Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 114 Salted Duck Eggs and Fresh Milk

When the woman saw Shen Yu turned around, she bowed slightly and said in a gentle voice, "Miss, I'm fine, but do you want to buy something?"

Shen Yu also knelt down and saluted, "My lady, how are you? I want to buy some salted duck eggs. Your store is really eye-opening. I have never seen so many eggs of different sizes and varieties."

The woman was praised, her eyes turned into beautiful crescents, and she said complacently: "Miss, you have good taste. I dare say that my family has the most varieties of eggs in the whole county, and they are fresh. You can find whatever you want."

Shen Yu pointed at the white jade-like egg curiously and asked, "Madam, what kind of egg is this? Is it a bird's egg?"

The woman introduced them one by one. It turned out that this shop was close to the city gate. Hunters who went hunting outside the city and farmers who raised chickens and ducks would come here first when they came to the city to sell them. Her shop offered fair prices and accepted all kinds of bird eggs. Over time, the shop expanded to a certain scale and became famous.

Most of the strange eggs that Shen Yu saw were bird eggs.

In this era, there were many mountains and forests and no industrial pollution, so there were many wild animals and birds. Farmers living close to the mountains would farm during the busy farming season and go hunting in the mountains when they had free time. If they were lucky, the money they earned from the hunted prey was much higher than the harvest from farming.

When hunters go into the mountains to hunt, if it is the breeding season for birds, they will often pick up bird eggs. According to the woman, many wealthy families prefer to eat these rare bird eggs, because rare things are valuable.

Shen Yu found it interesting and asked about the price of the smallest bird egg. It was actually five hundred coins each. Shen Yu was surprised. The woman asked, "Miss, do you want to buy some to try? The taste is incomparable to chicken eggs. The yolk is fragrant and delicate, and very delicious."

Shen Yu waved his hands honestly and said with a smile: "I can't afford this, my lady, you are joking."

The woman was not annoyed, and continued to introduce with a smile: "I have several kinds of duck eggs here, including white-shelled duck eggs from mountain ducks, green-shelled duck eggs from lake ducks, and green-shelled duck eggs from river ducks. Which one do you want, young lady?"

Shen Yu asked with a smile: "Which of these types of oil is more delicious when used to make salted duck eggs?"

The woman smiled and said, "The lake duck is the best. The ducks are raised by the lake and eat small fish and shrimp all day long. After they are pickled, the yolks are all oily and the ducks are the most delicious. One costs ten coins."

Shen Yu nodded and smiled: "Then let's buy this kind, let's start with 60."

The woman said, "Young lady, please wait a moment," and went to the back of the shop. After a while, she came out with a bamboo basket filled with green-shell duck eggs. She smiled and said, "Young lady, unfortunately, there are only thirty of them left. In two days, another batch of lake duck eggs will be pickled. By then, you can have as many as you want."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Then take these thirty first. If they are useful, I will come back to buy some more in two days."

The woman agreed, Shen Yu paid the money, and walked out carrying the bamboo basket.

These duck eggs are not big, but thirty of them together are quite heavy.

Shen Yu stood at the door of the shop and looked around. He saw a donkey cart waiting for passengers under the shade of a tree on the opposite side of the street. He walked over and asked, "Uncle, do you often pick up passengers around here?"

The driver had only picked up a short-distance passenger since he came out today, earning only twenty coins. He was getting anxious at this moment, and when he saw Shen Yu approaching with a basket to ask, he smiled and said, "Miss, you want to use the car? I pick up passengers here all year round, and I am very familiar with the roads around here."

Shen Yu nodded and asked, "Uncle, do you know where I can buy fresh milk?"

The driver quickly replied, "Miss, you have asked the right person. If you ask others, I am afraid they won't know. My neighbor raises cattle. He usually sells some fresh milk. This milk is a medicine. It is very good for children to drink it. But it has a fishy smell, so generally no one drinks it."

Shen Yu smiled and asked, "May I ask where you live, uncle? Can you take me to buy some fresh milk?"

The driver pointed outside the city gate and said, "My home is in Caijia Village outside the city, but it's a little far away.

Shen Yu looked at the sky and estimated that if he came back from outside the city, he would miss the lunch delivery.

Shen Yu discussed with the driver: "Uncle, my home is in Liushu Lane next to the East City Market. I will pay you a deposit of 100 Wen first, and you can take me home first, then you can go to your neighbor's house to buy some fresh milk and deliver it to my home in Liushu Lane. Do you think this is okay?"

The driver looked hesitant after hearing this, and Shen Yu hurriedly said, "I will definitely not let you run for nothing, I will pay your carriage fee as usual."

The driver scratched the back of his head and said in embarrassment, "Girl, do you know how much a bucket of fresh milk costs? It's very expensive. Even half a bucket costs seven or eight hundred coins."

Shen Yu was prepared in his heart. Here, slaughtering cattle had to be reported to the government, and beef was not available for purchase. Draft cattle could be used for farming, so if more were raised, the number of dairy cows would definitely be even smaller.

Scarcity makes things valuable, so this price is reasonable.

Shen Yu smiled calmly: "Uncle, I know the price of fresh milk. Don't worry, I will definitely pay you when you deliver it."

The driver said, "That won't work. How about you pay me a deposit of 500 coins first? If you don't want it, I can't return such expensive milk."

Shen Yu smiled and asked, "Uncle, what if you took my money but didn't buy milk and send it to my house, and I can't find you, wouldn't that be a loss?"

When the driver saw that someone didn't believe him, he immediately felt ashamed and humiliated. His face turned red and he slapped his chest and said loudly, "Look at what you said, girl. Whenever I have free time, I work as a rickshaw driver nearby. Everyone knows me. I'm Zhang San's family at the head of Caijia Village. You can find out by asking."

As he was yelling, the lady boss of the egg shop across the street came out and asked loudly, "Zhang San, what are you yelling about?"

Zhang San took one look and said confidently, "Madam Ge, please tell this girl if I have been working in this area for many years and if I live in Caijia Village on the outskirts of the city. She can find me by asking."

Mrs. Ge from the egg shop came over and asked curiously, "Miss, what's going on?"

Shen Yu told her what happened just now, and Madam Ge said, "Zhang San, this is your fault. The girl has already said that she will pay you a deposit of 100 yuan first, and you have to send the girl home first. What are you worried about?"

Zhang San was a stubborn man. After listening to what Madam Ge said, he seemed to think it made sense and he couldn't make up his mind for a moment about how much deposit to take.

Because Shen Yu had just bought salted duck eggs in her shop, Madam Ge tried to mediate the situation, saying, "Miss, how about this? Fresh milk is indeed an expensive commodity. You can add another hundred to the deposit. I know Zhang San. He is an honest man, but he is a little confused. It is my first time dealing with you, so I am a little worried."