Chapter 5: The Short-Haired Girl Selling Pork, Zhang Fei

Uh, the stubborn little girl, Sun Yu could only sit aside and wait for her to finish counting slowly

The young girl, sweating profusely, said: "Wait a moment, let me calculate the total amount." She took out a pile of receipts from under the counter and began to work on the arithmetic problem, as she was calculating the total cost for three pounds each of three different types of pork.

Sun Yu walked ahead, while Zhao Yun closely followed behind, unable to even take a single step away from her. The extent of her fear of getting lost left Sun Yu both amused and exasperated. It seemed that Zhao Yun had been abandoned for too long, and now that she had finally encountered a master, she was unwilling to let her master out of her sight.

Liu Bei smiled faintly and pointed at the little girl Zhao Yun beside the pork stall, saying: "He forgot to take his maid with him and will be back shortly"

"I am not joking with you; I am really buying meat." Sun Yu felt more wronged than Dou E, and the nearby Xiao Zhao Yun also desperately explained, "Yes, we really want to buy meat... Oh, meat... I really want to eat meat; I have never eaten it before..."

Behind the meat stall sat a young girl, approximately fifteen or sixteen years old, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, her short hair resembling needles, giving her a tomboyish appearance. However, despite her somewhat masculine features, her body was undeniably feminine, with pronounced curves and a strong, athletic build that exuded a sense of powerful beauty. Her skin was slightly dark, a healthy wheat color that suggested she had been sun-kissed, instantly evoking a sense of fondness in those who looked at her

Two individuals arrived at the market. Zhuo County is not considered a large county, and the market appeared rather shabby, with dozens of dirty little stalls set up along the roadside, selling vegetables, meat, cloth, shoes, tofu, and so on. Although there were not many stalls, the variety was quite comprehensive

Most of the vendors are men. For instance, at the tofu stall, a burly man with a full beard, resembling Zhang Fei, is carefully wrapping tofu for customers, which truly makes Sun Yu break into a sweat. In this world, where women are esteemed and men are belittled, men are engaged in such menial tasks, while women can rise to positions of power. It is indeed intriguing

Her figure is exceptionally agile, and her movements are very swift, akin to that of a female leopard. This punch is as fast as lightning. Fortunately, Sun Yu was already mentally prepared; as soon as he saw her leap out, he took a step back, just managing to evade the punch.

Liu Bei chuckled while covering his mouth and said: "They may not necessarily be trying to make fun of you. Your sister can easily calculate it with an abacus in just a few moves. Next time, you should ask your sister to help you with the calculations."

Sun Yu stepped forward and cupped his fists, saying: "Shopkeeper, I would like to buy some pork"

It turned out that Sun Yu activated "Divine Movement" to escape, leaving Zhao Yun forgotten by the pork stall. Zhao Yun, being small and weak, could not keep up with his speed. Seeing him run away, he thought Sun Yu no longer wanted him, and immediately began to cry in fear. At that moment, Zhao Yun was standing by Zhang Fei's pork stall, crying sorrowfully: "Master Xun Zhen no longer wants me, I am going to starve to death... I am going to starve to death..."

He, accompanied by Zhao Yun, walked straight towards a small meat stall. Sun Yu, coming from a later era, believed that a meal without meat was truly unbearable, so his first thought was to buy some meat

The young girl selling pork shot him a glance and said in a muffled voice, "I sell meat, so of course I have to do the calculations. If you randomly come up with a number to cheat me, wouldn't I be at a loss?"

He was chatting with NM01 there, and Zhang Fei mistakenly thought he was talking to himself, which instantly fueled his anger even more

Liu Bei's eyes were filled with curiosity

The girl selling pork, however, would not allow them to explain. She suddenly jumped out from behind the pork stall, raised her small fist, and with a whoosh, swung it towards Sun Yu.

Sun Yu stuffed all the money he had from hetushu.com into his pocket, totaling 2080 yuan. It was quite a large amount, heavy and cumbersome, causing him to walk very slowly

"Hey, young lady, you shouldn't hit people randomly. Is it not enough that I won't buy it?" Sun Yu is a civilized person and certainly cannot resort to violence, especially against an opponent who is merely a girl of fifteen or sixteen.

As soon as Sun Yu regained his senses, the Eastern Han Dynasty had not yet adopted Arabic numerals, and there were no formulas for mixed arithmetic operations. For ordinary people of that era, calculating the total for three types of pork, each weighing three jin, was not a simple mathematical problem. He quickly spoke up, saying: "Shopkeeper, you don't need to calculate; the total is 135 wen."

At this moment, Sun Yu recalled the voice of NM01 saying: "Master, the ancients used counting sticks for calculations. For them, adding multiples of numbers was a very complex arithmetic task. Therefore, if you buy three jin of each type of pork, adding these prices together would take an ordinary person a long time to figure out. Only skilled accountants could quickly arrive at the result using an abacus."

It turned out that Sun Yugang had not run far when he remembered Zhao Yun, "Oh no, I left Zhao Yun with Zhang Fei, how unfortunate!

Upon hearing this sound, the golden light surrounding Zhang Fei suddenly retracted, and the air currents that had been swirling around her body vanished in an instant. The golden characters that had slowly gathered above her head also dispersed completely. Zhang Fei turned around in surprise and smiled, saying, "Sister, you are here!" In an instant, she transformed from a female leopard into a small cat, playfully jumping into the arms of a woman.

At that moment, a gentle female voice came from the alley nearby, softly saying: "Third Sister, do not recklessly use martial skills; this is the county town. Do you wish to level this place to the ground?"

