Chapter 81 East and West Market
The mule walked into the yard with steady steps, pulling the heavy cargo. Its hooves stepped powerfully on the stone bricks, making a crisp and rhythmic clattering sound. The coarse grains and salt were transported to the yard. The servants went into the house and called everyone to come to the yard to check the goods. Butcher Zhao and his men checked every bag of coarse grains and salt, and found no problems. Lin Benshu settled the money, and the servants loaded the mule cart and put it away.
The instant noodles deal was also settled. Lin Youcai asked for 50 taels of silver in change, and the other 50 taels were silver ingots of 10 taels each. Lin Youcai gave 5 taels of silver to each of the brother and sister, and put the rest into a waist bag with a zipper. The waist bag was tied around the waist and hidden inside the outer robe. In winter, he wore a lot of clothes, so it was bulging, and you couldn't tell that he was carrying so much silver, but you could feel it if you touched it.
Lin Youcai and the other two came to the yard and saw the grain being loaded onto the truck. Lin Youcai said to everyone, "I just bought some grain and salt for my family. I have to wait for them to deliver it to me in a while."
Tao Mingyuan: "What kind of grain and salt did you buy?"
Lin Youcai: "I bought some fine grains and salt. I have children and elderly people at home, and eating only coarse grains is not enough."
Tao Mingyuan thought about his wife and two children, and slapped his forehead, "I'll go find Manager Cao to buy some too."
Lin Benshu thought about his parents and children at home and said, "I want to buy some too."
"Let my family buy some too." Shen Jingfu thought that he was crazy and was planning to take his family out to buy things. There were reasonably priced grains and salt here, and there was a car to transport them back.
Finally, the two mule carts could not hold all the people, so Manager Cao sent a cart to follow them and take them to the Fulai Inn.
Lin Zisu suddenly realized that she was wondering why her father had the mood to wash his face and comb his hair yesterday afternoon, and put on the clothes he had kept in the bottom of the box to go out. Uncle Tao, Uncle Shen... Several people also dressed up, and it turned out that they were doing market research and negotiating business.
When several carts of grain and salt were unloaded, everyone in the inn was in an uproar. Lin Li was busy shouting for quietness, fearing that others might have bad intentions!
Everyone couldn't stop smiling. Fortunately, there were many of them and all the people living in this yard were their own family.
Everyone forgets that walls have ears!
Lin Youcai and Lin Youfu piled their own fine grains and salt aside. Lin Youcai told Old Lady Wang and Old Man Lin that these were bought by their family and let them sort them out.
After a busy morning, Lin Zisu looked at the time. It was past 11 o'clock, still early. She asked every family and made an appointment to go shopping together.
Lin Youcai hid 50 taels of silver ingots in the RV, and all four members of his family went out. A total of more than 30 people drove ox carts and mule carts to go out for shopping.
Arriving at the East Market, Lin Zisu dragged her aunts and sisters into the fabric shop to look at the fabrics. She looked through the fabrics but couldn't find any suitable fabrics for making down jackets.
The large bag of poultry down that I collected at the Lin family before fleeing was still in the cupboard.
The coarse feathers of birds were stuffed into Wang's coat to keep warm, but feathers that coarse would occasionally fall out and stick out.
Not to mention the fluff, which would shed all over the place. Every time she imagined that scene, she couldn't help laughing.
Modern down jackets will have down coming out. Not to mention the coarse cloth and cotton cloth used to wrap the down in the ancient times, which would make it feel like snowing when you move. After wearing it for a day, a winter coat would shrink into a spring or autumn coat.
The fabric of down jackets is a form of technology, and it cannot be done here, so we have to find another way.
The women took a quick look and didn't dare to touch the fabrics, so they hurried out of the fabric shop. Lin Zisu didn't care much, she wanted to go into the shop to take a look, as long as she was thick-skinned enough to ignore the faces of the shopkeeper and the waiter.
Lin Youcai and his friends discussed it and decided to go to Baoyue Tower to buy things again.
Baoyue Building is a large two-story grocery store, but it is several times larger than ordinary grocery stores and several levels higher in class, and it seems that it sells everything.
