Chapter 29

Sang Luo did not rush into the alleys to sell her wares. Instead, she strolled along the main street, observing the layout of the county town and familiarizing herself with the various shops.

The stalls in Qiyang County were concentrated in the East and West Markets. The shops on the main street were noticeably more upscale, offering everything from rouge, spices, and ready-made clothing to fabrics, gold, silver, jade, wine, food, and bamboo and wooden wares.

Whenever Sang Luo found something that piqued her interest, she would step inside to ask the price, though, naturally, she couldn't afford much with the money she had on hand.

It wasn't until she reached a pharmacy that her eyes lit up. She adjusted her carrying pole and walked straight inside.

The morning light was still fresh. The pharmacy wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either; at the very least, the resident physician was busy attending to patients, while a few others waited their turn.

Sang Luo placed her carrying basket against the wall and approached the medicine counter. Seeing her, the pharmacy apprentice asked, "Young lady, are you here for a consultation or to fill a prescription?"

"To fill a prescription," Sang Luo replied. "Do you have gypsum?"

The apprentice nodded. "We do. Do you have the prescription?"

Sang Luo shook her head. "No prescription. The village doctor just told me to buy some gypsum."

It was common for people to come in for individual ingredients based on a village doctor's advice, hearsay, or family remedies without needing a full consultation. The apprentice was accustomed to this and didn't pry. "How much do you need?"

"Half a catty."

The apprentice looked at her with mild surprise, but since gypsum was cheap, it wasn't unheard of for someone to need a larger quantity for several days of treatment. He nodded, took two sheets of oil paper, turned to the medicine cabinet, and skillfully weighed out half a catty of gypsum, dividing it into two packets.

"Five wen."

The price was about what Sang Luo had expected. She fished five copper coins from her sleeve and handed them over. She placed the two packets of gypsum into her basket and headed back out.

Half a catty would last a long time.

After leaving the pharmacy, she asked passersby where she could find a stone mill. Hearing it was at the stone utensil shop near the West Market, she made her way there, only to find that a reasonably sized household stone mill cost two hundred and sixty-five wen.

Sang Luo did a quick mental calculation. Tsk, she would have to save for a few more days.

With the information she needed gathered and a full tour of the main street completed, Sang Luo didn't linger. She turned into an alleyway to get down to business.

She was now well-versed in selling her "fairy tofu." As long as someone showed a hint of curiosity or made eye contact, she had the knack for convincing them to take a bold taste.

The residents of the county were much better off than those in the countryside. They didn't feel the pinch of spending two wen on a snack, especially one so novel that they had never tasted before. Sang Luo didn't have much equipment; her basket held only two ceramic basins, which contained a total of twenty-four pieces when filled to the brim. After walking through six or seven alleys, the stock was already sold out.

Along with it, she sold the dozen or so purslane greens and small dried fish she had brought along.

With fifty-nine copper coins from sales and the twenty-two she had brought with her, minus the seven spent on the gypsum, the city entry fee, and the market tax, Sang Luo now had seventy-four wen in her possession.

With her empty pole on her shoulder, her first task was to return to the main street to buy fabric scraps from a clothing store. It was time to start making coin purses.

Fabric scraps were a hot commodity at clothing stores. Whether in the city or the countryside, thrifty women loved them.

Of course, these scraps were truly fragmented. Anything large enough to make a simple pouch would never be thrown into the scrap pile for sale, so it required a keen eye and nimble fingers.

The female shopkeeper had categorized the scraps by fabric quality and size. The lowest grade consisted of tiny, coarse cloth remnants, useful only for patching clothes or lining shoe soles, selling for one wen per two catties.

The second tier, plain or navy coarse cloth, had slightly larger pieces—though the largest was no bigger than a palm. A skilled hand could cut enough from a catty to make two patchwork pouches or use them for shoe soles. These sold for one wen per catty.

The third tier, while still coarse, featured better colors and smoother textures. Sang Luo set her sights on these, paying two wen for a catty.

As for the silk and satin scraps, they cost several wen per catty even as remnants. Sang Luo didn't even look at them; she couldn't afford them, and every penny had to be spent where it counted most.

Not far from the clothing store was a fabric shop. She had intended to buy some filtering cloth for making the tofu, but after calculating her remaining funds, she had to shelve that idea for now.

After all, she still needed a few days to gather the equipment for the tofu. For now, the priority was to buy two wooden buckets, which would allow her to bring more fairy tofu to the county every day.

With that decided, she stopped wandering and headed straight for the East Market with her empty baskets.

