Nine point nine for ten thousand taels, she wondered why she felt a bit guilty.
Before she could calm her emotions, the Shopkeeper came up with another stack of banknotes, also ten sheets of one thousand taels each.
"Young lady, this is ten thousand taels. Three hundred taels are for the medical fees, and the rest is a token of gratitude from the Young Master for saving his life."
Jiang Tang was stunned by this display of wealth; they were finding ways to give her money!
He raised the price himself when buying the vase, and took the initiative to send her money for the medical treatment.
He really is a silly son of a wealthy family.
Since it was already placed in front of her, there was no reason not to accept it. At worst, she could find another item worth nine point nine that didn't exist here to give him next time she went over there.
Thinking this way, the bit of guilt in her heart instantly vanished.
After taking the money and informing them that she would send the medicine once it was ready, she prepared to bid farewell and go home.
Xiao Mingyuan said he would send Nan Xuan to escort her back. Thinking of the miserable state of Doctor Meng, she quickly waved her hand to refuse: "No need for trouble, I still want to buy some things in town, I can go back by myself."
"My surname is Ning. May I ask for the young lady's name? Where do you live?" Xiao Mingyuan asked softly, watching Jiang Tang's back as she turned to leave.
Xiao is the imperial surname, which Xiao Mingyuan could not reveal, so he could only use his Imperial Concubine Mother's surname.
"My name is Jiang Tang, from Ao Hai Village."
Xiao Mingyuan added: "If the young lady has any more of these rare objects in the future, feel free to bring them here; the Shopkeeper will certainly offer a good price."
Jiang Tang paused, answered with a yes, waved her hand, and left.
With these twenty thousand taels, she didn't plan to take out those hairpins to sell; if she were to sell them, she would wait until some time later.
Just as she walked out of the entrance of the Treasure Collection Pavilion, the Space channel Spirit smelled the "scent of money" and appeared.
The little baby, who was originally almost transparent, now had a vaguely visible physical silhouette, and the folds of its robe were even clearer.
"Hmm... what are you doing out here?" Jiang Tang became vigilant the moment she saw it, quickly covering the banknotes in her lapel, thinking to herself that it surely meant no good.
"Master, I have no malicious intent!" The Little Sprite shook its head, its voice sickeningly sweet, "I just want to help you solve your worries. Don't you think the Space channel is a bit narrow? It's only one square meter and can't hold much. If it could be expanded, you could store everything you don't want to take out inside."
Jiang Tang sneered in her heart; after all that, it was waiting for her here!
This Spirit really is something, taking both currencies from the two worlds; she wasn't even afraid of getting it stuck in its teeth.
The Spirit...
It only absorbs currency Energy and doesn't get stuck in its teeth.
"Speak, how much do you want again?" She couldn't be bothered to waste words with it. Every time this little thing appeared, it was like a swarm of locusts passing through, never stopping until it scraped off some profit.
The Little Sprite extended its chubby finger and said in a milky voice: "Not much! One thousand taels per square meter, and ten thousand taels can expand it to twelve square meters. It's super worth it!"
Jiang Tang almost jumped when she heard this and couldn't help but want to curse: "You call this not much? You're more shrewd than a real estate developer and more of a rip-off than a cemetery company! Are you robbing me?"
"So, Master, are you expanding it or not?"
The Spirit made a move to disappear, though it had already heard Jiang Tang's inner thoughts; she was debating how much to expand.
"Hey, wait, I didn't say I wasn't expanding." Jiang Tang was both annoyed and felt that what it said made sense.
"How much does Master want to expand?" The Spirit immediately stopped its "disappearing" act, its voice filled with joy.
"Let's do twelve square meters." Jiang Tang gritted her teeth, but still unwilling to give up, she inquired further, "That... can't you give me one square meter for free?"
"Master, we don't haggle here." The Spirit shook its head, but then changed the subject, "However, I can gift you the Preservation Function! Fresh seafood put inside will stay alive no matter how long it's stored, guaranteed to be fresh!"
Jiang Tang's eyes lit up; it actually had such a function! In the future, when Sea Gathering, she wouldn't have to worry about the seafood going bad. Thinking of this, spending ten thousand taels to expand the Space was worth it. She nodded immediately: "Fine, expand it by twelve square meters!"
As her words fell, ten thousand taels of banknotes in her pocket vanished into thin air. A faint light flashed over the Spirit, and its voice carried a satisfied sigh: "Space has been expanded, Preservation Function has been activated, Master can inspect it with your consciousness."
It instantly disappeared into the Space; it needed to go in to evolve and upgrade. The energy from this ancient currency was more than that from the modern side, and it estimated that it could upgrade to a physical form this time.
