prices there were generally cheaper than in the county seat.

Xu Dachuan would go to the town or county with several young men in the village to find work, and sometimes he would go to the dock to carry heavy bags.

As soon as Xu Dachuan left the house that day, Xu Ruyi pestered Xu Qinghe to go to town. So the brother and sister immediately walked to town. Eight or nine miles wasn't far, so they took a shortcut by taking a side road. They had nothing to carry, so they arrived quickly, chatting leisurely.

The high city walls were not as imposing as I had imagined, and the soldiers guarding the city were armed with broadswords. Fortunately, there was no entrance fee, only for those coming and going for business.

As soon as you enter the city, you'll see wide streets paved with bluestone bricks, lined with shops. There are restaurants, pastry shops, cloth shops, teahouses, inns, grain shops, clothing shops, noodle shops, blacksmith shops, and pharmacies...

There are also various stalls and vendors on both sides of the road. Some sell candied haws and steamed buns, some sell sesame cakes and wontons, some sell cloth shoes and drinks, some sell calligraphy and paintings and fruits, and some even tell fortunes and write letters for people...

The streets were bustling with people of all kinds, the cries of street vendors and the clatter of passing horse-drawn carriages.

Further west, there are pork stalls, chicken, duck, goose, fish, and some seafood. There are also stalls selling vegetables, eggs, and mountain products...

On weekdays, most people would bring some vegetables to sell.

After all, the town was not as good as the county town, so Xu Ruyi and his sister finished their tour quickly. Xu Ruyi gained a preliminary understanding of ancient food and shops.

The brother and sister went back after the tour.

On the way, Xu Qinghe asked Ruyi: "Are we here just for a stroll today?"

"Of course not. I came here to find a way to make money."

"But I've been searching for a long time and haven't found any way to make money."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. It is always difficult to earn the first capital. So we have to earn small amounts of money and accumulate them into a lot. We have to take it slow."

Xu Qinghe probably understood some of it, so he didn't say anything else.

Xu Ruyi was thinking about making money all the way. If that didn't work, he would go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables and find medicinal herbs to sell.

Xu Ruyi immediately got to work. After returning home and having lunch, she headed up the mountain with her backpack. She dug up two baskets of wild vegetables in two trips. She then arranged the vegetables into bundles and sprinkled them with water to keep them fresh.

"Is this okay?" Xu Qinghe asked.

"Whether it works or not, you can only know after trying it. You'll find out when you sell it tomorrow."

The next morning, Xu Ruyi got up early, planning to take the village ox cart to the town.

There were already several women waiting at the entrance of the village, one of whom was Xu Ruyi's aunt-in-law, Mrs. Hu.

Xu Ruyi's grandmother had five children. The eldest, Xu Chunhua, was a beautiful woman who had been chosen by a local magistrate years earlier. Although she was to be his concubine, he offered her five hundred taels of silver. Xu Chunhua gave her parents one hundred taels and spent fifty taels herself on some quilts, clothes, and other items as a dowry, saving the rest.

Then came the eldest son, Xu Dashan, the second son, Xu Dachuan, and the third son, Xu Dalin. Xu Dalin married the only daughter of a family in town and became a live-in son-in-law. The youngest daughter, Xu Chuntao, was also very pretty and married a small business owner in town. With only one son in her in-laws' family, Xu Chuntao's life would likely be good. When they got married, they gave a betrothal gift of fifty taels of silver. Xu Chuntao gave ten taels to her parents.

Xu Ruyi's grandparents used the money given by their eldest daughter to build three large blue brick and tile houses and two east wing rooms, but they were reluctant to build the walls.

The elderly couple were open-minded. After their eldest son got married, they bought a piece of land and built a few thatched houses, giving them away. They also did the same with their second son. The family had 30 mu of paddy fields, and 6 mu of dry land, divided into three parts. Later, when their third son became a live-in son-in-law, they divided the land into two parts, giving each to their eldest and second sons. The eldest son received food for the first half of the year, and the second son for the second half. Thanks to their eldest daughter, the elderly couple began to live in retirement early.

Perhaps because they separated early on, Xu Ruyi's family and her uncle's family had little interaction, each leading their own lives. These past few years, they had lived in peace.

A few people got on the ox cart, and another person came running over from a distance: "Wait a minute, wait a minute..."

It turned out to be Xu Baolin, the most handsome man in the village. Xu Ruyi couldn't help but take a closer look, wondering what words to use to describe him? Handsome face, fair skin, tall and graceful figure, eyebrows like ink painting...

There was not much conversation along the way, and we soon arrived in town.

Xu Ruyi went to the place where they sold wild vegetables. Many people had already arrived early, so Xu Ruyi found a spot to take out the wild vegetables from her backpack. She spread a clean piece of coarse cloth on the ground and laid the wild vegetables out neatly on it.

After a while, someone came over to look at the eggs sold by the lady next door and the wild vegetables sold by Xu Ruyi.

Xu Ruyi quickly greeted: "Big sister, take some shepherd's purse back to eat, it's delicious when you make dumplings or salad."

"Really?" The woman felt warm inside when Xu Ruyi called her "big sister." She bent down, touched the wild vegetables, and asked, "Are they really delicious?"

"Don't worry, big sister. I guarantee you'll come back to buy it next time."

"How much is this shepherd's purse?" The woman wanted to try it.

"Five cents a bundle."

"Isn't that a bit expensive, little girl?"

"Yeah?" The customers who gathered behind also cheered.

Xu Ruyi explained calmly, "I dug these up one by one on the mountain. Look, they're all fresh and tender. I picked out the bad ones and the ones that were too small. You don't have to pick them out after you buy them back. You can just wash them and put them in the pot."

A few people saw the woman take the lead in buying a bundle and paying five cents, and then they followed suit.

The fat lady next to him couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect that this humble wild vegetable would sell so well."

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "Maybe they just want to have some fun."

After a while, another person came and bought all the fat lady's eggs, and also bought three bunches of Xu Ruyi's wild vegetables.

The fat lady went home with a smile on her face. Xu Ruyi continued selling for about half an hour and finally sold all the wild vegetables.

Xu Ruyi looked at his bulging purse, feeling satisfied. He had thirty-two bundles of wild vegetables, and except for the last two, which sold for three wen each, the rest were five wen each. That made a total of one hundred and fifty-six wen. Haha, Xu Ruyi felt like he was walking on air.