"Bah! I don't care what official you are, just come and fight!" Zhang Fei roared, resembling a female leopard. In an instant, his agile body leaped several zhang forward, and his small yet powerful fist created a whistling sound in the air as it struck directly at Sun Yu's chest. Sun Yu could even feel the airflow generated by the fist hissing in the air; what a powerful punch! Even before it landed, the force of the punch made his face sting painfully.

Zhang Fei chuckled twice and said: "There won't be a next time; this person escaped using a red intermediate general skill, and there's no way he would come back."

Suddenly, a flash of red light appeared, and Sun Yu had already run dozens of zhang away. Zhang Fei watched as his opponent fled, momentarily stunned, and after a long pause, he said: "Huh? This man... can use general skills? Hmph, he dares to provoke me, Zhang Fei, with a red intermediate general skill? He truly seeks death"

Unexpectedly, as soon as these words were spoken, the young girl selling pork was taken aback. She widened her eyes and stammered, "You want three jin of each?"

"Even if I don't buy, I will still fight!" The girl selling pork said unperturbed: "In this Zhuo County, who doesn't know my name, Zhang Fei, Zhang Yide? You actually dare to make fun of me? Watch me beat you until you can't find your teeth."

Forget it, why bother with so much gossip? Sun Yu thought, I am not the man destined to save this world. I just need to earn enough travel expenses, travel the world, uncover the truth of this world, and find a way to return to Earth.

Uh, drunken girl, I don't like it. Sun Yu frowned; he disliked women drinking because he himself did not drink: "I wanted to ask how much pork costs per jin, how could I dare to buy it without knowing the price clearly?"

The one referred to as "Elder Sister" by Zhang Fei is Liu Bei, a descendant of the Jing King of Zhongshan, whose courtesy name is Xuande. She is eighteen years old this year, with delicate features, gentle demeanor, and a graceful figure. Her hands are slender and unblemished. Liu Bei gently embraced Zhang Fei, stroking her head as one would a kitten, and said: "From now on, you must not recklessly use your martial skills. Who are you trying to deal with?"

No, I have to make this 2080 wen last for over half a year, I need to stretch it until I receive my salary, and I have to be careful when buying meat. Sun Yu turned to leave but saw the little girl Zhao Yun staring eagerly at the pork cutting board in front of her, her eyes red and drooling.

Thus, Sun Yu hurried back, and as soon as he stopped and regained his composure, he saw Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Liu Bei—three girls of different types—staring at him with three pairs of eyes

The young girl waved her hand and said: "Just choose whatever you like, if you want to buy meat, then buy meat. Why say so much nonsense?" After saying this, she picked up a small gourd, took a couple of gulps, burped contentedly, and remarked: "This is truly good wine"

"Yes! Three jin of each item." Sun Yuqi said, "What happened?"

Zhang Fei, while acting coy, recounted the matter of Sun Yu buying meat.

Sun Yu pondered for a moment and sighed, "Shopkeeper, I would like 3 jin of lean meat, 3 jin of fatty meat, and 3 jin of pork belly." The lean meat is for stir-frying shredded meat, the pork belly is for making twice-cooked pork, and the fatty meat is for rendering some lard. Sun Yu calculated this very well.

Sun Yu wiped his sweat and replied in a low voice, "Let’s call it Shenxing."

As he spoke, a voice resembling NM01 echoed in his ears: "Master, according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei was originally a wealthy gentleman selling pork in Zhuo County. By the way, Zhang Fei is not afraid of officials; he once whipped a supervising postal officer and even threatened to kill Dong Zhuo. Based on the most scientific analysis, we are likely not a match for Zhang Fei. I have activated the cells in your legs; it would be best for us to escape. Would you like me to add a red glow effect to your escape as a general skill? Please give this general skill a name."

But this problem is not that easy to solve. The girl's mathematical skills and her understanding of the book are clearly lacking. After struggling for a long time without arriving at a solution, she angrily threw the sign onto the ground, stood up, and shouted, "Well, are you here to make fun of me? Ordinary people only buy one type of meat; who buys three types at three pounds each like you? Clearly, you are just toying with me, and I won't let you off the hook."

Zhang Fei let out a cold laugh while shaking her hands and stretching her legs. A faint golden glow suddenly enveloped her agile body, and a terrifying airflow hissed around her, as if some ancient behemoth was about to awaken within her. Two enormous golden characters slowly coalesced above her head, seemingly on the verge of taking shape.

"So expensive?" Sun Yu was taken aback. He already knew that a stone of millet sold for 200 wen, and a stone of millet was equivalent to 180 jin. Calculating it out, a jin of millet was worth less than 2 wen. How could pork be ten times the price of millet?

I ran! Sun Yu jumped back, his legs having been forcibly activated by NM01, granting him immense strength. With that jump, he leaped two zhang away, then turned around and took off running. NM01 quickly emitted a red light from his body and projected two large characters above his head: "Divine Movement"

Zhao Yun had just cried out two or three times when a flash of red light appeared, and Sun Yu ran back again

Uh, I'm dizzy... ? ... Is this person Zhang Fei? Sun Yu was taken aback, Zhang Fei wants to fight me. Oh my goodness, I am just a scientist from the future, a civilized person, I do not want to fight Zhang Fei. Sun Yu quickly tugged at his official robe and said anxiously: "Don't fight, I am an official of the court. If you hit me, you will be finished and will be arrested and imprisoned."

Zhao Yun's eyes were filled with joy

Zhang Fei's eyes were filled with anger

The young girl took a sip of her drink, glanced at him, and said in a low voice: "Lean meat is 20 wen per jin, fatty meat is 10 wen, and pork belly is 15 wen."