Chapter 006: Getting Rich

The two siblings were chatting lively, but Lao Yang interrupted, "Miss Lu, why not let the young master accompany you into the city? I'm getting old and don't like to move around. It's better for me to stay and watch the plow."

Lu Xiaomi hesitated for a moment, but didn't insist. It was Lu Wu who seemed very happy at the prospect of entering the city.

After paying twenty copper coins, the Lu siblings entered the city together.

Lu Wu was carefree, looking around and stopping here and there, which delayed their progress. This prompted Lu Xiaomi to tug at his sleeve.

"Brother, there are several large inns at the end of the commercial street, and there's a lively teahouse. I heard that the leather merchants from the south like to gather there. Let's go and ask around. If we happen to meet a big customer, we'll definitely make more profit than selling to the leather shop."

"Okay, let's go to the commercial street."

Anzhou was neither big nor small, located in the north of the Great Yuan. Half of the year, it was freezing cold, and the grain produced barely fed the people of Anzhou. The court didn't expect much in terms of taxes from here. Fortunately, the fur here was quite good, so there was always some income from commercial taxes.

The inns that Lu Xiaomi had in mind were the ones that leather merchants liked to stay in. But now, with the arrival of winter, the place was deserted, entering the off-season and feeling quite desolate.

When they finally reached the last teahouse, they finally had a breakthrough.

Without even asking, Lu Xiaomi handed a few copper coins to the waiter, and things went smoothly.

However, after visiting several places, they didn't find anything worthwhile.

But at the last teahouse, they finally had a turning point.

Lu Xiaomi handed a few coins to the waiter as usual, but before she could ask anything, she heard a customer at the window bidding farewell to his friend.

"Brother Zhao, although I didn't find good leather goods on this trip, I am truly grateful for Brother Wang's hospitality."

The friend quickly comforted him, "Brother Wang, there's no need to be polite. Come earlier next year. I'll also keep an eye out for good leather goods for you in advance, so rest assured."

Lu Xiaomi's eyes lit up, and without waiting for the waiter to speak, she quickly approached and asked with a smile, "Is this gentleman looking for good leather goods? My family just hunted a tiger and a black bear yesterday. They haven't been skinned yet. Would you like to take a look?"

The two men turned to look at her, and it turned out to be a lively young girl. Their annoyance at being interrupted softened a bit, and the leather merchant with the surname Wang casually replied, "Little girl, I buy leather goods as gifts, and next year's fur is not suitable."

"Don't worry, the tiger and black bear we hunted yesterday are still intact, and we haven't skinned them yet. They are as fresh as can be!"

Lu Xiaomi smiled brightly, and the leather merchant immediately stood up, "Is that true?"

He asked Lu Xiaomi, but his eyes were on Lu Wu. After all, compared to a young girl, he was more inclined to believe a slightly older boy.

Lu Wu nodded and quickly vouched for his sister, "The game is just outside the south gate. If you don't believe it, you can go and see for yourself."

"Oh, that's great!"

The boss surnamed Wang clapped his hands and laughed, "It's like finding something without looking for it! I'm really lucky today! Rest assured, if the game is good enough, I will definitely not shortchange you in terms of silver."

The friend surnamed Zhao also rejoiced for him, "Hurry up and take a look. Be careful not to be beaten to it."

"Yes, yes!"

The leather merchant surnamed Wang threw a silver coin and urged Lu Xiaomi to lead the way.

As the old folks in the village say, good weather only lasts for three days. It was not yet noon, but dark clouds were already gathering in the sky, and it looked like the snowstorm was about to hit again.

When Lu Xiaomi and her group finally arrived, Lao Yang was looking towards the city gate, and he showed a pleased expression when he saw them coming out.

"It's going to change weather. I was worried that you would be delayed in the city."

Lu Xiaomi didn't have time to explain and directly asked Lu Wu to uncover the grass mat on the plow. This was prepared specifically for the trip, not wanting to attract attention on the road and also to guard against the city guards having any bad intentions.

Now, with the sudden unveiling, the beautifully patterned tiger and the black bear with an arrow stuck in its chest were fully revealed.

The sun was not as intense at this moment, but it was enough to cast a faint glow on the fur of the two large wild animals, causing everyone to exclaim in admiration.

Buyers always wanted to devalue the goods in order to lower the price, but for such good items, the leather merchant surnamed Wang really couldn't bring himself to say anything negative.

As a passing carriage was already approaching from a distance, he was afraid of being robbed, so he quickly and nervously re-covered the grass curtain, and then glanced at the Lu family, very shrewdly choosing to negotiate the price with Lu Xiaomi.

"Miss Lu, to be honest, both of these wild animals are good. I definitely want to buy them. In terms of price, in previous transactions, a good tiger skin was priced at eighty taels, and a black bear skin at sixty taels. I'll add a little more and make it one hundred and fifty taels. How about it?"

Lu Wu had sold leather goods in the city before and knew that this price was much better than taking them to the leather shop, so he quickly agreed.

