The ox cart was bought. Now Hua Wanxi was ready to start stockpiling supplies.
By midday, she felt an uncomfortable swelling pain in her chest. She parked the ox cart by the roadside and turned to enter the carriage.
She lowered the curtain and slipped into the bathroom space.
She had not fed the babies all morning, and her chest felt painfully full and tight.
Hua Wanxi washed her hands thoroughly with hand soap, took out a large bowl, lifted her clothes, and began expressing milk into it.
It was somewhat painful. She gritted her teeth and spent more than ten minutes before finally emptying both sides.
She missed her children a little. Were they crying at the Jiang family’s old residence? Would they be used to drinking rice paste?
Thinking of rice paste, she felt she should prepare food for the babies—she couldn’t rely solely on breast milk.
She resumed driving and casually stopped at a noodle stall by the roadside. She ordered a bowl of shredded pork noodles and asked for an added fried egg.
The noodles were delicious—fragrant and flavorful, with a springy, chewy texture. Before she even finished eating, she ordered another 20 bowls, all the same as the one she had, with meat and fried eggs, and also asked to buy all the bowls.
The stall owner saw her impressive demeanor and assumed she was buying for a wealthy household, so he didn’t question it and immediately got to work.
The workers were very efficient. By the time Hua Wanxi finished her last sip of soup, all 20 bowls were ready.
She had them loaded into the carriage, paid, and pretended to check inside—when in reality she stored everything into her bathroom space.
She had already built wooden shelves inside the bathroom, where the bowls could be neatly arranged side by side for easy access.
Next to the noodle stall was a steamed bun stand selling plain buns, white steamed buns, and mixed-grain buns. Hua Wanxi, feeling lazy again, decided it was easier to just buy them directly since they were cheap.
“Boss, how much are these buns and steamed buns?”
She didn’t even get down from the cart, just asked from her seat.
The vendor, an elderly woman with her hair wrapped in a cloth, neatly dressed and clean-handed, replied, “Meat buns are two coins each. White buns are one coin for two. Mixed-grain buns are one coin for four. How many would you like, customer?”
Hua Wanxi carefully observed her hands—they were clean, nails trimmed short. A stall like this, even if the taste wasn’t amazing, was definitely hygienic enough.
“Whatever you have—I’ll take them all,” Hua Wanxi said generously.
“Alright!” The old woman was overjoyed and quickly counted them.
“There are 66 meat buns, 87 white buns, and 101 mixed-grain buns. That’s 200 copper coins total!”
So cheap! Hua Wanxi thought in amazement and quickly paid. She asked the woman to help load everything into the carriage, then immediately transferred it all into the bamboo baskets in her bathroom space.
Her next stop was the grain shop. Stocking up food was the most important thing.
But halfway there, she caught a strong smell of roast chicken from afar. Her mouth watered instantly—she had gone too long without rich, flavorful food, and the smell made her unable to move on.
She might as well buy roast chicken before going to the grain shop.
A roast chicken cost 150 coins each. Hua Wanxi bought all 27 remaining chickens at the stall. The owner kindly rounded the price—4 taels of silver in total.
The roast chicken vendor happily wrapped each chicken in oil paper and helped load them into the cart.
Hua Wanxi filled another basket in her space.
Then she spotted a braised pork trotter shop not far away and swallowed hard again. No—she had to go to the grain shop first!
Finally, she arrived at the grain store and parked the ox cart at the entrance. The clerk came out immediately to tie the reins to a post.
Grain prices in town were set by the government. Seeing the clerk’s attentive service, Hua Wanxi decided to buy everything here.
Inside, she didn’t even ask the price. She acted as though she was very familiar with the place and said to the shopkeeper:
“Give me 500 jin of rice, 30 jin of salt, and 50 jin of brown sugar. Move everything onto the cart!”
She did not plan to buy flour. She would just eat ready-made buns and noodles, and she didn’t know how to make noodles anyway—it would be wasted.
“Right away, madam!” The shopkeeper personally directed the workers and even poured her a cup of tea.
“Please wait a moment, madam. It will be ready soon!”
“Mm.” Hua Wanxi held the tea and wandered around the shop. When she saw condiments for sale, she added:
“This sauce, and these two kinds of oil—50 jin each.”
“Alright!”
“Ginger and garlic—30 jin each.”
“Alright!”
“Do you have sour and spicy seasonings?” she asked, unsure whether this era even had vinegar or chili. Her memories didn’t include them.
“We have plum vinegar, and also zanthoxylum and Sichuan pepper.”
To her surprise, there was actually Sichuan pepper. Hua Wanxi was delighted.
“Then 30 jin of each!”
“Alright!”
She estimated her carriage was nearly full and stopped adding more.
“Do you have food suitable for babies a few months old?”
“Yes, we have finely ground rice paste powder. Would you like some?” the shopkeeper replied professionally.
Hua Wanxi thought that as long as possible she would continue breastfeeding, but in case of emergencies like today, she should prepare some backup food. Not too much, just enough.
“Then give me 50 jin.”
In total, she spent 96 taels and 3 qian of silver at this shop.
Grain itself wasn’t expensive—the cost was mostly in seasonings, which were luxuries in ancient times. Ordinary families only used salt and a little oil.
After leaving the grain shop, she stored everything in the carriage and headed straight for the braised pork trotter shop.
It was so fragrant—too fragrant!
She parked the cart and rushed straight to the owner.
“Boss, how much for these braised pork trotters?”
“85 coins per jin!” the owner said while slicing a glossy trotter.
Hua Wanxi stared at the rich, tender meat glistening on the cutting board, the sauce-red skin shining with oil, and almost drooled.
“How many do you have left? I want them all.”
The owner looked up, sizing her up, then confirmed, “All of them?”
“Yes, all of them!”
“Alright, please wait!”
The shopkeeper put down his knife and called his workers over to weigh everything.
“36 large trotters, 137 jin total. That’s 11 taels and 6 qian.”
“Alright. Cut them into smaller pieces and pack them for me,” Hua Wanxi said as she took out her silver.