They spoke as if the snake meat was unpalatable, but it was obvious that they couldn’t bear to eat it as they wanted to sell it for money to buy grain.
“The snake is too heavy. I can’t carry all of it so I have to leave a piece at home. It will be too tiring for me to carry so much meat to town.”
She found an excuse.
“I see.”
Zheng’er looked at Rong’er and they both looked at their mother.
“The weather isn’t too hot now. Why don’t you sell the last piece tomorrow? It won’t spoil after a day, right?” Rong’er asked.
An Jiuyue remained silent.
Am I about to be defeated by these two little kids?
How should I reply now?
“I can sell it tomorrow, but the people in town are smart. They will know that I went to sell snake meat today and tomorrow, and they will definitely think that the snake meat I’m selling is not fresh.
“Then, they will haggle ruthlessly, and the snake meat will be sold at a very cheap price. It won’t be enough to buy half a kilogram of rice.”
She told the two little ones after thinking for a moment, a helpless expression appearing on her face.
“So cheap?”
Zheng’er was shocked and looked at Rong’er.
An Jiuyue watched as Rong’er stretched out both hands and began to gesture with his fingers.
“Half a kilogram of brown rice cost three copper coins, while half a kilogram of white rice cost five copper coins. Mother, are you buying white rice?” He asked, raising his head to look at his mother with his doe eyes.
“Why don’t we buy brown rice instead? Fifteen copper coins can only buy one and a half kilograms of white rice, but it can buy two and a half kilograms of brown rice.”
An Jiuyue was surprised.
If he becomes a businessman in the future, he’ll be great at it and will have a bright future.
However, she disagreed with his suggestion. The two children were still young and had tender stomachs so they should not eat brown rice frequently. Moreover, she was also not used to eating brown rice.
Eating brown rice a couple of times was enough.
“In that case, I’ll buy some brown rice and some white rice? How about that?
“Okay.” Rong’er nodded.
After some thought, he reminded, “Mother, we’ve also run out of oil. There is also very little salt left.”
An Jiuyue felt helpless. There were so many things they had to buy for the house, but it was inevitable.
“Alright, I will buy them,” she replied.
…
She left the two children at home and instructed them to raise the lowest rungs of stairs to prevent people like Aunt Wang from coming over to bully them.
An Jiuyue carried the snake meat in a bamboo basket and set off for town.
Of course, the snake meat was initially stored in her space. Her current body was no longer the same as before, so it was better to conserve energy.
An Jiuyue was still worried about the two children at home and she walked very quickly.
However, she slowed when she passed by a large river, and headed towards the river bank.
Their village was located at the border of this country. Although it was not a victim of war or poverty, there was a large river called the Fallen River.
Although the name sounded nice, the meaning behind it was not very good.
The ‘Cascade River’ meant ‘to cascade down to the netherworld’.
There were countless people who died because of the Cascade River.
This year was another year of heavy rain. The river water in the Cascade River had already risen high. Furthermore, the rain showed no signs of stopping.