The market in the county town was even more bustling than the grass market, with rows of stalls mostly selling vegetables and fruits. On the way there, they broke off a few leafy branches, found an empty spot, and laid the branches on the ground, placing the vegetables and fruits on top, then sprinkled a bit of water to make them look fresh and clean.
When there were no customers, the nearby stall owners would chat about everything under the sun.
Qiao Xiaoyuan, a little country bumpkin, was seeing so many people selling things together for the first time and was watching with great interest. While his two brothers were talking nearby, he sneaked a few steps closer, ears perked up and eyes shining.
Qiao Yue kept an eye on him, and seeing that he only dared to watch from a distance, he didn’t pull him back.
After a while, Qiao Xiaoyuan came running back, looking up and asking, “Big brother, what’s to the north?”
“The north is that way, where the sun rises is the east, and the north is over there…” Qiao Yue looked at the shadow and pointed in a direction.
Qiao Xiaoyuan didn’t know if he understood, but he said “Oh” and then asked, “Do people from the north look like us?”
“Probably the same, two eyes, one nose, one mouth.”
Fang Chuyue: “…” Just one mouth and he’s already fooling the little brother, clearly not the first time he’s done this.
Fang Chuyue curiously asked Qiao Xiaoyuan why he was interested in the north.
Qiao Xiaoyuan scratched his cheek, “I heard an uncle from the north say… say… what was it, his meat is going to get more expensive.”
“Oh, I remember now, there’s fighting in the north!”
Qiao Yue and Fang Chuyue exchanged a serious look, “Are you sure you heard right?”
“My ears are sharp!” Qiao Xiaoyuan crossed his arms, puffing up in dissatisfaction at his big brother’s lack of trust.
“Alright, alright, your ears are the sharpest in the family,” Qiao Yue said, “Which uncle did you hear this from?”
Qiao Xiaoyuan, seeing his big brother acknowledge his sharp ears, immediately forgave him, “That one, the uncle selling pork.”
Qiao Yue looked ahead but didn’t see any butcher selling pork. Fang Chuyue spoke up, “Is it that one?”
Looking back, no wonder they couldn’t find him!
The butcher was behind them, at least a dozen steps away.
Qiao Yue was puzzled, now suspecting if Qiao Xiaoyuan was making it up, how could he hear from so far away? He picked up Qiao Xiaoyuan, looking him over.
But it didn’t make sense, from what he knew of Qiao Xiaoyuan, he wouldn’t say something about the north if he hadn’t heard it, he didn’t even know what north, south, east, and west were.
Fang Chuyue had already made up his mind, quickly walking to the meat stall, “Uncle, how’s the meat today? Still twenty-four a pound?”
“Can’t get it for twenty-four now, it’s twenty-eight…” The butcher looked up to see a young man, his voice softened, “Twenty-eight a pound, my old Qian’s pork, if it’s not fresh, I won’t sell it! Young man, do you want some? It’s fresh.”
“Twenty-eight? Why the price increase? Wasn’t it just twenty-four a few days ago when I came?”
Even a four-cent increase was significant unless there was a swine fever or natural disaster, meat prices generally didn’t fluctuate much, and in recent years, pork prices around this time were usually between twenty-four to twenty-six cents.
A sudden price increase, even by one cent, had a big impact on everyone.
The butcher wasn’t angry, “Times are tough, I heard last winter a lot of people froze in Tuque, and come spring, there were repeated disturbances, people in the north are on edge… so everyone is raising prices, we’re just following suit.”
Qiao Yue put Qiao Xiaoyuan in the basket on his back, and upon hearing the butcher’s words, he burst out laughing.
“Tuque causes trouble every year, can’t raise prices every year, right? We’re so far away, even if the north is in chaos, it won’t affect us here.”
The butcher realized he was trying to sell to someone who knew better, his bushy beard couldn’t hide his embarrassment. He had just heard this news while drinking with friends, using it as an excuse to raise prices.
In fact, he had wanted to raise prices for a while, other meat stalls were twenty-six a pound shortly after spring began, but his wife was kind-hearted and said it wasn’t good to raise prices for regular customers, they’d cause a fuss if they did. They were making a little less now, but as long as their reputation was intact, they weren’t afraid of losing customers.
He thought there was nothing wrong with raising prices, lower prices weren’t necessarily a good thing.
Unfortunately, the butcher was henpecked and could only secretly find a way to raise prices while his wife was visiting her family.
He started by raising it four cents, then lowered it by two. Although he got scolded a lot, it worked very well, and by the time his wife returned, everything was settled.
The butcher laughed, “Twenty-six a pound, if you want it, it’s yours.”
Qiao Yue chatted with him a bit more, seeing he didn’t know anything else, he waved his hand, “Uncle, I’ll come buy from you tomorrow.”
