novelraw Chapter 241 Still in the dark
Chapter 241 Still in the dark
Chapter 241 Still in the dark
As Li Shunzi emerged from the alley, the biting wind outside, unprotected by any walls, instantly chilled him to the bone, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
With his hands tucked into his sleeves and his neck hunched, he squeezed into the crowd, intending to find his mother.
Li Shunzi's mother, Gao, is not only buying things for the winter, but also selling a few of the sheep they raise at home.
In addition to cattle, the Li family also raised three ewes.
These three ewes are different from the other sheep. They are not very big. The adult rams weigh about 40 to 50 pounds, while the ewes are a little smaller, probably weighing about 40 pounds.
The sheep are not very big, and their offspring are not very good either. They only have one litter of sheep a year, with one or two sheep per litter.
Sheep cannot be raised by feeding them only grass; they also need to be fed grain. If they are not fed grain, they will not grow fat.
But grain is a precious commodity; there's not enough for people to eat, so how could we bear to feed it to sheep?
Therefore, many sheep farmers would rather let their sheep become thin and fetch a low price than feed them grain.
The Li family's sheep were the same; they were never fed grain. In spring and summer, they were fed green grass, and in autumn and winter, they were fed hay. The sheep that were fed this way were not exactly skin and bones, but they were all skin and bones!
While Li Shunzi was secretly delivering charcoal to Zhang, Gao was leading three lambs through the crowd, trying to find a place to set up a stall and sell the lambs.
After searching around, Gao saw that the area around the dog seller was crowded with people, so he simply stood aside with his sheep and shouted to the passing crowd, "Sheep for sale!"
That shout really attracted a lot of attention.
Winter is the season for eating mutton, which is nourishing, warming, and very good for health.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw three little lambs next to Gao. They were not yet fully grown, skin and bones, and weighed no more than a dozen pounds!
Sheep like these don't fetch a good price; butchers look down on them, so sheep farmers have to sell them themselves on the street.
Upon seeing the sheep, the crowd quickly lost interest and continued to tease the puppies.
Despite losing the attention of the crowd, Gao was not disappointed. She knew her own situation; these three lambs were indeed difficult to sell. If they were a little bigger, they might be easier to sell.
However, the three ewes at home were bred too late this year, and by winter, the lambs had not yet grown up.
If we don't sell them and continue raising them, the price of sheep will drop significantly once the weather warms up after the New Year.
If we wait until then to sell, we're guaranteed to lose money!
As for raising them for another year and selling them next winter? That's even more unacceptable!
Raising sheep for a year is too long. What if one gets sick or something and dies? She'll lose everything and be devastated!
Gao was all smiles as he kept shouting "Selling sheep!" to the crowd, but he was actually extremely anxious. If he couldn't sell them soon, he would be stuck with them for good.
Gu Tang stood not far from the Gao family, with his third uncle and Gu Ping'an beside him, and the clan chief, clan elders, and some villagers opposite him.
The third uncle was talking to the clan chief and the others, asking how many villagers Gu Lianshan had brought to Shanyao Village.
After listening for a while, Gu Tang learned that her father had brought fifteen or sixteen strong men, as well as four burly aunts and grandmothers, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
The number of people is not small, and with Ah Gou backing them up, there's absolutely no problem.
Gu Tang stopped listening to what was said after that. She started to drift off, looking around at people, but she didn't see Madam Feng or Gu Zhi'er.
She was somewhat disappointed; if she couldn't see the mother and daughter, then she wouldn't be able to watch the good show.
"Second sister, look at those sheep!" Gu Ping'an suddenly tugged at Gu Tang's clothes and pointed to the three lambs next to Gao Shi, urging her to take a closer look.
Gu Tang was puzzled. She glanced at the scene a few times, wondering what was so interesting about it.
"Three skin-and-bones lambs, do you like them?"
"Of course I like it! Didn't you recognize this sheep?" Gu Ping'an asked, puzzled. "My dad cooked this kind of sheep for us once when we were little. It didn't have any gamey smell at all! It tasted extremely delicious!"
Gu Tang thought about it carefully and realized that she had indeed eaten mutton, but she wasn't sure if it was this kind of mutton.
"You're not mistaken? You don't look like it to me."
Gu Ping'an said with certainty, "I can't be wrong! The mutton we ate back then was bought by my father and me. The butcher said that this kind of sheep is called a dwarf sheep, which is a special breed of sheep in our area. The meat is extremely delicious and has no gamey smell."
