Sisters in the Deep Forest Valley: Many Fun Things

"We should wait until dinner to come here. After dark, the city will be lit up with all sorts of lanterns. It would be wonderful to sit upstairs and enjoy the night view while we eat!"

Lin Chunyi also sat by the window, leaning to the side with her chin in her hand, looking at the scene outside.

As the largest restaurant in the county, it was built in the center of the county.

You can overlook most of the city from here.

If you wait until nightfall... the city lights shine brightly, like twinkling stars, all within sight.

Lin Chunyi thought about it and also thought it was extremely beautiful.

So I asked her:

"How about... we stay at Shiweilou tonight?"

The younger sister looked somewhat helpless and said earnestly:

"Sister, I'm already very satisfied that we were able to have such an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant. Tonight, a regular inn will be fine."

"Knock knock knock knock".

"Ladies, the tea and refreshments have been brought."

"come in."

"This is our county's famous Spring Dew Tea, the tea soup is incredibly fresh and tender; and there are also two-colored bean cakes, soft, glutinous and sweet. Please have some tea and snacks, ladies. The food will be served shortly."

The waiter bent down to put the things down, poured them two cups of tea, and then left.

Lin Lanshan took a sip of Spring Dew Tea, and its refreshing fragrance filled her mouth.

She picked up another piece of bean cake and took a bite; it was indeed sweet and sticky.

"Sis, the service is definitely different when you pay extra. They even give you such delicious tea and snacks."

"Just have a bite to tide you over, there's still so much food to come."

The two sipped their tea and ate a piece of two-colored bean cake. After waiting for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the dishes were served.

Several dishes filled most of the table, and they looked and smelled delicious.

They only started eating after all the dishes were served.

Lin Chunyi picked up a piece of beef tenderloin, while Lin Lanshan picked up a piece of silver fish.

good to eat!

The two stopped chatting and began moving their chopsticks quickly across the table, making sure to eat every dish.

Eat a few bites of vegetables, then a bite of rice...

Half an hour passed, and the two women were about six or seven tenths full. They slowed down and ate their food in small bites.

"Sister, this restaurant is really something else. All the dishes are delicious, especially the Eight Treasure Wild Duck."

After saying that, he smacked his lips, savoring the taste, wanting to eat another bite of meat...

Lin Chunyi served her a small bowl of tofu soup.

"Which ones do you like? Let's pack another one to take home later. Who knows when we'll be able to eat this again?"

"Okay."

Lin Lanshan's eyes lit up, and she went out to the entrance of the building to call the waiter up.

"What can I do for you, ladies?"

"Could you please order another serving of the stir-fried beef with scallions, the eight-treasure duck, and the shrimp with phoenix tails?"

"Of course, but we can only sell one serving of beef tenderloin per table. Would you like to change to something else, miss?"

Okay, beef is indeed a rare find. Then I looked at my sister and let her decide.

Lin Lanshan shook her head.

"Then let's pack two portions each of Eight Treasure Duck and Prawns."

Lin Chunyi took the food box out of the basket on her back and gave it to the shop assistant.

He nodded and smiled, took the food box, and went downstairs to give instructions to the kitchen.

"Sis, let's get up early tomorrow! Let's see if we can find a place that sells beef and buy some to take home. I want to eat beef stew with tomatoes!"

Lin Lanshan sighed.

"Okay, but don't get your hopes up too high. Hurry up and finish cleaning up the rest of the dishes."

There was still a lot of food left on the table, which they packed into another food container.

Lin Chunyi took out the silver she had earned that day, kept twenty taels on her person, and divided the rest equally between the two of them in their private space.

"Now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, we need to be on the go this afternoon, because we have to leave tomorrow. Let's go check out the livestock first, and if we find something we like, we'll buy it. That will save us a lot of time traveling around the county town. We can afford it now."

The waiter brought up the food box. There were two portions of each of the two dishes, plus a complimentary dessert.

They paid three taels of silver, and the waiter escorted them all the way to the door.

Before leaving, Lin Chunyi gave the waiter a five-coin tip and asked where in town she could buy livestock.

"Thank you for the tip, Miss."

"Our county town has two livestock markets. One in the East Market and one in the West Market."

He whispered again:

"The livestock in the East Market are all sold to the wealthy, and the prices are very high. The livestock in the West Market are well-fed and healthy, and the prices are reasonable."

"Thank you, little brother!"

"Ladies, please come again next time!"

The two traveled westward and bought a lot of things they needed.

At Shenshi (3-5 PM), the two entered the livestock market in the West Market.

A thin young man walked over enthusiastically.

"Two young ladies have come to buy livestock?"

"Yes, we want to buy a mule."

Before coming to the county town, the two sisters thoroughly studied all about animal husbandry at home.

I was lucky; besides teaching how to raise chickens and geese, it even introduced cows, horses, donkeys, and mules.

A mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey. It is larger than a donkey and stronger than a horse.

Mules are divided into horse mules and donkey mules; those born to a female horse are called horse mules.

It looks like a horse, but its braying sounds more like a donkey. It doesn't eat much, but it's strong, has great stamina, and isn't prone to illness.

It was very agile going up and down the mountain. It was also very clever.

The downside is that their lifespan is shorter than that of donkeys and mules; they generally only live for twenty to thirty years.

They finally decided to buy horses and mules.

"Please follow me, the mules are over here."

The two sisters followed the shop assistant through the lobby to the area where the livestock were kept.

"These are horses and mules."

Lin Chunyi explained the requirements in detail:

"We want someone younger, preferably seven or eight years old. They need to be strong and agile, because we'll be going up and down the mountain frequently. Don't try to fool us with someone who's sick..."

The waiter said:

"How could I dare! None of the customers who have come to our shop have ever said anything bad about our livestock. We would never cheat you."

After saying that, he pointed out several horses and mules that were between five and ten years old to us.

Lin Chunyi and Lin Lanshan carefully observed their fur, hooves, waists, legs, and teeth.

Finally, they chose a beautiful reddish-brown mule, which cost eight taels of silver.

Seeing the two sisters' different expressions, the waiter said:

"Oh, you two have excellent taste, choosing the best one here. This mule is only seven years old this year, with a gentle temperament and is very intelligent. It can carry four hundred catties up and down the mountain without any problem. If you raise it well, it can carry eight hundred catties when it grows up. Naturally, the price is a bit higher than the ordinary ones."

Lin Chunyi stopped her sister, who wanted to bargain, and asked:

"Hey buddy, can you provide a carriage for this?"

"Yes, we can. From the cheapest one or two taels to the most expensive several tens of taels, we have them all. What kind of carriage do you want..."

The sisters chose a wooden carriage that looked ordinary with simple carvings.

The dark blue curtains, when lifted, revealed a spacious interior, with a wooden couch just big enough for one person to sleep on.

Or it can seat four people.

The empty space can still fit two large wooden crates.

The waiter said that the entire carriage, inside and out, had been coated with several layers of high-quality tung oil.

It won't break even if exposed to wind, sun, or rain.

The frame and wheels also feature a shock-absorbing mortise and tenon structure.

The mule weighed eight taels, and the cart three taels. That's eleven taels of silver in total…