Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Zhao Lian was delighted. She hadn't expected that the two butchers would actually speak up for her, which gave her even more confidence.

Zhao Lian shouted, "That's right! How can you do business like this? The most important thing in doing business is honesty and integrity. You have to treat everyone fairly, young and old."

"You're clearly taking advantage of me, a child. We agreed on this price, and now that it's my turn to pay, you're going back on your word. Everyone, please be the judge!"

At this point, a crowd gathered, and public opinion shifted in Zhao Lian's favor. Everyone condemned Butcher Liu, saying he was a liar and lacked integrity.

As more and more people gathered around, Liu the butcher broke out in a cold sweat. He never expected that he would be defeated by a little kid today.

I wanted to back out, but I did say those words, and there were people around who heard it. There were also people buying pork at the next stall at the time. So many people were witnesses.

With Wu San and his companion egging him on from the sidelines, he was now in a very awkward position, unable to back down.

If word gets out, no one will come to buy meat from me anymore.

After thinking it over, Butcher Liu had no choice but to accept his fate. He gritted his teeth and said resentfully, "Alright, alright, stop shouting. I'll sell it to you!"

Then it was weighed. The large piece of pork fat weighed a full 5.8 jin (2.4 kg). At 30 wen per jin, that's 174 wen.

Zhao Lian carefully counted out 174 copper coins and handed them to Butcher Liu. It cost her more than 100 coins, which really hurt her.

However, looking at the glistening white pork fat, Zhao Lian felt a surge of joy; she knew she had struck it rich today.

That butcher definitely lost out. Look at his long face. Who told him to look down on people? He was the one who said those things; I didn't point a gun at him.

Butcher Liu held over 100 copper coins, but couldn't smile at all. He had lost more than 50 copper coins on those five catties of pork fat, all because of his loose tongue.

The villagers watching looked on with envy as they saw Zhao Lian buy pork fat at such a low price.

Seeing Liu the butcher's mournful face, Zhao Lian smiled innocently and said, "Uncle, I'll come back to buy lard from you next time I'm done with it!"

Liu the Butcher cursed inwardly, "I don't want to see you again."

However, he only thought it to himself and didn't show it. He just forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

Zhao Lian put down the basket, placed the pork fat at the bottom, and then took out the cloth bag containing black flour and placed it on top of the pork fat.

She was afraid that if she put the pork fat on it, she might accidentally drop it on the ground when she got home, and then the ground would be covered in mud.

Wow! Little girl, you bought a lot of things today. Can you carry all of this? Where are your parents?

Seeing that Zhao Lian had taken out so many things from her basket, Butcher Wu couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Lian patted her chest and said happily, "Don't worry, of course I can carry it. My dad is waiting for me up ahead!"

Zhao Lian knew she couldn't let others know she was out alone. These days were chaotic; she wasn't afraid of thieves stealing from her, but rather of them eyeing her.

Looking at the half-fat and half-lean meat on the cutting board, Zhao Lian swallowed hard again; she really wanted to eat a piece of lean meat. She asked Butcher Liu, who reluctantly replied, "It costs 45 coins per pound."

Zhao Lian felt her pockets and found that she had very few copper coins left, only six pieces of silver. After thinking about it, she decided to forget about it. Anyway, she had pork fat and could eat pork cracklings.

Wu San, the butcher standing nearby, greeted her warmly, "Young lady, I have a big bone here. I'll sell it to you cheaply, ten coins a pound, how about it?"

Zhao Lian looked in the direction he was pointing and found a bone, but there wasn't much meat on it; it was shaved very clean.

Zhao Lian knew that in those days, few people were willing to buy bones because they had little meat and weighed more.

Therefore, bones are relatively cheap, and not many people are willing to buy them; that's how the saying "cheap bones" came about.

Unlike modern people who love to make bone broth and always say that bone broth is a good source of calcium, bones are more expensive than meat.

This often results in a lot of meat inside the bones, because bones are more expensive than meat, so the meat can't be completely removed, and people dislike it!

Zhao Lian didn't know whether the bones could supplement calcium; she only knew that the bones made delicious soup and could also be used to make porridge.

Especially these ancient pigs, which were truly artificially raised and fed natural pig swill, would surely make the soup or porridge made from their bones even more delicious and sweet.

Although there was no meat, she could gnaw on the bones, which would satisfy her craving. Zhao Lian swallowed again.

Thinking of this, she said with a look of disgust, "This worthless thing costs ten coins a pound. Five coins a pound is the most I can pay."

Butcher Wu stared wide-eyed and shook his head vigorously: "Five copper coins a pound? I might as well keep it for myself."

"Fine! Then you can keep it for yourself. There's no meat on these bones, who would want them for ten coins a pound!"

Zhao Lian packed the things, carried the basket on her back, containing eight catties of rice and flour, one catty of salt, and about six catties of pork fat.

There are other things as well, and Zhaolian is carrying about 16 or 17 pounds on her back, which is quite strenuous for her.

Seeing that Zhao Lian was about to leave, Butcher Wu gritted his teeth and said to her, "Fine, fine, little girl, I'll sell you this big bone for five coins a pound."

"Hey!"

Zhao Lian chuckled again, but didn't show it on her face. She kept muttering, "This spineless thing has no meat on it. Uncle, you've cleaned it too thoroughly."

Finally, they weighed it; the bone weighed one pound and eight ounces, costing a total of nine coins.

"Alright, alright, here's some scraps of meat for you!" Butcher Wu said, watching Zhao Lian nagging on and off. He picked up some minced meat from the cutting board and tied it together with a large bone.

"Hey~ Give me this piece of pig offal too!" Seeing a pig intestine more than ten centimeters long on the table, Zhao Lian grabbed it casually.

"You little girl, you're so shrewd! I've lost out on you all this time," Butcher Wu said, frowning.

"Who would want this little bit of wastewater? Uncle, just give it to me, I'll come back to you next time." Zhao Lian said with a sweet smile.

Butcher Wu waved his hand: "Alright, alright, take it!"

I was hoping to make a few coins out of this girl, but I ended up losing out instead.

Looking at Butcher Wu, Liu felt much better and covered his mouth to chuckle, "Wu San, how about it? I won't compete with you for this customer, young lady. I'll patronize you again next time."

"Humph!"

Seeing Liu the butcher's gloating expression, Wu the butcher glared at him.

Surprisingly, this little girl was so good at bargaining at such a young age, and the onlookers couldn't help but admire her.

Seeing that there was nothing exciting to see, the people gradually dispersed.

Zhao Lian put the large bone into her basket and carried it with difficulty.