Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 16
"Sell buns! Sell buns!"

"Freshly picked oranges cost three pounds!"

"Boy from the Xu family, a batch of mutton came today. Do you want to try it?"

In the early morning, when the first market of summer arrived, many people came to Dashuying Town from all directions. Even some people who didn't like to go shopping came one after another, ready to join in the fun.

More than ten days have passed since Zhu Gaoxu first came to Dashuying, and it is already the first day of April.

In the past ten days, he and Yang Zhan came to the town almost every day to buy vegetables, fruits and meat.

Because he was tall and resolute in appearance, people who came and went to do business also remembered him.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not say his real name, but said his surname was Xu.

Since many people in the town remembered him, in the first street market of summer, no matter how busy and lively it was, many people still took a moment to say hello to him.

In response, Zhu Gaoxu would respond with a smile, and he would get closer to look at the items he wanted to buy, and then buy them after selecting them.

"There are too many people today. I'm afraid people from all over the country are here."

Zhu Gaoxu picked a piece of mutton and a pound of beef, signaled Yang Zhan to pay, and then looked around.

The butcher's shop was located high, so he could have an unobstructed view of the people pouring into the street.

In his eyes, the market was crowded with people, and the noisy voices gathered into a huge noise floating into the sky.

On the roads in all directions in the town, people were still gathering in an endless stream to the market. The crowds of people were like a bunch of squirming ants.

Zhu Gaoxu was born in the 90s in his previous life and still has some memories of going shopping in the market as a child.

However, in the memory of the lack of pictures, there has never been such a big battle, so I can't help but feel very happy.

In early summer, the morning in Nanjing is still a bit chilly.

But when the sun emerged, the blue sky shrouded everyone's heads.

Under the bright sunshine, the faces of the people coming and going were steaming.

Although the clothes worn by the people going back and forth were just commoners, they were of various colors.

Some pictures save trouble and choose to be dyed black.

Others are easier to compare with, so I specially picked some wild flowers and fruits for dyeing.

Due to poor craftsmanship, the colors of the dyed clothes were uneven, but even so, no one laughed at them. After all, most of the people living in the outer city were not rich.

This can be seen not only from the clothes, but also from the face of the hands, feet and face.

Among the pedestrians coming and going, those with lean bodies and dark complexions were either military households or farmers.

People with bronze colors like Zhu Gaoxu and Yang Zhan are basically from families with pretty good conditions.

Therefore, in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes, the colorful clothes became the background of Dashuying Market.

Zhu Gaoxu and Yang Zhan were walking on the street. Because it was a street day, many new faces appeared.

Some of them come to the market, and some of them come to set up stalls to sell things.

Their stall allowed Zhu Gaoxu to see many things he had never seen before.

Pheasants, squirrels, and wild boars are all common fresh foods, and some actually caught a few finless porpoises and Yangtze sturgeons in the Yangtze River, which made Zhu Gaoxu's scalp numb.

Although he was curious about the taste of these things, the consciousness left over from his previous life still made him avoid those street stalls.

Yang Zhan, on the other hand, saw that Zhu Gaoxu was curious and he also explained:
"I've tasted those big fish, and they taste just average. They have to be from the sea to taste better."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how to talk about this topic, so he could only rush by and took Yang Zhan to the market to buy some fresh vegetables and fruits.

During this period, they had to walk carefully and pay attention to the vegetable basket on their backs from time to time to prevent anyone from stealing the two kilograms of mutton and three kilograms of beef in the basket.

Not long after, they wandered onto the road where groceries were sold. The items sold on both sides of the road included hoes, shovels and first-class tools.
The two of them were not interested, so they simply asked about the price and continued walking.Further forward, a resting place funded by the county government appeared.

It is adjacent to a river on one side and a dirt road on the other. There is a hundred acres of empty land. The county government has built three large thatched sheds. There are also long pillars in the sheds that have been erected and sectioned, and a few stakes have been hammered.

Yang Zhan was a little tired from walking, so Zhu Gaoxu accompanied him to find a straw shed to sit down.

I have to say, sitting in this hut, looking at the crystal clear river water next to it, and feeling the breeze blowing from time to time is very good.

Of course, because it is clean and cool here, all the huts are full of people, and from a distance it looks like a group of sparrows gathered together.

During this period, some people were not afraid of the cold. They took off their shirts and jumped into the nearby river for a refreshing swim.

Looking at this scene, many women opened their mouths and started joking.

There were more than a dozen women in their [-]s and [-]s. Whenever one of them spoke, the other women would speak one after another. There was almost no idle mouth.

Only the seven or eight girls in their family were thin-skinned and turned around to look at the market, not looking at the shirtless Han Chinese.

"Brother, look."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the river, still thinking about whether to get into the water, but he heard Yang Zhan mutter to him, and then pointed to the other side with his eyes.

Zhu Gaoxu followed his gaze and saw two girls, aged thirteen or fourteen, wearing underskirts and backs sitting in the straw hut opposite.

To be honest, they were not very good-looking, so Zhu Gaoxu just glanced at them and looked away, but Yang Zhan also teased and gossiped:
"Brother, there are many girls of the right age looking for a home in this market. As I walked along, I felt that many girls were interested in you."

Yang Zhan grinned with big white teeth, and a farm man in his thirties next to him also laughed when he heard it:
"Not to mention little girls, even those who want to reconcile will come here to find some men who look honest and can support their families."

"Some old women will also use the opportunity of going to the market to encourage divorce from women who say they want to go home and have good looks. They want to take the opportunity to match them with their unmarried children and grandchildren."

"Others, the man is dead and they are anxious to find another family."

"So chaotic?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't believe it as if someone would persuade a beautiful woman to divorce and then introduce her to his children and grandchildren.

Seeing his appearance, the man also raised his chin, signaling Zhu Gaoxu not to look far away.

Zhu Gaoxu looked in the direction, and saw a peasant woman in her fifties or sixties sitting next to a muscular woman in a skirt, mumbling something.

"This... isn't very tall..." Zhu Gaoxu looked at the other party's strong figure and felt a little ashamed.

"Eh..." The man was unhappy after hearing this and immediately retorted:

"This is the kind of woman who is good. She has a big ass and can give birth to children. Look at her strong arms, which can do housework."

"Besides, even though she is strong, she is not bad in appearance. If she were as skinny as the two little girls next to her, she would probably be able to find a good family in the inner city."

"That's true..." Zhu Gaoxu looked at it carefully and nodded in agreement.

"We sell meatballs! A bowl of meatballs for two cents!"

Suddenly, there was a shout. Zhu Gaoxu heard the sound and looked around, only to see a vendor pushing a cart and setting up a temporary iron pot to stew meat.

The rich smell of meat came, and Zhu Gaoxu moved his index finger.

But before he could get up, the man next to him reminded him: "The stew sold in this episode is from pigs and sheep that died of illness and cannot be eaten."

"Can sick meat be sold?" Yang Zhan, who was sitting aside, looked curious, and the man also explained:

"Except for the Imperial Mansion, where are there any pigs or sheep to kill this season?"

"But this smell..." Yang Zhan looked uncomfortable, and Zhu Gaoxu was also a little hungry because of his height and strength.

He originally wanted to take Yang Zhan to find something cheap and safe to eat, but suddenly crowds of people rushed to both sides of the market road.

When Zhu Gaoxu was wondering what happened, shouts came from the distance:
"The Yamen has sent someone!"

(End of this chapter)