"Chapter 19"

"Chen Youtian’s intuition was right."

"The thirty-two pieces of Fairy Tofu Sang Luo had brought, along with the two kids, sold out in less than an hour, and even Chen Youtian’s eggs were sold off thanks to Sang Luo’s persuasive promotion. Several people bought a few each, clearing his stock as well."

"It was the first time the honest man witnessed such a bustling scene in selling goods. An adult with two children had practically set up a one-man band, creating an atmosphere as lively and jubilant as a grand theater performance."

"Looking at his empty basket, he wondered, who's taking care of whom here?"

"Sang Luo, while packing up, asked Chen Youtian, 'Uncle Youtian, we need to buy some things from the market. Could you wait for us? We can go back together afterward.'"

"Chen Youtian nodded, 'Alright.'"

"He didn’t say much. Walking over to Sang Luo's side, he picked up the carrying pole, stuffed the clay pots, bamboo tubes, wooden spoons, and his own basket into two water buckets, and hoisted them onto his shoulders."

"What was left for Sang Luo were two carrying baskets: one filled with the items they had traded for, and the other empty."

"Chen Youtian glanced at the items in the exchanged basket: a small piece of burlap, some vegetables like radishes, sunflower greens, eggplants, and cucumbers, plus two eggs."

"The burlap and eggs were fine, but those vegetables, easily grown if one had land, seemed like a wasteful trade to Chen Youtian, a farmer accustomed to tilling his own fields."

"He moved his mouth several times, wanting to speak. As someone who wasn’t much of a talker, he ended up saying nothing, just waiting on the side."

"Sang Luo and Shen An had already loaded their carrying baskets. The copper coins that Shen An had been clutching carefully in his pockets were now all handed over to Sang Luo."

"Women's clothing, unlike children's, doesn't usually have pockets, and since Sang Luo didn't have a purse, she divided the money into two parts and tucked it into her sleeve pockets."

"Of the thirty-two pieces of miraculous tofu sold, three were traded for goods: one for eggs, one for four types of vegetables, and another Sang Luo voluntarily exchanged with an old woman selling fabric nearby for a piece and a half of burlap."

"Her handkerchief was too small to serve as a filter for making the tofu, which was both time-consuming and laborious. The coarsely woven burlap sold by the old woman wasn’t suitable for finer uses but was decent for poor families to make summer clothes or patches."

"For Sang Luo, it was perfect for use as a filter cloth."

"Of course, a piece of tofu worth two wen couldn't fetch a piece and a half of burlap. After asking the price, Sang Luo paid the old woman an additional seven wen and added a sizable corner piece of tofu to make the deal."

"The remaining twenty-nine pieces of tofu were sold for copper coins, totaling fifty-eight wen. After giving away seven wen for the burlap, Sang Luo ended up with a substantial fifty-two wen in her sleeves."

"Indeed, it was a 'substantial' amount."

"At that time, a single copper coin wasn’t heavy, but over fifty of them together..."

"When Sang Luo took the coins from Shen An, she weighed them in her hand, estimating their modern equivalent to be about four liang (approximately 150 grams)."

"Thinking about the heaviness, akin to carrying half a box of Yili milk in one's sleeve pocket, she mused that it was far from pleasant."

"This situation highlighted the importance of having a purse."

"Of course, the one and a half chi (about half a meter) of cloth she got could be cut into a proper filter cloth with a little bit left over. However, given its coarse texture and the heaviness of the coins, it wouldn't be suitable for a purse."

"Sang Luo planned to visit a fabric store in the county when she had the chance, to buy some affordable cloth for sewing her own purse."

"For now, the priority was to buy two ceramic pots. If she intended to continue her business, she couldn't always rely on borrowing from the Chen family. Borrowing once or twice was fine, but more than that would inconvenience them, and she didn't want to be inconsiderate."

"Looking around, Chen Youtian noticed and asked her what she was looking for."

"Sang Luo replied, 'I need to find ceramic pots and also buy some rice.'"

