Chapter 141: Chapter 141 Cloth Shop
“Sixteen wen per jin, miss, this is good meat,” said the muscular man, seeing a potential sale and quickly added with a smile on his face.
“That’s not right; just a few days ago I bought from you, and it was only thirteen wen per jin. Shopkeeper, you’re not being honest,” Xuexue said, then turned to leave.
“Hey! Miss, I’m not lying to you, it’s just that New Year is approaching, and the price of pork has gone up,” the pork seller quickly explained.
Xuexue turned around, glared at the man, clearly skeptical.
“Really, if you don’t believe me, you can go around and ask about the prices before you come back to buy, I’ll take off one extra wen for you.”
Xuexue turned and walked away, really went around the market stalls to inquire, and indeed, as New Year was nearing, the price of pork had gone up.
Returning to the original pork stall, the muscular man was already waiting for Xuexue. As soon as he saw her approaching, he greeted her with a smile, “Miss, how about it? I didn’t lie to you, did I?”
Seeing his enthusiasm, Xuexue stopped in her tracks, “Shopkeeper, you just mentioned taking off one wen, is that true?”
“Truly, truly, you’re a regular after all. I’ll sell it to you for fifteen wen per jin,” the man said generously, “Miss, how much would you like?”
Thinking of the approaching New Year, Xuexue decided to buy more. If they couldn’t finish it, they could make cured meat, so she said, “Thirty jin.”
Hearing this, the pork seller was delighted, thinking it was fortunate he hadn’t offended the lady, or else a big sale would have flown away. His smile could hardly be hidden as he picked up the sharp pork knife, made a big swipe, and deftly weighed out thirty jin of pork for Xuexue.
Xuexue took the pork and handed it to Big Bull standing behind her. Seeing a big pile of pork leg bones next to the pork stall, she asked, “Shopkeeper, how do you sell these?”
“Uh! Those don’t have much meat, not worth much. If you want them, miss, just add ten wen for all of it,” the pork seller said, giving her a deal partly as a gesture for buying so much pork at once.
“All right, I’ll take them all.”
Recalling that her family had recently separated and didn’t even have vegetables to eat, Madam Xie had been constantly carrying a basket to the mountainside to pick wild greens. Hearing it was only ten wen, Xuexue didn’t hesitate,
Eventually, Xuexue counted out four hundred and sixty wen from her river snails’ purse and gave it to the pork seller before departing.
Big Bull, looking at the fully loaded baskets, said, “Wife, are you still buying? There’s no more room.”
“No matter, I’ll carry it if it doesn’t fit.”
Thinking that New Year was coming and everyone at home needed new clothes anyway, she hadn’t yet had the chance to spend the silver she had sneakily taken from Auntie Sun.
Big Bull obediently carried the goods, following behind her.
“Hey! Big Bull, there’s a cloth shop ahead, let’s go and take a look,” Xuexue said as she stepped forward and walked in.
This cloth shop was large, with fabrics of all sorts filling the store to the brim.
“Guest, what kind of fabric would you like to buy?” asked the strong man, coming out from the back hall.
Xuexue looked up, slightly surprised, “Is it you?”
“Miss! Do we know each other?”
“I’d rather not know you. That day, your horse almost ran over my sister,” Xuexue said indignantly, recalling the perilous moment.
“Oh! So it’s Miss,” the strong man realized, and then with a face full of apology, he added, “I’m so sorry about that day. I don’t know what happened; my horse just suddenly went crazy, and I couldn’t control it.”