Chapter 48: Targeting
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling sent the prey to the eatery and restaurant and collected the money from the accountant. Just as she was about to go out, Shopkeeper Zhang stopped her. “Miss Mu, from tomorrow onwards, bring five more rabbits to me. It’ll be even better if you can catch roe deer. Bring them over. I want them all.”
Mu Yangling’s eyes lit up. “Shopkeeper Zhang, your shop’s business is getting better and better, huh.”
Shopkeeper Zhang replied with a laugh, “It’s not that my business is good. It’s just that there have been many outsiders recently. People have to eat, after all. Our Wafting Fragrance Eatery’s business naturally improved.”
In Seven Mile Village, only the wild jujubes from Chef Mountain and leather goods were considered specialties. Mu Yangling asked, “Are merchants here to buy leather goods and wild jujubes?”
“That’s not it. These two groups of merchants will only come at the end of autumn. Those that came now are here to buy grains.” Shopkeeper Zhang’s smile froze when he said this. He more or less knew about the commotion outside. Rice was expensive while grain was cheap—this was just the rich bullying those ignorant citizens, and his boss must also have participated in this. He just didn’t know how much of a loss they would incur this time. The last time he saw the boss, the man didn’t look too good.
“Alright, go back quickly. Deliver the animals early tomorrow.”
Mu Yangling agreed, but when she went out, she glanced at the Wafting Fragrance Eatery. There were actually so many people coming to buy grains?
Did that mean the price of grains would increase? It seemed like she had to fork out more money to buy grains from everyone when she returned to the village.
Mu Yangling went straight to the grain store, planning to buy more millet to keep, so she wouldn’t have to come over to buy them for a long time in the future.
What Mu Yangling did not expect was that the price of rice had actually decreased. Even millet had returned to its previous price.
Mu Yangling asked the shopkeeper of the grain store in surprise, “Why did the price of rice drop again?”
The shopkeeper glanced at her and replied, “Why do you care so much? If you want to buy it, buy it. If not, forget it.” His attitude was terrible.
Mu Yangling frowned, feeling displeased. If it was in the past, she would definitely turn around and leave, never stepping into this shop again for the rest of her life. However, she had learned to endure it now, so Mu Yangling only glanced at the shopkeeper indifferently and waved her hand. “Pack 100 catties of millet for me.”
Mu Yangling didn’t take to heart the shopkeeper’s rudeness, but her attitude angered the shopkeeper. He snorted coldly. “100 catties? Do you have enough money? Don’t tell me you can’t pay up after I finish weighing the millet.”
He was no stranger to the father and daughter of the Mu family. When they came here to buy millet, they would at most buy 20 catties. Mostly, they would buy medium-grade rice, and sometimes, they would even buy low-grade rice.
Mu Yangling only felt anger boiling in her heart, but she suppressed her temper and looked at the shopkeeper disdainfully. She said arrogantly, “Oh? How much is 100 catties of millet? I’ll count and see if it’s enough.”
After saying that, she pulled off the money bag from her waist and took out a few strings of copper coins. Some of the money she had brought from home, and some had just been earned. One bunch of money was 1,000 copper coins, while one string was 100 copper coins. They were all strung together, but Mu Yangling ripped the string and scattered the coins on the counter. Then, she took out another bunch of money and did the same. There was now a small pile of copper coins on the counter. With her chin raised, Mu Yangling said to the shopkeeper, “Count it. If it’s not enough, I’ll add more.”
“You!” The shopkeeper was so angry that he pointed at Mu Yangling, speechless.
At this moment, the other customers in the grain store all looked over.
Everyone knew that the shopkeeper had a lousy attitude. Happy to see him make a fool of himself, they jeered at the side, “I think the young lady has enough money. Perhaps you should weigh the grains first before counting the money?”
“Then you have to count properly. There’s almost two bunches of money on this counter, right?”
“Yes, yes. Why don’t we be witnesses?”
