Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

chapter 33

Chapter 33: Earning the First Pot of Gold

Di Xuan held the 25 copper coins in his hand, unable to describe the feeling in his heart!

At first, he felt a bit of pity for selling all the loquats.

Unexpectedly, she actually gave him the money from the sale, which really surprised him!

Liu Sisi didn’t think too much about it. Di Xuan was already seven years old, and it was only natural to give children their own pocket money at this age. Moreover, this money was their labor gains, so it should be left for the children.

Turning back, she handed the money to Di Yelei.

Di Yelei raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn’t reach out to take it: “It’s better for you to manage the money, as a grown man like me doesn’t need to spend any, so there’s no need to hold onto so much silver.”

Who would have thought that Di Yelei was such a good man!

Liu Sisi felt a warmth in her heart. The feeling of being valued made her very comfortable. Without saying much, she put the money back in her pocket.

Perhaps because of the successful opening, the game and mushrooms sold very well today, and even most of the mushrooms were sold.

In the process, Liu Sisi also helped the vegetable farmer next to her who borrowed the scale sell all his vegetables, to the point that the farmer happily thanked her and gave her the last bit of chives as a thank-you gift.

Liu Sisi declined for a long time, but seeing that she couldn’t refuse any longer, she finally expressed her gratitude and accepted. In her mind, she pondered what delicious dishes she could make with these chives tonight.

Liu Sisi was busy non-stop, and after YingEr woke up, Di Xuan took her to buy four big buns. Seeing that 25 copper coins had suddenly been spent on 4 coins, Di Xuan felt a pain in his heart.

The vegetable buns made by the villagers were large in size, but they had thin skins and lots of filling. The filling was actually a wild vegetable called Indian aster, which was fried and made into stuffing. The dough was just right, and the Indian aster was well-seasoned. The shopkeeper’s skill was very good, and Liu Sisi finally managed to eat a bun, feeling full.

YingEr only ate half, her stomach already round and full. The rest went into Di Yelei’s mouth.

People were coming and going to buy things, Liu Sisi was busy non-stop, and Di Yelei kept helping out on the side. Seeing that it was almost noon, and there was still a small portion of shaggy ink cap mushrooms left. There was also a large elk left, but nobody bought it because of its size.

Right now, pork costs 10 to 15 copper coins per catty, and these mushrooms were sold at 80 copper coins per catty, which was an astronomical price. Most people bought them in small quantities to take home and eat as a treat for the rich to change their taste and try something new.

Her mushrooms were good, so selling more than half of them was already a rarity.

Di Yelei was also not idle, helping Liu Sisi busying around. When he saw there were fewer customers, he went out for a while and came back with a frown on his face.

“The one who buys game didn’t come today. I was originally counting on this elk to sell for a good price, but it seems we’ll be lucky to sell it at all. Let’s go! Let’s take the elk to the restaurant and see if they’ll accept it.”

As Di Yelei spoke, he bent down to help pack the shaggy ink cap mushrooms.

There were still several catties of shaggy ink cap mushrooms, and Liu Sisi was reluctant to take them home to eat. So, she thought about whether she could sell these mushrooms to the restaurant later.

“Wait! Don’t pack it up, I’m glad I’m not late.”

The person approaching was a young waiter-like man who rushed to Liu Sisi and Di Xuan’s booth, seeing them packing up the shaggy ink cap mushrooms and hurriedly stopping them: “I just heard someone say there were agaric fungus being sold at the market, and I didn’t believe it. I searched for a long time before I found them. How do you sell these mushrooms?”

“These mushrooms are 80 copper coins per catty. How much do you want, customer?”

Little Second looked at the agaric fungus in the basket and felt there wasn’t much left: “Why don’t you weigh them all together and see how much you have left?”

Liu Sisi also didn’t stand on ceremony, raising the scale high: “There are 4 catties and 8 taels left, totaling 384 copper coins. I also have some Nameko over here, which is about half a catty. The original price was 40 copper coins per catty. If you take everything, 400 copper coins will do. What do you think?”

Following the direction of Liu Sisi’s finger, the man who looked like a waiter’s eyes lit up: “Hey! It’s a Tippler’s Bane! Was this mushroom still fresh yesterday? The reason it’s changing color today must be due to you letting it sit in the sun.”

Liu Sisi then realized that the man before her was the younger brother of the small town’s clinic. He was sent by his young master to buy agaric fungus: “This mushroom is non-toxic and should not be left in the sun when fresh, otherwise the whole body will dissolve into ink. If you want to store it for a long time, you have to cook it thoroughly and dry it in the sun to prevent it from going bad.”

As the little second brother was showing off, Liu Sisi couldn’t help but laugh.

She quickly put the Shaggy Ink Cap and Nameko, also known as Tippler’s Bane, into the bamboo basket the other party had brought, filling it full.

When Liu Sisi finished loading the mushrooms, the clinic’s little brother was more or less done with his boasting, and he happily paid and left.

Except for the elk, the rest of the game seemed to have been sold.

Liu Sisi secretly calculated that there were about 13 catties of Shaggy Ink Cap, totaling 1040 copper coins, other mushrooms were 300 copper coins, rabbits 600 copper coins, wild chickens 240 copper coins, roe deer 500 copper coins, and wild fruits plus an old basket, 55 copper coins. Today, they made 2735 copper coins, not counting the 25 copper coins given to Di Xuan.

However, after deducting the so-called “specialty tax” of 10 copper coins, they had an income of 2 taels and 725 copper coins today.

And the elk hadn’t been sold yet!

Thinking of this, Liu Sisi couldn’t help but laugh.

Carrying the elk, Di Yelei looked back and saw Liu Sisi with a smile like a crescent moon. He couldn’t help but soften his expression: “What’s so funny? You really worked hard on today’s sale.” He knew that without Liu Sisi, he wouldn’t have been able to sell so quickly and so much.

“It’s nothing, just seeing that most of the game has been sold, and I’m happy,” Liu Sisi said happily, looking down and stroking the quiet Di Ying. “YingEr, are you hungry? After we sell the elk in a while, mom will take you to eat something delicious, alright?”

“Okay!” Di Ying replied crisply. She rarely had the chance to visit the market before, and she was now looking around with curiosity.

In the meantime, Di Yelei led everyone into the largest restaurant in the small town – Heji Restaurant.

The town is small, and there are not many restaurants. However, at this moment, Heji Restaurant was bustling and full of people. The waiter, who was familiar with Di Yelei’s routine, led them straight into the kitchen with the elk on his shoulder.

The chief cook of Heji Restaurant was a middle-aged fatty with squinty eyes.

From the moment he glanced over, Liu Sisi instinctively disliked him, especially his gaze on her, as if she was naked and uncomfortably exposed.

“This elk is small and has been dead for a long time, right? I’ll give you one tael of silver!”

One tael of silver for an elk? That’s equivalent to 70 catties of pork?

Looking at the supposedly 230-catty elk on the ground, Liu Sisi was amused!