After hearing Uncle Fu’s words, everyone else also caught on.
It would be a very honorable thing to bring wine and meat to see their wives tomorrow.
Naturally, everyone wanted to buy some.
They cupped their hands to thank Uncle Fu and then hurried into the city.
Li Yuan did the same.
He took out his money and walked towards Qingyuan County.
Qingyuan County was just a small city, not actually very large.
Most of the shops were concentrated on Shi Zi Street in the city center.
At this time, many Soldier Families who had received their settlement money were shopping there.
Among them, the most numerous were the auxiliary soldiers, each carrying 200 coins.
Fresh beef and mutton were expensive, so they naturally couldn't bear to buy them.
The most affordable meat for the auxiliary soldiers was cheap offal.
Pig and cattle intestines, livers, and lungs only cost 15 coins per catty.
These auxiliary soldiers could still afford to buy a few catties of stewed offal.
Most people also bought coarse wine, a pot costing 30 coins.
Although the taste was bland, most people only dared to buy one pot, feeling a pang of heartache.
Many auxiliary soldiers who bought wine and food asked the shopkeeper to wrap them carefully.
They carried them cautiously, intending to bring them to their wives tomorrow.
Almost all of their remaining money was spent on grain.
And they didn't dare to buy rice; they bought cheaper miscellaneous grains instead.
Among these Soldier Families, Li Yuan was arguably the wealthiest.
Besides the ten taels of silver bounty in his Arms, he also had 150 coins that his elder brother secretly slipped him when he left home.
The money Li Yuan had on him, converted into copper coins, was exactly 10,150 coins.
He didn't plan to just buy wine and meat; he also wanted to purchase some daily necessities.
Li Yuan first went to a cloth shop.
He chose one "duan" of coarse cloth and one "duan" of fine cloth.
This "duan" was a common unit of measurement for cloth in Great Liang.
One "duan" was roughly two zhang, which is twenty chi of cloth.
This cloth was enough for his future wife to make a few decent clothes.
Afterwards, he bought some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and half a catty of coarse tea.
The cloth and miscellaneous items combined cost less than one tael of silver.
As for meat, Li Yuan directly cut 5 catties of prime fatty streaky pork from the butcher shop.
He also bought a whole roasted goose from Sixiangju and half a stewed pig's head.
The wine he bought was also a better-tasting clear wine, a pot costing 50 coins.
As for grain, Li Yuan bought one dou of coarse rice and five dou of wheat, totaling over 70 catties.
Seeing that the goods were quite heavy and he had a long journey tomorrow, Li Yuan simply bought a handy carrying pole.
Carrying the grain and various supplies on it made it much easier.
On the way back to the training ground from the market, he happened to pass the human market in the south city.
The so-called human market was a market for selling slaves and people.
This was not uncommon in this era.
Li Yuan looked over and saw many people kneeling on the ground with straw markers in their hair.
They were mostly people who couldn't survive and were selling themselves.
It was a famine year, and many people who ran out of food had no choice but to sell themselves like commodities to survive.
Among them were many even more pitiable women, children, and orphans.
Li Yuan sighed, no matter when, the common people were always this difficult.
What's more, the Great Liang Dynasty was still plagued by continuous natural disasters.
Just then, he saw a group of people gathered around a woman who was selling herself.
Li Yuan couldn't help but be stunned.
Because his ability, Huiyan 【Eyes of Discernment】, had activated at this moment.
A faint light shimmered around the woman.
Li Yuan knew this was telling him that this woman would be of great use to him, Li Yuan.
Since that was the case, Li Yuan naturally had to go and see.
The woman kneeling in the field was indeed different.
First, she was a full six chi tall, her skin was a healthy wheat color, and because her head was bowed, her facial features couldn't be clearly seen.
She was wearing a coarse linen robe full of patches.
Her frame looked broad, not as delicate as ordinary women.
Her hips and legs looked more rounded and robust than those of ordinary women.
On the half-chi coarse cloth in front of her, the four characters "selling self to save father" were scrawled crookedly.
Li Yuan was a bit curious, so he asked an old man who was watching what was going on.
The old man sighed and said,
"This girl, it is said her father at home fell gravely ill, and to invite a Lang Jun from the pharmacy to treat him would cost at least three taels of silver."
"Her family are hunters from the mountains, where would they get that kind of money?"
"So this girl can only sell herself as a slave in front of the pharmacy, sacrificing herself to save her father."
Li Yuan asked, puzzled,
"Buying a living person for three taels of silver isn't expensive, is it?"
"Why is no one interested?"
The old man sighed again.
"It's because she's a mountain dweller."
"In this world, what kind of people are mountain dwellers?"
"They are nothing more than displaced refugees or runaway servants who flee into the mountains to survive."
"City people don't trust these kinds of people."
"This woman is desperate to save her father, so she will definitely take the money to save her father first before returning."
"Who can guarantee that if you give her the money, she will actually come back?"
"Just now, the madam of the city's brothel also came to look her over."
"This girl is too tall and her skin is dark; Great Liang men don't like such tall women, so if bought, she could only be a coarse servant girl."
"However, people are cheap now; buying a runaway girl to be a coarse servant girl only costs one tael and five qian of silver."
Li Yuan nodded.
So that was it; that was understandable.
At this moment, the woman kowtowed to the crowd again.
"My father is gravely ill, and this humble girl has no choice but to sell herself to save him."
"I only ask for three taels of silver, and this humble girl will serve by your side like an ox or a horse for the rest of my life."
After speaking, she kowtowed again, and when she looked up, her face was already covered in tears.
Li Yuan looked closely; the girl's complexion was only slightly dark, but her features were delicate and pretty, she was definitely a little beauty.
Since his Huiyan 【Eyes of Discernment】 ability told Li Yuan that this woman would be useful to him.
Then what was he hesitating for?
So he walked up to the girl and said,
"Don't cry, I'll buy you."
The girl looked up and saw a handsome young man standing in front of her.
Li Yuan took out three taels of silver and placed them in front of the girl, saying,
"You go save your father first."
"Afterward, you can find me at Hexi Fort, East Village."
"I am a Wu Zhang of the Soldier Family there, named Li Yuan."
The girl held the silver, her eyes filled with tears, and she kowtowed three times to Li Yuan.
"Thank you, benefactor, after my father is cured, I will definitely come to find you."
The girl stood up and was about to leave.
But Li Yuan called out, "Wait a moment."
The girl's gaze froze.
She wondered if this young Lang Jun was going to go back on his word.
Did he see that she was too tall and ugly, and no longer wanted to buy her?
Unexpectedly, Li Yuan went to a nearby pastry shop and bought a few steaming coarse flour steamed buns.
He wrapped them in paper and handed them to her, saying,
"You probably haven't eaten well in a long time."
"Take these few buns; you can fill your stomach on the way."
Then he waved his hand and said,
"Go quickly, don't delay your father's illness."
The girl was already in tears at this point.
She kowtowed once and then quickly turned and left.
Watching the girl's receding figure.
The old man beside him shook his head and said,
"You, young Lang Jun, are probably being tricked."
"Once she gets the silver and saves her father, she probably won't come back."
Li Yuan smiled slightly.
"No matter, it's good to save a life, I only seek a clear conscience."