In the evening, Li Shi cooked a good meal. The thing that hunters had no shortage of was wild game, especially during the autumn harvest season when wild game was the fattest. Li Shi bought two rabbits and cooked a big pot of rabbit meat.

Zhulan asked Li Shi to send a bowl to the Liu family.

Zhang Sanni was very nervous. She didn’t want to expose her lie. Fortunately, Li Shi acted as if she didn’t know her. Zhang Sanni felt relieved. After careful consideration, she realized that it must be Zhou Yang Shi who told her so.

She had long discovered that the Zhou family didn’t like trouble and would not take the initiative to cause trouble, so Zhang Sanni was completely relieved.

After the Liu family had dinner, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went to the main house of the Liu family under an umbrella.

Old man Liu was smoking a pipe, and Liu Zhang Shi was sewing shoe soles.

Liu Zhang Shi came in to greet Zhulan and asked, “What is it that brings you here at this hour, Madam Juren?”

Zhulan smiled and said, “My boss and I heard from the escort that your village is a famous hunter village. Winter is coming soon, and I want to find some top-quality furs, so I came here to ask if you have any top-quality furs.”

Liu Zhang Shi couldn’t make the decision, so she looked after the head of the household.

Old man Liu put down his pipe and asked, “Would Madam Juren like fox fur or mink fur?”

Zhulan knew that the Liu family had good furs when she heard this. “Fox fur or mink fur will do.”

Old man Liu said to his wife, “Take it out.”

Liu Zhang Shi put down the sole of the shoe in her hand and said, “Ok!”

Old man Liu explained, “Last year the market was good, and the pressed furs were sold last winter. It’s rare to get fox skins in a year, and we were lucky to get two this year. Madam Juren, please see if there’s anything you like.”

Old Man Liu hopes to be able to sell them, as hunters like them rely on luck to get good skins, and they hope to make more money from good furs throughout the year. However, the fur shops in the city bully hunters like them, and even if the market was good, the price they offered would not be too high. They also wanted to sell them individually, but the stalls were either taken away or the prices were forced down by some housekeepers, so it was better to sell them directly to the shops!

The village liked the passing caravans very much, but unfortunately, few of them stopped. However, every time they stopped, they would sell some furs. It was a pity that they bought too little, but the price was still good.

Liu Zhang Shi took out the furs; there were two fox skins, and Zhulan liked them at first sight. They were both red fox skins and two top-quality mink skins. Zhulan asked the price, “How much do you sell these for?”

Old man Liu knocked on the pipe with his pipe in hand and said, “I don’t want it to be too expensive. I’ll sell it cheaper than the store. A fox skin is 20 taels, and a mink skin is 12 taels.”

Zhulan recalled the prices at the Pingzhou fur shop. The best fox fur was thirty taels of silver per piece, while the second-rate mink fur started at ten taels of silver.

Zhulan was calculating in her mind. This was much cheaper than the store. Then she thought about the fur dealers’ purchase price, which was even cheaper. This business was really lucrative. No wonder it was monopolized. “I want all four. Does anyone else have high-quality fox skins? I want to buy a few more.”

Old man Liu smoked his pipe again. “No more. There are quite a few rabbit skins in the village. Foxes are hard to hunt. This year only our family hunted fox skins. The others sold them last year.”

Zhulan’s wish to save more money was shattered, but being able to buy four was already very good, which would be nice to keep as a dowry for the girls at home or give away as a gift.

Zhou Shuren kept talking, staring at the old man with his peripheral vision, and said with a smile, “There should be better furs at home.”

Old Man Liu dealt mostly with businessmen and seldom with scholars. Although there were scholars who came to visit him every year, they always looked down on them. His family had also had a scholar staying at their house, and in his impression, the scholar always walked with his head held high.

This was the first time he spoke to the old man. After being stunned for a moment and digesting what the scholar said, Old Man Liu squinted his eyes and thought to himself, how did the scholar see that?