Jiang Tang immediately probed her consciousness into the Space. Sure enough, as the Spirit said, the Space was clearly visible. The Black mist had dispersed, and it was as large as a room, no longer just a corridor.
She also saw the Spirit close its eyes after entering the Space, sitting cross-legged in mid-air, with a weak light radiating around its body.
Jiang Tang couldn't tell what it was doing, so she withdrew her consciousness from the Space. Having such a large space was enough for her to store quite a few things.
After being out and busy for most of the day, only one ray of the setting sun remained on the horizon.
The sun had already slanted to the west, and the afterglow spilled over the clouds. A pool of orange-red sunset clouds dyed half the sky, and even the eaves on both sides of the street were plated with a layer of golden brilliance.
The Stall Vendors on the street were closing their stalls one after another, carrying poles or pushing carts, all walking with hurried steps to get home.
The bosses of various shops were also busy moving the goods displayed outside into their stores, and the market that had been bustling all day gradually quieted down.
Jiang Tang turned into a Grocery Store and pointed to the Iron Pot in the corner: "Boss, I want an Iron Pot for stir-frying, one that is thick."
She then pointed to the sacks in the corner: "Give me fifteen sacks as well."
As she spoke, she caught sight of the lamp oil bottle on the shelf and remembered Jiang Yi's tightly pursed lips and eyes full of heartache when she poured lamp oil into the lamp last night, so she added: "Add a bottle of lamp oil as well."
The sacks were for storing seafood. Shellfish like oysters and green mussels took up space, and putting them in sacks was convenient for carrying and draining water.
The boss was tidying up the Door panels, preparing to close the shop. Seeing business arrive, he suddenly beamed with joy and nimbly dragged an Iron Pot out from the corner: "Young lady has a good eye. This pot was made by an old blacksmith; it's very thick. Not only does it make food taste good, but it can also be used for eight or ten years!"
In this era, ironware was precious, so the Iron Pot was naturally not cheap, costing twenty taels for one.
Jiang Tang weighed the pot; it was heavy and pressed against her hand. Although it wasn't as light and convenient as a modern non-stick pan, it was durable and had no coating.
It wasn't that she hadn't thought about bringing one from modern times, but coated pans weren't suitable for firewood stoves, and besides, it would be hard to explain its origin if she took it out, so it was better to just buy one here to save trouble.
The sacks were cheap, five wen each, fifteen for only seventy-five wen; a jar of Kerosene was one tael of silver.
The total came to twenty-one taels and seventy-five wen.
Jiang Tang felt for the money in her pocket. Fortunately, she had the silver fragments given by her Uncle's family today, and even Grandma's share was with her.
Otherwise, carrying those one-thousand-tael banknotes, she was afraid she would be suspected of having stolen them.
She counted out twenty-one taels of silver and seventy-five wen of copper coins and handed them to the boss. The boss took the money and happily helped her bundle the items up.
After leaving the Grocery Store, Jiang Tang went into the Pharmacy next door. She bought some Medicinal Herbs for nourishing Qi and blood for Grandma.
She also followed the recipe in her memory to get the Medicinal Herbs for making the Treading Cloud Miasma pills: Angelica, Fleeceflower Root, Snow Lotus...
Some of the Medicinal Herbs were quite rare, and the Pharmacy boss confirmed them repeatedly while weighing them before carefully wrapping them up.
This trip cost another three-plus taels of silver, and she spent another two taels to get a set of Silver needles for future emergencies.
The Fabric Store across the street hadn't closed yet. Jiang Tang stood at the entrance, looked for a moment, and walked inside.
The clerk behind the counter hurried to greet her: "What kind of cloth does the young lady want? Our Cotton Cloth is very sturdy and durable."
Jiang Tang didn't look at those flashy materials and walked straight to the Cotton Cloth section.
She thought of the clothes on Jiang Yi's body, which were not only covered in patches, but the sleeves and pant legs were also a large chunk too short. He was at the age where he was growing, and his clothes would soon not fit.
She pointed to a bolt of smoky blue Fine Cotton Cloth: "I want this bolt."
She then saw a greyish blue one next to it, with a steady color and a thick feel, just right for Grandma: "Take this bolt as well."
Finally, she picked a grass-green one to make two sets of clothes for herself.
The remaining material could be used to tailor a set for Su Lianxue and Song Jiuxi each, which would also count as thanking them for their care on ordinary days.
The three bolts of Fine Cotton Cloth cost two taels of silver, and the clerk helped her roll them up and bundle them into a stack.
Coming out of the Fabric Store, Jiang Tang found a deserted corner and put the cloth, Medicinal Herbs, Iron Pot, sacks, and Kerosene into the Space all at once.
Treading the fading afterglow as she hurried home, Jiang Tang's steps were as brisk as if she were stepping on the wind, and the setting sun stretched her shadow long.
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