Families with extra money more or less bought some candy, needles and thread, etc. Only Lin Zisu's family bought a large bag of white sugar and a large bag of brown sugar, which are strategic materials! You can't be short of them when you are on the road.
The sugar in the RV had long been consumed. This family bought a little, that family bought a little, and we ate a little at home, and then the sugar was back to zero.
Buy more now, otherwise there will be nowhere to buy on the road when you need it.
There are East Market and West Market in Dazhao City. When I was in school in my previous life, there was a sentence in "The Ballad of Mulan" in the Chinese textbook, "Go to the East Market to buy a fine horse, go to the West Market to buy a saddle, go to the South Market to buy a bridle, and go to the North Market to buy a long whip."
There are only two markets in Dazhao City, the East Market and the West Market, but no North Market or South Market. The shops in the East Market are generally bigger and more luxurious, and the goods are more expensive. Most of the shops are visited by dignitaries and wealthy businessmen.
On the East Market Street, people who were shopping and doing things were mostly wearing cotton and silk. There were also people patching clothes, and they were all slaves.
Lin Zisu and his group, wearing coarse hemp cloth and patched clothes, were very conspicuous on the streets of East Market. But they were driving ox and mule carts, which was very inconsistent. Only Lin Youcai and his group were dressed more decently. The main reason was that Lin Youcai and his group wanted to sell candles, so they dressed more decently so that they could find buyers in East Market.
In some places, there are four markets for buying and selling goods, but in most places, there are only two markets, east and west. When people buy goods, they like to say "buy things" instead of "buy north and south". The term "buy things" is probably passed down from mouth to mouth, year after year, generation after generation.
Lin Zisu remembered a very funny sentence, "You are a thing, you are not a thing, are you a thing or not?"
Shen Xianglan patted her daughter and said, "Why are you laughing so foolishly?"
Lin Zisu: "Nothing. The noodles and meat buns we had this morning were delicious. The noodles have to be eaten right away, so let's buy some more meat buns to take back." Lin Zisu winked at her mother. Anyway, the refrigerator was empty, so she put it in the refrigerator. The refrigerator had been empty for a long time. . . .
Unfortunately, when everyone went to the bun shop, the big meat buns had been sold out and only steamed buns were left.
Everyone drove to Xishi, which was a market where ordinary people bought and sold goods.
The West Market is full of life, with more food stalls and more people. There are all kinds of things, and it is very lively.
Butcher Zhao wanted to sleep on the big bunk bed, but his wife Li Juhua wanted to go shopping, so she had to accompany him. He was guarding the ox and mule carts on the roadside, so he didn't go shopping, and reminded everyone to pay attention to their wallets.
The stall owners' calls for hawking came one after another.
Lin Zisu looked at the stalls selling goods on the roadside, then looked at her father and said, "What should we do with those baskets of bracelets?"
Lin Youcai: "Let's talk about it when we get back."
Lin Xianwen: "Fruit pits are worthless as decorations and can't be eaten. If they can't be sold, they'll be thrown away. Anyway, they were picked up."
Shen Xianglan: "Make a pillow core! If the pillow is broken, just dump it out and throw it away. Or sew it on the outside of linen and make a fruit core bag."
"Most people sleep on straw bundles as pillows, or stuff straw into cloth bags. The fruit core is small, so it's a good pillow core, just like the Cassia seed pillow. It should feel good to use as a pillow too." Lin Zisu gave a thumbs up to her mother.
Everyone heard it and thought it was good. They could go back and try it. It was free anyway, so there was no harm in trying it. All the fruit cores were thrown away, which was a pity.
We saw people selling mutton and pork, and we bought some from them. Meat pancakes, big meat buns, cabbage, radish... We bought some of whatever was affordable.
The carriage was filled with people and goods. At around 2 p.m., everyone returned to Fulai Inn.
Lin Zisu and Lin Xianwen both felt extremely tired, so they lay down as soon as they returned to the inn and waited for dinner.
The elders were responsible for sorting and putting away the supplies and luggage. When they went to help, they didn't put them in the way Grandma Wang wanted, and they were criticized.
The yard was bustling with people. Lin Youcai and Tao Mingyuan had no time to rest. They took a pen to record and deduct work points in the account book, and asked everyone to collect the coarse grains, coarse salt, cabbage and radishes they had bought.