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “Don’t be nervous, we are buying with sincerity. If we have good leather, we will definitely give you a fair price.”

Old man Liu winked at the old woman and said, “Master Juren is a scholar. I can trust him.”

Liu Zhang Shi was delighted. The price of these four skins was 20 taels more than the price of the skins sold to the merchants who bought them. Zhulan waited for a while before she saw the skins Liu Zhang Shi took out. They were two white fox skins. Zhulan blinked her eyes. They were really white fox skins. The skins sold at the Pingzhou fur shop were 80 taels each. Sometimes they were out of stock even though you wanted to buy them.

Old man Liu was depressed. He couldn’t tell what Juren and his wife were thinking because they had no expression on their faces. This made it difficult for him to ask for a price. He thought for a while and said, “White fox fur is hard to find. I made it three years ago and haven’t seen it since. I’ll sell it for 70 taels a piece.”

He didn’t dare let anyone know that he had made it. He would definitely lower the price when selling it to the merchant who was buying it. It would be good if he could sell it for forty taels per piece. If others knew about it, it would bring trouble. He had been hiding it all this time, so it would be good if he could get rid of it today.

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren, and Zhou Shuren nodded slightly. These two pieces of rare white fox skins could be excellent gifts if used properly.

Zhulan spent 204 taels to buy six furs and even had to empty a box to store the furs.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night, and they could continue their journey the next day. After breakfast, Li Shi took Xinghua to pack her luggage.

The Liu family made a lot of money from the Zhou family last night. Liu Zhang Shi made some dumplings in the morning and specially gave them to Zhulan to eat on the way. The filling of the dumplings was wild boar meat and cabbage.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were the last ones to get on the carriage. Zhulan opened the curtain and looked back at the Liu family. She happened to see Zhang Sanni saluting her. She understood why Zhang Sanni was saluting her.

Zhulan smiled. This girl was a rare person who could see reality clearly and also knew how to seize opportunities. Zhulan let down the curtain and thought of the girls she had met since traveling through time. Zhang Sanni and Wang Rong would never hope for an illusory future but would grasp reality. That was why they could fight for their own happiness step by step in difficult environments.

This time when she returned to Zhoujia Village, she also met Wang Rong. Wang Rong was calm and peaceful, with a constant smile on her face. Even Zhou Wang Shi praised her.

This morning, she was also observing the Liu family. The Liu family was a rare, kind-hearted family. Although Zhang Sanni’s husband was not good-looking, he would help Zhang Sanni carry water.

In ancient times, if a woman could find a husband who loved her, her future would not be bad.

Zhulan leaned her head on Zhou Shuren’s shoulder, lifted Zhou Shuren’s hand, put her own hand on top, held the small hand with his big hand, and curled her lips, “It’s great to have you.”

Zhou Shuren shook his hand back, “I should have said that.”

He thought more than once, what would have happened to him if Zhulan hadn’t saved him? Died? Or traveled through time?

Zhulan smiled and said nothing more. Zhou Shuren also smiled and held Zhulan’s hand tightly.

Because it was raining and the road was mountainous, the carriage was not moving fast, and it was not until the evening that they barely got out of the mountain area. There was still some distance to the post station. Fortunately, they were out of the mountain area, so there would be no danger even if it rained again.

The journey was not smooth afterward. It was the autumn harvest time and the rain increased. After several heavy rains, the carriage had difficulty moving forward.

When Zhulan had nothing to do, she would lie by the cart window and watch the farmers harvesting crops in the muddy fields. In ancient times, there were no machines, and everything depended on manpower. The farmers’ work became even harder after several heavy rains.

She should be thankful that this was not a disaster year. At least this year was a bumper year, although the rainfall during the autumn harvest was a little heavier.

Zhulan was worried about her hometown. “I don’t know if it has rained in my hometown. And according to the date, Xuemei will be out of confinement soon.”

(End of this chapter)

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