CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 155 ACCUSATION (2)

The cheapest white atractylodes is only fifteen coins per pound.

The most expensive is yellow lotus, ninety-five coins per pound, but only about ten pounds were dug.

In the end, after weighing everything, Li Yuzhu got one thousand five hundred and eighty coins.

The shopkeeper was generous and gave her the spare change as well.

Li Yuzhu put the money into her cloth bag carried over her shoulder, nodded to everyone, and said, "Let’s go buy some rice. There’s not much left at home."

When the Xue Family came, they were bursting with joy, but seeing that the herbs only sold for a little over a thousand coins, she immediately deflated.

Even that brat Mu Yuanxiu sold herbs for over fifty taels of silver, yet their herbs, sold by several people, only fetched a little over a thousand coins!

When evenly split, each person only got a few hundred coins!

What kind of world is this?

She followed the group outside, pouting.

The Great Princess had no particular thoughts. Having accompanied Li Yuzhu to sell herbs before, she already knew there were variations in herb prices.

Cheaper ones could go for as little as ten coins per pound, like motherwort.

So seeing the shopkeeper giving only a little over a thousand coins, she had no opinions.

Noticing the Xue Family sighing while walking, she couldn’t help but say, "Sister-in-law, even though the money is little, small increments can accumulate into more. Why sigh? When we first arrived here, we didn’t have a single coin, and now, within just over a month, we have a house, food, and clothes."

The Xue Family said, "It’s not that I’m unhappy about the money; I’m just worried about buying things and whether the money will be enough."

The Great Princess laughed and spoke with even less reservation, "Sister-in-law knows the money may not be enough, so we should dig more herbs. What’s the point of sighing now?"

The Xue Family had no words in response, pursing her lips and turning her head away.

At the rice shop, Li Yuzhu stepped inside the store and directly asked for brown rice.

The shiny good japonica rice, she didn’t even glance at.

The Xue Family noticed that the rice usually eaten, with its coarse yellow color, was actually brown rice, and even this rice surprisingly cost ten coins per pound!

With many people in the family, Li Yuzhu wanted fifty pounds, which meant spending five hundred coins!

The Xue Family took a sharp gasp.

Life is truly hard for poor people!

Li Yuzhu observed her expression and thought inwardly, good, it’s indeed necessary to take the Xue Family to earn money, and then to shop.

To make her understand the struggles of life!

Li Yuzhu counted on her fingers, "Sister-in-law, you should realize money doesn’t stretch far, right? Just this little amount of rice already cost five hundred coins. We still need to buy rice powder for Guoguo, flour, clear oil, and..."

The Xue Family impatiently replied, "I know! So verbose!"

After buying rice and flour, and also buying the rice paste for Guoguo, Li Yuzhu led the group to the shop selling clear oil and bought a jar of clear oil.

During this period, cooking oil was either peanut oil or rapeseed oil, but the extraction techniques were another matter, and the taste of the oil wasn’t as good as in modern times in that era.

Unfortunately, she was not capable of technological improvements.

After subtracting the money spent on goods, Li Yuzhu had only eight hundred coins left.

"There’s only eight hundred coins left. Each person gets one hundred coins, and the extra goes back to help the family." Li Yuzhu calculated the accounts and said to the Xue Family and Great Princess Li Xing’an.

The Xue Family sighed, "Only a hundred coins..."

"We’ll earn more next time." Li Yuzhu glanced at her and said.

Li Xing’an said nothing, "A hundred coins is quite a lot." He nodded slightly.

The Great Princess also had no objections and even smiled, "With a hundred coins, I can buy a pair of copper earrings."

Li Xing’an glared at her, "Using money not to buy food but useless things!"

"How could it be useless? Ever since my earrings were robbed by officers... by bandits last time, I haven’t worn earrings, and these little holes are about to close!" The Great Princess protested defiantly.

"Let them close then, better than starving!" Li Xing’an lectured her.

"Mind your business! It’s my money. If I want to buy, I’ll buy!" The Great Princess snorted coldly, "Besides, I’m not the one who didn’t earn money for the family. Today’s money for buying rice came from the herbs us sisters dug up, didn’t it?"

The logic was sound, and Li Xing’an found himself at a loss to refute.

Li Yuzhu mediated the argument, "Third Brother, let her buy it. It’s her own money."

People who don’t like saving cannot heed others’ advice, only realizing the benefits of saving money when suffering from losses and running out of funds.

"Alright, buy as you like." Li Xing’an stopped commenting on the Great Princess.

The Xue Family, holding the money, also pondered what to buy.

The goods sold by street vendors here couldn’t compare to the Capital, nor would the Prince Mansion’s servants use such inferior items.

Moreover, the selection was limited.

The Xue Family saw nothing satisfactory.

She simply decided not to buy, buying things she didn’t like would only bring frustration.

