Living My Leisurely Life with My Cat

Xian Town, Shaanxi Province.

The town was bustling with people. According to the memories, the town was divided into two districts, the rich people live in Linzi district while the common people lives in Beilin district. These two districts are being with a lively market between them. However, there are different types of shops and restaurants being built to accommodate these two types of statuses and generally, the prices are also different. However, a lot of country farmers from villagers around the town came here to sell their vegetables and local products as the rich people and restaurant owners wanted fresh ingredients at lower prices. As you may know, pheasants don usually know how to write and count, so their getting a few silvers from selling vegetables is enough for them to eat. At least I want to make a lot more money so that I don have to worry about taxes and spending if I want to live a leisurely life. Hah~ living in a city in the 21st century really tire me out huh. Wenmin sigh.

First of all, lets look at the clothing fabric. ”Xinxin, do you know any fabric shops that sell fabric at a good price? I want to make new clothes for myself. ” Wenmin asked Xinyi. Wenmin understood a little bit regarding the value of money in this world. It goes like this, 100 copper coins = 1 tael of silver, 1000 taels of silver = 1 gold ingot. You can also convert 100 taels of silver into 1 silver ingot. Easy to store too. Xinyi said there are two types of transportation here in the north, one is by land where you use ox carts or horse carriages, and the second one is by using boats and ships as there is a big river called the Yellow River that is mainly used to transport goods and for long journey destinations. Funny how a lot of things and places here resembles ancient Chinas names.

However, this makes it easier for me to count money. I currently have 5 tael of silver on hand, which is the equivalent of 500 copper coins. Remind me next time to get smaller changes for easier shopping. I still don know how much money Ama left for me inside the space, better count them all when I go back home. Xinyi lead me to a middle-class fabric shop. Theres a plaque outside with ”Silver Yarn Textiles ” on it. The shop attendant saw us and greeted us cheerfully, I guess a lot of peasants come here to buy fabrics too. ”Minmin, my Ama always buys their fabric when the New Year is coming. The price is good and the more expensive ones can be negotiated with the attendant. The quality is also good. ” Xinyi whispered to Wenmin. The shop attendant who heard it smiled and presented a few pieces of fabric.

”This fabric is made of hemp, its not too rough and suitable for gers. There are bright colours and also dark ones depending on your taste. What would you like to buy? ” Asked the attendant. Wenmin skimmed his eyes through those hemp fabrics and thought that it would also save a lot of money if he can buy hemp, and maybe only making one or two clothes using cotton is good enough. Too much luxury would make the villagers suspicious. ”How much does the hemp cloth cost? ” Wenmin asked the attendant. Looking at the texture of the fabric, it wouldn be more than 15-20 coppers, right? Im on a tight budget right now. ”Brother, if you want to make clothes for your size, it would cost 10 copper coins for 1 roll of hemp. ! roll of hemp can make 2 pairs of clothes with pants. The price is good. If you add more I can give you a discount. ” Replied the attendant while rubbing his palms, he looks like those sly businessmen in animes tho.

The price was good considering I can make 2 pairs of clothes and pants. ”How about cotton fabrics? How do you count them? ” Wenmin asked the attendant again. Xinyi was astonished to hear Wenmins question, not a lot of peasants wear cotton as it is slightly more expensive than hemp. The farmers wanted to save more money and only use cotton wool for winter. ”1 roll of cotton can make the same amount of clothes and pants as 1 roll of hemp. The price is a little higher at 20 copper coins. There are also a lot of colours. What type of fabric are you interested in, little ger? ” Can this ger afford cotton? Looking at how shabby his clothes are, maybe hes buying them for his master? the attendant sure is pretty prejudiced huh?

Wenmin was considering his budget while touching the fabrics. ”Xinyi, do gers usually wear bright colours? What if it gets dirty from being in the field? ” Wenmin was sceptical about wearing bright colours, he prefers neutral tones as its pretty calm to look at. ”Bright colours can attract men to look at them. Tho it might be troublesome if mud gets on them, gers want to get married right? I preferred colours that are not so bright. Easier to wash and easy to wear. ” Xinyi replied, he remembers how a lot of arrogant gers in the village always wears brightly coloured tunics and hanfus that stung the eye. Looks like not all gers like bright colours, I can safely wear them.

