Chapter 50: Pork and Cabbage Dumplings

The shopkeeper smiled warmly. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Jiang Li had no choice but to walk over.

The female shopkeeper enthusiastically asked, "Lady, are you looking for facial cream or lip tint? Is it for yourself or to give as a gift?"

A bronze mirror stood on the counter. As Jiang Li walked past, her reflection caught her eye. Her skin was still fair, but a hint of roughness was faintly visible on her cheeks.

Looking at the way Jiang Li gazed into the bronze mirror, Li Wan smiled and said, "Lady, your skin is naturally fair. With a little care, it will surely return to being as white and tender as before. We have a product called Jade Hibiscus Facial Cream here. Would the young lady like to take a look?"

With that, she presented a small pear-blossom white porcelain jar. Upon lifting the lid, the cream inside had the color of rendered lard. Jiang Li frowned slightly, only to hear the female shopkeeper say, "Don't let the white color fool you, lady; it contains a variety of herbal medicines. When hands and feet crack during the bitter winter, applying just a little bit ensures they heal by the very next day."

Jiang Li was actually somewhat tempted. This was clearly handmade with traditional herbs, not some mass-produced chemical concoction.

"How much is this jar?"

"Lady, this jar comes from the Xie Family Rouge House. It is four taels of silver per jar, and its effectiveness is unmatched by any other shop."

Hearing this price, Jiang Li drew a sharp breath inward. She was poor and could not afford it, but in the county town's economy, could a single jar of facial cream really sell for four taels? She began to feel somewhat doubtful.

"Shopkeeper, this is far too expensive. Do you have any cheaper lip tints?"

Li Wan still wanted to push her facial cream, but hearing Jiang Li ask for lip tint instead, she had no choice but to retrieve a box and open it for Jiang Li to inspect. "Lady, lip tints are much cheaper than facial cream. This box here is only two taels of silver."

Jiang Li remained silent.

As Jiang Li stayed quiet, the shopkeeper introduced, "This lip tint can not only be used on the lips, but also applied to the cheeks. Once applied, your face will glow like peach blossoms, looking simply stunning."

Jiang Li nodded, pushed the items back, and said, "Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper. I will look around a bit more."

"Are these two styles not to your liking, lady?"

Jiang Li smiled and shook her head. "No, it's just too expensive."

"The price is negotiable, you know," the shopkeeper called out from behind. Jiang Li simply kept walking forward. To spend four taels of silver on a jar of facial cream—she would much rather let her skin remain rough.

As for the wedding gift for Zhao Qingzhu, she would have to keep looking; if it was too expensive, she simply couldn't afford to give it.

Not long after walking, she arrived in front of the bookstore from last time. It was the same shop assistant, whose eyes lit up the moment he caught sight of Jiang Li. Jiang Li smiled at him and said, "I still haven't saved up enough money. I'll have to wait a bit longer."

"The price has dropped, one hundred and fifty copper coins."

"I still don't have it."

After speaking, Jiang Li thought to herself that only a few days had passed—why had the price dropped already? Something must have happened.

Pondering this, she walked closer. Seeing that the surroundings were deserted, she leaned in and asked in a low voice, "Does young master have any news from the outside?"

The assistant looked at her demeanor and smiled. "There's no need to fear being overheard; this news is already spreading everywhere. After the heavy rain the other day, the Tianhe rebel army won a decisive victory at Tianshan Gorge. The imperial court's forces have suffered continuous defeats and have already retreated to Huazhou. Perhaps they will soon march on the capital."

"Does this mean peace is coming soon?"

The assistant gave a chuckle and lowered his voice. "Peace might come soon, but there are also uprising armies in the south. Who knows how many more years of fighting lie ahead? Fortunately, the heavens have brought rain, so life around our parts is about to get better."

Jiang Li nodded.

The assistant looked at her, noticing the bamboo basket on her back once more, and inquired, "Here to help carry grain again?"

"Mmm."

"Still three copper coins per trip?"

Jiang Li pressed her lips together and said, "No, it's paid by weight now. Carrying two dan gets you four copper coins. I can carry four dan in a single trip, so I can earn eight coins."

