Chapter 51: Stocking Up on Grain, The Tiger Descends the Mountain

Xue Man gave a cheeky chuckle.

Then he said to Jiang Li, "Mother, I want to go with you."

Jiang Li sighed, helpless. "Go on, if you want to go, then go."

Upon receiving permission, the two little kids cheered with joy, skipping along the path as they walked.

The walk to town took quite a while. If it weren't for the necessity of buying and selling things, Jiang Li wouldn't have wanted to make the trip even once a month.

Children were different; they seemed happy just going along for a stroll, even if nothing was bought.

With that settled, Zhao Qingzhu and Jiang Li sat chatting. Zhao Qingzhu mentioned that the embroidered shoes she was making for her wedding were not yet finished, which suddenly reminded Jiang Li about making straw sandals.

Softly, she asked, "Xiao Man said you know how to make straw sandals. When you have a free day, could you teach me? I don't know how."

Zhao Qingzhu smiled. "Making straw sandals is simple. I can teach you as soon as we get back tomorrow."

"What kind of grass is needed?"

"Rice straw or thatch grass will both work, but rice straw is better for making the soles."

Jiang Li nodded and murmured, "I wonder when we'll be able to shed these straw sandals and wear cloth shoes directly."

Zhao Qingzhu looked at her for a moment before asking, "You've never worn straw sandals before, have you?"

Jiang Li hummed in response. Zhao Qingzhu said, "Actually, even if times get better in the future, people still wear straw sandals when working in the fields. If they wear out, you throw them away without feeling any heartache. Cloth shoes get dirty very quickly out in the fields; they have to be washed and hung out to dry. During the busy farming season, wearing cloth shoes to work in the fields every day is just too wasteful."

Jiang Li thought about it and realized it made sense. Wearing straw sandals in spring and summer seemed fine. While they certainly couldn't match cloth shoes in comfort, they were acceptable if treated as mere sandals.

Besides, making a pair of cloth shoes required a considerable amount of time, unlike the easy convenience of modern society.

Since they had to wake up early the next day, Zhao Qingzhu didn't stay long before heading back.

The next day, before dawn, she came running over to call for Jiang Li.

Jiang Li had just finished washing up with Xue Man and A Ning, and hadn't even cooked breakfast.

Thinking they would likely arrive in town quite early, she decided to skip it and see what breakfast options were available in town.

The remaining six hundred or so copper coins from yesterday's grain purchase were all placed into her money pouch, which Jiang Li brought along together with the two pieces of broken silver.

Although they had Xue Man and A Ning with them, the two children were so excited along the way that they didn't hold anyone back.

When the four of them reached town, the morning market had just opened. There was an endless stream of hawkers selling vegetables, breakfast foods, and all sorts of wares. Jiang Li spotted vendors selling wild vegetables and fruits, wild pheasants, and eggs.

There were still plenty of adults and children in town buying breakfast and vegetables.

She had previously thought there wasn't much business in this town.

But looking at it now, the only ones who were poor seemed to be the farmers in the villages with no source of income.

Seeing the bustling crowd, Jiang Li called out to Xue Man, who was looking around in wonder, "Xiao Man, hold your sister's hand and don't stray too far from me."

Xue Man instantly snapped out of it, grabbed A Ning's hand, and stayed close to Jiang Li's side.

The four of them strolled past the breakfast stalls. Most of them sold flatbreads—pan-fried meat cakes, baked wheat cakes, soup noodles, as well as mutton wontons and pork buns.

However, the most popular businesses were the mutton soup noodles and mutton pancakes.

She had already tried the mutton pancakes; they tasted wonderful, and she liked them very much.

The soup noodles looked quite good as well.

The business for steamed buns was average. When she asked Zhao Qingzhu about it, Zhao Qingzhu replied, "The meat inside the buns has too strong of a gamey smell, so people don't like to eat them."

"Really?"

Zhao Qingzhu smiled. "Of course. Just the other days, my sister-in-law was saying that although the pork you cooked was plain boiled meat, it didn't have much of a gamey smell at all. She was even talking about asking you someday so that when I hold my wedding banquet, she can invite you to help cook."

