Chapter 92 Country Bumpkins
The sudden change in the space was truly beyond Gu Yu’s expectations.
However, after a moment of surprise, Gu Yu quickly accepted this sudden new setting.
If transmigrating hadn’t shocked him too much, then a mere space upgrade wouldn’t either… After all, when he first acquired the space, Gu Yu knew it was an upgradeable one.
At that time, he didn’t know what the upgrade conditions were, so Gu Yu planned to sort out the troublesome matters at home before trying to figure it out. But who knew… the upgrade conditions would directly surface and jump right in front of him.
However, even though the space upgrade was a good thing, why wasn’t there any place to plant crops!
There was only a small fountain and an altar…
And the prompt that just appeared in the space indicated that the small fountain had restorative effects. But when Gu Yu cut a small gash on his fingertip and dipped it into the water, the wound was still there when he took it out!
It just stopped bleeding, but the cut didn’t heal immediately.
This recovery fountain’s healing ability was too weak!
Disappointed, Gu Yu shook his head at the fountain, and then stepped towards the altar to see what was on the book placed there.
As soon as he entered, Gu Yu felt curious about this book.
He hoped it wouldn’t be like the small fountain, looking good but useless. Otherwise, it would have been better if the space upgrade had just given him a piece of land to plant on!
[Flying Immortal’s Elusive Step]
As Gu Yu walked to the altar and saw the book placed there, his eyes were fixed on the book’s title, and his body couldn’t help but tremble!
Was his wish from watching wuxia dramas finally going to come true?
The name of this book, from beginning to end, exuded the intense aura of a martial arts secret manual, making Gu Yu’s hands itch uncontrollably. He reached out, picked it up, and directly opened the first page.
Although Gu Yu wasn’t very good at writing ancient traditional characters, he could still vaguely understand the main meaning through a combination of reading and guessing.
Then, he saw the precautions at the beginning.
[Lightness skill only for female learning.]
This sentence instantly dispelled Gu Yu’s enthusiasm, making him realize that unless he was reborn, he definitely wouldn’t be able to learn this martial art.
However, he couldn’t learn it, but his wife could.
Although Gu Mengyao possessed immense strength, capable of throwing wild boars, when it came to facing prolonged battles or schemes, it would be better for her to have a lightness skill for escaping.
Moreover, Gu Mengyao’s gentle nature would be quite suited for learning this lightness skill.
It was just that he didn’t know what reason he could use to bring this secret manual out…
After thinking about it, Gu Yu couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation, so he could only temporarily keep this lightness skill in the space and find a suitable opportunity to send it to Gu Mengyao later.
After examining all the changes in the space, Gu Yu hurriedly exited the space to prevent Gu Mengyao and her brother from coming in and finding him not in the room.
As an ‘invalid’, even though Gu Yu couldn’t lie in bed anymore, he couldn’t just run out, otherwise, he would have to face the nagging of the brother and sister, which was the last thing Gu Yu wanted to happen.
Since he was unable to resist, he could only accept the nagging…
Lying on the bed, Gu Yu stared with his eyes wide open, looking directly at the beams above.
Continuing to lie on the bed and count sheep was indeed too boring.
He had to find a way to leave the room!
“I say, you peddler, things in town aren’t as expensive as what you sell! Why are you charging me so much money? Are you looking at me because I’m young, and trying to cheat me out of my money!”
Just as Gu Yu was thinking about how to go out without being scolded, the opportunity suddenly appeared!
Gu Qingheng’s clear voice was like heavenly music at this moment, causing Gu Yu to immediately get up from the bed, tidy his clothes, and then walk out directly.
His brother-in-law was in trouble, and he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing!
“Qingheng, what happened?”
After Gu Yu walked out of the room, he saw a tall and thin young man standing at their doorstep. Two large baskets and a carrying pole were placed on the ground beside him, and Gu Qingheng was standing opposite the man with a small, angry face.
Walking forward a few steps, Gu Yu saw what was in the baskets and for the first time experienced what ancient street vendors were like.
One basket contained rouge, powder, toys for children, and some small items like silk flowers that women liked, all looking very novel.
The other basket contained things wrapped in leaves, and it was unclear what was inside.
These were all things not usually seen in the village. The profession of a peddler relied on their own two feet, carrying goods on a pole and selling them on the streets. Generally, they would buy at low prices and sell at high prices, earning a small profit.
“Brother-in-law! You’ve come at the right time. Look at what this peddler is selling, it’s really too expensive! Even the interest charged by Wang Dagou’s family in the village for borrowing a lamb cub is not as exorbitant as him!”
“Lamb cub interest?”
Upon seeing Gu Yu come out of the house, Gu Qingheng seemed to feel he had someone to back him up. He immediately straightened his small back and unceremoniously stated that the peddler’s prices were too high.
However, when Gu Yu heard Gu Qingheng mention the “lamb cub interest,” he immediately tilted his head in confusion and looked at his brother-in-law, not knowing what “lamb cub interest” referred to.
