Allure of a Country Maiden

The family had just been separated, and many daily necessities were not complete. The market days in the town were on the 4th and 10th, which were small markets; the big markets were in the county, and the 2nd and 8th days were the big markets.

Today is the eighth day of October, which happens to be the big market. Shen Chengyao hitched up the ox cart early in the morning and headed to the county with three little ones who strongly wanted to go to the market together. It's not bright yet, but the weather in October morning is already very cold. Probably because there is no pollution and no greenhouse effect in this era, so Xiaoer feels that the weather at this time is much colder than the weather at the same time in the previous life.

The three children were sitting on the bullock cart, all wearing old and white cotton-padded jackets, shivering from the cold. Xiaoer decided to buy new fabric and make a down jacket later.

Mrs. Liu hurriedly took out a quilt and wrapped the three of them: "I didn't let you go, but you have to go. Wrap the quilt tightly so you don't catch a cold. When you get to the county, follow your father closely. Don't run around and get lost. If you are taken away by a kidnapper, you won’t be able to see your parents.”

"Mom, we get it. You should go back to the house quickly. It's too cold outside. I will keep an eye on my brother and sister." Jingrui tightened the two corners of the quilt and urged Mrs. Liu to go back to the house.

"Child, don't worry, we're leaving." Shen Chengyao shook the bullwhip, and the bullock cart moved forward slowly.

When we arrived at the county seat, it was already bright. There are already many people lining up at the city gate to enter the city. Shen Chengyao paid two cents and drove the bullock cart directly into the city. If you don't drive an ox cart into the city, you don't have to pay, but you still have to pay a penny to keep the ox and the cart in a safekeeping place. They bought a lot of things today, and Xiaoer said it was not so cold while sitting in a bullock cart wrapped in a quilt, so Shen Chengyao drove the bullock cart into the city.

They went to the iron shop first. He planned to buy two more sets of farm tools. He only got two sets when the family was separated. But now that Jingrui and Xiaoer can help with the work, he bought two more sets for them to use. I also bought two kitchen knives, a hatchet and an ax at the iron shop. Iron shops also sell iron pots, which are cheaper than grocery stores. Xiaoer thinks that she should buy an extra large iron pot at home, specifically for boiling water for bathing. If you use a pot that has been used to boil vegetables, there will always be a layer of water in the water. Oil, doesn't taking a shower mean that you haven't washed yourself yet? You're still covered in oil after washing.

Shen Chengyao was helpless because of Xiaoer's pestering, so he bought it for 200 Wen. Thinking about it makes him heartbroken.

After finishing shopping at the iron shop, I went to the grocery store to buy some dishes and dishes. At the door of the grocery store, Shen Chengyao asked his three children to pick some bowls in the store first. He had to take the newly harvested grain at home to be ground in the mill.

Xiaoer looked at the bowls in the grocery store, pointed to a medium-quality bowl and asked, "Uncle shopkeeper, how do you sell this bowl?"

The shopkeeper didn't bother to take care of the three children just because they came in, and greeted them warmly: "Little sister, do you want to buy a bowl? This bowl is worth three cents a piece."

"Sanwen is too expensive. Can it be cheaper if I buy more?"

"If you buy more, you can buy it for two and a half cents each. The quality of my bowl is very good and it is insulated. For two and a half cents, I sold it at the cost price." The shopkeeper looked embarrassed, as if half a cent was too small. It was like cutting off a piece of his flesh.

Xiaoer didn't believe him: "Shopkeeper, two and a half cents doesn't mean it's not cheap, just two cents."

"Two Wen won't do it, but two Wen bowls will do." The shopkeeper pointed to another row of bowls next to him.

"Then two and a half cents, and give me ten spoons?"

The shopkeeper thought that three ladles cost two pennies, and ten spoons only cost about four or five pennies. It would be cheaper to get the goods, so he agreed.

Seeing the shopkeeper's eagerness to agree, Xiaoer felt that the bowl was definitely expensive at two and a half cents each, so she pointed to the bamboo chopsticks next to her: "Uncle shopkeeper, these chopsticks of yours are made of bamboo, and they are not worth much. Give me two chopsticks as well." There are 10 pairs of chopsticks in one chopstick.

A bundle of chopsticks costs three cents, and two bundles cost six cents. Now the shopkeeper refused.

"A bunch of these chopsticks cost money. I can't give them away anymore."

"Two bundles are only six cents. I bought so many bowls and you didn't give them away. If I went to buy them elsewhere, you would lose money."

The shopkeeper saw that a child was really serious about haggling the price. If he sold more bowls, he could earn 1 and a half cents each, so he agreed. And bamboo chopsticks are not easy to sell in the county.