”Excuse me, I would like to get 2 rolls of hemp and 1 roll of cotton. I would them to be in green, white and light blue colour, please. Since Im buying a lot of fabrics, how about you give the cotton for a lower price? Ill be sure to buy more from you in the future! ” Wenmin ordered and negotiated the price swiftly. The attendant was surprised, he thought that all gers are weak and slow-minded, This ger is quite smart, no harm in doing business with smart people. The attendant was impressed and set the price of the cotton roll at 15 copper coins. All in all, his fabric shopping costs around 35 copper coins. Which is quite cheap. ”Thank you for shopping with us. Be sure to come back in the near future. ” The attendant said happily, he made up his mind to tell his boss about this smart ger when he comes to visit the shop next time.

Wenmin put the fabrics he bought inside the space while pretending to put them in his basket. They strolled the market and found that there were a lot of restaurants. Theres also a branch of the famous restaurant from the capital, The Rainbow Pavilion. The branch they opened in this town is called ”Hao Chi Restaurant ”. A pretty direct name isn it? ”Xinxin, lets go and have something from the Hao Chi Restaurant. I heard that the food there tastes good. ” Wenmin took Xinyis hands and entered the restaurant. There are a lot of middle-class and peasants inside, the price must be reasonable if there are peasant easting here too. Lets take a look at what the food tastes like. The menus are written on a wooden board on the walls, there are wontons for 5 copper coins, and a bowl of noodles is being sold at 7 copper coins. The prices are pretty expensive for peasants but I guess some of them indulge in good foods for celebrations or a change of taste once in a while.

”Minmin, is it okay for us to eat here? Look at the price, I have to sew purses for a week to be able to eat a meal here. ” Xinyi looked at the prices worriedly. Generally, gers can do much in this era so a lot of them only help their families on the field or sew purses to sell in towns.

”Don worry. Ill treat the meal for today. Lets have a change of atmosphere once in a while. Excuse me! I would like 2 bowls of noodles and 2 cups of tea please. ” Wenmin ordered from the shop waiter that was passing by. He was excited to eat ancient food, he was cooking for two days now. While they were talking, the owner of the Rainbow Pavillion was inside his office. He was discussing the matter of vegetable supplies with his shop manager. It seems like the vegetables that they usually ordered from the usual supplier has been supplying vegetables that are not so fresh and the amount of vegetables has been decreasing too. The supplier is raking up profits but supplying bad ingredients can make the cooperation between them turn bad. The owner decided to terminate the contract with that supplier and search for a new one.

Coincidentally, Wenmin heard their conversation when he was going to pay for the food at the counter. Good seems like I have the chance to create some money. Wenmin was smirking to himself while his eyes were showing the *$$$* sign. ”Xinxin, can you go to the meeting place first, I wanted to check out some things first. I will meet you there in a little bit. ” Wenmin said to Xinyi. He wanted Xinyi to go first so that he can disguise himself and bring in a few baskets of vegetables from his space to sell. Xinyi was reluctant to leave Wenmin alone, but he doesn have a choice as it looks like Wenmin wanted to go alone. He left for the meeting place that Uncle Hu, the ox cart driver, set to meet. Xinyi left for the meeting place. Wenmin quickly found an alley and change his appearance using his space, he looked a little darker and chubbier. He went on to find a cart for rent and rent one. He filled the cart with baskets of different kinds of vegetables, even chillies and peppers that Ama planted were in those baskets. He covered the cart with a large piece of cloth adding mystery to it.

He drove the cart to the restaurant and stopped at the door. The owner saw the cart from his window and went down to look at it. He saw a short man, with dark skin with unkept hair talking to the shop assistant. ”Excuse me, may I ask this gentleman what are you doing outside of my restaurant with a cart? ” The owner asked Wenmin. He was thinking about whether this guy is a farmer or a servant of a merchant from the nearby village. Wenmin looked at the owner up and down, The owner is pretty young considering how well his businesses have been. Lets see if he can give me a reasonable price for the vegetables. Wenmin opened the cover and showed them the vegetables inside his cart.

”I am selling a few vegetables that Ive planted on my own. I am trying to sell the ones that are still fresh and thinking of supplying them to restaurants in the town. Your restaurant looks good, the food must taste great if you cook them using my vegetables. ” Wenmin said while holding a big fat cucumber and a round and large cabbage. The shop assistant instantly grabbed the cucumber and cabbage and checked them properly. He whispered to the owner, ”Young master Liu, looks like the vegetables are fresh as if they just got out of the ground. The cucumbers are big and fat, the cucumbers are round and the colours of their leaves are bright and crispy. He must come from the nearby village. ” The assistant makes his deduction from the results he got by checking the vegetables in the cart.