They're so difficult to raise! They don't grow very big, are prone to illness, and their weight gain is extremely slow! They need to be fed a mix of hay and grain, and it takes at least a year and a half, two years is best!
Hearing this, Gu Tang was very surprised: "According to you, these short-legged sheep are not something that farmers can afford to raise."
Feeding them grains and raising them for a year and a half or two years—not to mention anything else, the amount of grain consumed in that process is beyond the reach of ordinary people!
"That makes sense. When the Li family bought these sheep, everyone in the village tried to dissuade them, but the Li family just wouldn't listen and bought three ewes regardless, spending two taels of silver!"
"Two taels of silver?" Gu Tang held up two fingers, utterly incredulous.
"Three sheep, all ewes, and you can buy them for just two taels of silver? Just hearing that price should tell you there's something fishy about these sheep!"
Gu Ping'an nodded: "That's what the villagers advised the Li family back then, but the Li family wouldn't listen and was determined to take advantage of this 'bargain'."
After obtaining the sheep and raising them for six months, the Li family belatedly realized that this wasn't a "leak," but a "trap!"
Indeed, such sheep are a real problem for farmers.
But for those who have plenty of money and love good food, this lamb is a rare delicacy.
For example, Gu Tang has memories of the original owner eating mutton. The deliciousness of that food is deeply etched in her mind, making her crave to try it herself.
"Which butcher shop sells this kind of mutton? Let's take Grandpa to buy some later and make mutton soup for dinner!"
"They don't sell it on West Street. This kind of mutton is too expensive. Regular mutton costs at least forty or fifty copper coins a pound, but this mutton costs at least seventy copper coins a pound!"
"hiss--"
Gu Tang gasped, "This is really expensive! No, if that's the case, the Li family should have been rich by now. Even if this sheep is skinny, it's still more expensive than regular mutton. If you think about it, they should still be able to make a profit!"
"This sheep is different from other sheep. If you want this sheep to have delicious meat without any gamey smell, it must be fed to be plump and meaty all over. Only then will the meat be the best after slaughter."
Conversely, the leaner the sheep, the more flavorful the meat. The three lambs from the Li family, after slaughter, yielded meat no different from ordinary mutton, all with a strong, gamey smell, and wouldn't fetch a high price.
What an amazing breed of sheep!
Gu Tang looked on with delight, her desire to eat mutton growing stronger.
She smacked her lips twice, then turned to pester her third uncle, saying she was craving mutton and wanted to buy some to eat.
Hearing this, Chief Gu was puzzled: "Your father bought two slaughtered sheep the other day! If you want to eat them, just go back and cut off a leg to make soup. Why did you have to buy more?"
“This is different.” Gu Tang pointed to the Gao family. “I want to buy the mutton from those short-legged sheep. Ping An said that this kind of mutton tastes extremely delicious! It doesn’t have any gamey smell at all!”
Upon hearing Gu Tang's words, everyone present turned their gaze to Gao Shi—the three lambs beside her.
"You've got a good palate, girl," Chief Gu chuckled. "The meat from this kind of sheep isn't cheap."
"I won't buy much, just a pound to try." Gu Tang held up one finger, indicating that she wouldn't buy more. "A pound isn't much, but they don't sell it on West Street, only on East Street." The clan chief pointed to the east, "Have your grandfather lead you to East Street."
"Sigh!" Gu Tang responded cheerfully, and then continued to pester her third uncle.
It was just a pound of short-legged mutton, so Uncle San had no objection.
After bidding farewell to the clan chief and elders, the third uncle led the siblings to East Street.
But before leaving, there was one more thing to do: buy a puppy to take home and raise.
Gu Tang had been thinking about buying a dog to raise while she was in the courtyard, but she didn't expect to run into a dog seller as soon as she went out today.
Gu Tang couldn't bear to miss it. There were very few dog sellers, and if she missed this opportunity, she didn't know when she would be able to find one again.
As for the little dog at the village entrance, I wonder if it's still there.
If it's gone, where will she find the dog?
Upon learning that Gu Tang wanted to buy a dog, Third Uncle nodded in agreement. He also thought it would be good to buy one and try raising it. If it could guard the house in the future, that would be even better.
Despite the large crowd surrounding the dog seller, most people were just there for the fun of playing with the puppies; very few actually wanted to buy them.
There were only six puppies in total, and now only one has been sold. The remaining five are huddled together in the basket for warmth.
The three generations of the family struggled to squeeze into the inner circle and asked the old man selling dogs, "How much is this dog?"
