Being able to hunt so much at once, and all with a single, precise kill, proved that the hunter was truly skilled.
“All right, we’ll take the deer and the roe deer. I’ll have someone weigh them. In the future, if you bring in such large game, our tavern will accept it too,” the shopkeeper said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring anything I hunt here first,” Lin Xiyue replied confidently.
“I’m Zhao, the shopkeeper. May I know your name, young master?” The shopkeeper was impressed by Lin Xiyue’s confident manner and wanted to get acquainted.
“Just call me Lin Yue,” Lin Xiyue said, cleverly using the original owner’s name. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.
“Lin Yue, then. Did you hunt all this yourself, or are you selling for someone else?” Zhao asked cautiously.
“My family has several brothers. Hunting is how we make a living, so we usually get a fair amount,” Lin Xiyue explained. She wasn’t worried about Zhao suspecting anything. Since the game had been placed into her space, time had essentially stopped for them; their deaths were simultaneous. Hunting so much at once wasn’t something an ordinary person could do, so claiming it was her brothers’ collective work avoided suspicion.
“Being able to hunt so much proves you’re all skilled. If you ever bring in tigers or bears, I’ll pay top price,” the shopkeeper added. Hunting large beasts was rare and dangerous; any hunter able to take down a tiger or bear was highly valuable.
“Don’t worry, shopkeeper. Anything I catch will come here first. Whatever you don’t want, I’ll sell elsewhere,” Lin Xiyue said. She didn’t mind long-term cooperation as long as the price was fair. With her space, hunting was the most direct way to improve her combat ability.
The young clerk weighed the animals and reported: “Three deer total 327 jin, and the roe deer 78 jin. Together, 405 jin.”
After Zhao calculated the total, he handed over the silver. “Eight taels of silver plus one hundred wen. Count it.”
Lin Xiyue checked the coins and accepted them.
“All settled. Thank you, shopkeeper. Until next time,” she said, leaving the tavern with the heavy coins, feeling elated.
She stored the silver in her space, then took the remaining wild chickens and rabbits to the butcher. Though the price was lower, she was too lazy to go anywhere else. Eighteen rabbits and twenty-two chickens sold for two and a half taels of silver—less, but still satisfactory.
After returning the cart, she went to the fabric shop. Buying cloth couldn’t be delayed. The one tael Zhao’s aunt gave her wasn’t enough for good fabric, especially for two people’s clothes. Fortunately, she now had silver of her own.
She picked a lake-blue fabric for herself—durable and easy to clean. For Lu Wenyuan, she noticed most of his clothes were gray or brown. A pale-moon-colored long robe would suit his cold and aloof demeanor perfectly.
But thinking of his attitude, Lin Xiyue decided he didn’t deserve it. Lu Yanqiu’s clothing was worn too, and the set she wore was one of the few decent outfits he had. It had been tailored by Liu Ruyun using Lu Jinghuai’s old clothes.
“Customer, are you looking at this bamboo-green patterned silk? It’s this year’s new material, elegant and luxurious,” the clerk said, noticing her interest. Lin Xiyue asked for the price.
“Four taels per bolt. You can buy as much as you like,” he replied.
Lin Xiyue gasped inwardly. All her hard-earned silver barely bought two bolts. She realized just how poor she truly was.
“How about the pale-moon silk?” she asked, pointing at the fabric suitable for Lu Wenyuan.
“Excellent eye, customer. This is our best-seller. It has an auspicious cloud pattern and costs five taels per bolt,” the clerk explained. Lin Xiyue chuckled at her own poverty.
Originally, she wanted to buy fabric for her family too, but she still needed bows, arrows, and medicinal seeds, so she couldn’t spend it all.
Sensing her dilemma, the clerk suggested, “Customer, we have many ready-made garments upstairs. They’re reasonably priced. You can check if the fabric you like has a finished outfit.”
Lin Xiyue hesitated at first, thinking if the fabric was expensive, the garments would be too. But upstairs, she found them reasonably priced. A bolt could make three or four outfits; one set, including tailoring, was about one and a half taels. Worth it.
She bought one outfit for herself for one tael, and for Lu Yanqiu and Lu Wenyuan together, two and a half taels. She also spent five hundred wen on coarse cloth and another bolt of fine white cotton for one tael.
All told, her earnings plus Liu Ruyun’s one tael had been spent: five taels gone in an instant.
With the remaining silver, she visited the blacksmith to check bow and arrow prices but decided against it. Good bows cost three taels, so it was more practical to make crossbow arrows herself.
She spent one hundred wen on materials for crossbow arrows, then headed to the apothecary to buy medicinal seeds. With her spirit field, growing just vegetables would waste potential. She planned to cultivate a valuable herb like ginseng or lingzhi.
After visiting several apothecaries, she finally bought a pack of wild ginseng seeds. Other seeds were either hard to find or low-value. It made more sense to grow ginseng exclusively.
With her purchases complete, she went to the east street market to buy food: meat buns, osmanthus cakes, and peach blossom pastries, Liu Ruyun’s favorites. She remembered Lu Yanqiu mentioning that when Lu Jinghuai was still alive and the family wasn’t as poor, he would bring back peach blossom pastries from town after selling game.