Outside Lihu Town, at dawn, an old scalper pulled a cart of people on the road.
On the oxcart, everyone looked at the faint morning light, and when the light fog dispersed, the faint city wall not far away appeared in their sight, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally back~"
I don’t know who started this topic in the car.
Immediately afterwards, everyone in the chatter took up the conversation.
"Who says it's not the case? The news in the county has become too tight these past two days. There has been a lot less work, and even the prices are rising. If I stay here for a few more days... I'm afraid the money I earned some time ago will It’s all gone~”
"That's not it. In previous years, a lot of things were shipped from the south at this time, such as tea, salt and so on. This year is better, the waterway has been stopped. Although it is safe to take the land official road, it is far away. The price..."
"Forget it, there's a fair in town today, so hurry up and buy some things to prepare."
Mei Dahu was sitting among them. On one side of him was his master who took him to work in the county, and on the other side was his eldest daughter Mei Lian who happened to be coming back with him.
"Dad, do we also want to buy something when we go back?"
Mei Lian could hear clearly what those people in the car said, and a trace of sadness flashed between her brows.
Because a large amount of cloth and silk threads ordered by the county Xiufang from the south have not arrived due to river problems, the work in the hands of these embroiderers cannot be carried out, and because the Xiufang usually supports these embroiderers. That all includes food and accommodation.
The cost of just going in and out every day is very high.
The owner of the show shop simply sent the embroiderers home to rest for a month before coming back.
"What are you buying? You are still learning a craft. Where do you get the money?"
Mei Dahu specifically emphasized Mei Lian's current "situation".
"Well, when we get back to town, I'll take the handkerchiefs I used to practice and sell them at a cloth shop." Mei Lian thought about it and said softly, "I haven't been back for a few months and I didn't bring anything with me. He won’t be happy.”
Mei Lian knew that her father had a growing grudge against her grandma and was not willing to hand over all the money.
It's just that Mei Lian doesn't know the face of her milk?
She came back to rest, and she didn't want to come back and have to be tortured by her breasts.
"Then go sell it and buy something later. You don't need too much." Mei Dahu glanced at the master next to him who had already chatted with the man next door, and whispered, "Buy half a roast chicken and a small pot when the time comes. Bring the glutinous rice wine to my master’s house, and I’ll wait there for you to come back.”
"good."
Mei Lian was not dissatisfied with Mei Dahu's arrangement.
Although she learned knitting and mending skills from her grandfather in the town when she was young, it was her father's master, Carpenter Li, who provided the bridge to become an embroiderer.
Her father said that in his early years when he first became an apprentice, he was a ignorant and reckless man. If his master hadn't taught him so much over the years, he might have been just like his two brothers.
Just thinking about it, Mei Lian remembered that she had not asked her father carefully about the second and third bedrooms.
Why did her two uncles suddenly realize that they were about to separate?
***
When Meiberry, her father and the rest of the group arrived outside Lishui Town, the sun had just fully risen.
Because today is a big market, people from villages and merchants within a radius of fifty miles have rushed over, and the whole town is buzzing with people.
And among the Mei family members who came to the market this time, there were three time travellers.
It was the first time I saw this ancient fair scene, and everyone looked very funny with their unexperienced appearance.
Mayberry:Mom! so many people.
Meiyou: There are so many living people
Meiberry looked left and right, looking at the people coming to the market one after another, and her face suddenly wrinkled like a bun.
There were so many people that she couldn't see clearly what was being sold at this gathering.
Meiberry was even more confused when she heard the random shouts about selling vegetables and eggs.
"Third brother, I'll take Libao shopping. We'll meet at the tea shop later."
Mei Youqian took the first step to push aside the crowd and left with his daughter.
With her father leading the way, Meiberry and her father squeezed into the crowd of people going to the market.
"What should we buy?"
Even though Mei Berry's mother had been nagging on the kang all night last night, she still felt dizzy and couldn't remember everything.
On the contrary, her father reacted very quickly. After hearing Meiberry's question, he took out a soft yellow paper from his arms, and Meiberry could read the writing on it clearly.
Her dad didn't know when he had used charcoal to list the things he wanted to buy today on this piece of paper.
Looking at the simplified Chinese characters that were "missing arms and legs" compared to the current traditional Chinese characters, Meiberry said without thinking: "Let's buy another "Thousand Character Classic"."
Being able to read is still very important.
And the family also needed a valid reason to become literate.
"Okay, if you say you want to buy it, we'll buy it later."
Mei Youqian basically responds to his daughter's requests that don't involve the bottom line.
If the bottom line is involved, he can also move the bottom line downward_(：3 ∠)_
"First go buy the seasonings and other things your mother mentioned. They are all in the store, and they have a lot more traffic than the stalls on the roadside."
