Chapter 55: Cart Forged from Pure Refined Iron

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Cart Forged from Pure Refined Iron

Yun Zhen hadn’t seen much of the world!

This was her first time seeing a pointed pickaxe. In her village, they usually used flat-headed pickaxes.

The stall offered a massive variety of farm tools. For example, while her village typically used pointed shovels, this stall also sold flat and round-headed ones. Moreover, these tools were made with generous amounts of high-quality refined iron. The solid wooden handles connecting to the metal heads were polished perfectly smooth, without a single rough spot. Every single piece was top-notch, yet astonishingly cheap.

"Miss, this pointed pickaxe in my hand can not only break through solid ice, but it can even crack large Shitou. It’s a premium farm tool, nationally certified, and stamped with the Agricultural Trade Bureau’s label.

"Everyone who has used it says it’s great!" the owner boasted.

Eager to close another deal with Yun Zhen, he added, "Since you’ve bought so much from me, Miss, I’ll drop the price! One pickaxe is usually thirty-two bucks, but I’ll give it to you for thirty! Take two—one flat-headed and one pointed—and you can have them both for sixty bucks!"

It could not only break through ice but also crack large Shitou? Yun Zhen was tempted.

"What if it’s a rock-hard layer of ice frozen beneath deep snow?" she asked. "Can this pointed pickaxe really smash through that?"

The owner chuckled at her question. "You must be joking, Miss. If it can crack large Shitou, smashing through a frozen ice layer under the snow is a piece of cake. Take it back and try it out. If there’s any problem with my goods and it can’t break that ice layer you mentioned, bring it straight back. I’ll give you triple compensation."

The owner spoke with flying spit, his absolute certainty leaving no room for doubt. He pointed to the storefront behind him. "My shop is right here. It’s not like I’m going to run away. Besides, even if I did, you could always file a complaint against me."

Yun Zhen was completely convinced. She counted out sixty bucks and said, "I’ll take two pickaxes. I’ll go back and test them. If they’re no good, I’ll return them. But if they work well, I’ll be back for more."

Having made the sale, the owner’s eyes narrowed into a happy smile. "Don’t you worry about a thing, Miss. This farmers’ market is a state-owned enterprise. I’d have to have a death wish to sell fakes here.

"Do you need anything else? It doesn’t have to be farm tools. Are you looking to buy rice, flour, grain, or cooking oil? The staples and oil here at the market are much cheaper than in regular grocery stores." He began his pitch again. "My mother-in-law sells rice, flour, and oil right next door. My cousin and her husband sell eggs and frozen goods, and an old classmate of mine opened a fruit shop just up ahead."

Yun Zhen had originally planned to buy rice anyway. However, her budget only allowed for rice that cost one buck a jin. She asked the owner, "Do they have rice for one buck a jin around here?"

"My mother-in-law’s shop even has rice for eighty cents a jin," the owner replied. "It tastes exactly the same as the stuff that costs two or three bucks, just with slightly broken grains. Are you buying flour, too? A jin is one tael or two bucks, but I recommend buying a whole sack. It’s much more cost-effective. A hundred-jin sack of flour is only sixty bucks."

Rice for eighty cents a jin? Yun Zhen realized that was less than a single copper coin. And flour was only sixty bucks for a hundred jin? She had already eaten refined white rice, but she had yet to try refined white flour. Flour could be used in so many ways—steamed buns, mantou, noodles, and dough drops—and it was even more filling than rice. She decided to buy a hundred-jin sack of flour. On top of that, she would buy a hundred jin of the eighty-cent rice.

Remembering her promise to let the villagers eat eggs, Yun Zhen asked, "What about eggs?"

Sensing another opportunity, the owner introduced, "My cousin’s shop has regular commercial eggs, free-range eggs, premium green-shelled eggs, highly nutritious first-lay eggs from pullets, and even pasteurized eggs that you can eat raw. What kind are you looking to buy?"

Yun Zhen wondered why buying eggs was so complicated. Weren’t eggs just eggs? Did they really need to be divided into categories?

"I just want regular eggs," Yun Zhen said. "How much are they?"

"A tray of fifty regular eggs is fourteen bucks."

