Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wang Qing'er thought to herself, "This caravan friend is really dishonest. Since he's selling you potatoes, doesn't he know that potatoes are edible? He didn't even tell you that you can eat them if you can't sell them! You can just cook them and eat them. Why let them rot? What a waste."

"Shopkeeper, do your caravan friends have any other items they've entrusted to you for sale?" Wang Qing'er asked again.

The shopkeeper told him the truth, "There are some seeds that no one is interested in even when they are placed outside, and they are taking up space, so I moved them into the inner room, intending to return them to him next time he comes."

"Then please bring them all out so I can take a look. You can bring out these potatoes too, I want them all."

"Alright, wait a moment, I'll go get them right away." The shopkeeper was overjoyed to hear that Wang Qing'er wanted all the potatoes.

Before long, the shopkeeper brought out all the potatoes, and then came out carrying a basket.

Wang Qing'er leaned closer to take a look, and good heavens, it was the chili peppers she had been longing for—a whole basket full of bright red dried chili peppers.

Wang Qing'er suppressed her excitement, her face turning bright red. The shopkeeper thought she had been stung by the chili peppers and hurriedly said, "Miss, stay away. Those red things are called chili peppers, and they can be very spicy."

Wang Qing'er suppressed her excitement and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much are these dried chilies?"

The shopkeeper looked surprised. "Miss, you mean you want to buy these dried chilies?"

Wang Qing'er casually made up a reason, "Well, I like novel things, so I want both of them."

"Those chilies cost ten coins, and there are probably about twenty pounds of them."

"Weigh them, I'll take them all."

"it is good."

"Shopkeeper, if your caravan brings anything else next time, could you please accept it? I'll buy whatever it is."

“Okay, he would always bring some novel things to me to sell on consignment, but they never sold, so I would return them to him after a while.”

"I'll take things like seeds, chili peppers, and potatoes, so please feel free to accept them."

The shopkeeper weighed the potatoes and peppers.

Seventeen catties of potatoes, twenty-eight catties of chili peppers, and twenty-six catties after deducting the weight of the basket, Wang Qing'er spent a total of three hundred and forty-five coins.

The shopkeeper also gave us an extra bag to hold the chili peppers.

When dumping the chili peppers, there were some other seeds hidden at the bottom of the basket, a small bag weighing about four or five pounds.

The shopkeeper said these were seeds brought from foreign lands, and since they had been weighed along with the chili peppers, they belonged to Wang Qing'er.

Upon hearing that the seeds came from a foreign land, Wang Qing'er said no more and happily packed them all into a bag.

Wang Cuiying, who was standing next to her, felt a pang of heartache watching her daughter-in-law spend money like that, but she still refrained from scolding her.

Before leaving, Wang Qing'er didn't forget to ask the shopkeeper for a few sprouted potatoes by the door, which she estimated weighed several pounds.

The two men's baskets were like two small mountains, crammed full.

Wang Cuiying's back was laden with potatoes, peppers, and seeds;

Wang Qing'er carried cotton and cloth on her back, and held scraps of cloth in her hand, as if they were her spoils of war.

As Wang Qing'er passed by the candy stall, she stopped in her tracks as if under a spell.

Without hesitation, she bought a pound of brown sugar and a bag of candy for the children, which cost her another hundred coins.

Finally, she selected two pounds of pork belly and two pounds of lean meat from the meat stall. The pork belly, with its alternating layers of fat and lean meat, resembled a fine work of art; the lean meat was as delicate as red velvet.

Wang Qing'er's gaze was drawn to the large bones and the pig offal in the wooden bucket next to the stall.

Although there isn't much meat on the big bones, just imagining the rich aroma of bamboo shoot and pork bone soup made from them is enough to make your nose tingle.

So she bought those big bones.

Remembering the spices he had just bought, he had an idea and bought a set of pig offal.

In total, it cost ninety coins.

Pork belly and lean meat were both 20 coins per catty, while offal was only 10 coins. The butcher was delighted to see that Wang Qing'er had bought so much meat, including the offal that no one else wanted, and generously gave her the large bones without charging her.

Here, pig offal and large bones are practically ignored, especially pig offal, which is treated like an abandoned orphan.

Not only is it incredibly difficult to clean, but when burned, it emits a nauseating, fishy stench that makes it almost impossible to swallow.

However, in Wang Qing'er's eyes, these were all rare treasures, especially the pig's stomach, which was extremely nourishing when stewed into soup.

Although cleaning those pig intestines and lungs is a bit of a hassle, once they're cleaned and braised with her carefully selected spices, they taste incredibly delicious.

What's more, I also managed to buy chili peppers and ginger today, which I'll use to make a stir-fried pork intestine dish; the taste will be absolutely wonderful.

When Wang Cuiying saw Wang Qing'er buying pig offal, she wanted to stop her, but for some reason, the words stuck in her throat as if by magic, and she felt her heart and liver ache even more.

Her hands unconsciously touched her chest, and she thought to herself that she should try to let Wang Qing'er come to town less often in the future, or have her son bring his wife instead. She herself did not want to come with her again, out of sight, out of mind.

Watching the hard-earned money flow into other people's pockets like water, she felt an intense, cat-like discomfort in her heart.

Wang Qing'er, however, was completely oblivious to the rapidly changing expressions on her mother-in-law's face. She was only focused on instructing the butcher to carefully wrap the pig offal in an oilcloth bag and then hold it in her hand.

Fortunately, the vendor had cleaned the pig offal quite thoroughly, and after it was packed up, there was no unpleasant smell.

"Mom, let's go home!" Wang Qing'er called softly, like a well-behaved oriole calling to her mother-in-law who was still standing there like a statue, lost in thought.

"Oh!" Wang Cuiying seemed to wake from a dream, and snatched the things from her daughter-in-law's hands. "I'll take them."

"Mother, no need, I can carry it." Wang Qing'er quickly waved her hand, like a flower swaying in the wind.

"Come on, look at your delicate frame, what can you possibly lift?" Although Wang Cuiying's words were unpleasant, they contained her care for Wang Qing'er, and she was worried that she would be overwhelmed.

Wang Qing'er stopped arguing and silently carried the two pounds of meat, following behind like a docile sheep.

She suddenly remembered that she didn't have much salt at home, so she ran to the grain and oil store and spent 150 coins to buy three catties of salt.

When the two reached the mule cart, the others were already waiting there. Wang Cuiying said somewhat apologetically, "We've been walking around for a while, and we've kept everyone waiting."

Aunt Hua said understandingly, "We just arrived too."

"Cuiying, what did you buy? So much!" An aunt with sharp eyes noticed that the baskets of the mother and daughter-in-law were stuffed full, especially Wang Cuiying's basket, which had a cloth bag placed horizontally on it.

The two of them were also carrying things, and Wang Qing'er was carrying two large, mouthwatering pieces of meat.