Jiang Li smiled and asked, "I really didn't put any special ingredients in that boiled meat."

"Impossible."

Zhao Qingzhu disagreed. Jiang Li frowned slightly, and Xue Man, walking at the front, chimed in with a smile, "Mother, you poured wine into the pot."

Zhao Qingzhu: "..."

Jiang Li laughed awkwardly, "I forgot about that."

She was simply used to doing it. Before coming here, much of the meat she ate didn't taste very good. If you wanted to get rid of the unpleasant taste, you had to add plenty of cooking wine, scallions, ginger, and garlic so that the strong flavors of the seasonings would mask the gamey odor.

"When my mother makes it, she puts in a bit of pepper, but if she puts too little it doesn't cover the taste, and if she puts too much it doesn't taste good."

Chatting as they walked, the four of them eventually consulted the two little kids and decided to buy mutton pancakes for breakfast.

The pancakes were fried to a crisp, and with every bite, crumbs fell off. The few of them instinctively reached out to catch them, tossing the gathered bits back into their mouths.

After finishing the mutton pancakes, Zhao Qingzhu led them toward the fabric shop. Jiang Li inspected the rolls of fabric; the colors and materials were similar to ready-made items, likely shipped in from the county seat.

"What kind of fabric are the two madams looking to buy?"

Zhao Qingzhu was picking out colors. Aside from the red fabric, Jiang Li felt all the other colors looked a bit too old-fashioned and lacked vibrancy, making them less suitable for young girls to make clothes out of.

After searching for a long time, Zhao Qingzhu picked a piece of autumn-fragrance green. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This color is lovely. Clothes made from this will certainly look wonderful on you, madam."

"Is the young lady taking the fabric back to make them herself, or would you like me to tailor them for you here?"

"Cut the fabric to take back."

As soon as Zhao Qingzhu finished speaking, Jiang Li asked about the price, "Shopkeeper, how much per foot?"

"Fifteen cash."

Jiang Li had no idea how much fabric was needed to make a full outfit. Hearing this, Zhao Qingzhu smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, don't quote us a high price just because we are young. I accompanied my mother here to buy fabric before, and it wasn't this price."

"It's been a while since you last came, madam. Prices have gone up! As an old regular customer, I'll give you a discount—fourteen cash a foot."

Zhao Qingzhu kept her smiling expression. "We want six feet. How about fifty-six cash?"

The moment those words came out, the shopkeeper's expression froze, looking somewhat displeased, though he continued the negotiation.

"Madam, you've slashed the price far too low. I can't even buy it for that. Please add a bit more, madam."

"I'll add two cash, shopkeeper, but you have to throw in a ball of thread."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper burst out laughing, "Madam, that's no different from not adding anything at all. My balls of thread cost money too, you know."

Despite saying that, the shopkeeper had already started fetching his measuring tools.

"Alright then, consider it my first sale of the day. I'll sell it to you."

With the fabric purchased, their main task for the day was essentially complete. They wandered through the market a bit more. Some people were selling embroidered shoes and scented sachets. Jiang Li had no interest in sachets, but since she didn't know how to embroider, if she ever wanted to wear embroidered shoes in the future, she would likely just have to buy them.

Even after walking past the stall, she kept turning her head back to look.

An elderly woman noticed her and called out, "Madam, the embroidered shoes are twenty-eight cash a pair. They're very soft. Come over and take a look."

Jiang Li walked over, squatted down, and picked a pair up to examine them. She had often heard of making shoe soles by layering cloth, and now holding one in her hand, she saw that floral patterns were embroidered on the upper, while the sole consisted of layers upon layers of cloth stitched together. On a clear day, they would surely be very soft to wear, though they would easily soak through in the rain.

"My daughter-in-law used to be an embroiderer in an embroidery workshop. Her craftsmanship is top-notch."

Jiang Li smiled. "They are indeed beautifully made. Do you come to every market, granny?"

"I come to every single one."

"Then I'll save up some money and come buy a pair another day."

