The sun rose to the horizon.
The ox cart stopped on the main street of Ping'an Town.
Cheng Luanluan and Zhao Dashan jumped off the cart and first headed to the pawnshop.
It was still early, but the town was already bustling with people coming and going, and roadside stalls were crowded, mostly selling snacks, their tantalizing aroma filling the air.
Upon reaching the pawnshop, Cheng Luanluan paused for a moment: "Dashan, go buy two meat buns."
Then she took a few copper coins from her waist and handed them over.
Zhao Dashan turned and left.
Cheng Luanluan stepped into the pawnshop, and a clerk stood up to greet her.
She took out a silver hairpin from her sleeve. The clerk appraised its quality, then held up one finger: "One hundred copper coins."
Cheng Luanluan's brow twitched. Her husband had spent nearly a tael of silver to buy this, yet it was only worth one hundred copper coins?
"This silver hairpin is very old, and its style isn't pretty. Furthermore, recently many people have brought jewelry here to pawn, so prices naturally fall," the clerk explained reasonably. "Madam, I'm not giving you a wrong price."
Being called "madam" made Cheng Luanluan feel like crying inside.
She took back the silver hairpin: "Forget it, it's not worth it."
One hundred copper coins was truly too little. It wasn't worth pawning the original owner's engagement token with her husband for such a small amount of money.
She turned and walked out. The clerk didn't call her back, confident that when her family completely ran out of food, this "madam" would definitely return.
Outside, Zhao Dashan had already bought the buns. He quickly asked, "Mother, how much did you get?"
Cheng Luanluan put the silver hairpin back into her sleeve and said, "Two hundred copper coins."
Yesterday, selling mushrooms earned a small amount of money, which she used to buy seasonings and soap. This morning, she bought two more meat buns, leaving exactly two hundred copper coins.
Zhao Dashan broke into a smile: "Two hundred copper coins can buy a lot of food..."
Only when there was food in the house did he feel at ease.
Cheng Luanluan took out ten copper coins and gave them to him: "Go to the general store and buy some salt, and some necessary seasonings. I'll go check the grain store."
Zhao Dashan popped a bun into his mouth, took the copper coins, and went to do the errand.
Cheng Luanluan immediately went to the grain store. Each type of food had its price displayed: rice was twelve copper coins per *jin*, corn five copper coins, and flour eight copper coins.
Her brows furrowed. When she had previously come to town to buy food, corn only cost two copper coins per *jin*. How long had it been, yet the price had increased so much?
She walked out of the grain store, found a small, deserted alley, and opened the System Store. Compared to the grain store, the items in the System Store were much more reasonably priced.
Rice was two copper coins per *jin*, so she bought twenty *jin*. Flour was four copper coins per *jin*, so she bought twenty *jin*. Then she used thirty copper coins to buy an iron pot.
The basket on her back instantly became incredibly heavy. She had originally planned to buy a few more things, but she truly couldn't carry any more on her back.
Cheng Luanluan carried the basket, weighing several tens of *jin*, out and met Zhao Dashan.
Zhao Dashan held a small packet of table salt in his hand: "Mother, salt prices have gone up. Ten copper coins can only buy this much."
Cheng Luanluan shook her head: "I just bought some things too. Let's go home."
The price of salt in the System Store was cheap; ten copper coins could buy five large bags.
As the two walked towards the ox cart, a commotion suddenly broke out at the crossroads. People on the street were excitedly discussing, their faces agitated.
"Last night, bandits broke into Squire Wang's residence and stole a thousand *jin* of rice!"
"These bandits are too audacious! How dare they sneak into a house to steal food? Has it been reported to the officials?"
“Last night, we reported it to the authorities, but they still couldn't catch anyone. Everyone remember to lock your doors in the evening; don't let the bandits track you.”
“…”
Cheng Luanluan turned her head, only to see that the grain store had changed its price list. Rice had become fifteen *wen* per *jin*.
Zhao Da Shan's eyes widened and his mouth fell open: “How could this be…”
Cheng Luanluan sighed.