Lù Xiǎomǐ's face changed when she heard this, and she couldn't help but say in annoyance, "Mister, if I had known you were so insincere, I wouldn't have brought you here. Not to mention, it's so rare to come across such prey at this time. Moreover, this tiger and black bear were brought in whole, not just their skins! Besides the tiger skin, there's also tiger meat and bones. Any of these are valuable goods. Not to mention the four bear paws and a bear gall bladder from the black bear! If you're not buying, then step aside and let us find someone else!"

As she spoke, she continued to call out while lifting the grass mat, "Everyone, come and take a look. Just hunted tiger and black bear, with bones, meat, and fur intact. Perfect for gifts and tributes, high-quality goods..."

The saying goes, "There's no business without deceit." Making a bigger profit is almost instinctual for all merchants. Wáng, the fur merchant, didn't expect Lù Xiǎomǐ to refuse so decisively, and he was scared to death, clutching the grass mat tightly, afraid that someone would snatch the prey away.

His friend, who also had a keen eye, quickly stepped in to help smooth things over.

"Ah, Wáng, I know you didn't bring much silver this time, but you can't miss out on such good fur. How about this, let me lend you some first?"

With that, he turned to Lù Xiǎomǐ with a reassuring smile, "Miss Lù, you've come from afar, and finding another buyer might take some time. My friend here is genuinely interested in buying. Why don't we discuss it again?"

Naturally, Lù Xiǎomǐ took advantage of the situation and withdrew her frozen hand, pouting as she replied, "Then, mister, please offer a fair price again. If you still try to deceive us, we'll just sell the goods to another furrier."

Upon hearing this, the merchant Wáng completely abandoned the idea of taking advantage. Once these two prey items entered the furrier's shop, he knew the price would likely increase several times, and he would only get a piece of fur in return...

"Alright, Miss Lù, I was too hasty before. How about this, I'll offer 120 taels for the tiger and 100 taels for the black bear, making a total of 220 taels. What do you think?"

He seemed to be afraid that Lù Xiǎomǐ would find the price too low, so he quickly added, "When I came from the south, I brought a batch of cotton cloth, and there are still five or six pieces left. If you don't mind, you can consider it as well."

Lù Xiǎomǐ's eyes lit up. The price was higher than she had expected, considering that she would also be exploited when selling to the furrier. Moreover, the merchant added a few pieces of cotton cloth, which, although not many, would still cost a few taels of silver to buy.

"Alright, it might snow later, and we're in a hurry to go back. Let's sell these two wild animals to you, mister!"

"Great! Miss, you're straightforward. Let's go, we'll head into the city right away!"

This time, Mr. Wáng didn't skimp, even paying the city entrance tax from his own pocket.

Initially, the soldiers at the city gate wanted to lift the grass mat to see if there was anything cheap to take. Fortunately, their friend with the surname Zhào had some connections and mentioned the name of a yamen official, so the soldiers quickly withdrew their "claws."

The group soon arrived at the inn where Mr. Wáng was staying. When unloading the wild animals, the innkeeper noticed another deer and some mountain hares and pheasants on the sled, and after some bargaining, the sled was empty.

However, Lù Xiǎomǐ's purse was fuller than ever before. She was afraid of losing it, so she carefully folded the silver notes given by Mr. Wáng and tucked them into her handkerchief, then handed them to Lù Wǔ after numerous reminders.

The remaining dozen or so taels of silver given by the innkeeper were just enough to buy things, and Lǎo Yáng volunteered to stay in a dark alley to guard the sled and the cotton cloth Mr. Wáng had brought. Lù Xiǎomǐ grabbed Lù Wǔ as a laborer and went shopping around.

The shopping list prepared the night before was taken out and displayed proudly in the wind. The siblings went "full steam ahead" to various grocery stores and oil shops...

In the early winter, the city was still bustling, with people coming and going. However, in the villages outside the city, most households were huddled around the warm kang beds, not willing to venture out even if the sky fell. Therefore, at the beginning of winter, business was booming for all the shops, as every household needed to stock up on enough food and supplies for the winter, and even for the upcoming New Year.

The shopkeeper of the grocery store was taken aback by Lù Xiǎomǐ's frenzy, having seen many big customers before.

The best quality japonica rice was 60 wen per catty, and she bought a hundred catties, along with two catties of pork. She also bought twenty catties of glutinous rice. She purchased a hundred catties of fine flour, fifty catties of vegetable oil, ten catties of lamp oil, and ten catties of fine salt. She wanted all kinds of condiments, and even bought barrels of soy sauce and vinegar. She also bought two catties of expensive powdered sugar, not to mention various sizes of pottery, clay pots, and bowls.

By the time she finished shopping, the grocery store owner felt a bit embarrassed and took the initiative to add a few more pieces of flint and a few fist-sized round balls.

"Miss, take a few ground eggs to taste something fresh."

As a result, Lù Xiǎomǐ didn't even glance at the flint, but instead hugged the round balls tightly. For her, coming across these things was like winning the lottery.

Others didn't know, but she was very familiar with these round balls. This wasn't ground eggs; it was the most common vegetable in her previous life, potatoes, commonly known as "earth beans"!