Since she had no goods to bring into the East Market, she was merely a buyer and didn't need to pay the market tax. It took Sang Luo a bit of time to find Qin Fangniang in the bustling crowd.

Because she had arrived late, her stall wasn't in a prime location, but there were two women standing in front of it. Qin Fangniang was handing them samples.

Sang Luo watched with a smile, not approaching just yet. After the two women asked for the price, made a purchase, and walked away with their baskets, she saw Qin Fangniang standing there, waiting honestly for the next customer. She was reminded of Chen Youtian, who had crouched behind a basket of eggs on the first day of the big market, not knowing how to solicit customers.

This couple was truly alike.

Sang Luo chuckled, walked over, and called out, "Auntie."

Qin Fangniang was delighted to see her. "You're back already?"

She peered into Sang Luo's basket, both surprised and happy. "Did you sell it all?"

Sang Luo smiled. "All gone. I didn't bring much, only twenty-some pieces."

"That's impressive! I've only sold about twenty pieces myself," Qin Fangniang said, looking at the other stalls. She knew where her problem lay. "I'm just too embarrassed to call out to people."

Sang Luo laughed. "I can tell. You and Uncle Youtian are exactly the same. He didn't make a peep when we sold eggs. Calling out isn't hard; the difficulty is just in opening your mouth the first time. Once you do, it becomes natural."

She stood in front of the stall and began to call out in a clear, ringing voice: "Fairy tofu! Delicious fairy tofu! A fresh treat to clear heat and beat the summer! Only two wen a piece!"

When people looked her way, or even just slowed their pace, Sang Luo would ask with a smile, "Have you tried fairy tofu? It's the must-have delicacy for hot weather—delicious cold or hot, sweet or savory! Only two wen a piece, would you like to try it?"

With her crisp, pleasant voice and appealing pitch, a few women carrying baskets quickly gathered around.

Qin Fangniang, who had been watching in awe, finally snapped to her senses. "We have small samples mixed with sugar water; please, feel free to try some for free."

Perhaps influenced by Sang Luo, she tried to project her voice as she spoke. She wasn't used to it at first, but after a few tries, her voice grew stronger, no longer low and soft as it usually was, but increasingly resonant.

This was more like it.

Then Qin Fangniang realized that once she took the first step, it wasn't so bad after all—it actually felt quite good.

Moreover, the number of people looking and walking over really began to increase, and there were suddenly several women willing to try the samples.

As if she had suddenly unlocked a hidden potential, she handed out samples and began to call out just like Sang Luo. Though she wasn't very smooth at first, only remembering to say "fairy tofu" and "two wen a piece," after a few more calls, she found her rhythm.

"Clear heat and beat the summer! Sweet or savory! Eat it cold or hot!"

Her family had eaten it several times, so Qin Fangniang knew her stuff.

She praised it, and praised it well! She told the women who came to buy exactly how to make it delicious.

Her mouth ran on, and once the floodgates opened, she couldn't stop. Qin Fangniang didn't even know she could be this articulate! The key was that this articulateness could sell goods and make money, which made her feel light as air.

Seeing her transition from awkward to practiced and gradually taking control of the scene, Sang Luo quietly stepped back, leaving the center stage to her and acting as a mere observer.

Experience proved that for a novel food no one had ever tasted, as long as you dared to speak up, let people know it existed, and helped them understand it, it was hard for business not to thrive—especially since the purchasing power of the county market was significantly stronger than that of the rural market.

The remaining eighteen pieces of fairy tofu were sold out in less than two quarters of an hour.

Qin Fangniang looked at the empty bucket, then squeezed the money in her purse, feeling a bit dazed.

That was too fast.

There were still people who had come over after seeing the commotion and had missed out. Seeing that there were still some samples left, they all expressed a desire to taste them.

There was nothing to say to that. Qin Fangniang quickly gathered her thoughts and called out to attract even more people, distributing the remaining samples and intuitively starting to build anticipation for tomorrow.

By the time the samples were all gone, she checked the sundial in the center of the East Market; it wasn't even the hour of Si (9:00 AM) yet.

Looking at the still-bustling East Market, Qin Fangniang looked regretful. "Ah-Lie's wife, can you make more in a day? Tomorrow I'll bring a few more ceramic basins and pull the family's cart. There are so many people in the county town; I think we can sell more, and it will save you from having to carry it all the way here."

She had seen several people bringing carts into the market.

Sang Luo smiled. "We can, but we need to buy a pair of wooden buckets first."

