Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space-Chapter 38.Buy

Seeing her granddaughter eyeing the pork ribs with such longing, how could Old Madam Hua refuse? Even though she thought buying pork ribs was not worth it—no fat and too many bones.

"Shopkeeper, throw in a few more ribs." She glanced at the cleaned big bones beside her and decided to take them too; after all, these weren’t worth much.

"Alright!" The shopkeeper was pleased with such a big order and skillfully cut the meat.

"Five pounds of fatty meat, three pounds of mixed fat and lean, let’s round it to one hundred and thirteen coins since you’ve bought so much, sister-in-law. Five pounds of ribs, forty-nine coins. As for these big bones, I’ll give them to you for five coins."

The shopkeeper was shrewd in business; the bones were practically given away.

Old Madam Hua did the math in her mind. It wasn’t overpriced, and her face broke into a smile: "Oh, thank you, shopkeeper."

"No need to thank me; just come more often in the future," said the shopkeeper with a grin.

"Of course, from now on, I’ll only buy from your stall," Old Madam Hua grinned.

"Come back again next time!"

"Sure, sure."

It was fortunate they brought an extra basket, otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough space for all the meat. After covering it, the three left the butcher shop.

Then they took Hua Jin into a nearby grocery store. Since they were here, they might as well buy whatever the household needed.

This was Hua Jin’s first time in a grocery store; it was full of various items, food, utensils, things to see, all of which fascinated her.

First, her mother bought a pound of coarse salt, but seeing the bluish-green specks in the coarse salt, Hua Jin couldn’t help but frown.

Though not knowledgeable in this area, she could tell the coarse salt had a high chemical content and eating it might be harmful to health.

Even this pound of coarse salt cost thirty coins, much more expensive than meat. No wonder people were reluctant to buy it; one or half a pound could last for a year for struggling households.

Hua Jin glanced at the fine salt next to the coarse salt jar and fell silent.

Compared to the coarse salt, the fine salt was indeed much finer, but that was only relative. Although it wasn’t dark, it was still rather yellowish and didn’t look pure, indicating insufficient filtration during production.

Seeing her mother carefully put away the coarse salt, Hua Jian managed to restrain her itching hands.

If she hadn’t noticed, fine; but since she did, it was impossible for the family to consume such salt long-term.

It seemed she had to think of a way to convince her grandmother and mother to let her handle... not as bad as filtering the bought coarse salt.

Hua Jin’s gaze kept sweeping around the grocery store, but she was a bit disappointed not to see any time-travel protagonist perks like discovering special seeds.

Then again, getting a spatial advantage was already incredible; she was expecting too much.

Afterward, her mother bought some vinegar, soy sauce, and two ounces of sesame oil, hesitated and then took a pack of pastries, spending almost fifty coins altogether before leaving the store, clutching the purchases with a pained expression.

They didn’t buy grain since they had recently sold some for various coarse grains, so they weren’t short of food for the time being.

Just when Hua Jin thought they were heading back to the stall, her mother and grandmother pulled her into a fabric shop.

Compared to the embroidery shop, the fabric here was more affordable; most were linen or ramie without cotton fabrics, which weren’t found in embroidery shops either. Jin Xiu was almost certain there were no cotton fabrics available locally, so cotton probably wasn’t in use.

Although most were more affordable, there were some better-quality fabrics, but they were a minimal part—silk and silk blends that looked expensive and served as eye candy for ordinary people.

Cishi wouldn’t even look at those, not because she couldn’t afford them—she could with some sacrifice—but because they weren’t practical; who would wear silk clothes while working the fields?

"Mom, I don’t want any," seeing her mother and grandmother unable to keep their eyes off the brightly colored fabrics, Hua Jin quickly spoke up.

It didn’t take much guessing to know they were thinking of buying for her.

She really did have clothes, and she had just made new autumn clothes not long ago.

Oh! Being doted on too much has its drawbacks!

Hua Jin sighed.

Cishi did have this intention, but upon hearing her daughter, she remembered the winter clothes made for her last year were still good for two or three years and decided to drop the idea.

After all, it was excitement; her daughter had earned over a tael of silver, and she thought the money should be spent on her. But since Jin’er didn’t want it, it was fine.

However, her two older sons hadn’t had new clothes in two years, and they’ve grown a lot since then. Not buying wasn’t an option, now was the right time for winter clothes.

Moreover, her parents-in-law hadn’t bought new fabric in years, their winter clothes had been patched over and over, needing replacement.

Adding it all up was another big expenditure, but thankfully today’s earnings were good. Although Cishi was pained over the money, she wasn’t unwilling.

Eventually, she bought a bolt of blue fine hemp for the two boys’ winter clothes and purchased half a bolt each of black and tea-brown fabrics for the in-laws despite their repeated refusals. They were all fine hemp, more expensive than coarse hemp, totaling six hundred thirty coins.

Seeing their substantial purchase, the shopkeeper threw in some extras—some fabric scraps. Though called scraps, some were large enough to make a pair of shoes.

Watching her mother take out her small silver pieces, Hua Jin knew that this wasn’t a sudden decision, and it seemed they had planned it before coming.

"Xiu Niang has said my and your father’s winter clothes can last another year; why spend so much money?"

Even after leaving, Old Madam Hua was distressed, reluctant when it came to herself, although buying fabric for the children didn’t warrant a blink of an eye.

"Mom..." Cishi looked at her mother-in-law helplessly, "Your winter clothes are beyond repair, and the added willow fluff has almost all fallen out, no longer warm. You can’t just worry about the current money. If you and dad catch a cold, it will cost much more."

"But... this is too expensive, there are so many expenses for the kids in the family. We two old folks can get by for another winter..."

"Mom," Cishi interrupted her mother-in-law, knowing full well what she wanted to say, but it wasn’t right to put it that way. How could it be that the younger ones were warm and the elders had to suffer the cold, becoming a subject of gossip?

Besides, since marrying into the Hua family, her in-laws treated her like their own daughter. As a daughter-in-law, she had observed this and already considered them her parents, so how could she let them suffer from the cold?

"Mom, don’t worry about the money, my husband and I will earn it back. Besides, this year the harvest on the land was good, we have enough for your and dad’s clothes."

Old Madam Hua was still distressed, but seeing such a filial daughter-in-law, her heart felt warm and pleased, thinking she’d spend more time doing embroidery to help with the family’s expenses since the money was already spent.

"Mom, don’t we have cotton here?" Hua Jin asked, changing the subject in passing.

"Cotton?" Cishi looked at her mother-in-law, and both shook their heads.

"Jin’er, is the cotton flower you mentioned some kind of flower? Is Jin’er looking to buy silk flowers?" With the word ’flower’, Cishi naturally thought of flowers.

Speaking, she couldn’t help but glance around the stalls; if her daughter wanted, she’d buy it, a silk flower wouldn’t be a big deal after spending so much money.

Hua Jin quickly shook her head, afraid her mother would go buy one if she was a moment later.