Chapter 9: What Makes Money

Lanzhou? Wenfei quickly nodded his head, Lanzhou flatbreads, Lanzhou pulled noodles, those are certainly well-known to me!

After taking a few steps forward, I indeed caught a faint glimpse of the outline of a house. As I approached, I saw that the house was quite shabby, resembling more of a dilapidated shed.

Wen Fei could only smile wryly; before he could say anything, the man said: "This is under the jurisdiction of Lanzhou, you must be aware of that!"

Wen Fei let out a sound of "oh," feeling much more balanced this time. However, he then heard the man say: "But it is still spring now, and those tribes move with the water and grass; they are not nearby at the moment. They will only migrate back when the weather gets warmer. I’m afraid you will have to wait another two months before you can sell that knife"

Wen Fei hesitated slightly; he was not the kind of naive child who is oblivious to worldly affairs. He was simply deeply obsessed with his pursuit of knowledge, and thus followed that person.

Oh, this is not expensive either. It's about a few dozen wen... Then the man said: "Eggs are even cheaper, just one or two wen each."

Wen Fei wore a mournful expression, completely oblivious to what the man was rambling on about.

The man laughed heartily: "Of course, with the *illustrated* book, it depends on whether you, Daoist, have the courage. Those three items—salt, tea, and liquor—are indispensable in every household, and their prices are quite high! However, these items are exclusively sold by the government..."

Oh. The man let out an "oh" but said, "Daoist, there is nothing strange about where you live; these things of yours are not worth much at all"

Well, selling all these things is enough to buy a chicken! said the man

"A market is held every five days, don't you know that, Daoist?" The man looked at Wen Fei in astonishment, "This is the countryside, where markets are held every five days. In some more prosperous areas, they can be held every two days..."

Wen Fei could no longer sit still, so he hurriedly stepped outside, taking deep breaths of the cold night air of the countryside, finally feeling as if he had come back to life. Even that man seemed to realize that the smell in his room was quite pungent, his face slightly reddening, though under the dim light of the oil lamp, it was likely not noticeable.

Wen Fei is utterly speechless; it seems that he truly is not cut out for business. His first investment in his life has already been declared a failure

"This, this is indeed a fine steel knife!" Wen Fei exclaimed, with a hint of grievance in his voice

Are you here to buy something, or are you selecting these items to sell them?

Not worth much? It seems that Wen Fei has once again taken a heavy blow to the head, and his eyes are almost bursting with stars.

That person let out a hearty laugh: "Want to learn the way of the Dao? Come with me!" Saying this, he took the lead and walked ahead.

These country folk, who can afford such fine steel knives? A regular iron knife costing around 20 to 30 wen is sufficient. A knife costing a mere 10 wen can also be used.

You don't even know this, yet you dare to come to Luomaji? Aren't you afraid of being killed by the bandits?

So how much does a chicken cost? What about eggs? Wen Fei could not stop thinking about it

"Of course it is the Dangxiang people and the Tubo people, don't you know this?" The tone of the man began to carry a hint of suspicion.

Wen Fei asked: "What kind of person? What kind of person are you referring to?"

"What? There is no market tomorrow?" Wen Fei was taken aback. In his memory, markets were not open twenty-four hours a day, but they should at least operate for seventeen or eighteen hours, right? Even if the conditions were poorer in ancient times, they should still be open every day, shouldn't they? He was completely stunned by this unexpected news.

Wen Fei was initially interested, but lost his enthusiasm upon hearing the term "exclusive sales." If he had been unaware of the dangers in the past, he might not have regarded the ancient government with much respect. However, after suffering a setback last time, he became acutely aware of the situation. The ancient government does not concern itself with human rights or legal systems; they will arrest you and throw you into prison without a second thought. You won't even have a place to voice your grievances. The ancient government does not concern itself with human rights or legal systems; they will arrest you and throw you into prison without a second thought. You won't even have a place to voice your grievances

"However, these few pots..." The man picked up the items to examine them, then flicked them: "Too thin... I fear they won't last long? People in the countryside want to buy things that they can use for a lifetime!"

The man then walked directly inside, followed by the sound of tapping, which echoed a few times, and an oil lamp was lit, casting a dim yellow light that seeped through the crack of the door

"A few coins?" Upon hearing this, Wen Fei felt like crying. What can a few coins buy? It seems that on television, a large pancake costs one coin, right? By this calculation, a knife would only cost a few dozen coins? If I had known earlier, I would have bought those cheap kitchen knives from the supermarket to fool people!

Wen Fei was completely speechless; it seems that prices in ancient times were indeed not cheap. In his view, a single coin was already quite a lot.

In the distance ahead, there seem to be faint outlines of houses. This marketplace is quite rudimentary, and even during the day, there are no permanent structures in sight. It appears that only a few makeshift wooden shanties have been erected, and it is unclear whether anyone is present.

The man seemed to notice Wen Fei's dejection and said with a smile: "Country folks can't afford such a fine knife, but those foreigners certainly can. They don't know how to forge iron themselves and rely entirely on trade with our Song Dynasty and the Western Xia. Even the shoddiest items are eagerly bought by them; your knife might fetch a good price."

After walking for about several hundred meters, Wen Fei finally realized that he was actually not far from the market. It seems he was misled by that wretched fox, which is why he couldn't see it.

Wen Fei cautiously followed inside. As soon as he entered the room, he began to regret it. Goodness, an indescribable foul odor assaulted Wen Fei's nose, nearly making it twist in discomfort. This fellow Wen Fei was already quite messy, and it was perfectly normal for the room to be cleaned only once every half month or month.

However, the place where this fellow lives has probably never been cleaned, and a mixture of sweat, foot odor, and various other smells has fermented together, creating a stench that is at least one hundred times stronger than that of the male dormitories in university

Finished, finished, spent over 800 yuan, and the things I bought are only enough to exchange for a chicken. Damn it, although the price of free-range farm chickens is indeed high now, at 23 to 30 yuan per pound, it shouldn't be outrageous at this price, right? So a pound of chicken meat would cost over 100 yuan. What a rip-off!

"When is the market tomorrow?" Wen Fei asked

The man looked at Wen Fei in surprise and said, "There isn't any tomorrow; it will be the day after tomorrow, and only then will there be some!"

It seems that the plan to take advantage of the past has completely failed, and Wen Fei is filled with frustration. Undeterred, he asks, "So what is actually good to sell here?"

Wen Fei smiled wryly: "We have several unused kitchen knives in our Taoist temple, so we decided to sell them."

Wen Feisong let out a sigh. He had originally prepared a set of words to deceive the other party, but since the other party had come up with their own assumptions, that was even better. In fact, he was more curious about what day it was, and it would be best to inquire about which dynasty it was and which emperor was in power. However, he also understood that asking such questions might not be very appropriate

"That Taoist, you are carrying so many things; you must be here to sell at the mule and horse market, right?" the man asked directly