Chapter 36: Chapter 27 New Year
Translator: 549690339
In the blink of an eye, it was the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the time of Xiao Nian.
Xiao Nian is also considered the beginning of the busy New Year season. From this time, people start to prepare for the New Year’s goods, cleaning their houses, offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, and gearing up for the upcoming New Year.
Every household in Yangmei Town began to get busy.
Women stayed at home to clean up the dirt in their houses. The children who loved to play were, under the orders of their elders, reluctantly joining the cleanup process.
However, their playful nature soon took over, and they started to find fun in the work, turning it into play and laughter.
Men went to the town market to buy New Year’s goods.
Although Yangmei Town was just a small remote town, there were still more than a dozen villages nearby.
As the festive season approached, the residents of these nearby villages and the town congregated in the market, using their hard-earned savings from the year to buy their desired New Year’s goods.
Merchants from all around were drawn to the town, bringing with them various goods and setting up market stalls.
Because there were too many people attending the fair, the town’s market could not accommodate everyone, so some businessmen simply set up makeshift stalls on a flat piece of land outside the town and started doing outdoor business.
Seizing this opportunity, Lu Yuan carried his large bamboo basket filled with smoked cured meats to the market and set up a stall.
The bustling market covered the open space outside the town, with countless people gathered inside, and the noisy chatter was deafening.
walking through the lively market, he noticed that there were all sorts of stalls, selling snacks, tea, needles and threads, cloth, dried fruits, liquor, meat, couplets, papercuts…
Anything needed for the New Year could be found here.
Lu Yuan walked around and found that most of the spaces in the market were already occupied, leaving only a few marginal corners with some vacancies.
However, even these vacancies were exploited by some sharp-minded people who had set up empty stalls and were not selling any goods, simply leasing these spaces.
You didn’t have to rent from them, but with no empty spaces left in the market, there was simply no room for you to set up shop.
As for forcibly taking the space?
Those who could do this business certainly had connections, with the town mayor being the biggest backer. Could you fight against them?
Feeling helpless, Lu Yuan muttered “rip-off” under his breath, reluctantly handed over fifty cents for the booth fee, and started his business.
This year he had quite a bounty from his hunting, not including rabbits and wild chickens, he had at least dozens of large prey such as wolves, tigers, and leopards.
These animals contributed more than two thousand pounds of cured meat besides their fur.
There was no way Lu Yuan could finish eating all of this meat by himself, and it would go bad if left for too long. So, naturally, he took the opportunity to sell it in exchange for money.
“Cured meat, cheap and delicious cured meat!”
He arranged the meat he brought in his basket on the stall and began to call out to customers.
Soon, a customer was attracted: “How much is this meat?”
Lu Yuan looked at the customer, a simply dressed farmer who probably rarely ate meat, and with a smile, said, “This is cured tiger meat, fifty cents a pound.”
Hearing the price, the man was startled and quickly pointed to the next item: “It’s too expensive, what about this?” “This is wild boar meat, thirty cents a pound.”
“Is there something cheaper?” “There is. This is Wild Yellow Dog meat, ten cents a pound.”
“OK, I’ll take two pounds of this.”
Watching the customer walk away with a string of meat, Lu Yuan’s first order was completed.
Perhaps it was because of the low prices, people continuously came to patronize the meat stall throughout the day.
In no time, cheaper fox meat, Wild Yellow Dog meat, wolf meat, leopard meat, and so on were quickly sold out.
Even the expensive tiger meat was purchased by some wealthy households in the town who sent their servants to buy it.
This forced him to make another trip back home to fetch more inventory and continue selling.
After repeating this three times and half a day, the two thousand pounds of cured meat were finally all sold.
As for the remaining two hundred pounds of meat in his home, Lu Yuan did not sell it, intending to keep it for himself to eat.
After all, martial arts training takes a toll on the body, requiring an ample supply of meat for energy.
The day’s business earned Lu Yuan another forty-three silver taels, increasing his savings by a fifth.
With a substantial sum of money in his possession, he felt a surge of pride.
After paying for his stall, he didn’t rush home but instead strolled around the market.
It would soon be the second New Year since he had traveled to this world.
Last year, Lu Yuan was penniless and forced to skimp on the New Year’s celebration in order to save money for martial arts training, making it a very frugal affair.
But now that he has over two hundred silver taels, money is no longer an issue, and he decided to treat himself well, as a way to comfort his loneliness.
He found a crowded tea stall in the market and ordered a variety of cheap, tasty dishes, enjoying the food while listening to the idle chatter and gossip around him. Time passed in this way all afternoon.
Feeling satisfied with his meal, Lu Yuan bought some dried fruits, couplets, and fresh New Year’s goods, and went to a cloth store in the town to order a few sets of new clothes to be picked up in two days, before leisurely returning home.
Upon arriving home, he didn’t have time to relax.
Since he had decided to celebrate the New Year properly, he needed to create a festive atmosphere and do all the necessary preparations..