Chapter 61: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 61 Buy, Buy, Buy!
"Dad, let's split up. I'll go buy seasonings, and you go buy seeds!"
"No, it's too dangerous!"
Chen Yuan refused without hesitation. He couldn't allow his lovely and beautiful daughter to roam the streets alone. What if she got bullied by bad people? What if she got deceived by scammers? What if she tripped and hurt herself on the uneven roads? Seeing his father's firmness, Chen Xue didn't argue further. She knew it was for her own good, and to be honest, despite inheriting memories from her past life, she still didn't understand this world very well.
They first went to buy seeds. Fortunately, it was autumn and winter, so the seeds were readily available after the harvest.
To ensure the seeds adapted well to Nanman, they planned to buy several varieties and experiment to see which ones grew best.
However, Chen Yuan had no experience in farming and didn't know how much seed was appropriate. Thankfully, Chen Xue, who grew up in the countryside in her past life, had a better understanding.
Chen Yuan was a bit baffled. He couldn't believe his refined daughter knew so much about farming. She was supposed to be a refined young lady, not an expert in agriculture.
She even discussed fertilizers and compost with the shopkeepers, impressing them with her knowledge.
In the end, Chen Xue bought sixty catties of seeds, twenty catties of each variety. She figured it was better to buy more since they were still far from Nanman and would pass through several cities where they could buy more if needed.
Additionally, they bought a lot of vegetable seeds, as they were in short supply. Although Chen Xue could grow some vegetables in her space, the variety was limited.
Most importantly, they bought chili peppers. Chen Xue, being from Qiyanzhou, loved spicy food. To her, a meal without chili peppers lacked flavor.
Although the locals used Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, ginger, and garlic in their cooking, they didn't use chili peppers. This made Chen Xue, who was used to spicy food, lose her appetite.
At first, she thought there were no chili peppers in this world, but now she realized they existed in various varieties, though they were not commonly used in cooking and were sometimes considered fruits.
Chen Xue was speechless. She couldn't understand how people could consider chili peppers as fruits. However, it seemed not all chili peppers could be considered fruits. She only saw large round red peppers, similar to bell peppers, and long slender ones that resembled green peppers but were not called green peppers.
For Chen Xue, a good stir-fry required at least three types of chili peppers to taste delicious.
So, she dragged her father around the entire county to gather several varieties of chili peppers.
Next, they looked for ingredients to make hot pot seasoning. In her past life, it was mostly made with beef fat, but since beef was rare here, they couldn't buy beef fat. Instead, Chen Xue planned to make a spicy hot pot base, which didn't require beef fat and could use any other oil.
However, Chen Xue couldn't forget about beef. She used to eat pork the most because it was cheap, but she also liked lamb. Duck was not her favorite, and she could only accept chicken depending on how it was cooked.
But beef was her favorite, and for a period in her past life, beef was even cheaper than pork.
Unfortunately, she hadn't tasted beef since coming here.
Whether it was making beef fat or wanting to eat beef, Chen Xue wanted to try buying beef.
"Dad, do you think we can buy a few cows?" she asked.
One cow would be enough for them to eat for half a month or even a month, especially with the preservation function of her space. She wasn't worried about it spoiling. If necessary, she could exchange for a refrigerator and a generator from the system.
"Buy cows?"
Chen Yuan was taken aback but quickly understood his daughter's desire for beef. They had bought it a few times before, and his daughter really liked it.
However, the court prohibited the slaughter and sale of cattle. Of course, if the cow died of illness, old age, or accident, it could be eaten or sold.
But the problem was, scarcity increased value. Although beef was also popular among the nobles and wealthy families, whenever beef appeared on the market, it was bought up by them, leaving none for ordinary people.
Moreover, it was expensive, beyond the reach of ordinary people.
However, how could he refuse when his daughter wanted it so badly?
"Come with me!"
Chen Yuan stopped a passerby to ask for directions, then took Chen Xue out of the county to a small village a few miles away.
The meat in the city was quickly sold out, so they still had a chance to buy some in the village. Some greedy people would even sell their own cattle for money.
However, Chen Yuan didn't immediately knock on doors to inquire about buying cows. If they encountered someone with a bad temper, they might get attacked with a hoe.
First, Chen Yuan took Chen Xue around the village to survey. They needed to confirm which households had cows and how many.
Fortunately, it was a village, and the courtyard walls were not high, so they could see into some of the courtyards and even hear the cows mooing.
After a while, Chen Yuan found a target—a rundown courtyard with a collapsed wall and a sheepfold inside.
Several sheep were crowded together in the sheepfold, seemingly asleep, while a young yellow ox was tied next to it. Behind it, a small yellow calf happily lowered its head to eat grass.
Their target was the calf. Even if they sold the calf, it wouldn't affect the family since they already had an ox. Moreover, their house looked dilapidated, indicating they were in need of money. As long as they were willing to pay, they could buy it.
Even if they didn't eat it, they could use it for plowing when they reached Nanman. They were well aware that they wouldn't be provided with plow cattle in Nanman.
Also, they had nowhere to buy them. If they wanted to farm, they had to do it themselves, and the land there had not been cultivated. It was extremely difficult to cultivate the land manually.
Moreover, there were requirements for planting there. They had to cultivate the land within a certain number of days and plant seeds within another certain number of days. Failure to do so would result in punishment.
For light punishment, they would just be beaten or have their grain deducted, or they would have to contribute more during the harvest next year.
For severe punishment, they might be driven out of the village, and they might even starve to death in the wilderness or be captured by the Nanman people.
In short, having a yellow ox would be a huge help in farming.
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