The old man finally got another customer to ask the price, and he quickly put on a smile and replied, "Not expensive, not expensive at all! Regardless of size or gender, it's thirty copper coins each!"
Thirty copper coins each?
How can this not be expensive?
This is clearly an overprice!
Gu Tang's eyes widened; she felt it was a bit expensive.
Uncle San thought it was alright. Dogs are never cheap, especially puppies born in winter, which are rare, so the price should naturally be higher.
"Choose one yourself, see which one catches your eye." Third Uncle smiled and pointed to the basket on his back, inviting Gu Tang to come forward and choose.
Gu Tang tried to squeeze in earlier but failed, so she didn't see what the puppy looked like or what breed it was.
I squeezed to the front of the basket and looked at the five puppies inside. I then realized that all five puppies were mixed breeds. Judging from their appearance and size, they were probably not from the same mother.
The puppies are yellow, black, and white, and they are also different sizes. Some look like they are almost a month old, while others look like they are two or three months old.
Gu Tang examined each one carefully and felt that she liked them all.
She tried putting her hands into the basket, calling out "sucking" to see if anyone would respond.
As the sucking sound rang out, two of them actually responded, one yellow and one pure black.
Gu Tang brought both of them out: "Sir, can we buy two? I like both of them!"
Third Uncle reached out and teased them for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Alright, let's buy two then!"
As he spoke, he took out a string of copper coins from his pocket, counted out sixty coins, and handed them to the old man.
The old man held the copper coins, grinning from ear to ear, and kept saying nice things to Gu Tang. He also told her how to raise the dog, saying that it was very hardy and could survive on just a little food.
Gu Tang believed him; she had raised this kind of dog in her past life, and it was indeed easy to raise.
Gu Pingan shamelessly approached and offered to help Gu Tang hold one of the pups so that Gu Tang wouldn't get tired.
The two puppies Gu Tang picked were about the same size, probably around two months old, and still breastfeeding. They were quite chubby and heavy to hold.
She handed the black one to Gu Ping'an, while she held the yellow one herself.
After buying the dog, the three generations of the family squeezed out of the crowd and bumped into each other as they passed by the Gao family.
Gu Tang and her siblings greeted Madam Gao while holding the dog, and then stood obediently beside their third uncle.
Although the Li family and the Gu family were not of the same clan, the third uncle was a few years older than Gao. After the siblings greeted each other, Gao also greeted the third uncle with a smile.
Looking at the dog the siblings were holding, Gao asked curiously, "How many copper coins does each dog cost?"
“Thirty copper coins,” Third Uncle said.
hiss--
Madam Gao gasped, "One puppy costs thirty copper coins, so two of them would cost sixty copper coins?!"
"Yes, two of them are worth sixty copper coins."
Hearing this, Gao felt a pang of heartache: "These animals eat a lot when they grow up! It's hard to feed even one, why did you buy two? How much grain will that waste?"
"If they can't eat much grain, you can feed them wheat bran."
"Wheat bran can be used to feed cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks! Feeding it to them is such a waste!"
Gao could not understand her third uncle's thoughts.
Third Uncle didn't want to talk to her about this anymore. He glanced down at the sheep beside her a few times and then started talking to her about raising sheep.
When talking about things he was familiar with, Gao became even more talkative, rambling on and on about all sorts of things.
As the two were talking, Li Shunzi suddenly emerged from the crowd, startling Gu Tang.
Why is this person being so mysterious!
Gu Tang was startled, and Li Shunzi wasn't much better off.
When he was in the crowd, he saw his third uncle talking to his mother, with Gu Tang and Gu Ping'an standing next to him. He was so frightened that his legs went weak and his face turned as white as a ghost.
He thought his third uncle was talking to his mother about buying charcoal.
In an instant, Li Shunzi struggled to squeeze out of the crowd and stood in front of the group with a grim expression.
Seeing her son return, Madam Gao stopped chatting with her third uncle, looked up and glared at her son, then began to scold him.
"Where have you been? Did you really come here just to wander around? What happened to the things I asked you to buy? You're empty-handed! What? You completely ignored what I said?!"
Li Shunzi was stunned for a moment by the scolding, but when she came to her senses, she breathed a sigh of relief.
From his mother's tone, it was clear that the three members of the Gu family hadn't said a word about his buying charcoal; his mother was still completely in the dark and knew nothing about it.
Li Shunzi smiled gratefully at his third uncle, then pleaded with his mother, saying he would go buy things right away.
But to his surprise, Gao stopped him and said that the two of them should switch.