New Year Market

“How much is this?”

Xiaoguo looked around and realized that although the space was small, there was quite a variety of seafood. Everything looked quite fresh, so she planned to buy more.

It had been a long time since she had gone near any seafood. Seeing seafood for the first time in this place, she wished she could buy everything. However, her rationality was still intact. For items that were cheap, she would buy more. For those that were expensive, she would buy less.

“Hello, how much is this?”

Xiaoguo pointed to the squid in the basin. When she didn’t hear anything after asking, she looked up curiously and asked her again.

“Oh, hello, hello.” The girl looked up and saw a very beautiful woman. “This is squid. It costs thirty copper coins a catty.”

When she mentioned the price, the girl’s voice gradually faded and she looked a little listless. This was because whenever she mentioned the price, people would leave most of the time. She knew that the seafood was expensive and people thought that pork was more affordable.

However, the fishermen had risked their lives to catch these seafood.

At the thought of this, the girl felt that the woman in front of her would leave. Unexpectedly, she did not leave and even said something in reply.

“What?” The girl was too distracted to hear her.

“Give me three catties.” Xiaoguo smiled. Why did she feel like this girl was constantly in a daze? She could only repeat herself.

“Okay, okay.”

The girl excitedly helped to pack the squid for Xiaoguo. She was overjoyed. She had finally sold her first piece of seafood.

While Xiaoguo was watching the girl pack the squid, she looked around at the other seafood and spotted live prawns. Her interest was piqued. “How much are those?”

“Twenty-five copper coins a catty.”

The girl was still weighing the squid when she heard Xiaoguo asking about other items. In order to get her to buy more, she was prepared to give her a discount.

“If you are keen to buy, I will just charge you twenty-three coins.”

Although the discount wasn’t much, it at least showed her sincerity.

Xiaoguo nodded, obviously appreciative of the discount. “I’ll take five catties.”

Prawns were delicious, so she should buy more of them.

“Okay!”

The girl was not big, but she was quick with her hands. She quickly packed the prawns for Xiaoguo, seemingly worried that Xiaoguo would go back on her word.

“Do you only set up a stall here during the new year?”

So far she had never seen anyone selling seafood in the market. From what Ruyi and the others said, the people here basically didn’t eat much seafood.

“Actually, this is my first time setting up a stall here. The fish we harvested were mostly transported to the capital and sold there.”

The girl explained to Xiaoguo as she packed the prawns.

“Why didn’t you sell the seafood here?”

Hearing her question, the girl sighed. She did want to sell it nearby, but the people here didn’t buy much seafood.

“Actually, logically speaking, it’s best to sell it here. My family lives in the small fishing village nearby, so the sea is our source of livelihood. Once we bring in our catch, they could be sold as live seafood if we set up a stall nearby. However, the people here don’t like to eat this. Besides, the prices are high and it’s so much more expensive than pork. Who would want to eat seafood that doesn’t have much meat?”

The girl’s tone was filled with helplessness. Fishermen were also unwilling to go through the trouble of transporting seafood beyond the county. They had to bear the costs of dead seafood after transportation.

“Does seafood cost the same in the capital?”

The girl shook her head and said truthfully, “If it’s shipped to the capital, the price will be several times higher. After all, we have to ensure that the seafood is transported alive. That brings up our costs.”

“Then why don’t you lower the price and let the commoners have a taste? Who knows, they might grow a liking to it and start buying?”

If that was the case, they would not have to go through the hassle of shipping everything to the capital.

“You don’t know, but with the tools of ordinary fishermen, we can’t catch much seafood at all. The fishermen risk their lives and go to sea before dawn. However, there’s only so much fish they can catch, so it’s very reasonable to sell it at this price. If we lower the price, we’ll make a huge loss.”

At this point, the girl felt a lingering fear in her heart. She still remembered the time when her father went out to sea and his boat capsized in the middle of a storm. Fortunately, he was a good swimmer and he managed to swim to another fishing boat before being rescued.

“I see.” Xiaoguo nodded thoughtfully. It turns out that seafood was expensive both in ancient and modern times.

“Sister, this is yours. Take a look and see if you want anything else?”

The girl handed the packed seafood to Xiaoguo with a smile, hoping that she would buy something more.

“Zhuang Zhuang, what else do you want to eat?”

Actually, there was nothing else that Xiaoguo wanted to eat, but she still asked Zhuang Zhuang.

“What’s that?”

Zhuang Zhuang had been looking curiously at something strange in the basin. From his gaze, it looked like he was disgusted.

“Oh…” The girl reached out and took out an octopus from the basin. She held it up so that Zhuang Zhuang could take a closer look. “This is an octopus.”

“Eww…” Zhuang Zhuang avoided the creature’s tentacles and hid behind Xiaoguo in disgust.

“Hahahaha.”

Xiaoguo laughed when she saw his reaction. But this thing was truly quite disgusting, especially when its tentacles reached to touch you. A chill instantly ran down her spine.

“How much are you selling this for?”

When she was done laughing, Xiaoguo asked.

“Same price as the squid.”

“Then I will take some.”

Xiaoguo hesitated for a moment before she cleared out the stall. She saw that the girl only had a few fish left, so she asked for the price and bought everything from her.

The girl danced excitedly. If she weren’t outside, she would have jumped up in joy.

Seeing that Xiaoguo had bought so much from her, the little girl rounded down the total price for her and gave her a wooden basin so that she could use it to contain the seafood.

Just like that, Xiaoguo gave her the payment and continued shopping with a large pile of seafood.

“Mother, can we finish all these?”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at the half-filled basket of seafood and couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

“No problem. Mother will make delicious food out of them for you.”

Xiaoguo could now eat seafood to her heart’s content.

The market was bustling with activity. Seeing that there was nothing else to buy, she went straight to the place where red paper was sold. She was intending to buy ready-made couplets, but since Zhuang Zhuang was at home, she could just let him write them.

Xiaoguo bought a large piece of red paper and planned to cut it herself when she got home. After which, she went straight to the bookstore with her pile of shopping. It was inconvenient for Xiaoguo to enter the shop with so many things, so she let Zhuang Zhuang go in and pick out what he needed. She could just make the payment outside the store.

Zhuang Zhuang did not dawdle. As soon as he entered the shop, he went straight to the section of books and picked out the two books that he had in mind.

Xiaoguo handed over the money and left the store with Zhuang Zhuang.

After leaving the bookstore, XIaoguo bought some peanuts and melon seeds as snacks for the new year. Along the way, she came across a stall selling oranges, so she bought some as well.

As they walked along, Xiaoguo bought whatever she needed. The new year was just round the corner, so she wouldn’t be visiting the market on new year’s eve. There were too many people and she did not like crowded places.

She went on to buy two big red lanterns and a lot of candle wicks. In any case, she could hang them at the entrance during and after new year. It would be nice to have light at the main entrance at all times.

Then, they arrived at the fabric store along the street.

“You’re here, Madam.”

As soon as Xiaoguo entered with Zhuang Zhuang, someone recognized her and walked over.

“Hello, I’m here to collect the clothes.”

Some time ago, Xiaoguo had brought Zhuang Zhuang and Qin Anming to the cloth shop to get tailored clothes for the new year. The new year brings new hopes and new things. Since she was not intending to make the new clothes herself, it would be better to buy them from the store. Today was the day to collect the clothes.

“One moment.”

With that, the lady left to look for their records and bring out the clothes.

Xiaoguo followed behind her. She had only paid a deposit the last time. The remaining payment must be made today.

The shop staff quickly found the records and picked out their order among the rack of hanging clothes. She brought them to the counter and let Xiaoguo check the items before packing them up.