Chapter 29: Grandma and Granddaughter Go Shopping

“Hot steaming pork buns, one bite and the juices drip out! Smells so good it could make Wang Laosan, sick and bedridden next door, jump up out of bed! Everyone come buy, pork buns only five copper coins each—cheap and tasty!”

“Candied hawthorn skewers! Six coins a stick! Thick sugar coating—one lick and it melts sweet into your heart. Loved by children and adults alike!”

“Lamb noodles! Hand-rolled chewy noodles, made with the finest flour! Come get a bowl—hot and fresh!”

“Dried mushrooms here! Just soak in water, add some minced meat, make soup or stir-fry—so delicious your teeth will fall out! Only one coin a bundle!”

“Have pity on me, good sir, spare a bun for a poor soul—”

“Yuelai Restaurant today: twenty percent off meals! Come in, come in! Honored guests, please upstairs, second floor has private seating—table for three!”

“…”

On every side came cries of hawkers, voices of beggars—layered one after another, endlessly lively.

Though Lianshan Town was poorer than the other two towns nearby…

It was much larger.

And naturally more crowded.

The streets bustled. Among the ordinary folk moving to and fro, Jiang Fubao often spotted richly dressed lords and ladies.

Far more wealthy people than she had imagined.

Turns out, the only ones starving for food… were the farming families like theirs.

Jiang Fubao pouted.

She looked left, looked right, wide-eyed, like a country bumpkin entering the city for the first time.

Actually—

She really was entering the city for the first time.

No way around it—she was a certified bumpkin.

“Grandma, why is everyone selling food here?” Fubao tilted her head up and asked Zhang Jinlan.

“This is Food Street, of course it’s all food. Fubao, do you want something? Just tell Grandma, Grandma will buy it for you.”

As she spoke, Zhang Jinlan’s eyes landed on a stall across the street selling malt sugar candy.

Sugar was a luxury.

Even malt sugar wasn’t cheap.

They rarely had it—maybe only once or twice a year.

She was already planning to buy a piece for her granddaughter to taste something sweet.

“I don’t want any, Grandma. Let’s go somewhere else.” Fubao, her stomach still full, let out a loud burp. Right now, food held no appeal at all.

What she wanted was to walk the other four streets.

To learn more about this town.

And maybe spot some good business opportunities—things she could later hint for the Jiang family to try.

Living off a few thin acres of land would never make them rich.

Since ancient times, farmers had always been the poorest.

That had never changed.

Growing up in modern times, Fubao understood this all too well.

“Truly don’t want to eat? Grandma will just buy you two candies, and then we’ll go see the other streets.”

Zhang Jinlan thought her granddaughter was only being sensible, not wanting her to spend money.

So she simply tugged the little girl along straight toward the candy stall.

“Young man, how do you sell these sugar blocks?”

She pulled out her coin pouch, eyeing the various-sized chunks on the stall.

“The big ones, four coins each. Small ones, one coin each. Buy two big, I’ll give you one small free. Buy five small, I’ll give you six.”

The words were a tongue-twister.

Fubao’s head spun just hearing it.

But Zhang Jinlan understood perfectly.

“Then give me five small ones.”

When she heard the price, Zhang Jinlan’s heart ached.

In the past, malt sugar was never so costly. Big pieces sold for three coins at most, small ones two for a coin.

Ah—

Grain prices went up, and everything else followed.

She muttered complaints in her heart.

“Alright, Auntie, five small pieces it is! I’ll add one extra, six in total. That’s five coins.” The stall owner plucked a broad green leaf from the pile.

Fubao immediately recognized it.

Just the other day, her uncle had bought her a meat bun wrapped in the very same leaves.

There were no plastic bags here.

Paper was expensive.

So cheap snacks were always wrapped in these leaves.

Only pricier ones used food boxes.

“Here you go, Auntie.”

The stall owner wrapped six thumb-sized sugar blocks in the leaf and handed them over.

Money in one hand, candy in the other—deal done.

Zhang Jinlan took one piece, stuffed it into Fubao’s mouth, and tucked the rest into her basket to take home.

Fubao’s mouth was instantly filled with sweetness.

Not bad—malty, fragrant.

After a while, grandmother and granddaughter left Food Street.

This time, they headed to Cloth and Jewelry Street.

As the name suggested, it was lined with cloth shops, jewelry stores, and ready-made clothing shops.

This street was broader—wide enough for three carriages side by side.

It had five side alleys.

Food Street just now had only three.

And the alley names here were much more elegant.

Less earthy, more refined.

Grandmother and granddaughter soon arrived at the entrance of Silken Embroidery Alley.

Here, stalls displayed rows of embroidered goods.

Fubao’s eyes were caught by a handkerchief embroidered with butterflies and flowers.

But she was too short to see clearly.

Only when her grandma picked her up could she get a proper look.

“Grandma, look! This handkerchief is so pretty, with so many flowers!” Fubao cried out in delight.

The embroidery was vivid, lifelike.

The cloth looked soft and smooth—perfect for wiping one’s face.

So different from the rag her grandma carried around, rougher than a foot towel.

“Little miss has good taste. This is Yanyun Silk, unique to Yanyun Province. Woven from pure white silk, embroidered stitch by stitch by Jiangnan seamstresses with seven-colored thread. It’s a rare treasure! In a proper shop, this would fetch at least two taels of silver.”

The stall owner was a round-faced woman in her thirties.

Her appearance was kind, almost Buddha-like.

Unlike snobbish shopkeepers who sneered at poor clothing, she smiled warmly.

Hearing Fubao’s praise, she lifted the handkerchief higher, showing it off, and explained.

“Two taels of silver?! Good heavens, that’s outrageous! My family doesn’t even spend two taels in a whole year. For a handkerchief that small? Too expensive! Miss, better put it away quickly before it gets ruined—won’t sell for that price if damaged!”

Zhang Jinlan gasped, her heart jumping.

She hurried to warn the stall owner not to toy with something so valuable.

“Haha, don’t worry. I wouldn’t charge that much here. Just eight strings of coins.”

The woman laughed kindly.

One string of coins was one hundred copper.

Ten strings made a tael.

So eight strings was just over half a tael.

The initial “two taels” shock was huge.

Now that they knew it was half a tael, grandmother and granddaughter looked less alarmed.

Still—too expensive.

Zhang Jinlan’s pouch held only the four hundred coins from selling eggs.

After spending three coins on noodle soup and five on candy, only about 390 coins were left.

“Fubao, let’s go. Grandma can’t afford it.”

She said it openly, not ashamed at all.

Her frankness made the stall owner respect her more.

“Grandma, I didn’t want to buy it. I just thought it was beautiful and wanted you to see it. When I grow up, I’ll earn lots and lots of silver, and buy you seven of them, so you can change one every day.”

Fubao painted a big dream.

And Zhang Jinlan happily ate it up, savoring every word.