The carts Qin Fangniang spoke of were much like the handcarts of later generations, but the carts alone weren't enough; the ceramic basins couldn't hold much.

"Right, right, right." Qin Fangniang regained her composure and, remembering she hadn't given Sang Luo the money, quickly handed over the purse. "All the money from the sales is here. You count it."

She had only brought the city entry fee with her, not a single extra coin. This empty purse was one her mother-in-law had specifically given her the night before to collect money.

Sang Luo didn't stand on ceremony. She took the purse and stood to the side to count it.

Eighty copper coins. Not one wen more, not one wen less.

Sang Luo took out twenty wen and handed the purse back to Qin Fangniang with a smile. "Auntie, this is yours. Forty pieces of fairy tofu, twenty wen. You count it too."

Qin Fangniang didn't usually manage the household finances, so this was her first time holding so much money. She grinned so wide her eight teeth were showing.

She counted the twenty coins once, then took one wen and stuffed it back to Sang Luo. "Ah-Lie's wife, I'll pay the market tax myself. I hadn't meant to take it before, but I didn't react in time and you had already left. If I spent your money, my mother would scold me when I got home."

After deducting the entry fee and the market tax, she had earned eighteen coins! Her husband didn't earn much more than that for a full day of odd jobs in the county town during winter.

The joy and satisfaction Qin Fangniang felt were beyond words. She pushed the tax money back to Sang Luo, tucked the remaining nineteen coins into her purse, and shoved it into her bodice, only then feeling at ease.

Sang Luo thought of Old Madam Chen's meticulous, "a penny is a penny" nature, smiled, and didn't refuse. She tucked the sixty-one wen into her other sleeve. Sang Luo now had one hundred and thirty-three wen on her.

She picked up her pole and invited Qin Fangniang to go buy the wooden buckets with her.

At that moment, the market officials arrived. They looked at Qin Fangniang and said, "Sold everything? Hand over your tax plaque."

This was part of their job—to keep an eye on the vendors. When the goods were nearly sold out, they had to collect the tax plaques so they wouldn't be taken out of the market and reused by someone else later.

Qin Fangniang was here for the first time and didn't know the ropes, but at this time, nine out of ten commoners shared one trait: whatever the official said, they did.

Without a word, she took the tax plaque from her sleeve and handed it to the official with a bow.

...

Wooden buckets were sold in the East Market.

They were made by an old craftsman himself. He tested them with water on the spot, ensuring they were reliable and leak-proof. A pair of buckets cost fifty wen and came with a free carrying pole. In total, it was a few wen cheaper than the woodenware shops outside, and they got an extra pole, with no significant difference in quality.

Sang Luo decisively bought a pair. Her hundred and thirty-three wen vanished, leaving her with only thirty-three.

Carrying the new pair of buckets, with her basket stacked on top and the extra pole tucked inside, Sang Luo stopped by an old man selling millet from a wheelbarrow. She spent twenty-one wen on three liters of millet. Of course, since it was a stall purchase, the old man threw in a small handful as a bonus.

Qin Fangniang hissed in surprise. Setting up a household was truly expensive—without fields or land, even buying a bit of grain cost a fortune. In just this short while, one hundred and twenty-one wen had been spent.

Qin Fangniang didn't know exactly how much money Sang Luo had, but she had a good idea of how much they had brought to sell.

Is she done spending?

Is she really done?

If she wasn't done, she probably didn't have much left.

Qin Fangniang touched her own purse. She had been flying high with joy over earning nineteen wen in a day, and now her sense of happiness and gratitude surged. Not having to spend a single cent—that was wonderful.

Money saved was money earned.

If Sang Luo knew what Qin Fangniang was thinking, she would have replied that while she wasn't done spending, she was close.

She had twelve copper coins left.

Sang Luo didn't feel the sting. She had bought necessities. With these two new buckets, if Qin Fangniang brought the cart tomorrow, she could carry two more buckets of fairy tofu than today, earning eighty wen more in a single day. The cost of these buckets would be recouped quickly.

With the money mostly spent, Qin Fangniang asked, "Shall we head back now?"

Sang Luo shook her head. "Auntie, since it's our first time here, let's see what else is sold in the East Market. I'm a bit hungry, and I want to see if I can buy something for Xiao'an and A'ning to take back."

The two children hadn't been able to come today, and she could only imagine how much they were wondering about the county town. They couldn't come here often, so bringing back some snacks from the county would be a nice gesture.

