Martial Arts: Start by Obtaining the Wild World

Chapter 17 0017 Purchase of Food (Revised)

"Boss, give me 100 catties of white rice, 100 catties of old rice, 100 catties of white flour, and 100 catties of corn flour."

As he spoke, Cheng Zongyang scanned the items in the store and saw a large jar on the bottom of the wooden shelf. There was a piece of red paper on the jar with the words "brown sugar" written on it. He asked the shopkeeper next to him:
"What's the current price of brown sugar?"

Cheng Zongyang started shopping in a rice shop that was still open and had a relatively complete stock of items.

The rice shop not only sells rice, but also sells oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, sugar, etc. It is reasonable to call it a grocery store.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately asked the waiter to weigh it with a smile, and responded to Cheng Zongyang's question:

"Brown sugar is quite expensive now, 100 coins per pound, how much do you need?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zongyang was secretly shocked.

He remembered that it was only fifty cents per pound two months ago, and now the price has increased by fifty cents!

This increase is a bit scary.

But when you think about the current market conditions, the role of sugar, and the production process, the price increase is understandable.

After all, brown sugar is something that most families cannot afford. He thought for a moment and said:

"Not much, give me ten pounds first."

"Okay. Erhu, add ten pounds of brown sugar." The shopkeeper immediately shouted to the waiter.

"Okay!" The guy who was weighing rice at the door responded.

The shopkeeper was already clacking his abacus. After a while, he smiled and said to Cheng Zongyang:
"White rice is 80 wen per catty, which is 8 liang in total; old rice is 55 wen per catty, which is 5 liang and 5 qian... brown sugar... 22 liang and 5 qian in total."

Cheng Zongyang sighed inwardly.

Prices are rising. If it weren’t for the money from selling the brown bear, I wouldn’t be able to buy it!

After settling the bill, Cheng Zongyang placed the items on a wooden stretcher, tied them up with rattan strips, and then dragged the stretcher away.

In an uninhabited corner, send it into the wilderness world, and then go to other stores to continue shopping.

As the money on him gradually decreased, the food in the wilderness world became more and more.

Finally, Cheng Zongyang felt relaxed physically and mentally, and hurried on his journey, leaving the county town before closing time.

There were many pedestrians on the road. Although many people were eyeing Cheng Zongyang's food, the hatchet and bow and arrow on Cheng Zongyang still had a deterrent effect.

As for the warriors, they are not so poor as to steal such a small amount of food.

Cheng Zongyang entered a forest, put his weapons into the wilderness, took out the food, tied it on a stretcher, and slowly returned home.

This food is from the money from selling snake meat, I have to show this to my parents. I will put the rest aside for now.

As the sky darkened, Cheng Zongyang returned to the village through a small path. No one knew that he had left the village, nor did anyone know that he had returned.

"Dad, I'm back." As soon as he reached the door, Cheng Zongyang saw Cheng Guanghai sitting at the door.

Cheng Zongyang knew that his father would not usually sit idly by the door, so today he must be waiting for him.

"Well, it's good to be back. Move in soon."

Cheng Guanghai looked at his son and nodded slightly when he saw that nothing was wrong. He quickly moved the food into the house while it was dark and no one could see.

The meal at home was ready. As soon as Cheng Zongyang walked in, the little girl walked out of the main room, shouting:

"Big pot, eat quickly. There is so much meat."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Cheng Zongyang responded with a smile.

When Cheng Zhou saw her son coming back, the worry on her face disappeared. She quickly placed a basin of water by the well and said with concern:
"Hurry up and wash up, are you hungry?"

"Not bad." Cheng Zongyang still responded with a smile, and then added: "Mom, this is not the first time I go to the county town, there is no need to worry."

Cheng Zhou complained, "Child, the roads are not safe these days, you need to be more careful. Don't act so nonchalant."

"Okay, I'll remember it." Cheng Zongyang didn't argue with my mother.

These are all concerns of parents. There is no point in arguing about them, and it will hurt their feelings.

