Seeing that the sun was still high in the sky, Shen Li decided it would be best to head into town immediately to stock up on daily necessities.
She made her way back to the Li residence first. The door was opened by Uncle Li’s son, Li Baoshan. He was dressed in coarse burlap, with his sleeves and pant legs rolled up and his straw sandals caked in fresh mud, looking as though he had just returned from the fields.
He froze for a moment upon seeing her, then remembered his parents mentioning that Erlang had moved back.
“You must be… Erlang’s wife?” Baoshan’s frame was burly, and his voice carried a deep, resonant rumble.
“Brother Li? My name is Shen Li. I’d like to hire Uncle Li’s ox cart to take me to town.”
“Dad, who’s at the door?” A five-year-old boy scurried out from behind Baoshan before she could finish. The child had inherited his father’s sturdy build—round-headed and bright-eyed, he stared at Shen Li with unabashed curiosity.
“Baoshan, who is it?” Auntie Li called out, stepping into the yard.
“Mother, it’s Erlang’s wife,” Baoshan said, stepping aside to let her pass.
“Oh, Erlang’s lass! Come in, come in!” Auntie Li greeted her warmly, pulling Shen Li into the courtyard.
The yard wasn’t large, but it was kept spotlessly clean.
“This is my son, Baoshan. He and Erlang grew up together. And this is Xiaoshanzi, my grandson,” Auntie Li said, gently pulling the boy forward. “Quickly now, greet your Auntie.”
“Hello, Auntie!” Xiaoshanzi chirped. He wasn’t shy at all and gave Shen Li a bright, welcoming smile.
“What a good boy,” Shen Li replied. Having just dealt with Xiao Sanlang, she felt much more confident handling children now.
“Auntie Li, I was hoping to hire Uncle Li and the cart. I need to buy some things in town.”
“Right now? Of course! I’ll get your Uncle to hitch the cart this instant!” Auntie Li turned and hurried into the house.
“Sit and wait a moment, Sister-in-law,” Li Baoshan said, pulling over a bamboo stool with a backrest.
“Thank you, Brother Li.” Shen Li sat down without ceremony.
“How is Erlang faring?” Baoshan asked, picking up a half-finished wicker basket and continuing his work as they chatted. Xiaoshanzi squatted beside him, trying to help.
Before long, the ox cart was ready. Before departing, Shen Li asked Auntie Li to keep an eye on the brothers at the old house, then she climbed onto the cart and set off.
The town wasn’t far—only about seven or eight li. On foot, with her pace, she could have made it in thirty minutes, but the slow, rhythmic plodding of the ox meant the journey took nearly an hour.
The town was bustling with life, the main street lined with shops of every description. Shen Li’s first stop was the grain and oil shop. Remembering the skeletal frames of the Xiao brothers, her gaze shifted past the coarse brown rice and settled on the high-quality polished white rice.
With a graceful wave of her finger, she ordered sacks of fine rice and white flour to be loaded onto the cart. She added a jar of vegetable oil, a jar of lard, and an assortment of spices and seasonings.
In her past life, whenever she wasn’t on a mission, she had loved cooking for her teammates. Those “gluttonous pigs,” as she affectionately called them, could polish off a massive pot of Three-Cup Chicken in a single sitting. The memory brought a faint, wistful smile to her lips.
Next, she purchased a full set of kitchenware—pots, pans, bowls, and chopsticks. Realizing that neither she nor the brothers had any clothes to change into, she ducked into a ready-made clothing shop.
Uncle Li watched from the cart, his jaw dropping as she emerged with sack after sack, jar after jar, and a clattering mountain of cookware. His wife had told him the girl sold some herbs she found on the mountain to the local doctor, but how much could a few herbs possibly be worth?
I’ll have to get the missus to talk to her, he thought. Spending money like this… a household can’t survive that way!
When Shen Li finally emerged from the clothing shop, she was lugging two more large bundles. She had paid close attention to the brothers’ sizes before leaving. For herself, she bought two sets of practical, coarse linen clothes. However, for Erlang and Sanlang, she chose soft, fine cotton.
The brothers were nothing but skin and bones; she felt guilty just thinking of them lying on hard wooden boards. Coarse linen would likely irritate their fragile skin.
She also bought two pairs of shoes for each of them. Erlang’s featured a subtle cloud embroidery, Sanlang’s had two little tigers on the toes, and her own were plain and simple.
Once she finished her shopping, she tallied the costs. She had barely spent five and a half taels of silver. The cost of living in this world really is low, she noted.
With the cart nearly full, Shen Li asked for directions to the Anji Pharmacy and had Uncle Li drive her there.