Hearing that she still wanted to buy food in the county, Qin Fangniang thought it was quite extravagant, but then she remembered Sang Luo's skill in making fairy tofu and suppressed her comment.

She hadn't toured the county town either. Never mind the outside; she hadn't even finished walking through the East Market, and she had paid an entry fee to get in!

Once her mindset shifted, it was different. Qin Fangniang felt it would be foolish not to take a look around. "Alright, let's take a walk."

The two women, each carrying their poles, wandered through the East Market.

There were many stalls in the East Market, and naturally, there was no shortage of food. In fact, most of it was bread: steamed buns, fried pancakes, ring cakes, sesame seed flatbreads... all sorts of pastries in various shapes.

Sang Luo stopped in front of a sesame seed flatbread stall.

The rich aroma was so tempting that her stomach began to growl.

"Old sir, how do you sell these flatbreads?"

As soon as she spoke, Qin Fangniang carefully tugged at her sleeve. She whispered, "This flatbread has mutton in it. It's expensive!"

Before she could finish, the old man making the bread said with a smile, "Three wen each."

Three wen—it was indeed expensive. For half a wen more, she could buy half a liter of grain, which would be enough for her and the two children to have a solid meal.

However, the old man was making them fresh. Sang Luo watched as he spread bits of mutton on top, added a sauce that looked incredibly appetizing, brushed it with ghee, and finally put it into the oven to bake.

The bread already inside the oven was about sixty or seventy percent done. The scent of mutton, wheat, and savory sauce wafted out—well, three wen it was. Sang Luo had never tried this, and she was very hungry now.

The two children definitely hadn't tried it either.

Looking at it another way, it was worth one and a half pieces of fairy tofu. It was worth it to try a new treat.

Money should be spent where it mattered, but she shouldn't neglect her own stomach, especially since the original owner's body was severely malnourished. Besides, she had walked ten miles carrying such heavy loads before dawn and had been busy for a long time; the small amount of fairy tofu she had eaten at home was long gone.

She took out three coins and handed them over. "Please, give me one."

The old man took the money with a smile and deftly wrapped a freshly baked one in oil paper. When Sang Luo took it, the heat seeped through the paper into her hand. She tore off a piece and handed it to Qin Fangniang.

Qin Fangniang took it, stunned, and stammered, "Why are you giving this to me?"

Sang Luo tore off a piece for herself and wrapped the remaining two-thirds in the oil paper, putting it into her bucket. "Aren't you hungry? We've been busy all morning. Let's have something with oil and meat to tide us over."

As she spoke, she took a bite of the piece of flatbread. The flavor was so good that Sang Luo gave the old man a thumbs-up. "Old sir, your bread is delicious! When I have money, I'll definitely come back to buy more."

Two bites weren't enough to satisfy her craving; she would need at least one or two to truly be content.

The old man laughed. "Then come back next time, young lady."

"I will, for sure!"

Qin Fangniang held the small piece of bread in her hand, reluctant to eat it. Watching Sang Luo eat with such relish, she couldn't help but swallow.

After a moment of hesitation, she tore off a tiny bit, no bigger than a fingernail, and put it in her mouth.

Delicious, truly delicious!

Such a good thing—she couldn't bear to eat any more after that one taste. She looked at Sang Luo and said, "This bread is really good. Ah-Lie's wife, can I take this bit back for my mother and the two children to try?"

She felt a bit embarrassed; Sang Luo had given it to her to satisfy her hunger.

But this thing was just too good—oil, flour, and mutton. Her family had never tasted anything so fine. She couldn't bear to spend three wen to buy one; after walking twenty miles, paying the entry fee, and paying the market tax, she had only earned twenty wen—eighteen after deductions.

There were too many places in the family that needed money.

Sang Luo didn't mind at all. Giving her a piece was a courtesy; wanting to save it for her elderly mother and children was an expression of filial piety and maternal love. She smiled. "Auntie, do as you please."

When Qin Fangniang heard this, a smile bloomed on her face. She bent down, fished out a clean lotus leaf from her bucket, carefully wrapped the small piece of flatbread, and tucked it away.

Thinking of the expressions on her parents-in-law and children's faces when they tasted this bread, a wide, radiant smile blossomed on Qin Fangniang's face.

Sang Luo finished her small piece of bread in two bites. She wouldn't buy anything else. With the remaining nine wen tucked in her sleeve, she and Qin Fangniang set off on their journey home, both feeling satisfied.

What Sang Luo didn't know was that back in Shili Village, outside their grass hut, five little children were currently at a stalemate over a single bite of food.