Chapter 10

Yong'an Town, the closest to Yuhe Village, was ten miles away and close to the county seat. If they walked fast, they could arrive in about half an hour.

With such a big deer, it probably wouldn't sell for a good price in town, so why not just go to the county seat.

The mother and daughter set off before dawn, mainly to avoid people's eyes and ears.

By the time they reached the county seat, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

On both sides of the street, vendors had already started shouting to sell buns, steamed buns, and various porridge and rice.

Jiang Wei glanced twice and took Jiang Xiaoxiao straight to a large restaurant not far away.

Yuelai Restaurant was the largest restaurant in the county seat, and there were many guests coming and going.

Deer was a relatively rare game, and ordinary families couldn't afford it; only such a large restaurant could take it all at once.

It was still early, and there was only a shop assistant sprinkling water and cleaning in front of the restaurant.

"Little brother, is your shopkeeper here? I have wild game to sell." Jiang Wei didn't talk nonsense and stated her intention directly.

The shop assistant looked up at the behemoth carried behind Jiang Wei, which was tightly wrapped in oilcloth, and didn't know what kind of wild game it was.

"He is, he is. I'll go call our shopkeeper out right now."

Their restaurant business was big, and hunters from the village often brought some wild game to the county seat to sell, so he didn't feel too surprised by Jiang Wei's appearance.

The shop assistant threw down the broom in his hand and ran into the restaurant, and before long, he brought out a middle-aged man wearing a long gown.

"This young lady, are you selling wild game?" Seeing Jiang Wei, the shopkeeper was a little stunned.

Usually, the people who came to their restaurant to sell wild game were men; it was the first time a woman had come to sell wild game alone.

After all, it was ancient times, and women generally wouldn't show their faces in public at will.

"Mm." Jiang Wei nodded, put down the stag on her back, and parted the oilcloth to reveal the whole deer.

"This, this..." The shopkeeper was stunned and couldn't speak, unable to stop looking at Jiang Wei in front of him in shock. This stag looked like it weighed three or four hundred pounds; she, a woman, could actually carry it here alone?!

How much strength must she have!

Barely suppressing the surprise in his heart, the shopkeeper bent down and touched it twice; it was actually still warm. "This deer was just slaughtered, right? It's quite fresh!"

Of course it was fresh.

Jiang Xiaoxiao on the side said silently.

Her mother had quietly put it into the space after killing the deer last night and only took it out this morning.

"Young lady, how do you want to sell this deer?" After checking, the shopkeeper was very satisfied.

"You give a price." Jiang Wei said with a faint expression.

The shopkeeper deliberated and opened his mouth: "Young lady, why don't we do this; your deer is really rare, how about I give you half a guan of money per catty?"

Half a guan of money per catty!

Jiang Xiaoxiao, who was listening on the side, couldn't stop her inner excitement.

In this ancient world, one guan of money was one thousand wen, and half a guan was half a tael of silver!

This deer weighed at least three hundred pounds, so this purchase would be at least over one hundred taels of silver!

"Okay." Jiang Wei didn't hesitate too much and nodded in agreement.

Obviously, she also knew that this price was not cheap.

After agreeing on the price, the shopkeeper ordered the shop assistant to go into the restaurant to get a scale.

In the end, the whole deer weighed a total of three hundred and fifty-six catties!

One hundred and seventy-eight taels of silver in hand!

"Young lady, if you have such wild game in the future, you must remember to sell it to our Yuelai Restaurant; I guarantee a fair price!" The shopkeeper smiled and paid the silver, unable to stop his joy.

This kind of wild game was very popular, and high-ranking officials and nobles liked to eat it, so he wouldn't lose money no matter how much he paid for it.

Moreover, in two days, a nobleman from the capital was coming to this Yong'an County, and the county magistrate had paid a heavy price to order him to arrange a banquet to entertain him; this deer just solved his urgent need.

"Mm." Jiang Wei nodded faintly, stuffed the silver into the back basket on her back, and left holding Jiang Xiaoxiao.

"Mother, where are we going next?" Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at the back basket on her mother's back, which was covered with oilcloth, and couldn't see whether the silver was still inside.

"Take you to the county yamen to change your name and register your household." Jiang Wei took out the household registration document.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao was stunned.

She had only mentioned the name change once before; she didn't expect her mother to remember it all along and to have prepared the household registration document on her body early on.

"Have you thought about what name to call?" Jiang Wei looked down at her.

"Mm-hmm!" Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded and said crisply: "Xiao! I take Mother's surname, just call me Jiang Xiaoxiao!"

"Xiaoxiao?"

"It's the Xiao from the dawn of day!" Jiang Xiaoxiao corrected.

But as soon as she finished speaking, her mother tilted her head and looked at her strangely: "You are literate?"

"Uh, it, it was Er Gou Ge who told me!" Jiang Xiaoxiao hurriedly said, "He said that the dawn of day is the moment when the first ray of dawn shines on the earth, giving light and hope to all things on earth; it's a new beginning!"

Anyway, her mother didn't know who Er Gou Ge was, so Jiang Xiaoxiao continued to make it up without changing her expression: "Mother, I divided the family from the Li family with you; isn't this a new beginning, so I want to call myself this name."

"Alright, then let's call you this name." Jiang Wei smiled and nodded, not asking any more questions.

The mother and daughter arrived at the county yamen and soon changed their names.

It was said that a new county lieutenant had taken office, and he was a big shot from the capital, so the people in the county yamen had been very active in their work recently.

The mother and daughter left the county yamen, returned to the street of Yong'an Town, and found a noodle stall to eat something and rest.

"Boss, two bowls of wontons!"

The boss was an old couple, and they were quick-handed; two bowls of wontons were soon served on the table.

The wontons were filled with mushroom and meat fillings, with less meat and more mushrooms, and the portion was sufficient. The soup was rich, and it was boiled with large bone broth.

The mother and daughter soon finished the two bowls of wontons.

A bowl of wontons was fifteen wen, and Jiang Wei paid 30 wen.

It was noon now, and many shops had opened.

The mother and daughter went to the grain shop first, and there were already many people inside.

Jiang Xiaoxiao followed her mother into the crowd, and looking at the price, rice was fifteen wen per catty, and white flour was eighteen wen per catty... the price was really a bit expensive!

A family of seven ate about three catties of grain a day. This fifteen-wen-per-catty rice would eat up forty-five wen a day; how could ordinary families afford it?

The brown rice next to it was much cheaper, eight wen per catty, and there were more people weighing grain around it.

However, this brown rice was yellow in color, had a rough texture, and was not good for the stomach if eaten for a long time.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was deliberating, and her mother had already asked the shopkeeper to weigh five catties of rice and five catties of white flour each.

That was right.

Her mother had earned so much money, so there was no need to wrong herself by eating poor food.

Five catties of white flour and rice cost a total of one hundred and sixty-five wen.

Jiang Wei paid the money and put the rice and flour into the back basket, and then took Jiang Xiaoxiao to the grocery store next door to buy a catty of salt, half a catty of sugar, as well as some green onions, ginger, garlic, and various seasonings, which cost another one hundred and something wen in total.

The fruit shop next door was just open, and Jiang Wei took Jiang Xiaoxiao over to buy two boxes of fragrant sugar fruits, two large bags of wheat cakes, and a few oil-crispy cakes.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was holding the snacks and food in her arms, and before she could recover, her mother took her to the meat stall again.

Pork was twenty-five wen per catty, and the price was not expensive.

Jiang Wei bought three catties in one breath!

(End of chapter)