Hearing this, the assistant's face twisted into an expression of disbelief, his eyes screaming doubt.

"You can carry four dan?"

"Mmm."

"With strength like that, you should come into the county town to work as a cargo porter. You could probably earn about this much in a day." As he spoke, he held up two fingers.

"Twenty copper coins?"

"Pretty much."

Jiang Li shook her head. "That won't do. It doesn't pay as much as hunting. I only occasionally come to help carry grain."

"You know how to hunt? What have you caught?"

"Wild boars, rabbits, pheasants." As Jiang Li finished speaking, the assistant suddenly broke into a wide grin. "Could you help hunt a rabbit for me? I want to keep one as a pet."

Jiang Li arched an eyebrow slightly. "Wild rabbits are too fast; if you keep one, it will run away."

"Two of them, one male and one female—then they won't run away."

Jiang Li glanced at him with a trace of disdain and replied flatly, "It depends on my luck. If I happen to encounter any, I'll bring them to you. Let's make it clear first, though—my wild rabbits aren't cheap."

"Deal. Don't forget, now."

Jiang Li waved at him and continued on her way, but the news of the rebel army marching toward the capital continued to swirl in her mind.

Was this a good thing? The place where they currently lived was still governed by the imperial court's officials.

These officials hadn't defected to the rebel army. If imperial decrees were issued down, should they be enforced?

What would happen when the imperial court reached its end?

Jiang Li's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Passing the bookstore, she entered a general store. Zhao and the others had browsed this very general store last time while she had stayed at the bookstore without coming in, but she hadn't realized how spacious it was inside.

Various goods were neatly categorized and displayed. To her surprise, they even sold burlap sacks. She picked one up to inspect it; the sacks were quite large, capable of holding at least a dan and a half of grain each. Thinking of the few sacks she had managed to peel and weave from hemp fibers herself, the process had simply taken too long, and she urgently needed them right now. Once she carried the grain back to store in her cellar, she wouldn't have anything to contain it in, so she definitely needed burlap sacks.

The few she had made herself were far from enough, and she couldn't possibly wait until she finished weaving more sacks before coming to transport the grain. Pondering this for a moment, she asked the shopkeeper for the price, "Shopkeeper, how much are these burlap sacks?"

"Five copper coins each."

Five copper coins was a price she could accept. Remembering the small burlap sack she had bought in town last time, where the shopkeeper had initially asked for ten copper coins—though she eventually got it for four—it was still much smaller than this one.

Habitually, Jiang Li inquired, "Can I get a discount if I buy more?"

"How many are you buying?"

Jiang Li pressed her lips together and said, "Fifteen."

"Fifteen of them for a minimum of seventy copper coins."

As soon as the shopkeeper finished speaking, Jiang Li didn't hesitate. She quickly counted out fifteen sacks and gathered them up. Just as she was about to count out the money to pay, she raised her head and caught sight of a row of porcelain jars displayed on a high shelf nearby—they were identical to the jars the rouge shopkeeper had handed her earlier.

Pointing at the row of porcelain jars, she asked, "Shopkeeper, is that facial cream?"

The shopkeeper glanced back at her, took down a jar, and said, "Jade Hibiscus Facial Cream, one hundred and ninety copper coins per jar."

Jiang Li took it. "May I open it to take a look?"

"Go ahead, just don't smear any on."

Jiang Li unscrewed the lid and inspected it; the color and scent were an exact match.

God damn it! Did she look like a sheep waiting to be shorn today? The old man selling vegetables had tried to fleece her, and now the shopkeeper wanting to sell rouge was quoting astronomical prices out of nowhere. Besides, couldn't that shopkeeper tell she was dirt poor?

Unwilling to give up, Jiang Li asked, "Shopkeeper, is this the same as the one sold at the rouge house?"

The shopkeeper rolled her eyes at Jiang Li and replied snappishly, "It's the exact same stuff. Even the goods at their rouge house are shipped in by our head boss."

Jiang Li took a deep breath.

"What about the lip tint? How much?"

"One hundred and twenty copper coins a jar." With that, the shopkeeper also reached up, took down a jar, and handed it to her. Jiang Li opened it to check—the shade was the same, and the packaging and scent were identical as well.

