Carrying her wooden bucket, Li Suisui followed Xie Hong all the way to the Xie Family Fish Shop.
There were five storefronts in a row, displaying all kinds of seafood inside.
The Xie Family Fish Shop was comparable to modern seafood markets—perhaps even better.
She stood at the entrance, staring in a daze, not noticing that Xie Hong had already walked inside.
“Little girl, hurry up and follow.”
“Oh, coming!”
After finally catching her breath, Li Suisui had no choice but to lift the heavy wooden bucket again and quickly follow him.
Although her bucket was small, it was heavy by itself—at least four or five jin. With the added weight of water and fish, it weighed no less than twelve jin in total.
Carrying such weight for a long time was really exhausting for her.
Fortunately, Xie Hong soon stopped, allowing her to place the bucket back on the ground.
“Xie Hong, aren’t you supposed to be with Fifth Master? Why do you have time to come here?” someone asked.
“Hehe, Uncle Kuan, Fifth Master asked me to bring someone here.”
“Is it this little girl?”
“Yes, it’s her.”
“Who is this little girl? Why would Fifth Master trouble himself over her?”
Xie Hong leaned toward Xie Kuan and whispered, “Hehe… it’s because Fifth Master’s kind heart is acting up again.”
Xie Kuan nodded. “Fifth Master has always been kind-hearted since he was young.”
“Please, Uncle Kuan, help check this little girl’s seafood.”
Xie Kuan nodded. “Little girl, bring your seafood over for me to see.”
“Uncle Kuan, please take a look. This is the grouper I caught.”
“You’re impressive. Such a young child catching such a big grouper. How do you want to sell it?”
“Brother Hong just told me that selling this grouper here would probably get about one hundred copper coins. I’d like to sell it for one hundred coins, but if that’s too high, Uncle Kuan can lower the price. I’ll leave it to your judgment.”
“Hmm… you’re quite sensible. Then I’ll follow Xie Hong’s estimate and buy it for one hundred coins. Take the fish over there, and later go to the counter to collect your payment.”
Remembering that her main purpose hadn’t been achieved yet, Li Suisui continued, “Uncle Kuan, if I catch better seafood in the future, can I still bring it here to sell?”
“The Xie family has its own fishing boats and usually doesn’t purchase seafood from outsiders.”
“But Brother Hong said that as long as it’s good-quality seafood, you would accept it.”
Xie Kuan didn’t respond immediately and instead looked at Xie Hong. “Did you promise something to the girl again?”
“Hehe, Uncle Kuan, it’s not easy for the girl to be on her own. If we can help, we should. Besides, this is also Fifth Master’s intention.”
“Hmph. You truly are someone trained by Fifth Master—also kind-hearted.”
“Hehe, that’s right.”
“Fine then. Since Xie Hong already promised you, I won’t make things difficult. You can bring good seafood here in the future. But remember—we only accept higher-quality seafood. Don’t bring ordinary small miscellaneous fish.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle Kuan. I understand.”
Xie Kuan waved her off. “Hurry and collect your payment.”
“Yes,” Li Suisui responded.
She first followed the shop assistant’s instructions and poured the grouper from her bucket into a large water tank, then went to the counter to collect her money.
“One grouper, one hundred copper coins. Please keep them safe.”
Li Suisui accepted the coins from the cashier and stuffed them into her clothes.
Although it was only one hundred coins, they felt heavy.
This was the first money she had earned since transmigrating into this world.
After bidding farewell to Xie Kuan and Xie Hong, she headed toward the marketplace.
Li Erzhu was ill, and Wang Xiulian was pregnant—they couldn’t go without proper meals.
The family’s grain supply was almost gone, so she could buy some now.
There was a grain shop ahead. She decided to take a look.
The shop wasn’t large, but it displayed many kinds of grain: rice, millet, corn, sorghum, as well as beans like soybeans, red beans, and peas.
Her eyes immediately locked onto the snowy-white rice.
But she could only look. With her current situation, she simply couldn’t afford it.
“Miss, what would you like to buy?”
Another shop assistant approached, much more enthusiastic than the last one.
“I want to buy some grain.”
“What specific grains would you like? We have many varieties here.”
Li Suisui honestly focused on the grains her family commonly ate.
“Brother Assistant, how much is this cornmeal?”
“The one you’re pointing at costs five coins per jin. It’s freshly ground this year. The bag next to it is last year’s cornmeal, and it’s only three coins per jin.”
Li Suisui took a pinch of last year’s cornmeal and tasted it. It wasn’t bitter—still edible.
“Can the three-coin cornmeal be any cheaper?”
“No, that’s already the lowest price.”
“Alright, give me ten jin. Also, how much are the coarse rice and bran flour?”
“They’re both five coins per jin. How much would you like?”
“Do you have last year’s stock for those?”
“Sorry, miss. Both are this year’s new stock.”
“Alright then, I’ll take five jin of each. Since I’m buying so much, could you make it a bit cheaper?”
“I can’t lower the price, but I can give you one jin of soybeans for free. One jin of soybeans costs three coins.”
“Alright, thank you, Brother Assistant.”
“Miss, give me your cloth bag and I’ll pack the grain for you.”
Only then did Li Suisui realize she hadn’t brought one.
“Brother Assistant, I didn’t bring a cloth bag. Could you lend me two bags to pack the grain? I’ll return them next time I come to town.”
“Sorry, miss. A cloth bag costs several coins. I’m just an employee and can’t lend them out casually. If you’d like to buy one, our shop sells cloth bags.”
“How much is one cloth bag?”
“Five coins.”
Li Suisui clicked her tongue. “That’s almost the price of one jin of coarse rice.”
Reluctantly, she bought one.
She wiped her wooden bucket dry with her sleeve and had the assistant pack the cornmeal directly into it.
As for the coarse rice and bran flour, she decided to buy only the coarse rice.
She bought nine jin and packed it into the cloth bag.
For the free jin of soybeans, she asked the assistant for a small piece of hemp paper, wrapped the beans in it, and placed it on top of the cornmeal.
During this trip, eighty coins were quickly spent. Out of the one hundred coins she earned, she now had only twenty coins left.