Princess of Nongmen

Chapter 271 Buying Seasonings
Liu Ya had no intention of writing a book, but thinking about the novels and beautiful articles she had read, she felt that this was a good way.What's more, she didn't waste any time looking for someone to write for her, so she nodded and said, "Okay, shopkeeper, just pay attention, and find someone with good writing skills and good character. But I don't have time today. I will come over on the fifth day of the month. If you have a suitable candidate, ask him to bring me something he wrote. If it is suitable, I will use him. I will not treat you badly for the price of the ghostwriter. He. But you have to make it clear, if you pick me halfway, you won't get a penny."

The shopkeeper laughed after hearing this, and said: "Of course. When you meet such a person, let alone a little girl, you can't give money, even I can't justify it here."

"Okay, then it's settled." After Liu Ya finished speaking, she carried her things and left.

If this business can be done today, it would be a good way.After all, the entertainment life of the ancients was even poorer. Usually there was no TV or computer for entertainment, and not everyone could afford to go to teahouses and brothels.

I just finished two things today, and the time is almost wasted.Liu Ya still had one thing on her mind, so she hurriedly walked towards the market, wanting to buy some seasonings she needed.

Many seasonings can be collected in the mountains, but some things are not produced locally at all. Some spices in ancient times were imported from the Western Regions, and they cannot be bought in ordinary places.So whether the seasoning Liu Ya needs can be bought depends on her luck, and she has to go to the pharmacy to check again.

There are more people in the market, and small vendors also put their stalls everywhere.Obviously, the ancient market did not have any planning at all, and there was no division of fresh and dry areas.

However, Liu Ya had better luck today, and after walking half a circle, she saw a young man squatting on the ground, with many kinds of spices in a large porcelain bowl in front of her.Looking at the young man's indifferent face, one can tell that his business is not particularly good.

Liu Ya went over to look at the big porcelain bowls, there were fennel, star anise, cinnamon, Chinese prickly ash, bay leaves, and nutmeg.There are also some that are picked from the mountains and then dried and ground, so I am not interested in the willows that can be picked from the mountains.

When the young man saw someone looking at his things, even though he was just a little girl, she still enthusiastically said, "What do you want to see? Several kinds of seasonings here are special products of the Western Regions, and you can see them all in the Central Plains." No. My eldest brother-in-law works as a porter and helps merchants in the Western Regions to get these high-quality seasonings. I can assure you that only my place has the most complete things in the whole market. It is picked in the mountains, so it is not considered the best."

Liu Ya picked up a few star anise and smelled it, the taste is not bad, but definitely not the best thing.However, really good things are considered high-grade in the Western Regions, and those that can fall into the street market outside are even worse.And she didn't have to choose, so she could only buy more ingredients and use more.Then he asked: "How are these seasonings sold? If I buy more, can you give me a cheaper price?"

"It depends on how much you want, girl. If you only buy one or two yuan, I will give you a real price. But if your family runs a restaurant and needs a lot of these things, then I will give you more cheaper."

Liu Ya secretly calculated, and said: "Pack me half a catty of everything. But I can smell that some of your things are heavy, and some of them seem to be damp, so if the price is too high, I mean I don’t want anything. And some things can be bought in pharmacies, I went to Anhetang to find the shopkeeper, and his things are more affordable.”

The young man hurriedly explained: "Young lady is an expert. It's not that my stuff has been damp, but it's just been a winter and I haven't had time to dry it. In fact, it doesn't affect the taste at all. Besides, these things are directly from merchants in the Western Regions." I got it from there, the stuff in the pharmacy is the price of the medicine, no matter how cheap it is, it is several times more expensive than the seasoning in this market. Girl, if you use it to pickle pickles, it’s better to buy mine.”

"Then tell me, what is the price for half a catty of each item?"

In fact, Liu Ya didn't know how much these seasonings should cost.But in modern times, these things are not bought by the catty.One is that this stuff is not used much, and there are many prepared powder products in modern supermarkets, which are more convenient and taste better than this; For a few dollars, or even tens of dollars, who can spend hundreds of dollars to buy a catty of nutmeg and go back to scramble eggs to eat?

Seeing Liu Ya's shrewd look, the young man pondered for a while and said, "The things are different, and the prices are also different. Pepper and fragrant leaves are cheaper, and the most expensive is nutmeg, which is the price of one tael of nutmeg and two taels of silver. It’s the cheapest one for you, you can buy one tael of nutmeg for one tael or seven renminbi. Girl, are you sure you need half a catty for everything?”

Hearing the young man's words, Liu Ya took a breath, feeling that she was being reckless and procrastinating.If she really bought it back at half a catty per item, most of the money in her pocket would be consumed.At the same time, Liu Ya understood why this young man's business was so poor, probably because the things were too expensive and no one bought them.

Liu Ya shook her head and said, "That's my fault. One tael of nutmeg is enough. Prickly ash, star anise, bay leaf, cinnamon bark, and fennel are each weighed in two taels. I'll try the ingredients first when I get home. OK, next time I will buy more."

Hearing what Liu Ya said, the young man also showed joy.Hastily said: "Then I will give the girl a real price. To tell you the truth, even Zhao Dadong's family in Xiankeju sometimes comes to my place to buy seasonings. Xiankeju knows that it is a famous big restaurant Well. Don't think I don't have much business here, if Zhao Dadong's family comes here once, the goods I buy will be enough for my flowers for half a year."

Liu Ya's eyes lit up when she heard this, but she said calmly: "Really? Zhao Dadong's family runs such a big Xiankeju, so they can still come to your small stall to buy things? I heard that his The secret recipe for marinating roast duck is passed on, but there are many secret spices."

The young man hurriedly said: "The secret system is a secret system, but my brother-in-law bought it once, and the things he brought back were cheaper than other people's. And the spices from the Western Regions from the official road are extremely expensive. Zhao Dadong’s family wants to make money, but they can’t spend money on these things every day. So if they have the opportunity to buy some cheap ones, they naturally buy cheap ones. Anyway, it’s fine if the things are not fake or broken.”

(End of this chapter)