Chapter 40: Living is Not Easy

After leaving the magic potion shop, Gao De ran around the commercial district again, purchasing some consumable auxiliary materials needed for formulating magic potions, such as honey water.

The price of these auxiliary materials is not high, totaling less than 3 silver, mainly because they are very trivial and time-consuming.

The most troublesome thing is that in the currency system of this world, the purchasing power of the lowest-level round copper coin is roughly equivalent to four yuan and two jiao in Gao De's past life.

Too large!

In daily life, such an imprecise and large currency amount will bring many inconveniences.

For this reason, the people of Saint Xi En Principality, in order to adapt to daily transaction needs, also invented a method, which is to directly cut the round copper coin in half for small-amount transactions.

This practice will cause the currency to depreciate and is prohibited by the Saint Xi En official.

But because the situation is too common, it gradually became the default unspoken rule.

This kind of round copper coin cut in half is called a half-round copper coin, and its actual purchasing power is equivalent to two yuan.

With the addition of half-round copper coins, the convenience of daily transactions will be much better than before, but it is still not precise enough.

At this time, it depends on rounding and subdividing the accounting unit, and then summarizing and settling.

For example, right now.

"Black rye bread is one and a half round copper coins per pound, wheat bread is four copper coins per pound." The clerk of the bread shop said loudly in a rhythmic tone.

The bread in this world, especially black rye bread, is much thicker and firmer than the bread Gao De knows.

In scientific terms, it has a very high fiber content, so it is more hunger-resistant.

One pound (about 450g) of black rye bread is enough for an adult to eat for about two days, enough for the apprentices in the herb garden to eat for two and a half days.

For eight people, it takes about three pounds of black rye bread a day.

And the bread-making technology in this era is relatively primitive, without adding chemical preservatives in the modern sense, so the storage time is relatively short, and it will become dry, hard, and spoiled in about a week.

Then buying the amount for six days is the most appropriate, which is eighteen pounds of black bread.

Gao De couldn't help but look at the wheat bread, which was much more tender than black rye bread and was light golden overall.

He took a deep breath of the fragrance of the wheat bread, which was mixed with wheat, caramel fragrance, and a slight smoky smell, but finally turned his head firmly.

"Give me eighteen pounds of black rye bread." He said to the clerk.

The taste of wheat bread is undoubtedly much higher than that of black rye bread.

Similarly, the price is also much higher.

This is because wheat has higher requirements for planting conditions, prefers warm and fertile land, and the yield per unit area is not as stable as rye and barley, so the price is higher than rye.

And the price of wheat bread, which is its processed product, is more than twice that of black rye bread, mainly consumed by wealthy merchants and upper-class farmers.

In contrast, black rye bread is the daily staple food of the general public.

To be honest, Gao De can afford wheat bread now.

But the problem is, with the moral values formed under modern education, he cannot do things that treat people differently for the time being.

Now the output in the herb garden is everyone's effort; although the main output is him, he is embarrassed to enjoy wheat bread alone while letting other apprentices in the herb garden continue to eat black rye bread.

Unless he has his own private property, he can put down this moral burden.

And if all people's staple food is changed from black rye bread to wheat bread, just for this staple food, the expenditure for one day would be... Gao De subconsciously calculated.

The difference between four and one point five multiplied by three, seven point five copper; for one year, that is multiplied by three hundred and sixty, equal to two thousand seven hundred round copper coins.

Converted into silver coins is two hundred and twenty-five silver, converted into Saint Xi En gold coins... the non-decimal currency system is really anti-human... while complaining about this heaven-defying currency system, Gao De got the answer: eleven gold plus five silver coins.

This is just the extra expenditure for staple food. The grade of staple food has improved, and other aspects naturally have to rise with the tide.

It's like when there is a famine, everyone eats steamed buns with pickles; when the days get better and they can afford rice, the side dishes naturally have to be upgraded; they can't just eat pickles, right? Same principle.

Hmm... the "team" is still in the startup period, so it has to be harder.

Gao De nodded seriously and said to himself.

"Eighteen pounds of black rye bread, charge you 27 copper!" The clerk quickly calculated the price while nimbly packing the thirty-six black rye breads into a paper bag.

Gao De carefully took out two silver coins and the 3 round copper coins changed from purchasing magic potion auxiliary materials from his pocket, handed them to the clerk, and took the paper bag containing the bread.

Eighteen pounds of bread is about eight kilograms, which is not particularly exaggerated.

But thinking that he had to carry eight kilograms of weight and walk for an hour to get back to the herb garden, Gao De, who was obviously thin due to long-term malnutrition, still had a headache.

The task of purchasing food was previously handed over to two older apprentices in the herb garden.

If the two shared it, this weight would not be anything.

"Take a carriage back." Gao De made a luxurious decision.

Since he decided to take a carriage back, he didn't have to worry about the weight.

After leaving the bread shop, Gao De headed to the "Pea and Lamb" market, which was only one street away from the commercial district.

"Pea and Lamb" market, according to Gao De's understanding, is a vegetable market.

There are many simple stalls here, most of the stall owners are local farmers, and what they sell are crops they grow themselves, mixed with a few fixed storefronts.

Here, Gao De first spent 1 silver to buy two pounds of the cheapest pork, and then bought six days' worth of tender peas, turnips, potatoes, and cabbage.

These are easy-to-store vegetables, and in the intentional rounding, he spent another 3 silver.

Carrying large and small bags of items, Gao De stood at the street corner for a while, and a carriage driver with a keen eye had already spotted him, judged that Gao De was likely a potential customer, and drove his two-wheeled carriage over, stopping in front of Gao De.

There are two types of carriages in the city, one is a four-wheeled carriage, and the other is the two-wheeled light carriage in front of him.

The two-wheeled carriage adopts an open design, without a top cover, and only a circle of low baffles surrounds the seat, which makes the carriage look lighter and run faster.

The driver wore a unique hat, held the reins, and greeted enthusiastically: "Sir, do you need to take a carriage? My horse is the strongest, and it runs the fastest."

"How much does it cost to go to Seda Herb Garden?" Gao De asked for the price.

The herb garden has always been named after Master Seda, and after many years of operation, it has a little reputation in Hogen City, at least for the drivers who are extremely familiar with Hogen City, it is not an unfamiliar place name.

"The starting price for two kilometers is 7 copper; after two kilometers, every kilometer is 3 copper, and every kilometer in the suburbs is 6 copper."

"From here to Seda Herb Garden, if you take the main road, it is more than five kilometers, and the last kilometer belongs to the suburbs, 19 copper." The driver calculated the total price nimbly.

If walking, in fact, it is only four kilometers from the herb garden to here, but there are some small roads that the carriage cannot take, so it must take a detour, so the distance is extended.

"Okay, let's go." Gao De took out 2 silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the other party.

After taking the 5 round copper coins changed from the other party, Gao De sat on the carriage.

The carriage has two seats, arranged face to face, which can comfortably accommodate two adults.

Under the seat is storage space; Gao De put the items he purchased steadily in it, and after sitting steadily, the driver flicked the reins and whip, controlling the carriage to set off.

"Only 1 silver and 5 copper left on me, it's really earning money in the city and spending it in the city, not wanting to take a cent home..." Gao De sighed in his heart while enjoying the carriage.

Living is not easy!

New book recommendation period, please follow!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 41 =====