Forgive him, he was just a modern person who had transmigrated, and his understanding of some ancient information was not comprehensive.
“If you borrow a hundred wen from Wang Dagou in the village, you have to return two hundred wen after a month. If you can’t repay it, and it’s delayed to the next month, it becomes four hundred wen. Then, with compound interest, the debt grows more and more. This is called ‘lamb cub interest’.”
“Oh, I see!”
Gu Qingheng was about to ask his brother-in-law, Gu Yu, to help him vent his anger, but who knew… Gu Yu suddenly questioned the “lamb cub interest,” which made Gu Qingheng feel smug!
Really, his sister always said it was bad to go out and inquire carelessly, but look, its usefulness had been shown!
Even something that his brother-in-law, who was four years older than him, didn’t know, he could explain!
With this realization, Gu Qingheng felt that his height had suddenly grown, and he was no longer the shortest person in the family!
For a moment, Gu Qingheng’s anger changed, and then he explained what “lamb cub interest” was with a smug expression.
And after hearing his brother-in-law’s explanation, Gu Yu instantly understood.
“Lamb cub interest” was modern-day usury.
Comparing this peddler to a usurer, Gu Qingheng must have felt that the peddler was truly exploitative.
“Brother-in-law, I happened to see this peddler coming to our village to sell things, so I wanted to see what he was selling. When I took a fancy to a few pieces of candy, the peddler told me they cost six wen each! That’s not even the price in town. He’s just bullying children! Then he said I was wronging him and wanted to beat me up!”
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you talking about! I, Tong the peddler, never do things that harm my own reputation. Look at this new sugarcane candy, it’s sweet and fragrant, unlike those inferior products that have gone bad after being stored for a long time. If you don’t believe me, you can come over and take a look.”
Gu Yu listened to Gu Qingheng’s explanation for a few sentences and then heard the peddler’s offer to let him look freely.
So, he stepped forward a few paces, walked up to the peddler, then bent down to pick up the leaves wrapped around the candy and opened them to take a look.
Indeed, as the peddler said, they were all high-quality red sugarcane candies.
Although there were some cloudy substances mixed in, they were already considered very refined for ancient times.
However, Gu Yu was not easily fooled.
“The price of your candy is indeed high.”
“What are you talking about! A bunch of country bumpkins, if you haven’t bought candy before, don’t act all high and mighty here. Hurry up and put the candy down and leave! Look at your shabby clothes, have you ever eaten candy? You actually have the face to boast here and say my candy prices are high!”
As soon as Gu Yu spoke, the peddler’s expression immediately turned gloomy upon hearing his words.
Then, the peddler impatiently waved Gu Yu away, signaling him to go and act like a big shot somewhere else if he wanted to, instead of wasting his time.
The peddler’s trip to Yang Family Village was just to try his luck in the countryside and see if any of the things he carried could be sold for a small profit.
But who knew… after arriving in Yang Family Village, no one bought anything.
Even if someone was curious and looked for a long time, they eventually found the price too high and didn’t buy it.
There was even an old lady with small feet, accompanied by a little girl also with small feet. They looked presentable and were dressed better than the villagers, but their actions were truly speechless.
Who would look and then suddenly lick the candy!
And then shamelessly say that they were just trying the taste to see if the ingredients were pure.
After trying it, they intended to leave with just a flimsy excuse of not liking the style… Dream on. After spoiling something, you have to buy it.
Then the peddler stopped the two, intending to force them to buy even if they didn’t want to, but he was helpless after the old lady’s scene of throwing a tantrum. In the end, he could only watch as the two proudly walked away.
If he made a move in Yang Family Village, there were quite a few strong young men in the village!
What was most hateful was that the old lady with small feet also said that when her daughter married into a rich family, she would buy all the peddler’s goods. As for being so calculative now!
Looking at the backs of the two as they left, the peddler directly spat!
Truly shameless!
Not only did he not sell anything during his trip to Yang Family Village, but he was also disgusted. The peddler had already given up and was preparing to leave, but who knew… as he was wandering towards the foot of the mountain, a child suddenly called out to him.
Holding onto the principle of not letting anyone slip away, the peddler still walked up to the child, but expectedly… it was another fellow whose pockets were cleaner than their faces.
The youth who came out next was the same, and then he even said that his candy prices were too expensive!
Hmph! If you can’t afford it, just say so. It was his own foolishness for not realizing at the beginning that this family was extremely poor and thinking that perhaps they were hiding their wealth and came to try.
If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have even bothered to try.
“I haven’t eaten it, what is this? Candy in town is 150 wen for half a jin, which works out to 3 wen per piece. Your candy is not only small, but the price is more than double, whoever buys from you is truly losing money.”
Gu Yu chuckled when he heard the peddler’s words, then took out a bag of sugarcane candy wrapped in oil paper from his pocket and placed it in front of the peddler.
