The happy little days of the Ye family

After eating and drinking, the father and son started strolling on South Street.

There was a grain store next to the restaurant, and Ye's father took Ye Donglin inside.

Inside the grain shop, there were several well-dressed women selecting grain, followed by two warm-hearted and sweet-talking shop assistants.

No one paid any attention to the seemingly inconspicuous father and son.

But the two of them didn't care and started shopping.

The grain store is not big, but it has everything you need. There are all kinds of grains here.

Moreover, in front of each kind of food, there is a wooden sign with the price indicated on it.

The front row basically consists of cheap beans and corn, with the prices clearly visible.

Soybeans are 6 wen per pound, mung beans are 5 wen per pound, corn cobs are 5 wen per pound, cornmeal for cooking porridge is 7 wen per pound, and cornmeal is 8 wen per pound.

A little further inside, there are rice and flour.

The price of husked millet is 8 wen per pound, the price of black flour is 8 wen per pound, the price of white flour is 10 wen per pound, the price of shelled refined rice is 11 wen per pound, and the price of glutinous rice is 12 wen per pound.

There is also another kind of rouge rice, which is said to be an extremely precious variety and costs 60 wen per pound.

For a moment, the father and son thought they were dazzled. How could rice cost 60 cents per pound?

Is this a money grab?

However, the two did not say much and continued to walk in silently.

In fact, except for rouge rice, the prices of other grains are similar to those in the town.

But it's true that at the end of last year, several grain merchants' homes were raided because of food problems. Now these grain shops dare not raise prices at will.

Although the prices were similar to those in town, the two also noticed that most of the women who came to buy food bought processed food such as cornmeal, white flour and refined rice.

Unlike the women in the town, most of them like to buy unprocessed grains and go home to shell and grind them into flour themselves in order to save money.

Since we have a stove at home, grinding flour is easy, but pounding the grains into fine rice is more laborious. If the quantity is large, we have to hire someone to do it.

Walking to the innermost part, on the shelves against the wall, there are wine brewed from grains and several kinds of vegetable oil.

There are three kinds of wine: one is 22 wen per pound, one is 30 wen per pound, and the other is 45 wen per pound.

The most common vegetable oils are rapeseed oil, soybean oil and sesame oil. Peanut oil, which has become popular in the past two years, is also available, but it is more expensive than sesame oil.

The two looked around and were about to leave when they happened to see piles of sweet potatoes in the corner with a sign next to it saying one penny per pound.

After coming out, Father Ye turned around and whispered to Ye Donglin:

"Sweet potatoes here are quite expensive. They're not that big, but they cost one penny per pound. In town, you can buy two pounds of sweet potatoes for one penny."

"People here are either rich or noble, so it's normal for things to be more expensive. Besides, the rent of shops here is also expensive."

Ye Donglin had inquired about it before. For example, the shops on South Street with better locations would cost several hundred taels.

Even if it is a rented shop, the rent is two taels of silver a month.

The wool comes from the sheep. If the rent is high, the things sold will naturally not be cheap.

After leaving the grain shop, the father and son went to a bookstore next door.

At that time, the students were still studying in the academy, and the bookstore was deserted, with only the owner and a young clerk at the counter.

At this time, the shopkeeper was dozing off on the counter, his head pecking at rice, bit by bit, like a chicken pecking at rice.

However, as soon as the two of them came in, the shopkeeper immediately greeted them warmly.

"What do you two need? Our store has all the four treasures of the study and various books."

Father Ye pretended to know nothing:

"Hello, shopkeeper. My child is about to start his education. I want to buy some books on enlightenment and a set of four treasures of the study. Could you recommend some?"

When the shopkeeper heard that the two people wanted enlightenment books and a set of four treasures of the study, he immediately became excited.

"Yes, yes, both of you come with me."

As they walked forward, the shopkeeper secretly took a look at the two men's clothes. Although they were wearing clothes made of ordinary linen, there were no patches on them.

Moreover, both of them are tall and have ruddy complexions, and they seem to come from well-off families.

These two people don't know anything yet, and they are the easiest guests to deal with.

Thinking of this, the smile on the shopkeeper's face became even more amiable.

The shopkeeper took the father and son to the shelf nearby and introduced them one by one:

"There are three kinds of Xuan paper. The one on the left is as white as snow. It is the favorite of the teachers in the academy. It is of the best quality, but a little expensive, costing 200 coins per piece."

When Ye Donglin heard that a piece of rice paper cost 200 wen, he took a breath and his eyes widened.

My god, this is too expensive. It's twice as expensive as the most expensive rice paper sold in his grocery store.

Seeing that the two looked unhappy, the shopkeeper smiled and introduced another kind of rice paper:

"The one in the middle is affordable and of good quality. Ordinary students use this one. It only costs 100 coins per knife."

"The one on the edge is the lowest quality, and it only costs 80 cents. Although it's cheap, it's prone to pilling and the ink also smudges easily. I don't recommend this for beginners."

Ye Donglin also sells three kinds of rice paper in the grocery store, which are 100 wen per piece, 80 wen per piece and 60 wen per piece. Compared with this, they are really cheap.

Ye's father didn't say which one he wanted, but asked the shopkeeper to continue introducing other things.

There are many kinds of brushes in bookstores, ranging from the cheapest 180 coins to several taels of silver.

There are pen pens made of rabbit hair, wolf hair, and fox hair, and there are also several different thicknesses of pen barrels.

Grinding stones and inkstones are even more expensive. The cheapest ones cost several hundred coins, and the most expensive ones even cost more than ten taels of silver.

The high price left the father and son stunned.

The two had known for a long time that things used by scholars were expensive, but they had never imagined they would be so expensive.

As for other books, they are generally about 10% more expensive than the bookstores they usually buy from, and they do not sell used books.

Ye's father also asked if the books here could be rented, but the shopkeeper refused outright.

"If everyone rents books, then there won't be any books to sell in the shop."

Knowing that books cannot be rented here, Ye's father and Ye Donglin think this is a good business.

Renting books is much cheaper than buying them, and it can attract a group of students to the Ye family's shop.

Coming out of the bookstore, Ye Donglin couldn't help but complain:

"The things here are too expensive, it's like robbing money."

But even though they complained, the money-loving father and son were still in a very good mood. After all, there is no business without dishonesty. If the products were not sold at a high price, they would not be able to make any money.

Moreover, the more expensive the books in the bookstore are, the more people will come to rent books from them.