After washing his hands and face, he poured the dirty water into a large wooden barrel for watering the vegetable fields. At the table, Cheng Zongyang handed the remaining one tael and six cents of silver to his mother who was serving rice, and said simply:

"I sold the snakes I caught today for 20 taels and 20 wen, and used most of the money to buy rice, flour, oil, salt, and sugar to stockpile."

Then he looked at his father and said:
"Dad, I paid back the money we owed to my second uncle. It was based on today's grain prices. Grain prices have gone up, so it's equivalent to 2 taels and 5 cents. This is the remaining money."

Cheng Guanghai knew that he had entered the inner mountain, but he couldn't let the child's mother know, so he just smiled and said:

"It seems like we're lucky today. Did you run into many people in the mountains?"

Cheng Guanghai only mentioned the matter of repaying the money in passing.

He is just like that. He feels bad when he owes money and he always thinks about it.

He was naturally happy that his son had handled the matter. Moreover, his son was also very skilled in dealing with people and things. He could be said to be the pillar of the family.

"That's because my son is capable. Didn't you see that many villagers came back empty-handed?"

Cheng Zhou, who was sitting on the right side of Cheng's father, had no idea what was going on, but she was also very happy when she saw what her son had achieved today.

This amount of food is enough to last for most of half a year.

After saying that, she took the money and went to the room to put it away.

The two little kids ignored the adults' business and happily ate the snake meat.

"There are quite a lot of people." Cheng Zongyang chatted with his father while picking up some dishes for his two younger siblings.

"Tell me more details." Cheng Guanghai asked with concern.

Because he had to take care of his family, he had to try his luck at home or in the outer mountains. He was still very cautious about his son entering the inner mountains.

"I met a group of hunters from other villages in the mountains. After they formed a group, they went into the mountains and got a lot. I followed them and accidentally came across a snake cave. I used drugs and fire to kill the snakes."

Cheng Zhou came out and listened to her son's words. As she sat down, she interrupted and asked:
"How could they let you get so many snakes when we are so short of food and clothing these days?"

Cheng Zongyang smiled and said, “Mom, if you knew what they gained, you would know why they looked down on it.”

"What?" Cheng Zhou's curiosity was aroused, and Cheng Guanghai on the side also looked at his son with burning eyes.

He is also a hunter, so he is naturally interested in the harvest in the mountains.

"A black panther, ginseng, ganoderma lucidum, and a bear. If it were us, we probably wouldn't even be interested in these things."

"So much!" Cheng Zhou was shocked. "How much does it cost?"

But Cheng Guanghai frowned and asked: "These two big guys are not easy to deal with. How many people are there..."

In this way, the family ate their meal while chatting about family matters and listening to Cheng Zongyang talk about what he saw and heard in the mountains. The happy scene with laughter and joy made Cheng Zongyang very satisfied.

"Dong dong dong...!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which made everyone stunned.

"Who is it? They come during dinner time." Cheng Zhou murmured in dissatisfaction.

"I'll go take a look." Cheng Zongyang put down his chopsticks, said to his mother, then stood up and walked out.

Cheng Zhou immediately asked her husband and youngest son to clean up the food, leaving only some rice, noodles, and some pickled vegetables and clear soup.

In summer, it gets dark later and it’s not completely dark yet.

At the door, Cheng Zongyang opened it and saw a woman with slightly protruding cheekbones, thin clothes, and a slightly swollen body leaning against the door awkwardly.

Seeing the person coming, Cheng Zongyang was a little surprised: "Aunt Chunhua, why are you here? Come in quickly."

Cheng Zongyang didn't block the door.

Since the Cheng family are outsiders and have only lived in the village for about twenty years, and the location is relatively remote, there are not many familiar people around them.

Aunt Chunhua was also an outsider in the village. She was from the Chen family. She lived not far from his home, so they were quite familiar with each other and they visited each other frequently.

The main thing is that Aunt Chunhua’s husband saved Cheng Zongyang’s life!
(End of this chapter)