"Hey, Mu Yuanxiu, aren’t you buying something?" Li Xing’an saw Mu Yuanxiu make a big profit again, feeling extremely depressed.

He earned a hundred coins, while Mu Yuanxiu got fifty-six taels!

This was literally the gap between the earth and the sky.

Li Xing’an couldn’t be more unhappy inside.

"I’m not buying," Mu Yuanxiu said calmly.

Li Xing’an raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "What are you saving so much money for? Money is meant to be spent, to be enjoyed."

Better to spend it all, so he’d be poorer than me.

Mu Yuanxiu replied calmly, "Looking at money makes me happy."

Li Xing’an grit his teeth and said with a smile, "I say, Mu Yuanxiu, haven’t you heard this saying, ’The most painful thing in the world is that when a person dies, they can’t take their money with them’? So money should be spent, lest you regret it when you die."

Mu Yuanxiu looked at him, "No, the most heartbreaking thing in the world is when you’re still alive, and a large sum of money disappears right in front of your eyes, and you live every day in poverty, worrying about how to get money every day."

Li Xing’an, "..." He felt offended! That brat was clearly talking about him!

Back when his family was raided, the palace guards took out various rare antiques, various valuable items from his room!

He was still alive, but those valuable things no longer belonged to him.

If he had secretly hidden a stash in a bank or buried it somewhere, he wouldn’t be worrying about making money every day now.

Those past events were hard to think back on!

Li Xing’an glanced coldly at Mu Yuanxiu and didn’t want to talk anymore!

Xue Family still remembered the time when she advised Mu Yuanxiu to marry Li Yuzhu. She smiled and said, "Oh, are you saving it to get married?"

Mu Yuanxiu gave her a cold glance, turned his head away, and ignored her.

Xue Family was startled by that look, wondering was something wrong? Did this brat have a grudge against her?

That look was like seeing an enemy.

The Great Princess bought a pair of engraved copper earrings at a roadside stall, and Li Yuzhu spent three coins on a rattle-drum and a small wooden carving of Xiao Hua.

The rattle-drum was for Li Jing to play with, and the palm-sized wooden carved Xiao Hua was for Guoguo.

The rattle-drum had two small wooden balls hanging from it, and Li Yuzhu didn’t dare give it to Guoguo to play with, afraid she might chew on it.

This girl’s upper incisors were coming in fast, and she loved to chew on things now.

Giving her little things to play with could be troublesome if she swallowed them.

The palm-sized carved flower was larger than Guoguo’s face, so Li Yuzhu wasn’t worried she would swallow it, and it could also be used as a teething toy for Guoguo.

After buying, Li Yuzhu tucked them into Xue Family’s hand, "For the two kids."

Xue Family was taken aback, glanced at them, and put them into her sleeve.

They didn’t make much money today and weren’t satisfied with their purchases, so everyone walked back to find the Second Princess without much enthusiasm.

The Second Princess and the Second Young Master weren’t doing business; they were arguing with people.

A circle of people surrounded them, arguing fiercely.

There were women screaming, and men cursing in anger.

"What’s going on? How did it turn into a fight?" Li Xing’an stretched his neck to look forward, "That second brother of mine is such a useless fool, can’t even win an argument?"

"Eh? Liu Da Niu and Hu Shuangcheng are there too," Li Yuzhu said.

The onlookers were surrounding Liu Da Niu, Hu Shuangcheng, the Second Princess, and the Second Young Master, making a ruckus. It was unclear what they were arguing about.

Li Yuzhu only heard the Second Young Master saying, "It’s excessive; do you want to eat a lawsuit? You are slandering us!"

"Third Brother, I’m going to check it out." Li Yuzhu, being small, quickly squeezed into the crowd after getting to the front.

Mu Yuanxiu also squeezed his way through.

"Hey! Those two sure can run fast. Third Brother, I’m going to check it out too." The Great Princess also ran over.

Xue Family didn’t follow.

Li Xing’an saw she had an unconcerned and aloof attitude, which annoyed him. He parked the cart aside and called out to Xue Family, "Sister-in-law, watch the cart, I’m going to see them." He added after taking a couple of steps, "And don’t lose the cart; it’s really valuable."

Xue Family kept a straight face and muttered inwardly, "Am I here just to watch the cart?"

Li Yuzhu squeezed through the crowd, running to the Second Princess’s side, "What happened? Second Sister?"

The Second Princess pointed to a child on the ground who kept twitching and crying, "They said the cakes I sold were poisonous and poisoned the child."

Li Yuzhu immediately checked on the child.

This wasn’t poisoning; the child was choking on something!

"Everyone move aside, I’m going to save the child!" Li Yuzhu rushed over and pulled the seven or eight-year-old boy over.

But before she could help, a woman pushed her away, "What are you trying to do? Are you trying to harm my son?"