PHRC 🍁 Chapter 7: Shopping in Town

Early the next morning, Rong Zheng prepared the pheasants, hares, and goat, placing them all in his basket before heading to the village entrance. The village was far from the town, a two-hour walk, so most people chose to take the ox cart at the village entrance in the morning.

In these times, oxen were precious. Only two households in the entire village owned ox carts: the village chief's family and the Ye clan's ancestral home.

As for the landlord's family, they used a horse-drawn carriage. The so-called ox cart was also very simple: a flatbed cart pulled by an ox that could seat about ten people, charging three copper coins per person.

In the evening, the ox cart would also wait for people at a specific location, and when the time was right, it would carry everyone back from town to the village.

Today, only the village chief's son was waiting at the village entrance driving the ox cart. Before boarding, Rong Zheng paid three copper coins, found an empty spot, and sat down.

The other people on the cart looked at Rong Zheng with surprise. The village was so small that almost everyone knew clearly about the misfortunes that had befallen to Rong Zheng's family. Moreover, since Rong Zheng had once been the village's rare scholar, he naturally received more attention.

Recently, village rumors said he was hoeing his fields early every morning and going up the mountain to hunt in the afternoons, a complete change from his former days of drinking and depression.

Now seeing him looking dignified and upright with a basket on his back containing prey, they couldn't help but view him with new respect, their gazes lingering on him with curiosity.

Rong Zheng didn't mind at all. He sat there openly, letting them look their fill. When he encountered familiar elders, he would greet them politely, calling them uncle or auntie.

The village chief's son was named Ye Tianyu, tall and sturdy, sitting at the driver's position. He was a very talkative person.

"Rong Zheng, haven't seen you going to town in over a month! Look at that basket of yours, looks like a bountiful harvest!"

"Brother Tianyu, I've been learning to hunt this past month. Sigh, this trade is hard to get into. I never touched it when I was studying, so it's taken me over a month just to catch a few things. I hope it'll be enough to barely get by."

Rong Zheng sighed mournfully, taking the opportunity to leave the impression that he was quite bad at hunting, lest he arouse suspicion.

In reality, thanks to his martial arts foundation, he had caught twice as much prey as what was in his basket.

Considering that a scholar who had never done heavy labor couldn't possibly have such rich harvests in just one month, he could only bring a small portion to sell, keeping the rest to raise.

"It's only the beginning. This is actually quite a good haul," Ye Tianyu comforted him.

The two chatted for a while, and the uncles and aunties on the cart also chimed in with a few words. Amid their conversation, the ox cart arrived at the town.

Compared to the impoverished village, Laiyuan Town was quite prosperous. Shops lined both sides of the street: banks, taverns, restaurants, clothing stores, blacksmith shops, bookshops, teahouses, grain shops, rouge and powder shops, countless establishments, a sight to behold.

In front of the shops, neatly arranged small stalls lined the street, vendors calling out their wares, creating a lively atmosphere.

Rong Zheng was pleased with this atmosphere brimming with the warmth of daily life. From his memories, he recalled the original owner's father mentioning that wild game fetched better prices when sold to large restaurants. If he couldn't sell them there, he could consider setting up a small stall on the main street to peddle them.

Following his memory, he headed straight for Yuefeng Tower in the center of the main street, the largest restaurant in town. Glancing inside, he saw it was full of guests, noisy and bustling.

He first found a waiter to inquire. When the waiter heard he had mountain game, he called the manager over to negotiate. Manager Li examined the wild game and found it all to be excellent quality. The customers who came to Yuefeng Tower were willing to spend money and were particularly fond of mountain game, so he bought everything: two hares, two pheasants, and one goat, paying a total of eight taels.

Rong Zheng accepted the money, thanked him, and prepared to leave.

Manager Li called out to him, "In the future, if you catch anything good, you can bring it here. We'll take as much as you have. Rest assured, our prices are fair."

Seeing that Rong Zheng was new to him but straightforward in their transaction, Manager Li had a good impression of him and thought they could establish a long-term cooperation.

Rong Zheng readily agreed. Having a place that would buy everything was much more convenient than setting up a stall.

With the money he had earned, he decided to first go to a wonton noodle stall for breakfast. He hadn't eaten anything today, and now his stomach felt completely empty.

He had woken up too early to bother cooking for himself. Since he was in town anyway, he might as well try the local food.

He found a busy stall, when in doubt, going where the crowds were was never a mistake.

Looking at the steaming hot wonton noodles, his appetite awakened. The wontons had thin skins and generous fillings, this was clearly an honest shopkeeper, no wonder so many people crowded around waiting.

After eating his fill, he continued walking along the main street. Passing a steamed bun shop, he thought he could buy a few buns for lunch, and also bring some for Ye Yun and his brother.

"Auntie, give me six meat buns."

"Meat buns are two copper coins each. Six will be twelve copper coins." The shopkeeper quickly wrapped them in oil paper and handed them over.

Rong Zheng paid twelve copper coins, placed the buns in his basket, and continued forward. He walked into a grain shop and bought five jin of white rice. He really couldn't get used to eating rice mixed with brown rice.

Brown rice was much cheaper. To save money, rural people basically cooked them mixed together. The original owner's family had done the same, and after eating it for a month, Rong Zheng was thoroughly tired of it.

