The waiter saw that Gu Shiyi agreed and quickly went to fetch a scale, carefully weighing the bamboo rats.
After a while, he said, “A total of twenty-one jin!” Then he calculated based on thirty wen per jin. “Young sir, that comes to a total of six hundred and thirty wen.”
After hearing this, Shopkeeper Wang immediately went to the counter to get the money and handed it to Gu Shiyi without hesitation, smiling warmly as he said:
“Young sir, if you have bamboo rats in the future, feel free to send them to our restaurant. No matter how many you have, we will take them all!”
The wealthy people in the county were already tired of eating pork every day and preferred wild game from the mountains instead.
Bamboo rats, in particular, were a rare delicacy. Their meat was tender and exceptionally delicious.
Hearing Shopkeeper Wang’s words, Gu Shiyi felt a hint of regret. If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have split the bamboo rats into two batches.
Still, she smiled and replied, “Alright, Shopkeeper Wang.”
The waiter carried the bamboo rats to the back kitchen and returned the empty backpack to Gu Shiyi.
Gu Shiyi exchanged a few polite words with the shopkeeper and the waiter, then smiled in farewell and left Zuixiang Tower.
After leaving, Gu Shiyi deliberately found a secluded alley to avoid others’ attention.
She quickly took out the remaining bamboo rats from her space and casually walked into another restaurant.
The price at this restaurant was the same as Zuixiang Tower—thirty wen per jin.
Gu Shiyi handed the bamboo rats to the waiter for weighing; there were nineteen jin in total.
The waiter quickly calculated the total and handed her five hundred and seventy wen.
After selling all the bamboo rats, she earned a total of one thousand two hundred wen.
She was fairly satisfied with this income. The bamboo rats casually caught by the dogs had earned more than one tael of silver.
She had no intention of selling the rabbits in her space; she planned to keep them for her own consumption.
Although small game in the mountains was plentiful, the dogs wouldn’t always be so lucky as to encounter them every time.
Next, it was time to buy, buy, and buy.
The first thing Gu Shiyi thought of was buying meat, an essential ingredient in daily life.
If she arrived too late at the pork stall, the remaining meat would often be the less desirable cuts, and the quality would be poor.
“Boss, how are the prices for this meat and pork fat?” Gu Shiyi asked as she approached the pork stall.
The stall owner looked up upon hearing her voice, smiled warmly, and replied, “Pork fat, pork belly, and fatty meat are eighteen wen per jin, while lean meat is fifteen wen per jin.”
Hearing this price, Gu Shiyi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly—meat here really wasn’t cheap!
Still, she had to buy what she needed. Worst case, she could have the dogs catch more bamboo rats to sell and supplement the household income.
Thinking of this, her fear of bamboo rats seemed to lessen considerably. The more, the better.
The meat on the cutting board was neatly sliced into strips and arranged in order.
Gu Shiyi carefully selected five strips of pork belly, four strips of lean meat, and one portion of pork fat, then handed them to the owner and asked him to weigh them.
The pork stall owner clearly did not expect her to be a big customer. His smile grew even brighter, and his attitude became even more enthusiastic.
“Young sir, the pork belly is six jin and three liang, the pork fat is six jin and one liang, and the lean meat is five jin and seven liang. The total comes to three hundred and eight wen. These large bones will be given to you as a bonus.”
The stall owner skillfully weighed the meat and reported the price.
The large bones had been completely stripped of meat and were usually given as freebies to regular customers who bought large quantities of pork.
Although this young sir looked unfamiliar, he had bought so much meat at once. Perhaps he would become a regular customer in the future—that was what the owner thought.
Hearing this, Gu Shiyi did not refuse and quickly thanked him, saying, “Thank you, boss. Please help me chop the bones as well.”
Since she had bought so much meat without bargaining, it was only natural for the owner to give a few bones with little meat on them.
Gu Shiyi took out silver from her chest, counted it carefully, and handed it to the owner.
“Alright!” the owner said happily as he accepted the silver.
He quickly picked up a knife, chopped the large bones into two sections, wrapped them in lotus leaves, and handed them to Gu Shiyi.
While the owner was wrapping the meat, Gu Shiyi’s gaze accidentally drifted behind the stall, where half a side of uncut pork was still hanging.
Her eyes landed on the ribs on that half pig, and she smiled as she asked the owner, “Boss, how are the ribs on that half pig priced?”
The stall owner replied enthusiastically, “Ribs are ten wen per jin. Young sir, if you want them, I can cut them for you right now—it’ll be very quick!”
Gu Shiyi quickly calculated in her mind. The ribs looked quite fresh, and the price was reasonable. They would be perfect for soup or braising.
So she decisively said, “Boss, I’ll take all of the ribs.”
Upon hearing this, the stall owner’s face lit up with joy and he immediately replied, “Alright!”
After weighing, the ribs totaled seventeen jin. At ten wen per jin, the total cost was one hundred and seventy wen.
Seeing how straightforward she was, the stall owner even gave her some pork liver as an extra gift.
Gu Shiyi happily accepted the pork liver, thinking she could make delicious pork liver soup or stir-fried pork liver.
Her eyes then unintentionally glanced at the pork offal in the wooden bucket, and various dishes immediately came to mind—stir-fried intestines, braised intestines, and more.
However, thinking about the unpleasant process of cleaning intestines, she ultimately gave up on buying the offal.
She decided to buy it another time.
After purchasing the pork, Gu Shiyi turned into an empty alley.
She vigilantly looked around, and after confirming no one was paying attention, she quickly stored all the pork into her space.
Next, Gu Shiyi went to a grain store.
Inside, she bought thirty jin of rice, twenty jin of white flour, ten jin of coarse rice, ten jin of millet, ten jin of buckwheat flour, and ten jin of corn flour.
After placing the grains into her space, she did not stop but continued into another grain store, where she bought the same quantities again.
After that, she visited several more grain stores in the same manner, carefully selecting various types of grain.
In total, she purchased one hundred ten jin of rice, sixty jin of white flour, fifty jin of coarse rice, forty jin of corn flour, and forty jin each of millet and buckwheat flour, before finally stopping.
All the rice and flour she bought were of high quality. The rice grains were plump, full, and crystal clear.
The white flour was fine and soft, like snow, with a faint wheat fragrance.
Although the coarse grains had slightly poorer texture, they were nutritious and beneficial to health.
The rice and white flour cost more than one tael of silver in total, and the other grains also cost more than one tael of silver altogether.
Including the meat, she had spent several taels of silver in one go.
Now that she had silver, it would be a waste not to eat well.
If she were the only one eating these grains, they would last her more than a year. But with three dogs as well, they would likely last only about half a year.