Chapter 51 – Prices are Really High
Yan Xiaosi helped Ms. Zhong and her sisters load the firewood they had chopped and bundled the day before onto the ox cart. Yan Shuyun, whose foot injury had not yet healed, watched them load the cart. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, with the eye-catching little yellow flower embroidered on her worn pant leg.
After helping Ms. Zhong and her sisters load the firewood onto the ox cart, Yan Xiaosi remembered the baizhu she had dug up from the mountain and the dog skin.
“Mom, sisters, please wait for a moment.”
She turned around and went into the house, stuffed the dog skin into the basket with baizhu, and brought them out together.
Seeing the dog skin in the bamboo basket, Ms. Zhong and the sisters became nervous at once.
Yan Shuqin asked softly, “Xiaosi, are you really going to sell this dog skin in town? What if the Liu family sees it…”
Yan Xiaosi handed the bamboo basket to Yan Shuqin, who was sitting in the cart, and replied while climbing onto the cart, “Elder sister, keeping the dog skin at home is even more dangerous. Instead of worrying about it every day, it’s better to sell it in town for peace of mind.”
Yan Shuqin didn’t say more and covered the bamboo basket with a bundle of firewood to prevent it from being exposed.
Yan Xiaosi climbed onto the cart and sat next to Yan Shuyun. Noticing the little yellow flower on her pant leg, she asked, “Third sister, do you like embroidery a lot?”
When it came to embroidery, Yan Shuyun’s eyes were full of longing.
“How could I not like it? All girls like embroidery, right?”
Yan Xiaosi took in her longing expression and said, “Third sister, since you like embroidery so much, when we go to town today, I’ll buy you some needles, thread, and fabric.”
Yan Shuyun just smiled happily but didn’t take Yan Xiaosi’s words to heart. She thought Yan Xiaosi was just trying to cheer her up. Their family of five was so poor that they had trouble affording food, let alone buying such things.
Ms. Zhong drove the ox cart, which swayed and bumped along as it left the dilapidated temple, heading towards the village entrance along the muddy road.
The old yellow ox pulling the cart didn’t look very strong, but luckily, the five members of Yan family were all thin and bony. Otherwise, the old yellow ox wouldn’t have been able to pull the cartload of people and firewood. Yan Xiaosi sat on the cart, leaning against a bundle of firewood. As the cart swayed, she felt comfortable and even dozed off. In no time, the ox cart arrived in Daxing Town with the family of five.
“Little brother, wake up, we have arrived in Daxing Town.”
Yan Shuyun nudged Yan Xiaosi’s arm.
Yan Xiaosi rubbed her eyes and looked at Yan Shuyun, who was excitedly looking around.
“Little brother, the town is really lively today.”
Yan Shuyun excitedly grabbed Yan Xiaosi’s arm with her left hand and pointed at the small stall selling embroidered silk by the street with her right hand, “Fourth Brother, look, those embroidered silks are so beautiful.”
Yan Xiaosi glanced around and found that not only was Yan Shuyun admiring the embroidered silk on the stalls with an envious look, but Yan Shuqin and Yan Shuxue were also wearing expressions of envy.
As the ox cart passed the stalls, Ms. Zhong flicked the reins in her hand to make the ox cart go a little faster. Soon, the cart left the stalls behind and Ms. Zhong then pulled the reins to slow it down.
“Don’t look at those things. They’re for the young ladies of wealthy families…”
Unable to afford them, Ms. Zhong felt guilty towards her daughters and choked up a bit when she spoke, leaving her last sentence unfinished.
“Mother, don’t be sad. It’s my fault for looking at those things,” Yan Shuyun said, quickly dropping her envious gaze and lowering her head to sit beside Yan Xiaosi, her eyes slightly red.
Yan Shuqin and Yan Shuxue also withdrew their gazes and sat silently in the oxcart.
Yan Xiaosi felt sorry for her mother and sisters.
“Mom, sisters, you go and sell firewood. I’ll get off the cart here.”
Ms. Zhong stopped the cart and asked Yan Xiaosi, “There’s still some distance to the place where we sell firewood, Xiaosi. What are you doing getting off the cart here?”
Yan Xiaosi stretched her legs and jumped off the cart, “Didn’t I promise Long Hao that I would buy him a new robe at the market today?” After Yan Xiaosi had washed Long Hao’s black robe, it had been hung up to dry in front of the window of the room where Long Hao slept. Ms. Zhong had seen it, and the robe was indeed quite worn and had some bloodstains that couldn’t be washed clean. Wearing clothes with bloodstains could easily lead to misunderstandings.
Ms. Zhong nodded in agreement, “Since Young Master Long has given us so much silver, we should buy him some new clothes. Xiaosi, go ahead, but don’t dawdle. Once you’ve bought the clothes for Young Master Long, come find us at the firewood market.”
Today, the town was crowded, and Ms. Zhong was afraid that Yan Xiaosi would get lost while playing.
Yan Xiaosi promised her, and after watching Ms. Zhong drive the cart away, she hurried towards the ready-made clothes store. There were clothes left by the previous owner, Yan Nanfeng, in the portable space. Yan Xiaosi could have taken out an outfit of appropriate size for Long Hao directly. However, Yan Nanfeng had traveled to this continent hundreds of years ago, before the establishment of the Great Chu Dynasty, so the style of his clothes was different from the popular style in Great Chu today. The other day, when Rongdi spies came to Shaoyao Village to investigate, Yan Xiaosi had barely managed to find a coarse hemp outfit that was almost identical to the clothing in Great Chu. If he took out another outfit from the portable space for Long Hao to wear, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yan Xiaosi finally emerged from the ready-made clothes store.
She held a bundle in her hand, standing at the entrance of the clothing store and let out a gentle sigh. She had only bought the most ordinary silk garment for Long Hao, but it had unexpectedly cost five taels of the twenty taels of silver Long Hao had given her. The prices in Xize County’s Daxing Town were really high. No wonder, since Xize County was located in the western desolate lands of the Great Chu Dynasty, bordering the Rongdi tribes with endless wars year after year. There were very few merchants coming here to do business, so things like fabric, clothes, and medicinal materials were naturally more expensive than elsewhere.
After leaving the clothing store, she walked towards the firewood market to meet up with Ms. Zhong and Yan Shuqin. As she passed by the stalls selling embroidered silk and beaded jewelry, she thought of her sisters staring at those embroidered silks with envious expressions on their faces and stopped in front of one of the stalls.
“Young man, are you planning to buy beaded flowers to give to your sweetheart?”
Just as Yan Xiaosi stopped, the stall owner looked at her with a beaming smile.
“Boss, how much does a beaded flower like this cost?”
Yan Xiaosi didn’t answer his question and glanced at one of the big red beaded flowers on the stall. The style was quite beautiful, so she picked it up and asked the stall owner.
Hearing her question, the stall owner became even more enthusiastic.
“Young master, you have a great eye. This beaded flower’s style is the most popular right now. It costs one tael of silver per piece. If you buy this kind of beaded flower for a girl, you’ll definitely win her heart.”
Hearing the stall owner’s words, Yan Xiaosi frowned slightly.
Although the beaded flowers were beautiful, the price was not so beautiful. If she bought one for each of her three sisters, it would cost three taels of silver.
“Boss, I sincerely want to buy beaded flowers from your store, but the price is a bit high. Could you give me a discount?” In her previous life, she was a military doctor with a decent salary and didn’t have to worry about food or clothing. Bargaining was not her strong suit. But now, with her finances tight, she had no choice but to try bargaining with the stall owner.