“Forget it. You only know how to count to 300. Do you know how to count above 300?”
The shopkeeper looked at Mu Yangling with a dark expression and said, “One catty of millet costs 16 copper coins. Assistant, go weigh it for her.”
Mu Yangling raised her hand and said, “I’ve changed my mind. I want to buy 120 catties. That’s a total of 1,920 copper coins. Shopkeeper, count.”
The shopkeeper was so angry that his nose almost crooked. There were only two assistant shopkeepers in the shop. One of the three of them had to do the counting, and it would take at least half an hour. Most importantly, the two assistant shopkeepers in the shop could only count to 900 at most. If the amount was any higher, they would be confused.
However, he had other customers in the shop. How much time would this waste? In addition, if he felt ill at ease, he might make a mistake. Once he made a mistake, he would have to start over.
It was a simple method for Mu Yangling to find trouble with him, but it was damn useful.
Pleased to see him so furious that his nose was crooked, Mu Yangling snorted and stood at the side to watch.
The others in the shop also came up to join in the fun. Laughing, they said, “Shopkeeper, start counting! We’re not in a hurry.”
“Yes, yes, we’re not in a hurry at all.”
On the other side, someone whispered as he counted on his fingers, “Is 120 catties millet 1,920 copper coins? This young lady is too fast at calculating. Was that right?”
“Why don’t you take a look at who this is? The young lady of the Mu family has been selling rabbits in the market with her father since she was six years old. Her arithmetic is fast and accurate. There’s no mistake. It all depends on the shopkeeper counting the copper coins now.”
“The shopkeeper had it coming. He actually managed to anger the good-tempered young lady of the Mu family.”
“Geez, lower your voice. This grain store belongs to the Liu family.”
There were more and more discussions in the shop, and more and more people gathered around. The shopkeeper had no choice but to count now.
He also knew that he had been a little irritable recently. After taking a deep breath, he glanced coldly at Mu Yangling before starting to count.
Only then did Mu Yangling snort and turn her head away. She naturally knew how much money she had taken out. Not afraid that the shopkeeper would play tricks in front of everyone, she simply leaned against the counter and watched.
Shen San stood behind everyone as he listened to their discussion. He looked at the child in the crowd in surprise and smiled.
After he finished counting once, the shopkeeper said, “There’s a total of 1,800 copper coins. You’re still short of 120 copper coins.”
Mu Yangling took out two more strings of money from her money bag and looked at the shopkeeper with a faint smile. “Do you still want me to scatter it for you to count?”
The shopkeeper took a deep breath before replying with a straight face, “Young lady, you must be joking. Since you must have counted your money before stringing them up, there’s certainly no need to count anymore.”
Only then did Mu Yangling snort coldly as she threw a string of money at him. She then counted out another 20 copper coins and tossed it to him. Stepping forward, she picked up the bag of millet, weighed it in her hand, and looked at the assistant shopkeeper.
The assistant shopkeeper hurriedly waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry, young lady. The grains in our shop are all properly weighed.”
“Of course I know that the grains in your shop are properly weighed, but you have to tie the bag for me. How can I carry it back like this?”
When the assistant shopkeeper heard this, he realized his folly and quickly turned around to get a rope to tie the bag for her.
Only then did Mu Yangling carry the bag of grains and stride away. The people in town were already used to it, so they were not surprised to see Mu Yangling carrying something taller and heavier than her. However, Shen San and the others widened their eyes.
Holding the fan in his hand, Shen San turned to his subordinate. “I only heard that the people at the border are valiant, but I didn’t know that a child could be so capable.”
The subordinate coughed lightly and said, “Third Young Master, that should be an exception.” If everyone at the border was so capable, would the Hus still be able to occupy half of their territory?
Only then did Shen San feel better. He waved his hand and said, “Let’s go and see how the acquisition of grains is going. If it’s fine, let’s retreat. After eating the meat, we have to leave some soup behind. Otherwise, Qi Xiuyuan will be in trouble.”