The butcher, having talked until his mouth was dry, was annoyed when they didn’t buy any meat, slamming his knife on the chopping board. Qiao Xiaoyuan, sitting in the basket, looked back and was so scared he plopped down.
Fang Chuyue felt a bit uneasy, “Is there really nothing happening in the north?”
Qiao Yue replied, “There’s definitely nothing now, otherwise grain and salt prices would rise first, not pork. That butcher probably just wanted to raise prices, maybe he heard something about Tuque causing trouble again.”
Tuque causing trouble wasn’t new, the Great Xia dynasty had been dealing with it for over a hundred years, they’d get scared off and then come back after a few years.
Turning his head, Fang Chuyue was looking at him with bright eyes.
“What… did I say something wrong?” Qiao Yue asked awkwardly.
“No, I just didn’t expect… you’re right, if grain prices aren’t rising, it means things are stable,” Fang Chuyue nodded, as if surprised he could say such things, showing a faint, pleased smile.
After leaving the butcher, Qiao Yue wanted to take them to a restaurant for a meal. They couldn’t afford a restaurant, but a small eatery was doable.
Halfway there, Fang Chuyue pointed to a noodle shop. The shop was small and unremarkable, with two or three tables in front. The owner was a middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties, wearing an apron and headscarf, looking very clean.
After some discussion, they ordered three bowls of shredded pork noodles. The owner was all smiles, quickly preparing three bowls and thoughtfully adding two extra vegetables.
Qiao Yue paid twenty-four cents, then tugged on Fang Chuyue’s sleeve.
“Let’s go, there’s a clothing shop over there, want to take a look?”
“Sure.”
After wandering around, they hadn’t bought anything except food. Seeing a ready-made clothing shop, Qiao Yue quickly led them inside.
The shop assistant greeted them, pointing to the clothes laid out.
“Is it for this young man? We have all kinds of clothes here, you can take a look at these, they’re newly tailored by our master, the fabric is soft and comfortable, and the styles are the latest.”
Qiao Yue put down Qiao Xiaoyuan, placing the basket on the ground casually, “Let’s look at clothes for the young man.”
The shop assistant quickly picked out a few clothes for Fang Chuyue to see.
The styles and colors were ordinary, but they felt comfortable to the touch.
There was also a goose-yellow one, bright and eye-catching, with a novel design and a few white plum blossoms on the cuffs. Fang Chuyue’s eyes never left this piece, the plum blossoms on the cuffs like stars, adding a lot of color to the garment.
The shop assistant was inwardly groaning.
The previous shop assistant had lost his job for carelessly giving an expensive garment to a commoner, whose calloused hands ruined the embroidery. If not for that, this job wouldn’t have fallen to him.
Was he going to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps? The shop assistant looked at the cloud brocade garment in the customer’s hand, feeling bitter.
Fang Chuyue had a lotus-like face, fair and delicate, this color suited him well. Seeing he liked it, Qiao Yue asked, “How much is this one?”
The shop assistant held up two fingers.
“Two hundred coins?”
“Sir, it’s two taels…”
Qiao Yue couldn’t help but be shocked, two taels! He couldn’t afford it even if he sold himself!
He knew ready-made clothes were more expensive than fabric, but he didn’t expect it to be ten times more.
“This is made of cloud brocade, much more expensive than cotton,” the assistant quickly explained, detailing what cloud brocade was and where it came from.
Fang Chuyue reluctantly put the garment down, two taels was too expensive…
“Yue Ge’er, what kind of person did you pick, can’t even afford a piece of clothing, tsk tsk tsk~”
A figure appeared at the door, strutting in with a haughty air, speaking unpleasantly.
Fang Chuyue looked over, “Who are you?”
Qiao Yue stood beside him, nodding, “Yeah, who are you?”
Li Fuwen snapped open a paper fan with a “pa” sound, strolling in leisurely, posing as a refined gentleman.
Qiao Yue looked at the basket at his feet, reaching out, “Careful, you…”
“What do you mean you, a mud-legged peasant daring to shop in a clothing store, can’t even afford a piece of clothing, let me give you a suggestion, go back to the village and farm, haha, right, shop assistant?”
The shop assistant forced a stiff smile.
Qiao Yue kept his mouth shut, “Oh, alright then.” He picked up Qiao Xiaoyuan at his feet, pulling Fang Chuyue back a few steps.
Li Fuwen thought he was backing down, immediately smug, snapping the fan shut with a “pa”, arrogantly saying, “Do you want me to…”
Before he could finish, Li Fuwen tripped over the basket at his feet, stumbling one after another, finally sliding!
The shop suddenly echoed with the sound of fabric tearing.
“Ah—!”
A heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream followed.
“Who the hell is so despicable, leaving a broken basket here!”