After buying the grain, Gu Shiyi did not stop. Without any delay, she immediately rushed into a general store.
Inside the shop, she selected various daily necessities—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar—none of which could be left out.
She bought ten jin of salt. This was an essential seasoning in daily life, but the price was somewhat high, costing five hundred wen.
In addition, she chose four jars of soy sauce, two hundred wen per jar. These soy sauces were dark in color and rich in flavor. They truly deserved to be called traditionally brewed, without any modern additives or blending.
She bought two jars of vinegar, costing one hundred wen in total.
Finally, she also bought thirty jin of rock sugar. Rock sugar was not cheap—it cost over one tael of silver at once!
She bought five jin of brown sugar for four hundred wen.
She also bought five jars of soybean oil, each jar containing one jin, costing over four hundred wen in total.
From her memory, soybeans only cost about three wen per jin, so the price of soybean oil was outrageously high.
Pure profit!
Well… it seemed that all seasonings here were expensive—everything was high-profit.
It was a pity she didn’t have any of the typical “transmigrator skills”; otherwise, she could have brewed soy sauce and vinegar to sell.
As for brown sugar, if she had the raw materials, she should be able to refine it herself.
Lamp oil, candles, fire starters, and kerosene lamps were all available in the general store. She bought quite a lot of each, preparing for emergencies.
Since she rarely came down the mountain, she would buy anything that might be useful.
Next, she went to buy jars for brewing wine.
The general stores had jars of various sizes. Gu Shiyi purchased twelve large jars and fifteen small jars from four different shops.
After thinking it over, she visited several other general stores and bought more oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
Especially salt—she bought some every time she came down the mountain, because salt was even more important than grain.
In the deep mountains, even without grain, she wouldn’t starve. There were many edible wild resources, and as long as she was diligent—and with her space that could grow crops—she could sustain herself.
But salt was different. It was impossible to find salt in the mountains, and if a person went too long without it, their health would suffer.
Fortunately, there were many shops in the county town. If there had only been one or two, buying so many items at once would definitely have attracted attention.
After finishing these purchases, Gu Shiyi went on to buy fabric and cotton.
She selected two bolts of fine cotton cloth. The material was soft and comfortable, perfect for making undergarments.
In addition, she bought two bolts of coarse cotton cloth to make padded clothes and trousers.
As for shoes, Gu Shiyi felt making them herself would be too troublesome, so she directly bought ready-made ones.
She picked two pairs of single-layer shoes, two pairs of cotton shoes, and two pairs of waterproof boots, ensuring she could handle all kinds of weather.
Buying fabric and shoes alone cost her more than five taels of silver.
Finally, she purchased seeds: wheat, corn, soybeans, mung beans, as well as various vegetable and fruit seeds available here.
Even though she did not currently have paddy fields in her space, she still resolutely bought some rice seeds—just in case she acquired paddy fields in the future.
It never hurt to prepare in advance.
Moreover, she also planned to reclaim some barren land to grow crops.
Relying entirely on buying grain to meet daily needs was not only expensive but also not a long-term solution.
She then came to the market.
The market was bustling and lively, crowded with people coming and going.
It gathered villagers from all around the nearby areas, who brought vegetables, fruits, and wild game from the mountains to sell.
Eggs were an essential daily food. Seeing someone selling eggs, Gu Shiyi immediately bought fifty without hesitation.
She still had some wild eggs at home, so combined, they should last for quite a while.
As she walked, she noticed a stall selling sweet potatoes.
She was immediately attracted and quickly walked over.
The old woman selling sweet potatoes greeted her warmly, smiling as she introduced her goods:
“Young sir, would you like to buy some sweet potatoes? Mine are yellow-fleshed. Whether roasted or boiled, they’re soft, fragrant, and very sweet!”
Hearing this, Gu Shiyi felt tempted and asked, “Ma’am, how are your sweet potatoes priced?”
The old woman smiled and replied, “One wen for two jin.”
Gu Shiyi thought for a moment and felt the price was reasonable.
She casually picked up a sweet potato and broke it in half with her hands. As expected, the inside was yellow, looking very appealing.
So she decided to buy some. She really liked sweet potato porridge, and roasted sweet potatoes were also quite good.
Sweet potatoes could also be planted in her space. Although the space only had a few square meters of land, crop growth there was astonishingly fast.
The harvest would be enough for her and her dogs to eat.
“Ma’am, please weigh twenty jin for me.”
“Alright!” The old woman’s face lit up with joy at such a large purchase. She happily selected large sweet potatoes and placed them on the scale, lifting the balance beam high.
Gu Shiyi took out ten copper coins and paid the woman, then put the sweet potatoes into her backpack.
The old woman watched her leave and called out, “Young sir, if you like them, come again next time!”
It was not the best season to harvest sweet potatoes yet. She had only dug some up early because her family truly lacked money to buy salt.
Gu Shiyi continued strolling leisurely through the market. By now, it was past noon, and the number of people had decreased, leaving only a few scattered vendors who were still holding their stalls.
These vendors had not yet sold out their goods, so they remained.
As she walked, Gu Shiyi’s attention was suddenly drawn to a small stall in the corner.
It was a chicken stall, with three hens and one rooster kept inside a cage.
She already had one live wild hen at home, but relying on it alone to lay eggs was clearly not enough.
She had originally considered instructing her dogs to catch live wild chickens next time, so she could raise them at home for eggs.
But thinking of the wild chickens whose heads had been bitten off by the dogs yesterday, she immediately dismissed that idea.
Why not just buy a few chickens to raise? That way, she would have a continuous supply of eggs.
Thinking this, her feet unconsciously walked toward the chicken stall.
Standing in front of the stall, she looked at the four somewhat listless chickens, likely due to being confined in the cage without freedom to move.
However, she had her precious space, which would surely make them lively and energetic again.
So she said without hesitation, “Sir, I’ll take all four chickens. How much per chicken?”
The stall owner replied with a pleased smile, “Young sir, thirty wen each.”
“Alright, sir, please also sell me these chicken cages,” Gu Shiyi said, noticing three empty cages placed nearby.