The last time she bought eggs, a tray of thirty had cost thirteen bucks. Here, a tray of fifty was only fourteen bucks. What a steal! Suppressing her excitement, she said, "Could you please point the way, sir? I plan to buy some rice, flour, and a few trays of eggs."

"No trouble at all," the owner said with a smile. "I’ll take you directly to my mother-in-law’s and cousin’s shops. Just leave the farm tools you bought here for now. I’ll take you to get your rice, flour, and eggs."

"Don’t you need to watch your shop?" Yun Zhen knew the people in this world were enthusiastic, but it would be terrible if someone stole his merchandise while he was away.

The owner couldn’t have cared less. "There are security cameras everywhere, and the guy selling general goods across the way is an old pal of mine. He’ll keep an eye on things for me. Don’t worry about it."

The two shops weren’t far away; it took only a few steps to get there. As soon as he walked in, the owner shouted, "Mom! I brought a customer to buy rice and flour."

A chubby, incredibly kind-looking woman—the grain shop owner—hurried out. "Welcome, welcome! How much grain do you need, dear?"

As soon as Yun Zhen stepped inside, she was shocked by the sheer amount of food filling the room. Everywhere she looked, sacks of rice and flour were stacked into mountains, each one taller than the last. The air was thick with the fresh, fragrant scent of grain. With this much food, how many people could be fed!

Yun Zhen turned to her and said, "Ma’am, I heard you have rice for eighty cents a jin. I’ll take a hundred jin. I also want a hundred-jin sack of flour for sixty bucks... Actually, make it two sacks!"

"Sure thing, I’ll get that for you." The owner beamed and called her son-in-law over to lift the heavy grain. "Son, come over here for a second!"

The rice and flour were quickly brought out. A hundred jin of eighty-cent rice came to eighty bucks. Two sacks of flour cost one hundred and twenty bucks.

Smelling the fresh scent of the flour, Yun Zhen felt a surge of joy. Her parents, Little Treasure, and the rest of the villagers would finally get to eat delicious, fragrant dough drops.

The farm tool shop owner hefted a sack of flour into the grain shop’s handcart. "By the way, Miss, I haven’t asked where your car is parked. I’ll carry these over for you."

Yun Zhen lied with a straight face. "Just take them to the alley up ahead for me. I’ve asked my family to come pick me up."

The owner didn’t suspect a thing.

After purchasing the flour, she followed the owner to buy eggs.

"Lu Lu, I brought a customer to buy some eggs!" the owner shouted as they entered the shop.

His cousin came over, asking Yun Zhen with a bright smile, "What price range are you looking for? I have regular eggs for a dozen or so bucks a tray, premium eggs for nine bucks a jin, and high-protein, highly nutritious eggs that are sold individually."

"I want the regular fourteen-buck eggs," Yun Zhen replied. "I’ll take ten trays!"

Five hundred eggs would be enough for the villagers to eat for a very long time.

"Oh! That’s quite a lot. Give me a moment, I’ll pack them up for you." Shocked by the large order, the egg shop owner yelled at the top of her lungs, "Honey! Come out here and stop messing around in the back, it’s urgent!"

The married couple quickly packed up the eggs.

Afterward, the farm tool shop owner pushed a handcart loaded with the flour and rice, while Lu Lu and her husband each pushed a cart carrying five trays of eggs. Per Yun Zhen’s request, they delivered the goods to the deserted alley she had scouted out earlier. Working together, they also brought over the farm tools she had purchased.

Yun Zhen fixed her eyes on their handcarts. Good heavens, the carts were forged entirely of refined iron without a single piece of wood. They were infinitely better than wooden wheelbarrows. The egg shop owner was a petite, slender woman, yet she hadn’t looked strained in the slightest while pushing the cart.

The more Yun Zhen looked at it, the more she loved it. "Where can I buy this two-wheeled cart?" She reasoned that filling it with snow and pushing it to the ditch outside the village would be much more convenient than carrying it by hand!

Hearing that another business opportunity had knocked on his door, the farm tool shop owner perked up. "What a coincidence! My shop sells two-wheeled iron dump carts. They make hauling Shitou effortless. The enlarged, thickened model is only three hundred bucks."

Yun Zhen began to calculate the remaining money she had on her.