Chapter 25: Buying a Mule

In Chen Xiao Mi's house.

"Big brother, why are you carrying a basket, are you going to town again?" Chen Xiao Cai asked.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded.

Chen Xiao Cai squinted his eyes, he recalled it had been over twenty days since Chen Xiao Mi went to town last time. And it seemed that Chen Xiao Mi wasn't that keen on hunting any more, and he would immediately discuss with Lu Lin about how to cook the game whenever he had hunted some.

This was very new to Chen Xiao Cai, in his eyes, his big brother was someone who had always been prepared for any eventualities. He was surprised to see this side of Chen Xiao Mi who became more talkative when he was around Lu Lin, they would talk and laugh for a long time on how to cook the meat.

Chen Xiao Cai had also found Chen Xiao Mai, their baby brother, had grown taller and looked healthier thanks to Lu Lin's perfect cooking and utmost care. Chen Xiao Cai was impressed by Chen Xiao Mai when they went to collect firewood, Mai was able to wield a small axe vigorously in the manner of their big brother Chen Xiao Mi.

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin had a discussion, they decided to sell one more batch of alcohol before the heavy snow sealed the mountain passes.

The restaurant owner who bought the alcohol from them last time highly approved the quality and wanted to buy more, same price as last time, eight taels of silver for ten jugs. Chen Xiao Mi would just sigh with emotion whenever he was reminded of the fact that one jug of alcohol was worth a boar.

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin sold ten jugs of alcohol to the restaurant and another ten jugs to Yang Heng Zhi. Chen Xiao Mi stroked the sixteen taels of silver in his pocket, it was such a surreal feeling for Chen Xiao Mi.

The last time he had this much money in hand was when he sold the tiger he had hunted, but that money was hard-earned, that money was from dancing with Death. Chen Xiao Mi found the fact that you didn't have to risk your life to get this rich too good to be true.

"Shall we check the market again? I still want to buy a mule." Suggested Lu Lin.

Lu Lin wished to have a mule for a long time, he returned home in low spirits last time when he didn't find a healthy mule, so he would love to try his luck in the market this time. Plus, he was feeling sore all over from walking all the way to town, how he wished he could buy a mule and ride a mule back home.

Chen Xiao Mi had seen him through, he asked Lu Lin with confusion, "Are you still feeling tired? You didn't carry a thing on the way."

Lu Lin showed a bitter smile and nodded.

Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and murmured, "Really? I felt much better on this trip, we have stored the jugs in your store, neither of us needed to carry anything, I feel like I can keep on walking forever."

Lu Lin cast a glimpse at Chen Xiao Mi and rolled his eyes, 'Yeah yeah yeah, you are the best, Mr. Olympic!'

And at the same time Lu Lin wished he could endure hardships better.

"But yes, let's go, let's get a mule." Chen Xiao Mi's eyes sparkled.

Lu Lin looked Chen Xiao Mi up and down, he asked with disbelief, "What made you change your mind?"

"We may need to do regular trips from our house to town. Everything will stay fresh in your little shop, we can store fresh veggies and fresh meat in your shop and sell them in town in winter time. We can get a good price for fresh food in winter." Chen Xiao Mi replied with a smile.

The two went to the market in a high spirit, and it didn't take them long to find a healthy-looking mule this time. What was even better was a sturdy carriage was included in the deal. It looked like both the mule and the carriage were both in great condition.

Chen Xiao Mi talked to the owner briefly, apparently the owner was in a rush to sell it to repay his gambling debt.

Chen Xiao Mi haggled with the owner over the price, luckily the owner was in urgent need of money, so they ended up paying seven taels of silver for both the mule and the carriage. Six taels for the mule and one tael of silver as a token fee for the carriage.

The young couple paid the seller in great delight.

"What else do you want to buy while we are in town?" asked Chen Xiao Mi.

Lu Lin thought for a little while and suggested buying some bones to make bone broth.

In modern society, people were willing to pay a high price for bones to make soup, so Lu Lin was amazed to find out you could buy kilos of bones with as little as ten cents because people had no idea bone broth was a good source of Calcium.

Chen Xiao Mi smacked his lips on thinking about the bone broth Lu Lin once made for them, "Sounds good."

Chen Xiao Mi took Lu Lin to a butcher, they spent thirty cents on kilos of bones the butcher had accumulated for an entire month.

The two then bought a new winter quilt for three hundred cents. The villagers tended to buy second-handed quilt because they were only half price, but they were not as soft or thick as the new ones.

Chen Xiao Mi put everything in the carriage and asked Lu Lin to take a seat, with that he whipped the mule gently, Chen Xiao Mi was fired with boundless enthusiasm, he couldn't wait to go home and show everything to his two little brothers.

Lu Lin lied down in the carriage with a big smile, he was fully satisfied and content with what they come accomplished so far. And he was sure this mule carriage would improve the quality of their lives greatly.