Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

"Dad, are all iron products here so expensive?!"

Zhang Dacheng lowered his voice and said, "The imperial court has very strict control over iron. What flows into the hands of the people is all bad iron, and the quantity is very small, so things made of iron are very expensive."

Zhang Xixi nodded, indicating that she understood.

"Let's sell the ginseng first, then go to other places."

“It seems your brother-in-law’s family also sells medicinal herbs. Let’s go find him first.”

When they arrived at the car dealership, Zhang Xixi and the others told Zhou Yuping that they had bought a set of plows and harrows for his family, and asked him to go with Zhang Xixi to sell the medicinal herbs, while Zhang Dacheng stayed behind to watch over things.

Zhang Dacheng stuffed a cloth bag into Zhang Xixi's hand and gave her ten taels of silver.

"Father, you've given too much!"

"Buy some more food and supplies for the family."

"it is good!"

Zhang Xixi asked the car dealership owner which pharmacies in the county had a good reputation, and then took Zhou Yuping to Min'an Hall first.

This pharmacy is located in a somewhat remote area, not next to any other pharmacies, but it is very popular because the prices are fair and honest, and they often help the poor.

When Zhang Xixi and her group went inside, they found that there were many people waiting to see a doctor, and everyone inside was very busy.

"Third Aunt, how about we go to another place?" Zhou Yuping whispered.

"Wait a minute, this pharmacy seems quite good." This pharmacy does seem to take good care of the poor. The shopkeeper has clear eyes and treats all patients equally. He shouldn't cheat them. I've heard people call him Shopkeeper Sun. He shares the same surname as the county magistrate. Could they be related?

After waiting for half an hour, Zhang Xixi saw that the shopkeeper had temporarily finished his work before stepping forward and asking, "Shopkeeper Sun, do you buy medicinal herbs here?"

Sun Jin looked up at Zhang Xixi and the others and said, "We don't accept ordinary medicinal herbs, but we can accept precious ones like ginseng and lingzhi."

Zhou Yuping said happily, "We're here to sell Ganoderma lucidum."

"Please come in, you two!"

Zhang Xixi and the others followed the shopkeeper into the back room and went straight to the point: "Shopkeeper Sun, we found two Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms in the mountains. What price can you offer?"

Zhang Xixi took out the Ganoderma lucidum wrapped in cloth and placed it in front of Sun Jin, then gestured for Zhou Yuping to take out the Ganoderma lucidum as well.

Shopkeeper Sun picked up the Ganoderma lucidum and examined it closely. The quality was alright, but it was a bit old, less than a hundred years old.

"I'll offer eighty taels for each Ganoderma lucidum."

The price was acceptable, but since it wasn't just hers, Zhang Xixi took out her own ginseng.

"Manager Sun, please take a look at this ginseng first, and we'll discuss it."

"Alright, you two can discuss it slowly!"

Manager Sun took the ginseng and went into the inner room, wondering where these two people came from since there were no ginseng or lingzhi mushrooms in the mountains around here.

Zhang Xixi, seeing that Manager Sun had gone into the inner room and closed the door, asked softly, "Yuping, what do you think of the price Manager Sun offered?"

"Third Aunt, I've never sold Ganoderma lucidum before, and I don't know its value. You should make the decision!"

“I checked these two Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms and they are less than a hundred years old. Selling them for eighty taels should be profitable. If you don’t think it’s a good deal, we can go and look at other stores.”

Zhou Yuping laughed and said, "Third Aunt, since you can tell the age, you must be right. Let's sell it to Manager Sun!"

"OK then!"

Zhang Xixi knocked on the door of the cubicle, and Sun Jin immediately came out with a smile. This ginseng was quite old, probably around three hundred years old.

"Young lady, I'll offer three hundred taels for this ginseng. What do you say, will you sell it?"

"Alright, the shopkeeper's price is fair, I'll sell you the Ganoderma lucidum too."

