C25 Harvest Grain

After a good night's sleep, Xia Yu woke up the next morning and began to think about how she could get Xia Changping to agree to take her to the county town.

Looking at her tattered clothes and Shen Yao's patched and patched clothes, Xia Yu had a good reason. Her family was now much better off. It was not too much for her to beg Xia Changping to cut some cloth and make some clothes for her.

While they were eating breakfast, Xia Changping noticed that Xia Yu would look at him from time to time with a guilty look on her face. However, Xia Changping did not think too much about it. How could a man be so meticulous? If he was, he would have long discovered that Xia Changlian had come over to bully Xia Yu and Shen Yao.

"Dad, take me and Qingyun to the city later. Qingyun said she wanted to take a look. I want to take him to the bookstore and buy some ink, paper, and ink."

During this period of time, the family had saved up almost ten taels of silver, which was not a small amount of silver. Of course, this was only for the village and the hemp in his hands. He could also sell it for five taels of silver, some miscellaneous things, and a few more taels of silver. It was only right for him to take Yu and Qingyun shopping.

Xia Changping was calculating the money in his heart, but Xia Yu thought he was unwilling. She hurriedly put on a wronged expression and said in a low voice, "Dad, Yu can barely wear any clothes outside. I want to buy some clothes so Mom can make me some clothes."

Xia Yu did not say that she wanted to make clothes for Shen Yao. If she said anything at this time, Shen Yao would definitely refuse. It would be better to wait until they left the house. His father missed his mother so much that he would definitely buy clothes for her.

Xia Changping looked at the clothes on Xia Yu's body and found that they were so ridiculous that he could barely make out their original color. Back then, Yu had fallen down and was dumbfounded. Every day she went out and came back, her clothes would be torn and patched up. In order to treat her illness, the life at home became more and more difficult.

Fortunately, that child Qingyun had never disliked Yu.

Not to mention equality between men and women, Xia Yu was well aware that many times, women were at a disadvantage. Of course, there were some people who felt that they were very valuable.

It was just that all the family members belonged to her son. Xia Yu was dumbfounded. Even if she was left to fend for herself, no one would think that the Xia family had done anything wrong. They could only say behind her back that she was unlucky and that the Xia family was ruthless. However, she had seen how Shen Yao and Xia Changping treated her. This was also the reason why Xia Yu was willing to stay in this family.

"But Yu's clothes aren't too good. In a while, get your mother to bring you two taels of silver. We'll cut more cloth and buy Yu some good food and things for Qingyun. We'll talk about it after we sell the herbs."

Ink, ink, paper, ink, and ink were not cheap things. If he sold them for a lot of money, he could buy more. If he only bought five or six taels of silver, he could only let Qingyun suffer.

Xia Yu had seen the ink and paper used by the other children in the school. Although they were not of good quality, they were not considered shameful either. All in all, they were worth some silver.

Only Xia Qingyun's paper was the cheapest paper and the pen was also the cheapest. Sometimes, it would even shed its fur. The ink was a leftover material. As for the inkstone, it was a cobblestone that Xia Yu had found in the river. She had specially smashed it into the shape of an inkstone, making it look especially young and tender.

After resting for the whole day, Xia Qingyun's body was almost healed. It was because of the shock that her hair had turned red.

She got on the oxcart and the ride was bumpy for a long time. Xia Yu felt like she was about to fall asleep. She was finally here. This time, she did not dare to wander around. After all, the things she needed could be bought in the pharmacy.

Xia Changping carefully opened the handkerchief, revealing the half dried hemp inside. He pushed the shopkeeper in front of him and waited for him to name a price.

The weather was not very good that day, so there was very little gastrodia selengensis. The shopkeeper had taken several months' worth of gastrodia selengensis, which was the best he had had this year, and it had been handled well.

"In the past, I could give you seven taels of silver for this thing. This year, the harvest of Heavenly Numbs isn't good, so the quality of this thing is quite good. How about ten taels of silver?"

Xia Yu's heart skipped a beat and she thought for a while. The shopkeeper was definitely not complimenting them. The fact that he was able to give them ten taels of silver meant that someone was also buying Heavenly Numbs. Heavenly Numbs were a type of orchid that could calm the wind and calm the nerves. It could also dispel wind and unblock the blood vessels. It could also relieve dizziness and numb the limbs. It also had a certain effect on hemiplegia.

There must be a lot of people with this kind of illness. Since he had said that this year's supply of gastrodia elata was not enough, the price would definitely double. Three or five taels of silver was not a big deal for a pharmacy, but it was a huge sum of money for the Xia family.

"I have dealt with the shopkeeper many times, but he still bullies the people of our village. He is short-sighted."

After some haggling, the medicinal herbs were finally sold for 18 taels of silver. Looking at the large silver ingot, Xia Yu really wanted to hold it in her hand and feel its texture and weight. However, there were so many people outside. If they were found out and brought so much money with them, perhaps someone with ill intentions would set their eyes on them.

First, they went to the cloth store. Xia Yu boldly asked for two pieces of cloth, one of coarse cloth and one of white ko-hemp cloth. Altogether, it was half a tael of silver.

It was only now that Xia Yu truly realized how affordable the prices of the ancient times were. No wonder the villagers were so jealous when they found out that Xia Changping was earning one and a half taels of silver a month. This was probably how it felt to be earning fifteen thousand a month in the modern world.

The cloth was placed on the old Liu family's oxcart for now, so he didn't have to worry about losing it. Even if the oxcart left, the cloth would still be there when he returned to the village.

Xia Yu held Xia Qingyun's hand and excitedly walked towards a bookstore that she had noticed when they arrived.

Xia Changping's legs were weak and he was left behind. Looking at the bright smile on his daughter's face that revealed the vitality of a young girl, as a father, he was happier than anyone else.

When Xia Qingyun was brought out, she had a blank expression on her face. Now that she was brought to the bookstore by Xia Yu, she shook her head repeatedly. He had heard from others that the things in the bookstore were not cheap. Any random thing in the bookstore cost several taels of silver. Last time, Fu Guangsheng had taken out a piece of ink stick and said that it was the emblem ink in the bookstore. One stick cost nearly fifty taels of silver. His uncle had specially brought this back for him from Jiangnan.

He didn't have the nerve to go up and look. He couldn't afford to pay for it if it broke.

Anyway, he couldn't see any difference. Maybe he was born poor, so he just used a broken piece of ink.

No matter how good the ink was, it would be worthless if it broke. Xia Qingyun used broken ink. Although it wasn't as good as good ink, it was still better than the smelly ink used by poor scholars.

Once, who didn't know that they had brought a box of smelly ink? After grinding it open, no one in the entire academy could bring anyone with them. They even wanted to splash the ink on him, but fortunately, he dodged quickly.

Unfortunately, Xia Qingyun was weak and was dragged into the bookstore by Xia Yu. The bookseller raised his eyes and saw that it was two poor fellows. He didn't even give them an extra look as he continued to organize the things in his hands.

Just as Xia Yu was about to touch a brush, she suddenly said, "The things in this shop are not cheap. If you can't afford them, don't touch them. Go out and turn right. There's a grocery stall that sells cheap goods."