Since the deal fell through, the old woman was initially a bit displeased, but seeing Jiang Li's sincere expression—as if she genuinely wanted to buy them but simply lacked the cash at the moment—she smiled. "Very well. Once you have the money ready, just come look for me directly." She then glanced at Xue Man and A Ning and added, "My daughter-in-law makes them for children too. Bring them along next time."

Jiang Li smiled. "Alright."

Accompanying Zhao Qingzhu this time, Jiang Li took Xue Man and A Ning to browse a pastry shop, where she bought a box of pastries and another box of maltose candies.

The brother and sister looked at the two boxes of treats, the smiles on the corners of their mouths completely uncontrollable.

Having finished their shopping, they prepared to head home. As they passed the grain shop, the grain shopkeeper was busy weighing grain for someone. Raising his gaze inadvertently, he spotted Jiang Li, raised his voice, and called out, "Madam, please wait a moment."

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow slightly and stepped into the shop, while Zhao Qingzhu waited outside with the two little kids.

The shopkeeper was still weighing grain for the customer. Seeing Jiang Li enter, he smiled and said, "Have a seat, madam, and wait for me just a moment."

Jiang Li walked around to inspect the grain while waiting for the shopkeeper to finish.

"Have you bought enough grain yet, madam?"

"Not yet. Going all the way to the county seat to carry it back isn't that fast. If the shopkeeper can give me a discount, I'll just carry it from your place."

The shopkeeper clapped his hands and laughed, "It's not that I won't give you a discount, madam, but I'm running a small business here."

"Then what is this about, shopkeeper?"

"My wife wants to transfer ownership of this grain shop, but a shop isn't that easy to transfer. I want to clear out my granary before transferring it. If you want a large quantity, madam, I can offer you the Qiu Family Rice Firm's wholesale price right now, and I can even lend you my mule cart to use, madam."

Jiang Li looked at the shopkeeper, her brows knitting slightly. It had only been a few days; why had things suddenly changed?

"Shopkeeper, acting like this makes me rather uneasy."

Jiang Li spoke bluntly. The shopkeeper chuckled awkwardly, struggled for a moment, and then lowered his voice to say, "You're an old customer, madam, so I might as well speak frankly with you. There are likely going to be riots and chaos very soon. If I'm holding onto all this grain while people have no money to buy it, wouldn't it just make me a target?"

"Could it really be that severe? Have you received some sort of news, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper looked around cautiously, pulled Jiang Li a bit closer, and whispered a couple of sentences.

In an instant, Jiang Li's expression changed as well.

"Is the grain in the shop all in good condition, shopkeeper?"

"You can rest assured, madam, the grain is guaranteed to be problem-free. Besides, every single bag will be emptied out and weighed on the spot, and you're welcome to inspect it, madam."

"Could you give me a figure, shopkeeper? How much can you supply?"

"Rice, flour, and paddy rice combined—a little over twenty stones. Can you give me an even better discount, shopkeeper?" Hearing this quantity, the shopkeeper was dumbfounded. He looked Jiang Li over once more—her coarse linen clothes and worn-out straw sandals made it hard to believe she could afford so much grain.

However, since someone was paying to buy it, his only job was to sell.

"Is what you're saying true, madam?"

"Naturally."

"I won't say too much, but I can knock off another ten cash per stone for you, madam."

This wasn't a massive discount, but buying it here meant she could use his mule cart, which would make transporting the grain back much more convenient. Getting it all done at once would wrap the matter up and save her from making daily trips.

"Very well. Then I'll head home first and come back later. I'll calculate the exact quantities of each item on the way."

The shopkeeper nodded, "The sooner, the better."

Stepping out of the grain shop, Jiang Li called for them to head home.

Zhao Qingzhu asked if something was the matter.

Jiang Li shook her head and replied, "When I asked the shopkeeper before if buying more grain would get me a discount, he said no. Today he said it was possible."

Zhao Qingzhu also furrowed her brow. "Grain prices are only going up, not down. How is it suddenly possible again?"

"I don't know."

Zhao Qingzhu looked at Jiang Li and the two children, saying softly, "If you have the money ready, you should hoard a bit more grain. When your family divided up the property, you didn't receive any wheat fields or sweet potato fields, did you?"