When the old woman heard there were only five pieces, she immediately grew anxious!
"Five pieces won't be enough! My youngest daughter-in-law is expecting her first child, so we need to stock up more. Besides, several other households in the village have pregnant women too—how can such a small amount be enough to go around?"
She grabbed Jiang Wan's hand and wouldn't let go. "Wan girl, can you make another trip tomorrow? Bring more Red Sand Sugar, and if possible, some red dates too! A woman in confinement can't just drink sugar water—she needs red dates to replenish her qi and blood. That's what makes it complete."
Jiang Wan was secretly delighted but didn't show it on her face. "Granny, I do have a way to get red dates, but they're even more expensive than the Red Sand Sugar…"
"More expensive is fine—good things naturally cost more." The old woman slapped her thigh. "Just bring them first. The villagers can pool their resources; we'll manage to afford them."
The other women nearby chimed in agreement.
"That's right, that's right—bring more!"
"My daughter is about to give birth too, and I've been worrying about not being able to find good things!"
"Bring plenty of red dates—I'll take them all. We in Lijia'ao would never shortchange our daughters-in-law!"
Everyone chattered at once, none willing to be left out.
Jiang Wan couldn't very well refuse such enthusiasm, so she wore a look of gratitude mixed with reluctance on her face.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and stamped her foot, as if making a momentous decision.
"Alright! Since everyone says so, I'll run my legs off tomorrow if I have to—I'll find those red dates for you all!"
Seeing her agree, the old woman grinned from ear to ear. "Don't just focus on the red dates—bring some needles, thread, and little snacks too." She lowered her voice and leaned close to Jiang Wan's ear. "Just bring us good things, and from now on, all the goods from Lijia'ao will be traded with you!"
Jiang Wan smiled and agreed, not taking it too seriously. She cheerfully laid out the items from her basket.
Brown sugar, broken rice, and four large white steamed buns.
The items weren't many, but each one was a fine product.
Jiang Wan cleared her throat and pointed at the goods before her. "Two catties of dried goods for one piece of Red Sand Sugar, one catty of dried goods for one catty of rice…" As she spoke, the smiles on everyone's faces didn't diminish in the slightest.
It wasn't until Jiang Wan mentioned the price of the steamed buns that the smiles on everyone's faces froze.
Jiang Wan: "…One white flour steamed bun for two catties of dried goods."
The old woman pursed her lips. "Girl, of these three items, we won't complain about the sugar and rice being pricey—that's just how it is, and the prices are fair enough. But these buns of yours, good as they are…" She looked at Jiang Wan with a hesitant expression, as if wanting to say more.
The people around her wore looks of agreement as well.
Jiang Wan naturally understood what she meant. She casually picked up a bun, unwrapped the oil paper, and displayed it before everyone's eyes.
The bun swayed slightly with her movement, and a pure wheat fragrance mixed with a hint of sweetness drifted through the air.
The women around immediately crowded in.
The bun was enormous in size, pure white all over, without a trace of bran mixed in. Most striking of all was its texture—when a finger pressed gently, the snowy white dough sank into a small indentation, then slowly sprang back, just like the face of a newborn baby—soft yet springy!
Jiang Wan smiled and explained, "In all the villages for miles around, you won't find buns this white. Besides, as you can see, they're not only big but also soft. And that's not all—there's a good amount of sugar added to these. I originally didn't want to bring them out, but… ah…"
She let out a heavy sigh, swallowing the well-known hardships, and continued to add, "Don't worry, this price is definitely not a loss for you to trade back. It's this big, even with a family of ten, everyone can get a piece."
The surrounding women exchanged glances.
In all their years, they had never seen such a large, such a white steamed bun. They remembered Zhou Ji's kindness and felt sympathy for Jiang Wan, a newlywed bride enduring such hardship.
It didn't take long for them to deliberate before agreeing.
The old woman was the first to speak. She already harbored a grudge in her heart, and her words had lost their earlier warmth.
"Since that's the case, let me try one steamed bun first."
She turned and took the bag of mountain goods from Lu Wazi's hands.
"Wan girl, take a look at the quality of my dried black fungus." The old woman opened the bag and offered it forward, revealing the dark brown dried goods inside.
Jiang Wan took it, and before she even brought it close, a rich aroma of wild mountain mushrooms wafted to her nose.
She weighed the bag in her hand, then reached in and grabbed a small pinch of dried fungus, spreading it on her palm to examine it carefully.
Within ten breaths, Jiang Wan gave her answer.
"Auntie, your fungus is dried beautifully, not a trace of impurities." She praised sincerely, casually pulling a steelyard scale from the side of her basket.
The large bundle of dried fungus went on the scale, the beam pressing down low.
"Granny, take a good look, the fungus here totals four catties and two taels. I'm not inflating your scale."
The old woman quickly responded, "Aye, aye, aye! Not inflated, not inflated…"
Not only was it not inflated! It was pressed down low, giving an extra two taels for free.
Such honest dealings were something only Zhou Ji could pull off!
The old woman traded four catties and two taels of dried fungus for a piece of brown sugar and a steamed bun.
Jiang Wan also pinched off a small piece of the previously broken brown sugar and added it to her share.
The old woman declined a few times, but seeing Jiang Wan's firm attitude, she accepted it with a beaming smile.
Taking the steamed bun, the old woman carefully tore off a small piece and put it in her mouth.
With just one chew, her eyes widened instantly.
There was none of the rough, scratchy texture of the usual coarse grain buns she ate; instead, the fragrance of wheat and sweetness melted on her tongue at the same time.