"Chen Youtian explained, 'You won’t find that at the stalls. The government collected taxes early this year, and the rice harvest isn't in yet. Everyone’s tightening their belts, so no one will be selling grain. You’ll need to go to the general store at the entrance of Sanli Village for both rice and pots.'"

"His mood visibly dropped as he mentioned this and he led the way to the general store, carrying the burden."

"In the original owner's memory, such general stores didn't exist in small villages; they were only found in larger villages with markets. They usually sold a variety of non-perishable goods, convenient for people who needed to buy essentials on non-market days without traveling to the county."

"When Sang Luo and her group followed Chen Youtian to the general store, they indeed found it stocked with an assortment of goods. Inquiring about the price of grain, the storekeeper said, 'Rice is seventy wen per dou (about ten liters).'"

"Indeed, at this time in the countryside, people usually bought rice in its unprocessed form and pounded it into rice at home because it was slightly more cost-effective."

"Typically, one dou of grain yields about seventy percent or slightly more rice. The price of rice in county grain stores was similar to the price of unprocessed rice, accounting for the labor cost of processing."

"At first glance, it might not seem much different, but pounding rice is also labor-intensive, isn't it?"

"But who in the countryside would spare efforts? Moreover, whether to buy grain or rice, the difference seems only a matter of labor costs, but in reality, it's significant because milling rice also produces an extra thirty percent of bran."

"For farmers, this bran is also valuable – it's food for people during tough times, and excellent feed for chickens, ducks, and pigs when times are a bit better."

"Bran is a treasure too!"

"Chen Youtian's attention, however, was entirely fixated on the grain price of seventy wen per dou!"

"‘Why has the price gone up again? Wasn’t it just sixty wen not long ago?’"

"The storekeeper looked at him, ‘Haven't you paid attention to grain prices for several months? It’s gone up twice already.’"

"‘This year the government collected taxes early, and there's a shortage of grain. Plus, several northern provinces are suffering from floods, causing many traders to buy grain from our southern regions. There's also an influx of refugees from the north, which greatly increases the demand for food. My pricing is in line with the county grain store. You can check there if you don’t believe me, but you’ll find the same price.’"

"Chen Youtian was left speechless."

"Sang Luo pursed her lips. In her original owner's memory, the grain prices here were already low compared to those in her disaster-stricken home provinces, where a dou of rice sold for hundreds of wen."

"The original owner, having been sheltered, wasn’t very aware of normal grain prices. When Sang Luo first fled to Qi Yang County, the price for a dou of grain was sixty-five wen."

"Sang Luo based her pricing of Fairy Tofu on this assumption."

"Therefore, when she heard the storekeeper's price of seventy wen per dou, she wasn’t as shocked as Chen Youtian. Only upon seeing his reaction and hearing his conversation with the storekeeper did she realize that seventy wen per dou must be a high price in the south too."

"Sang Luo felt a bit heavy-hearted."

"With the memories of the original owner, it wasn't hard for her to infer that the common people in this era were enduring hard times, with wars, natural disasters, heavy labor, and taxes. They were just struggling to survive, without the luxury to think further."

"It wasn’t until now, confronted directly by the issue of grain prices, that she faced this unavoidable reality."

"But what could be done about it?"

"Sang Luo knew she couldn't manipulate fate or divine powers to transport herself to a better place, nor did she have the ability to overthrow the ruling powers and establish a peaceful and prosperous era as a great empress."

"All she could do was to try a bit harder to ensure her own survival and possibly lead a better life, nothing more."

"Seeing Chen Youtian silent, the storekeeper asked, 'Are you going to buy it?'"

"Sang Luo took over the conversation, 'Yes, we will buy, but first I want to look at the ceramic pots.'"

"Author’s note:"

"Though this is a fictional dynasty, the grain prices referenced here are based on historical records. During times of chaos or disaster, grain prices could soar to thousands of wen per dou."

"Grain prices varied across different dynasties, influenced by factors like annual harvests, the state of the world, and the value of currency at the time."

"In this story, the dynasty is on the decline, with natural disasters in the north, but the overall world is not yet in chaos, especially in the south where the protagonist resides. The price is set considering these factors."