Sun Jinxi said, "Please sit down and have some tea. I'll go get you the silver notes."

Zhang Xixi hurriedly said, "Please give us smaller denomination banknotes and loose silver, copper coins are fine too."

Sun Jin turned around and replied, "Okay!"

Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuping took the money and said they would meet at the cattle and horse market, then they went their separate ways to buy things.

Zhang Xixi's first stop was a fabric store. Her family's clothes had been worn for several years, and they were either faded from washing or covered in patches. Now that she had money, she shouldn't mistreat herself.

She went to the cloth shop, bought more than ten bolts of fine cotton cloth in various colors, and also bought a few bolts of coarse cloth to wear when working in the fields. Seeing that they also sold oilcloth, she bought all the oilcloth in the shop.

She insisted on getting a discount from the shopkeeper before paying, and then asked the shopkeeper to deliver the fabric to Zhang Dacheng at the cattle and horse market before continuing to browse the next shop.

This time it's a grain shop. Last time I came with Chen Shi, but because Chen Shi was too frugal, she bought old rice, which didn't taste good at all. This time, Zhang Xixi wants to buy new rice.

"Waiter, how much is the rice?"

"Twenty coins a pound!"

Zhang Xixi exclaimed in surprise, "So expensive! Chenmi only costs ten coins!"

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "This lady must be from out of town!"

Zhang Xixi nodded; she had only been there a short time.

"Madam, you may not know this, but we can't grow rice here. This rice is all transported from Fuzhou. The journey is long, so the price is naturally a bit higher."

Zhang Xixi paused for a moment, then continued to ask, "Shopkeeper, is it just that rice cannot be grown in Dafang County, or is it that rice cannot be grown in the entire Lingzhou?"

"Rice can only be grown in the land near Lingzhou, but the yield is extremely low and not enough to feed the people of the prefecture."

Zhang Xixi paused for a moment. If she could grow rice, she would definitely make a lot of money!

"Couldn't you make it a little cheaper? I bought a lot; I also need to buy glutinous rice and millet!"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then said, "Rice is at least eighteen coins per pound, glutinous rice is twenty coins, and millet is fifteen coins."

Zhang Xixi smiled and said, "Deal. Give me 100 catties of rice, 50 catties of millet, and 20 catties of glutinous rice. Can you deliver it?"

Buying so much stuff means he's his cash cow, so we definitely have to take good care of him. The shopkeeper beamed and said, "Yes, yes, just give us an address and we'll deliver it to you."

Zhang Xixi gave the address, paid the deposit, and continued browsing.

First, I went to the pastry shop to buy some osmanthus cake, jujube cake, osmanthus sugar, and so on. Then I went to the restaurant to pack two roast geese. Finally, I went to the steamed bun shop and bought ten meat buns. I bought more than ten catties of meat from the meat stall. Then I went to the vegetable stall to take a look, but it was all cabbage and the like, so I didn't buy any. I just saw that there were ducklings for sale, so I bought more than ten ducklings.

Zhang Dacheng and Zhou Yuping were stunned to see Zhang Xixi return covered in things!

My dear daughter (Third Aunt), you've gone on another spending spree! How much money have you spent!

"What's wrong!" Zhang Xixi asked quickly when she saw Zhang Dacheng and the others staring at her without saying anything.

Zhang Dacheng snapped out of his daze, "Girl, why did you buy so much stuff!"

"Is it a lot? If I could carry it all, I would have liked to buy some more!" Zhang Xixi looked at what she had on her; it wasn't much!

Zhang Dacheng was speechless. The cloth and grain that had been delivered earlier, plus this, would definitely cost more than a hundred taels of silver. Wasn't that a lot?

"Dad, could you help me put these things in the car?"

Zhang Dacheng and Zhou Yuping stepped forward to help Zhang Xixi put the things onto the horse-drawn carriage and the newly purchased oxcart.