Xiaoer walked around the store and found that there were also seeds for sale: "Uncle shopkeeper, what seeds do you have here?"

The shopkeeper came over and introduced some seeds, which were common vegetable seeds. He also had seeds at home. Seeing that Xiaoer was not interested, the shopkeeper pointed to the seeds on another row of shelves: "Those are the seeds brought back from overseas. My boss has ships to go to sea. The new seeds brought back this year have been opened to overseas trade in the past two years." , a lot of seeds have flowed in, and although many have been successfully planted, such as sweet potatoes and corn, many people still dare not plant them, and some people don’t know how to eat or use them. And they are expensive, so they are not easy to sell. But many big families try to grow these things.”

Xiaoer knew from the memory of the original owner that the land she was standing on now belonged to a country called Minze Kingdom. Based on the meager knowledge of the original owner, she guessed that this existed to replace the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizu was called Shangguan Ao Min. The current emperor is the second generation emperor after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and his country name is Hao. However, sweet potatoes and corn were not introduced to China in the Song Dynasty, but probably in the Ming Dynasty. History doesn't know where it went wrong, and now we have corn and sweet potatoes. But these are not important anymore. What is important is what others don't know. She knows it as a person with a soul thousands of years in the future.

Xiaoer looked at these seeds. To be honest, she couldn't recognize any of them. She only recognized tomatoes and potatoes. She decided to buy a small bag of the same seeds and plant them in the space to see what they were.

"Actually, although growing these seeds is a bit risky, if they are useful after planting, they will be considered valuable. If you sell them, you will definitely make a lot of money."

"Then I'll take the shopkeeper's advice." Xiaoer also thinks that the shopkeeper is right. After all, many people want to own and try new things.

Xiaoer bought some salt, sugar, soy sauce, rapeseed oil and eight wooden basins and eight wooden barrels. When Jing Rui and Jing Hao saw it, they quickly stopped him: "Why do you need so many buckets and basins? One is enough. We still have them at home."

"Each person uses one for washing and bathing. Sharing is unhygienic."

When settling the bill, the shopkeeper was a little dumbfounded when he saw that Xiaoer only picked 20 bowls: "Didn't the girl say that she wanted to buy a lot?"

"Yeah, I bought 20 bowls. Isn't that too much? There are only 6 people in my family."

The shopkeeper was speechless, he just felt groups of crows flying by. Say it bluntly: "It's a loss, it's a loss."

However, since he had negotiated a price, he did not go back on his promise. He believed in doing business with integrity.

The shopkeeper did the calculation and found out that it was one thousand four hundred and ninety cents, which was only two hundred cents short of ten cents. After hearing this, Xiaoer picked up a twenty-five-pound jar and said to the shopkeeper generously: "Uncle shopkeeper, those ten cents There’s no need to look for it, if you add this jar, you’ll get just one tael and a half silver.”

The shopkeeper was speechless, the jar sold for 15 cents, but he felt that Xiaoer was much smarter than other children of the same age, and he liked it very much, so he waved his hand and let it go.

When Shen Chengyao came back from grinding the grain, he saw Xiaoer buying a lot of things that were not needed urgently. He was a little stupid: "What are you buying so many barrels and basins for?"

"Each person has a wooden basin for washing, a wooden bucket for bathing, and the remaining two are used to wash vegetables and fill with water. It's just right, not much."

Shen Chengyao smiled bitterly after hearing this: "This is just a face wash and a shared bath."

Jing Hao seized the opportunity and said, "Dad, my sister said that public bathing tools are unhygienic and affect your health."

Jingrui also said: "I said I bought too much, but my sister said that she heard Dr. Luo said that it is best to use these things separately, so that if someone has a skin disease or something, they won't be afraid of infecting others."

After hearing this, Shen Chengyao forgot about it. He bought everything anyway: "If this is the case, then use them separately. Health is more important. My Xiaoer knows a lot." He was worried that Xiaoer thought he was blaming her for buying so much. There are so many things, don’t forget to praise Xiaoer to show comfort.

Xiaoer felt grateful and deliberately said coquettishly: "Of course, you will all listen to me from now on." Everyone laughed.

Shen Chengyao was going to buy some more fat pork, boil it in oil, and then go home. Xiaoer thought that the family's winter clothes had been worn for many years and were not warm at all, so she said, "Dad, let's go to the cloth store to buy some cloth. It will snow soon, and the clothes are not warm enough. The quilt is not warm enough.”

Shen Chengyao felt heartbroken after hearing this. Every winter before, when he saw his three brothers and sisters with their hands and feet red from the cold, he always thought about buying new cotton-padded clothes and trousers for his children as soon as he had money. Now that he had ten taels of silver, he accepted the offer without hesitation, even though there were many places where he could use the money in the future.