"Can you make it cheaper?" Jiang Li asked.

The shopkeeper lifted her eyelids to look at her. "Buying both jars?"

Jiang Li shook her head slightly. She would just buy one as a gift for now; her own skincare purchases could wait. She hadn't hoarded enough grain yet, she still lacked a quilt, and her shoes were made of straw. Surely she wouldn't continue wearing straw sandals when winter arrived?

Skincare wasn't that pressing of a priority for her.

Still, Jiang Li felt somewhat torn. If she gave facial cream, it could be used daily; but lip tint seemed like something used only on the wedding day. Afterward, everyone stayed cooped up in the village, and she had never seen anyone wear lip tint or rouge.

Jiang Li was a strict pragmatist.

She bought things primarily based on utility, and she gave gifts according to the same logic. However, if a family was poor, adults wouldn't be willing to waste money buying such luxuries for their children, so Zhao Qingzhu should be genuinely happy to receive this gift, right?

The very purpose of giving a gift, after all, was to make the recipient happy.

Noticing Jiang Li's hesitation, the shopkeeper asked, "Lady, are you buying this to give to someone?"

"Mmm, a younger sister is getting married."

"Then get the lip tint," the shopkeeper advised.

"We usually just stay out in the villages."

The shopkeeper smiled. "No matter where you are, very few young maidens dislike this sort of thing, especially a sister who has just gotten married."

"If you give her this, I guarantee she'll smile every single time she uses it."

"Alright then, shopkeeper, make it cheaper."

"I'll knock off two coins for you, one hundred and eighteen." The shopkeeper stated her price, but Jiang Li still felt it was too steep and countered, "One hundred coins. Can you sell it for that, shopkeeper?"

"I certainly can't sell it for one hundred. Everything we stock is shipped all the way from Yanzhou; if we were to ship rouge by itself, the price would be even higher. If the lady really wants it, add another fifteen coins—that's my absolute lowest. There isn't a single shop in the entire county town with a lower price than ours."

"Shopkeeper, shave off another three coins, one hundred and twelve."

The shopkeeper stared at her steadily for a moment, then waved a hand dismissively. "Fine. You're the very first customer buying rouge today, so I'll sell it to you."

"Thank you, shopkeeper! May your business flourish and wealth pour in from all directions!"

Hearing this, the shopkeeper chuckled. "I'll take your kind words."

Jiang Li fished out the string of loose coins from her bamboo basket, counted out one hundred and eighty-two coins total, and handed them over. The shopkeeper fetched a wooden box, placed the porcelain jar inside, snapped the lid shut, and handed it to her.

Jiang Li opened the box herself to inspect the contents. Finding no issues, she safely stored it away.

She then folded the burlap sacks and placed them neatly inside her basket.

Fortunately, she was poor enough to avoid being fleeced by the rouge shopkeeper.

A box of lip tint for two taels of silver—why didn't that shopkeeper just go out on the street and rob people directly?

That would be a much faster way to make money.

With her purchases finished, Jiang Li headed straight for the butcher stall where Zhao Jihe's grandmother had bought meat last time. With cabbage in hand, she wanted to make cabbage and pork dumplings. Although she still had meat at home, it had already been deep-fried, and making dumplings required fresh meat.

"Lady, how is the meat priced?"

"Which cut do you want? This piece has more fat, thirty-two copper coins a catty; this piece is lean, twenty-eight copper coins a catty."

Looking at the lean cut, Jiang Li said, "I'll take two catties of this one."

The butcher's wife glanced up at her, picked up her cleaver, and swiftly chopped off two catties. "Forty-six copper coins."

Jiang Li nodded and counted out the money.

The meat was tied up with straw grass to be carried by hand. Jiang Li couldn't help a small smile; just to match a few heads of cabbage, she had to buy two catties of pork. Though called lean meat, it still had streaks of fat running through it, even if it wouldn't yield any rendered lard.

Still, it was just right for her to mince into filling.

Having finished her shopping and with nothing else to do, she headed straight toward Qiu Family Grain Store.