The owner went to the cat and saw a few more baskets, he saw a bright red vegetable that he had not seen before. He picked it up and chew it, within seconds he spewed out the vegetable and tears flows down his eyes. ”What is this?! I have never seen nor eaten anything like this before? Is it used for poison? ” He asked Wenmin while drinking a cup of water he got from the shop assistant. ”Im sorry, Young Master Liu. This plant is called chillies, it has the same usage as peppers but tastes a lot spicier than pepper. You can put this into dishes that you wanted to make them spicier and they are good to get rid of cold and add appetite to eaters. ” Wenmin explained in detail, looks like people in this part of the country have never seen chillies before. Thats great! Chillies can be my main product now. ”Would you like to try cooking them first to try and taste them? ” Wenmin suggests to the owner.

The owner looked at the assistant and nodded his head. ”Well, let us taste it first. If it tastes good, we can make a contract of cooperation with you. ” Young Master Liu responded and asks Wenmin to come into his private dining space upstairs. The decorations are not so luxurious but the details are elaborate. Befitting a guy whos not too showy but puts great attention to his business. While waiting for the food to cook, the owner asks a few questions such as where Wenmin is from, what is his name, any other vegetables that he planted and so on. Wenmin concealed the fact by answering that he is from a village 15 minutes from town, he didn want the owner to know about the fruit trees as he had other uses for them, he said that all the vegetables he brought today are the vegetables that he had planted. The owner was satisfied with the answer and made up his mind to get more information.

”However sir, I may stop planting vegetables for a while. That might disrupt the business between us. If I may, I want to recommend you a ger who is the son of a friend of mine. His Ama is the late friend of my wife who used to do a lot of business with us. He planted a lot of vegetables and the chillies I showed you were actually given to me by him. He died a few days ago and when we visited him on the day of the burial, his ger son said that he will do his best to take on the business that his Ama left for him. If you may, maybe you should do business with him instead. ” Wenmin completely pulled the kind-hearted family friend in front of the owner and recommended himself. The owner looked at him and laughed.

”So you are actually promoting his chillies for him? Fine. Looks like the food is ready. Lets taste first and Ill tell you the decision after that. ” Young Master Liu rolled his cuffs and starts to eat. He was sweating and drinking while eating. It must have suited his taste if he doesn stop eating like that. Good, this can lead to a better path. They finished eating, and while the attendants were clearing the table, Wenmin glanced at the owner and his assistant, It seems that they are satisfied with the vegetables and the chillies. ” Wenmin was excited about the results.

”Ehem, sir, may I ask, is the vegetables you bring today also from that friend of yours? ” the assistant asked first. He wanted to make sure that they are dealing with a good person.

”Yes, the cucumbers and cabbages along with the chillies are what I got from them. Unfortunately, I can create something as fresh as theirs. ” Wenmin acted pitifully. If there was an Oscar in ancient times Wenmin might win a trophy with his acting skills hehe.

The owner and the assistant looked at each other and nodded. ”If it is like that then we trust what you say today. Don worry, we don discriminate against gers who want to be independent and hard working. Would you please provide us more information regarding this ger? ” the shop owner asked. Wenmin provided them with actual answers and said that he is a 16-year-old ger from the Chen Village, 30 minutes away from town. He has a few vegetable plots in his garden where he and his late Ama planted the vegetables from. His father is unknown. He also mentioned that the ger is also literate and knows how to count, which surprised the owner. He sighed Unfortunately hes of common people, with his hard-working personality and literate knowledge, if he was born in a noble family, other men would start lining up to take him as their bride.

The assistant gave him 10 taels of silver for the vegetables and asked him to tell Wenmin that they would go to his house for inspection. And if they are satisfied with it, they will make a contract with him. Wenmin gratefully thanked the owner and left. ”Shopkeeper Hong, do check if the information he provided is the truth, If it is, let us visit this Li ger the day after tomorrow. Good products cannot wait for a long time. We must get it first! ” Shopkeeper Hong immediately sent his men to collect information. They sent back the results saying that the information they got was correct and Li geer was alone now with a black cat as a pet. Amidst all the hectic, wenmin was happy to get another 10 taels adding up to his current money to 14 taels and 47 copper coins. He didn spend a lot today.

He meet up with Xinyi at the gate of the town and together they went back to the village. Wenmin was smiling from ear to ear, Xinyi was curious but he didn bother to ask Wenmin about it. Maybe hes just happy to go to town and see new things? Thats what Xinyi thought. They arrived at the village and paid 2 wens to Uncle Hu. Wenmin and Xinyi parted ways and went back home.