Soft and fluffy, it even stuck slightly to the roof of her mouth.
This was the texture of refined flour, the "taste of wealth" that could only be savored during festivals and New Year celebrations.
After a moment, the old woman let out a long, savoring sigh.
She carefully wrapped the steamed bun back up and praised from the bottom of her heart, "Wan girl, you spoke true, it's definitely worth this price."
With the old woman taking the lead, the other women who had been hesitating on the sidelines could no longer hold back.
They surged forward, picking out the things they wanted.
"If Shougen's Wife says so, then there's no problem!"
"I want some too! I want some too! I want brown sugar and rice. Wan girl, take a look at the big yellow ginger I dug up in the first half of the year. Last time that peddler wanted to trade with me, but I thought he wasn't honest, so I saved it just for you. Give me a price?"
"I have wild eggs! Just gathered, can I trade them for rice?"
"I'll trade mushrooms for a steamed bun! Let me get a big white steamed bun for my old ancestor. They're old, teeth all fallen out, and this soft thing is just what they crave…"
Jiang Wan smiled and agreed to each one in turn.
Calmly and unhurriedly, she inspected the goods, weighed them, and made the trades.
To every woman who traded, she gave a small piece of brown sugar, calling it a little treat to sweeten their mouths.
Jiang Wan's willingness to let the scales be checked had already earned her the respect of the village women of Lijia'ao, let alone the fact that she had shared such precious Red Sand Sugar.
With such social savvy in a traveling merchant, which village wouldn't welcome her?
For a moment, the village women's fondness for Jiang Wan was written all over their faces.
"Zhou's wife is an honest one—do come around more often!"
"Yes, this sugar is the real deal, not a speck of sand mixed in."
"And this rice is good too—you can tell it's been sifted through several times…"
Having successfully taken the first step, the weight on Jiang Wan's heart finally settled.
In less than half an hour, everything she had brought was traded away, saving her the trouble of visiting the next village.
Just as she was packing up to head back to town, an aged female voice called out to her.
"Zhou's wife… can these furs be traded?"
The old woman speaking had a head full of silver hair, her face loose and sagging. Leaning on a wooden cane and clutching a cloth bundle to her chest, she hurried over, panting for breath.
Shougen's Wife saw her and immediately rushed over. "Auntie, why did you come all by yourself? Wan will be back tomorrow, no need to rush—you should walk slower…"
The old woman seemed to hold a high status in Lijia'ao. Seeing her approach, the village women gathered around, asking after her health with warm concern.
Jiang Wan quietly set down her basket and stepped forward two paces, taking the bundle the old woman offered.
Opening it, she found two tanned wild rabbit pelts, processed very cleanly.
The fur was glossy and smooth, thick and soft, casting a grayish-brown sheen in the sunlight.
Clearly the fine work of a skilled hunter.
These two wild rabbit pelts, in this day and age, were indeed worth a good sum.
But if sold to the Mall, compared to those large-scale breeding farms, they had no advantage at all—only disadvantages.
If she accepted pelts of this quality, she'd be sure to take a loss!
Jiang Wan retied the bundle and handed it back to the old woman.
Speaking with some difficulty, she said, "Elder, these pelts are valuable, but I can't accept them for now."
A flicker of disappointment passed through the old woman's cloudy eyes.
She tightened her grip on the bundle, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words back, letting them dissolve into a sigh.
Shougen's Wife watched with a pang of sorrow, unable to stop herself from stepping forward and speaking up indignantly on the old woman's behalf: "Wan, please help! Uncle Niu is barely hanging on with just some rice water these days! That Chen's shop has a heart black as coal. These are two fine winter rabbit pelts, but their shopkeeper insists on paying the summer rabbit pelt price, cutting the value by more than half—isn't that just bullying an honest soul?!"
One stone stirred a thousand waves.
The moment Shougen's Wife finished speaking, complaints erupted from those around her.
"Tell me about it—Chen's shop is sly as a fox. Last time I bought a jug of soybean oil, and when I tasted it at home, it was bland!"
"Watered down, right? I told you before, Chen's shop shortchanges you. Better to walk the extra ten li and buy from Shuangshi Town instead—there's San San's general store over there."
"Chen's shop squeezing both ends is infuriating. Back when Zhou's shop was still standing, at least they played by some rules. Not like now—they're practically driving folks to the wall…"
Everyone had long suffered under Chen's shop's monopoly.
Their overbearing, unreasonable attitude had driven resentment to the breaking point.
Listening to the complaints piling up one after another, Jiang Wan's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
She had just seen the pelts.
The old woman was indeed selling genuine winter rabbit pelts, something any discerning eye could tell.
By the usual market rates in town over the years, a winter rabbit pelt like this was worth at least a hundred coppers.
Chen's shop came in and slashed the price by more than half right off the bat—how was that still doing business?
It was plainly squeezing oil from stone.
Squeezing to the very last drop.
This was what happened when one business dominated the market.
With Zhou's shop gone, Chen's had completely monopolized the market in Yongxing Town.
With competition gone, so too went their conscience.
Jiang Wan knew full well that she had been backed into a corner by Lijia'ao.
The relationship she had worked so hard to build could collapse in an instant with the slightest misstep.
But she had no desire to do business at a loss either.
She raised her eyes, meeting the old woman's hopeful yet anxious gaze, then glanced at the indignant women around her, her mind racing with calculations.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Jiang Wan—she had thought of a solution that would satisfy both sides!