Mei Youqian didn't like to be crowded with people, so he protected his daughter's small body and went into the grocery store. Before the waiter could ask what they wanted to buy, Mei Youqian called the boss over in an imposing manner.
When the grocery store owner showed up, Mei Youqian took out half a bag of dried mushrooms from his backpack without saying a word.
"This is……"
Lin Shoucai is not someone who has seen the world. He has collected a lot of items from the north and south in his shop, especially some mushrooms from the south, which are particularly popular with the chefs of the landlords.
As for one of the sun-dried mushrooms, Lin Shoucai brought it close to the tip of his nose and sniffed it. The sparkle that flashed through his eyes was clearly visible to his father.
"Ahem."
Lin Shoucai pretended to cough lightly, put the mushrooms back, looked at the mushrooms in his pocket a few more times, and said as if he was picky: "These mushrooms are quite complicated, and they look just average~"
If it looks good, would you dare to eat it?
Mayberry couldn't help but secretly rolled her eyes.
This person doesn’t think that his family doesn’t understand anything, right?
Are you talking about the appearance of mushrooms?
"But they're all delicious." Mei Youqian smiled kindly, as if he didn't hear the other party's complaints, "Please give me a price."
"Five denarii."
After saying that, Lin Shoucai saw that the farmer in front of him suddenly lost his expression and immediately put away half of the mushrooms in his pocket and left.
"Hold on, wait! One tael of silver, one tael of silver!"
"Three liang!"
Mei Youqian raised three fingers.
"Are you crazy about money?! These mushrooms are all over the mountains and plains, and you're asking me for a price?!" Lin Shoucai listened to Mei Youqian's big mouth, and immediately shouted out.
Mei Youqian was not polite and said directly: "There are mushrooms all over the mountains and plains, so why don't you pick them? How many people can distinguish all non-poisonous mushrooms these days?"
"Besides, you dare to buy 50 wen/tael for the lowest-quality dried mushrooms in your family. The mushrooms here alone are much better than the second-class ones in your family! Besides, this half pocket is worth ten kilograms at least. Bar!"
"Then if you sell me ten pounds for three taels, it's too expensive..."
Lin Shoucai was still unwilling to let go, but there was a hint of hesitation on his face.
"Why are they expensive? Are you kidding me? Take a closer look, I have a lot of mushrooms here and many of them are expensive!"
Mei Youqian deliberately shook it off in front of the other person, and Mei Bei could clearly see the surprise flashing in that person's eyes.
"Oh, what I did here is quite expensive. It's over, the price has been lowered... Your mother will definitely scold me when I get back, no..."
After saying that, Mei Youqian's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly put away his pockets and started to pull Mei Berry away.
Lin Shoucai was really anxious now. He reached out and grabbed the other party's pocket, and said with a smile: "Don't be so impulsive. Don't be so impulsive. Let's go inside and talk. Go inside and talk."
"Li Goudan, take good care of this little girl!"
Lin Shoucai took the person back to the inner room regardless of Mei Youqian's "struggle".
"Be good, remember to buy spices for your mother!"
"oh!"
Mayberry was assigned a new task by her father, so she carefully selected the spices her mother needed in the grocery store.
After a while, the waiter carefully helped Meiberry pick out the items and packed them one by one. He smiled and asked her if she needed anything else.
"Right~ I want to know where you can buy gauze? The kind that is translucent and breathable."
Meiberry remembered the window problem at home yesterday and asked.
"This kid doesn't know either. But isn't there a cloth shop next door? You can go and ask directly."
When Meiberry heard that it was next door, she took action immediately.
Just turning around, Mei Berry ran into a person in the blind spot of her vision.
Two exclamations came out one after the other.
"Ouch!"
"ah!"
Mei Bei bumped her butt on the threshold of the cloth shop, and instantly grimaced in pain.
She knew she had bumped into someone and wanted to say sorry, but every time she opened her mouth it hurt so much that she gasped, and she didn't even have time to say it for a long time.
"Sanya?"
Hearing such a familiar voice, Mei Berry was also stunned.
After she regained her composure, she looked up and saw that the girl sitting opposite her who had been hit by her also had a surprised look on her face.
The girl with an oval face and fair skin made Meiberry stunned for a moment and did not realize who the girl in front of her was.
Looking at the other party's familiar eyebrows, Meiberry searched in the original memory for a long time before calling out "Big sister?" uncertainly.
"It's me, Sanya, are you here to go to the market?"
She also has an oval face and slender eyebrows, which looks a bit mean on Jiang's face, but on the sixteen-year-old girl in front of her, she looks as beautiful and refined as a white lotus in a clear pond.
Hey~ the fragrance of tea is overflowing!
It's not that Mayberry is a stereotype, it's actually the author of the original work who set her up as the eldest cousin.
Seeing the other party smiling at her, Mei Berry suddenly felt her teeth suddenly become sore...
