"Hey, hottie, what’s this good thing you’ve got going on? Offering us some grub?"
"Heh heh." Yang Chuxia chuckled twice, speaking quietly with her head bowed, "Uncle Old Gen, would you consider it a good thing if the old bloodline of our Yang Family won over the foreign one?"
Uncle Old Gen chuckled upon hearing this, giving a thumbs-up, "Of course it’s a good thing. Definitely a good thing."
After saying goodbye to Uncle Old Gen, in less than half an hour, the ox-cart from the neighboring village arrived.
When they reached the town, it was bustling with people. Yang Chuxia didn’t rush to buy groceries. Instead, she headed to the seafood market first.
Although most of the sea products caught by the fishermen were claimed by merchants, there were always some that either came back too late to be sold to the merchants, or were overfished and brought to the seafood market to sell.
Then, there were the wholesalers — people from the nearby beach villages with no fishing boats. They could scavenger sea products, usually in small quantities, and bring them here to sell.
"Xiaxia, are we buying this to entertain guests? Isn’t it too ostentatious?" These things were all very expensive. If they were to bring these back for a feast, others might think they’d come into some serious money.
"Dad, where’s your mind wandering off to? I’m going to buy a basket of crabs to make drunken crabs. But also, we can have a meal of steamed crabs at lunch."
"Oh, that’s fine then. That’s more within the ballpark for us rural folks."
"Hmm-hmm, I know." Yang Chuxia responded, all the while scanning the nearby stall. The crabs today seemed to be on the smaller side.
"Uncle, how much are these crabs per pound?" The crab-selling uncle glanced at Yang Chuxia and then at Yang Dachuan and Yang Qingtong standing behind her. The trio was patchily dressed, dousing any previous expectations he had when asked about price, and his eyes bore a touch of contempt.
With a scoff, he retorted, "Young lady, you must be buying crabs for the first time. Let me give you some advice - don’t bother asking. You won’t buy it anyway. These crabs are quite a luxury, not something most people can afford."
"Uncle, I just asked you for the price, just tell me. No need for all this blabber. Besides, how do you know I can’t afford it? Stop looking down your nose."
"Hey, what’s with the tone, young lady?" The crab seller stood up, pointing at Yang Chuxia and her group, annoyed, "What if I say you can’t afford it? Everybody who can afford crabs knows that they are priced per piece. For these mid-sizes ones, it’s ten coins each. Old pricing, the equivalent of the cost of a pound of rice for one crab. Look at yourself, you don’t seem like someone who can afford crabs."
Standing beside the crab seller, presumably his wife, chimed in, "You wanted to know the price, now we’ve told you. Let’s see you buy some now."
Yang Chuxia was infuriated at the couple’s attitude. Pricing per piece was common, it was the same with modern times crabs, she just didn’t expect it would be different in ancient times, that’s why she asked. But this guy didn’t use his words wisely, basically begging for a slap in the face.
"You smug fool! I asked for the price because I considered your goods. Was I wrong in saying you’re being a pompous jerk?" Yang Chuxia kicked his crab basket in anger, pointing at the woman, "Didn’t you want me to buy and show you? Since I am in a good mood today, I will indulge you. Watch!"