Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

He said, “You had cleaned the fur very well and you had also saved me the trouble of skinning it. However, it’s not as valuable as rex rabbit fur. I can’t give you much for it. If this rabbit skin was sold by someone else, I would have given 70 copper coins for it at most.”

“But seeing that it’s not easy for a young lady like you, I’ll buy it at the highest price in the market. I’ll give you 80 copper coins. How about that?”

Since she could sell it for more money, there was naturally no reason for her to reject it. Zhou Xiaoli immediately thanked him sweetly and politely sent the old man off. After collecting the items, she brought Zhou Yu straight to the grain store.

—

The current price of grain was 20 copper coins per hopper. Zhou Xiaoli estimated that one hopper was about 12 pounds. It was not particularly expensive.

Millet and wheat were slightly cheaper in comparison to rice. It was sold at 14 copper coins per hopper.

Looking at the copper coins in her hand, Zhou Xiaoli decided to buy a hopper of rice, millet, and wheat each. After buying the food, the two of them went to the seasoning section to buy some salt.

After hearing the price of salt, Zhou Xiaoli was shocked.

She had known long ago that salt was a precious thing in ancient times, but she did not expect it to be that expensive. One pound actually cost 120 copper coins. The key was that the salt in question was not even refined salt. They were literally so poor that they could not afford to eat salt.

In the end, Zhou Xiaoli put her foot down and spent 16 copper coins to buy two ounces of salt.

When she went out, she happened to meet a man who was selling oil, so she bought two ounces of canola oil which cost her 14 copper coins. Two ounces of canola oil would be enough for them to use for a few days.

After buying these, the two of them went straight to the pharmacy

There was a small pharmacy beside the market. It was opened by an unlicensed doctor in Dazhuang Village who sold some ordinary herbs.

If Zhang Lan wanted to recover completely, she had to go to the county to get the expensive medicinal herbs. However, she could not afford them now.

However, they could grab some medicine first to nurse her body back to health.

When they arrived at the pharmacy, Zhou Xiaoli immediately told the old man about the medicine needed. After the doctor heard the prescription, he could not help but marvel. “This is a prescription to warm up blood and qi of the body. This prescription is really amazing.”

Zhou Xiaoli only smiled and nodded.

Fortunately, Zhou Yu was a fool and she did not need to explain the origin of this prescription to him. When she returned home, she only needed to tell Zhang Lan that this was the medicine that the doctor gave.

They spent a total of 20 copper coins for three days’ worth of medicine. With that, they spent all 80 copper coins that they had earned from selling the rabbit fur.

As for the eggs exchanged for the fish, Zhou Xiaoli did not intend to sell them. She planned to bring them home to nourish the bodies of Zhang Lan and the two little fellows.

In the end, she only had six copper coins left and it was only because Uncle Liu had given her 20 copper coins last night. Otherwise, they would not have enough money to spend.

After sighing, the two of them rushed home.

They reached home when it was close to noon. Zhang Lan and the two little fellows had already stewed the carp according to Zhou Xiaoli’s instructions.

Seeing that Zhou Xiaoli and Zhou Yu had returned, Zhou Xiaoyu ran out of the kitchen happily and held Zhou Xiaoli’s hand. “Sis, Sis, look, brother, mother, and I ate fish together.”

Zhou Xiaoli pinched Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun’s cheeks and praised them. “Amazing.”

The two little fellows jumped up and down happily after being praised.

After Zhou Xiaoyu entered the kitchen and did some simple cooking, a fresh and delicious fish soup was served. The milky white soup looked very tempting.

“Smells good.”

Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun smelled the fragrance and started to swallow their saliva in anticipation.

“Sis’ cooking is delicious.”

Zhang Lan also agreed. “That’s right. Your sister’s cooking is getting more and more delicious.”

Zhou Xiaoli smiled and thought, “How can this be considered a delicacy? When I earn enough money to buy proper ingredients, I’ll show them what a true delicacy is.”

Although Zhou Xiaoli felt that this food would damage her reputation as a ‘Little Divine Chef’ in the Immortal World, the others did not think so.

There was a ‘nose’ on the wall.

On the other side of the wall.

Wei Chiyu leaned against the one-meter-high wall and sniffed the air which was filled with the umami smell of fish soup. He couldn’t help but glance in the direction of Zhou Xiaoli’s courtyard. Then, he lowered his head and bit the hard steamed bun in his hand.

At the same time, in the Liu family.

Liu Fengfeng leaned against the wall and smelled the fragrance coming from next door. He craved it a lot. “Mother, it smells so good. I want to eat it too.”

Lin Xiujuan was washing vegetables and was annoyed by Liu Fengfeng’s nagging. “Look at how useless you are! Did I not give you food or drink?” She said angrily.

After being scolded, Liu Fengfeng started to cry.

At this moment, Liu Yuanyuan, who had gone to look for Zhou Guihua to do embroidery, returned home. As soon as she entered the door, she gasped and asked, “Mother, what are you cooking? Why is it so fragrant?”

Lin Xiujuan snorted. “What can I do? Vegetables with noodles. Our family isn’t a rich family. We can’t eat meat every day.”

The last few sentences carried with it a tinge of sourness. Liu Yuanyuan immediately knew that the fragrance came from next door.

She could not help but be shocked at this knowledge. “Where did they get meat from every day?”

Lin Xiujuan was also puzzled. “Who knows?”

Ever since Zhou Xiaoli’s family moved in next door, she had been worried that they would come to their house every day to freeload.

Unexpectedly, not only did her concern not happen, but they even ate meat every day for the past few days.

Just as Lin Xiujuan and Liu Yuanyuan were puzzled about it, Zhou Xiaoli appeared at their door.

“Auntie, this is the carp I caught from the river yesterday. I made soup and brought a bowl for your family.”

Zhou Xiaoli’s calm voice rang out.

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Lin Xiujuan’s face as she was caught badmouthing them in action. However, she quickly put on a smile. “Aiyaya, thank you for thinking of our family.”

Zhou Xiaoli only nodded indifferently and did not reply. After pouring the fish soup into the Liu family’s bowl, she bade farewell and left.

...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When she was almost at the door, she could still hear Liu Yuanyuan’s words of shock. “In this season, most of the big fish in Little Clear River should have been caught and yet, she managed to catch such a big carp in one night?”

Then, Lin Xiujuan said nonchalantly, “Maybe it was blind luck.”

...

Zhou Xiaoli did not deliberately eavesdrop on their conversation. She opened the door and entered their house.

She served the Liu family fish soup not because she wanted to please Lin Xiujuan, but because she wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble.

They were now living in their uncle’s courtyard and were just separated by a wall. The fragrance of the meat dishes wafted towards their house every day so if they did not share, it was hard to guarantee that they would not be dissatisfied and cause unnecessary trouble.

—

After the meal, Zhou Xiaoli prepared the medicine for Zhang Lan and started to process the rabbit meat from last night.

One portion was cooked and soaked in the vegetable oil bought, to preserve it. The other half was made into smoked meat so that it could be preserved for a longer time.

Their fish basket was filled with fish over the next two days.

Hence, Lin Xiujuan was tempted and urged Liu Liangcai to put a fish basket in the river as well.

...

But strangely, they had only caught a palm-sized fish after two days.

Lin Xiujuan was furious.

Liu Liangcai did not think much of it and said, “That’s normal. Fish are not that easy to catch. I’ll go out to sea in August. I’ll definitely catch a lot then.”