After buying the rice, he turned next door to the general store and bought seasonings one by one: salt, dried chili peppers, bay leaves, and so on.

While paying, he caught sight of pastries on the counter and picked up a box. The price was twenty copper coins. For farming families, pastries were still considered a luxury. Ordinary people couldn't bear to buy them, feeling it was better to save the money for meat.

The shopkeeper's abacus clicked loudly. "That will be sixty copper coins altogether, sir. These pastries are delicious, many people buy them. Come any later and you won't get any."

"If they're good, I'll come again!" Rong Zheng paid readily.

Finally, it was time to buy some vegetable seeds. He walked to the corner at the end of the street and found the "Dongshi Seed Shop" that Uncle Liu had recommended.

"Shopkeeper, what vegetable seeds are good to plant this season?"

The shopkeeper walked over to the shelves, pointing at the labeled seed packets as he warmly introduced them:

"Pumpkin, cabbage, radish, tomato." His hand pointed to another section. "Oh, garlic sprouts and Chinese chives are also very suitable. Sir, our seeds have an excellent reputation. We have many regular customers, you won't be disappointed."

Rong Zheng picked up a handful of seeds to examine closely and found them plump with good color.

"Shopkeeper, I'm planning to plant three mu of vegetables. I'll take what you just recommended, plus chili peppers and green beans. Please help me get some of each."

"Sir, do you have a preference for which ones to plant more of?"

"No. Just plant a bit of each evenly across the three mu."

"Alright, then I'll give you two packets of each. Since you're buying so much, I'll throw in an extra packet of garlic sprouts. That comes to twelve copper coins total."

"Thank you, shopkeeper."

After leaving the seed shop, Rong Zheng went to a clothing store and bought two sets of sturdy linen clothes. Hunting required moving through mountain forests where branches could easily tear fabric.

Thinking about it, he decided to buy another set of everyday clothes. The clothing shop owner politely guided Rong Zheng to the section displaying regular attire.

Rong Zheng looked up and spotted a light blue silk robe on the shelf that stood out particularly, it was clearly displayed as the shop's signature piece.

The collar was inlaid with golden thread, and the robe was embroidered with silver flowing cloud patterns. To show off the effect, the shopkeeper had paired the outfit with a dark blue belt adorned with a translucent white jade pendant, looking both refined and elegant.

His mind inappropriately thought of Ye Yun. This outfit would suit Ye Yun perfectly. Ye Yun was thin but tall, with fine features. If he put this on, he would look exactly like a graceful young nobleman.

"Sir? That set is ge'er clothing. For hanzi clothing, please look this way."

The shopkeeper, seeing Rong Zheng staring fixedly at a set of ge'er clothing, spoke up to remind him. Then realizing, he thought, ah, perhaps the customer wants to buy something for his husband. He began enthusiastically recommending:

"Sir, are you perhaps buying this for your husband? Let me tell you, this set is our shop's treasure. We only get three sets a month. You can feel the fabric, soft and comfortable..."

Hearing the shopkeeper mention "husband," those two words entered Rong Zheng's ears like a stone dropped into water, sending ripples spreading outward.

Ge'er in this world looked like men, but they could marry and bear children.

In modern times, Rong Zheng had never been in a relationship. He had focused wholeheartedly on studying martial arts. As the thirty-first-generation heir of the Rong family, he had started helping his father manage affairs at a young age, being groomed as the successor.

Whether man or woman, he had never met anyone who could move his heart. That didn't mean he resisted love, perhaps he just hadn't met the right person.

From the very first glance, this ge'er named Ye Yun had quietly taken root in his heart. Handsome in appearance, with beautiful eyes, seeing him always made Rong Zheng smile without realizing it. Even seeing nice clothes made him imagine how noble and distinguished Ye Yun would look wearing them.

There was no denying it, he had more than a vague fondness for Ye Yun. Looking back, perhaps it stemmed from the legendary "love at first sight."

Thinking of this, Rong Zheng, who had been single for twenty-seven years, suddenly felt that action could not wait. He needed to reveal his feelings to Ye Yun first. Courting someone should be done openly and generously...

Then he thought of Ye Yun being beaten at his uncle's house, and anger filled his heart. He must take Ye Yun away from that family as soon as possible. The person he liked deserved to be pampered and cherished. His thoughts raced in all directions.

"Sir? Sir?" The shopkeeper finally realized that after all his recommendations, the customer across from him was actually daydreaming. He was speechless...

Brought back to his senses by the clothing shop owner, Rong Zheng said, "My apologies. I don't have a husband yet." Though maybe I will soon, right?

Turning to the other shelf, he pointed at another long robe. "Please help me get that dark blue set."

"Right away! Our clothes are very comfortable, sir. Once you wear them, you'll be satisfied. We're an established shop, our reputation speaks for itself."

The shopkeeper had a shop assistant wrap up the clothes. "That comes to one tael and twenty copper coins. I'll waive the twenty copper coins, just give me one tael."

Ready-made clothes were quite expensive. Previously, the original owner's mother would always buy cloth and make clothes for the whole family herself, saving a considerable amount of money.

Unfortunately, Rong Zheng had no sewing skills, so he could only swallow the pain of buying ready-made clothes.