For the first time, Qin Mian’s foot hurt so much that he could hardly feel it. He had expected to meet a cart heading to town until he saw the gray city walls of the small town; it was not what he expected. It was much livelier near the town. Pedestrians came and went; some were walking, carrying baskets or carrying a pole containing vegetables, fruits, handicrafts, etc., hoping to sell some for money in the town. Some people took carts, ox carts, donkey carts and horse carriages in and out, and the grooms sometimes made a few angry yells. There were also people who rushed to sell sheeps and pigs in the town. The cries of sheeps and pigs came one after another, as if it was a competition.
Qin Mian rubbed his stomach. Since Lei Tie listened to him in everything, he didn’t ask as he led the man into a noodle shop. In fact, he would like to eat white rice more, but knew that white rice was more expensive, so he could only bear and thought about it later on.
He found an empty table to sit down and ordered: “Shopkeeper, two bowls of vegetable noodles.”
Lei Tie abruptly said: “Two bowls of shredded meat noodles.”
“Okay!” The smile on the shopkeeper’s face was more enthusiastic.
Qin Mian’s chest was filled with a feeling that was hard to say. He looked up at Lei Tie and saw that the man wanted to say something. He was afraid the man would say something like ‘you are my wife’ in public, so he said it first with tone a little helpless and gloomy: “I know!”
Lei Tie asked in a low voice: “Know what?”
Qin Mian turned away from him, stared at the shop assistant cooking noodles and said calmly: “Never mind.”
The wok was steaming hot. The shop assistant scooped up the cooked noodles and put it in a bowl. With another hand, he picked up a spoon and quickly added shredded meat, chopped green onion and diced tofu into the bowl, one after another. Finally, he added a ladle of soup and poured it on top. The fragrance immediately turned stronger.
“Two customers, here are your noodles. Please enjoy it.”
Qin Mian looked at the shredded meat in the bowl and silently counted; six. He comforted himself that something was better than nothing. He took all the shredded meat and put it into his mouth before eating the noodles. A bowl of noodles would not fill a stomach. He reckoned that Lei Tie was not full. Saving money didn’t mean starving. He shouted with bold manner: “Two more bowls!” This manner was easy for people to mistake him for a nouveau riche.
The other customers in the shop looked at him strangely and someone muttered: “What are you shouting for? It’s only two bowls of noodles, not two bowls of emerald and white jade soup[1].”
The angle of Lei Tie’s mouth rose faintly to an almost imperceptible arc.
Four bowls of noodles costed 12 wen. The most important thing was that after a long time, Qin Mian finally tasted the meat for the second time. Although the shredded meat was tough and lean, Qin Mian was satisfied with it. He didn’t like food made from wheat flour, but he even drank the soup clean.
After eating, Qin Mian didn’t go to shop immediately. Instead, he went around the town and looked left and right from time to time. Lei Tie followed him silently, without any impatience or asking why.
This made Qin Mian secretly admire the man’s good temper. Lei Tie didn’t doubt that he was deliberately teasing?
The fact was, of course not. They were too short of money that it was time to find a way to make money. Qin Mian just wanted to see if there were any business opportunities in the town.
After strolling, Qin Mian knew what to do. He went to the grocery store to buy oil, salt and other necessities. There was no oil jar and salt jar at home, which also sold at the grocery shop. He bought two jars costed 6 wen, five jin salt which costed 22 wen per one jin, and two jin of oil costed 24 wen.
“Give two jin each of black pepper and Sichuan pepper.”
The shop assistant looked confused, “There is black pepper but what is Sichuan pepper?”
Qin Mian was stunned. Could it be that there is no Sichuan pepper in this world?
“Then, two jin of black peppers and one jin of soy sauce.” After Qin Mian finished, he glanced at the grocery store. The goods here looked quite complete. Then, he bought a spatula, ten plates, one soup bowl, ten rice bowls and ten pairs of chopsticks.
The shopkeeper was behind the counter all the time and saw that they had bought a lot of things. He came over and said enthusiastically: “What else do you need, young man? Choose at will. We basically have everything in our store.”
Qin Mian looked at the rice and flour sacks at the side. The sacks were all open for customers to see what was inside.
Qin Mian asked: “How much it cost for rice and flour?”
To be a shop assistant basically had enough quick-witted. The shop assistant immediately quoted fluently, “4 wen per jin for corn flour, 6 wen per jin for wheat flour, 1 wen per jin for sorghum flour, 3 wen per jin for glutinous millet rice flour, 2 wen per jin for brown rice and 10 wen per jin for refined rice.”
Qin Mian’s eyes reluctantly left the rice and fell on the wheat flour. He was about to speak, but Lei Tie, who was so silent that his existence was practically forgotten, said, “Ten jin of rice.”
For fear Qin Mian would cancel it, the shopkeeper immediately told the shop assistant, “Pack it.”
Qin Mian didn’t decline, “And five jin of corn flour, two jin of wheat flour, five jin of sorghum flour.”
The shopkeeper’s face lit up with happiness, “Alrighty.”
Qin Mian also picked a set of tea sets, two porcelain cups for mouthwash, a kitchen knife, three face washcloths, a sewing set and a jar of soap powder, as well as other odds and ends.
Note:
[1] A bowl of Chinese style of Spinach Tofu soup
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