Chapter 105: Counting Money Until Sweating Profusely

Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Counting Money Until Sweating Profusely

Yun Zhen immediately agreed to have the beef cut according to the owner’s suggestion.

The owner called his younger brother over to take down the hanging cow and carry it to a large table on the side. Wielding a large cleaver, he removed the limbs, sliced the meat into thick chunks, and chopped the bones into segments. It took exactly five large transparent bags to pack all the beef, which he then weighed right in front of Yun Zhen.

"Watch closely, miss. It’s a total of 1,270 catties. Like we agreed, I’m charging you fifteen yuan per catty, based on the price of a live cow." The owner showed her the weight on the scale each time before pulling out a calculator to tally up the total. "The offal is included. You bought a whole sheep from me yesterday, and now a whole cow today, so I won’t charge you for the organs. Let’s exchange contact information in a bit so you can reach out to me directly whenever you want to buy beef or mutton in the future."

"Offal?" Yun Zhen had never seen anyone in her village eat organ meat. She had only heard that people in the county town would go to great lengths to clean the offal and cook it into dishes for wealthy families. But the crucial issue was that they didn’t have water to wash it.

The village had only one well, located right at the entrance. It usually produced little water, so everyone had to go to the river instead. When the snowstorm struck, the well had been completely ruined. The river had also frozen over with thick ice, buried under layer upon layer of snow. They relied entirely on melting snow for drinking water. Washing the offal would require a massive amount of water. Melting that much snow would consume far too much firewood and time.

A troubled expression appeared on Yun Zhen’s face.

Noticing this, the owner quickly added, "They’ve already been cleaned. You just need to rinse them once more before eating. I also have some spices for cooking beef. I’ll give you ten packets for free—one packet is enough to stew a huge pot of meat."

Yun Zhen’s distress instantly vanished, replaced by pure joy. "Thank you! I’ll definitely come back to your stall the next time I need meat."

The owner nodded eagerly. He absolutely had to secure this major client. "Great! Let’s exchange contacts."

Having spent so much time in this world, Yun Zhen knew that "contacts" meant mobile phones. She had learned from Li Mei that exchanging contact info allowed people to transmit their voices across thousands of miles. Unfortunately, she didn’t own a phone.

Yun Zhen could only say, "Just write your number down for me."

The owner assumed she was simply wary of adding strangers, which didn’t bother him at all. "No need to go through all that trouble. I’ll give you a business card in a bit."

Yun Zhen didn’t know what a business card was, but she knew the owner had understood her intentions.

While the owner was busy cutting the beef, Yun Zhen handed him the money. It was 1,270 catties of beef at fifteen yuan a catty.

Yun Zhen verified the total with him. "That’s 19,050 yuan in total."

The owner looked up in surprise. "You figured that out without a calculator, miss? You’re pretty good at math. Just give me 19,000 yuan. The extra fifty is a discount for a new friend."

Yun Zhen felt truly blessed. Everyone she met was so kind and generous. "Thank you." She counted out a thick stack of cash and handed it to him.

The owner was astounded. "Wow! You’re paying in pure cash, miss?" Leaving his younger brother to finish portioning the beef, he sat off to the side to count the bills. The amount was perfect, and he swiftly checked each note for authenticity. By the time he finished counting, he was sweating profusely. The money was flawless, and he safely tucked it into his satchel.

Seeing the owner sweat buckets just from counting money, Yun Zhen silently prayed that Brother Zhao would finish setting up her bank card as soon as possible.

Once the meat was sorted, the owner and his brother hoisted the transparent bags. "Your cart won’t be able to hold all this beef, miss. Do you want me to help you move it into the alleyway again today? When will your family be here? I can have my wife watch over your things for a bit so no one steals them."

"Let’s take it to the alleyway over there," Yun Zhen replied, feeling a little sheepish. "Could I trouble you to ask your wife to keep an eye on the beef for me? I still have a few other things to purchase, but I’ll try to finish up as quickly as possible."

"No problem!" The owner called out to his wife. She immediately drove an electric tricycle over, loaded up the meat, and headed for the alley. Looking back, she smiled at Yun Zhen. "Don’t worry, miss. Take your time getting everything you need. I’ll watch the beef for you."

"Thank you for your help, ma’am."

Yun Zhen watched her drive the beef-laden tricycle toward the alley before pushing her own handcart off to buy other supplies.

After walking a short distance, she spotted a pork stall. Business seemed to be booming here, and they sold pork all day long.

"Excuse me, I’d like to buy two fully slaughtered and cleaned pigs. How much are they?" Yun Zhen stared at the row of lifeless pigs lined up across the long stall.

At the front, the owner’s wife was handling customers, while the owner himself was in the back, wielding a knife to chop pork into sections.

"You want to buy whole pigs?" the owner’s wife asked eagerly. "We just got a few freshly slaughtered ones delivered from home, and they haven’t been divided up yet. Do you want them completely intact with the offal, miss, or without? If we’re selling whole pigs, our prices are exactly the same as the other stalls—eleven yuan a catty. A pig weighs about 180 catties, and the offal is weighed together with the meat."

Yun Zhen thought it over and made up her mind. "I’ll take two. Please help me separate the heads, limbs, meat, and bones."

Beaming, the owner’s wife pointed at the pigs on the long table. "These were all just brought over and haven’t been processed yet. Our pigs are free-range mountain pigs, raised on the hills behind our house. They grow up eating wheat bran and wild fruits, so their meat is firm and the fat is rich and thick. They’re completely different from pigs raised on commercial feed. Pick any two, miss, and I’ll have my husband butcher them for you. The organs have already been machine-washed. Just scrub them with a little salt before eating, and I guarantee there won’t be the slightest funky smell."

Yun Zhen pointed to the two largest ones. "I’ll take these two." The pigskin gleamed with a fresh, rosy-white luster under the lights.

The owner’s wife smiled broadly. "Hubby, process these two pigs first!" She then turned back. "Just wait a moment, please. My husband is fast; he’ll have it done in no time."

Yun Zhen waited off to the side for quite a while.

"The pork is all separated, miss. We’ve packed it into transparent bags and weighed it for you," the owner’s wife said. "One pig is 186 catties. The other is 192 catties. That makes 378 catties in total, which comes out to 4,158 yuan."

Yun Zhen counted out the exact amount and handed it over.

"Could you help me move the meat into that alleyway over there? My family will come pick it up in a bit." Yun Zhen pointed in the direction, and the owner’s wife immediately knew where she meant.

"I also bought a slaughtered cow earlier," Yun Zhen added, "and the beef stall owner had his wife watch over it for me. When you get there, just tell the lady that these are my purchases."

"You got it!" the pork stall owner’s wife said, wiping her hands before pushing over a flatbed delivery cart.

Yun Zhen then set off to buy other supplies. When she came across white and brown sugar, she directly bought a hundred yuan’s worth, placing two large bags of sugar into her cart.

Looking at a pastry shop, her nose twitched. A rich, overpowering, and wondrous aroma filled her nose. She swallowed involuntarily and murmured, "That smells amazing!"

She stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, do you sell sugar cakes here?"

The shop owner was busy pulling a tray of freshly baked pastries out of a massive iron oven. They were soft, golden-orange, and wafted a mouthwatering fragrance. Hearing Yun Zhen’s question, he reflexively asked, "Sugar cakes? What sugar cakes? I’ve got sponge cakes, all kinds of butter cookies, walnut crisps, and little cream cakes here."