LGHTNOVELBOOK 15: Inquiring About Market Prices
Regardless of Chen Gouzi’s internal fantasies, the old yellow ox pulling the cart plodded toward town, its leisurely pace making Gu Yu very depressed.
If not for his weak body, even walking on his own would be faster than the ox cart.
Especially when the ox disobediently nibbled on grass leaves here and there, their forward progress became even slower.
This made Gu Yu doubt whether this speed could really allow for a round trip between the village and town in half an hour.
Fortunately, the old yellow ox didn’t constantly lower its head to eat grass. By the time they swayed into town, Gu Yu felt like his body had been shaken to pieces. The moment he got off, if he hadn’t quickly reached out to steady himself against the cart, he would have fallen miserably.
“Tsk tsk, so weak.”
Seeing Gu Yu’s embarrassment, Chen Gouzi couldn’t miss the opportunity to kick him while he was down. However, regardless of what he said, Gu Yu had no intention of acknowledging him.
This kind of clown wasn’t worth his attention—engaging would only lower his own status.
After his body adjusted, Gu Yu looked around at his surroundings. Once he had memorized several landmark buildings, he ignored everyone else and headed straight for the bustling marketplace.
Although he planned to sell the wild prey from his space, Gu Yu wanted to first understand the market prices to avoid being taken advantage of.
Even losing a single copper coin would pain Gu Yu!
“Uncle, how much is this chicken?”
“Not expensive. Look how fat it is—one hundred copper coins each.”
“That’s not expensive? It looks only a bit over three jin. That’s more expensive than pork!”
“Look at the scale—it weighs over four jin! Much more cost-effective than pork. Besides, even if you don’t eat it, you can take it home to raise it for eggs!”
Walking to a chicken stall, Gu Yu examined the chickens with their feet tied together, eventually pointing to a fat chicken and asking the vendor about the price.
These chickens were bred and raised at home. Wild pheasants from the mountains were much more delicious than domestic chickens and commanded higher prices.
Even if Gu Yu set up his own stall to sell, he would earn more than if Gu Mengyao handed them over to others to sell.
However, after a moment’s thought, Gu Yu understood why Gu Mengyao would hand them over to others to exchange for money, even at a lower price.
In ancient times, there weren’t many women who would openly set up stalls, and Gu Mengyao, being a young girl, would be especially conspicuous.
Those looking for trouble always picked the easy targets… This explained why Gu Mengyao sold wild prey at a loss—safety was most important.
This was also why Gu Yu’s predecessor had neglected the household. Otherwise, even at twelve years old, setting up a stall in town to sell things wouldn’t be a problem.
Because Gu Yu was a man.
Thinking of this, Gu Yu couldn’t help but shake his head, sighing at how obvious the division between men and women was in ancient times.
No wonder widows whose husbands had died and divorced women had such a difficult time in ancient society.
“Pork tastes much better than chicken. Your price is too high—I’ll look around some more.”
Gu Yu exchanged a few words with the vendor, then swayed forward, asking a question whenever he saw a meat stall. Before long, he had learned the prices of various meats in the market.
A chicken weighing around four jin cost about ninety copper coins, while a rabbit of equal weight would cost thirty copper coins more. These were domesticated animals—wild prey from the mountains would be even more expensive.
After understanding the situation, Gu Yu didn’t continue to wander aimlessly. He spent four copper coins to buy a covered woven basket, then headed toward the busy row of shops ahead.
He had quite a bit of wild prey in his space, but he couldn’t produce too much at once, or it would lose its value.
Selling these wild animals to restaurants would likely earn him a decent amount.