The shopkeeper's eyes darted around before he said, "Tiger meat is indeed rare, but this tiger is too old, the meat is not tender, yet I shall still offer a fair price, five taels of silver per kilogram."
Li Cheng's eyes lit up, clearly thrilled by the price which was astronomic for an ordinary peasant! Mrs. Lin, too, was pleased, astonished at how valuable a tiger could be. She was about to agree when Muniang interrupted her.
"No, ten taels per kilogram!"
Muniang had never sold tiger meat before and naturally had no idea of its true market value, but she knew that no merchant was without guile, especially when dealing with simple villagers like them; merchants would surely try to deceive to their full extent. She could not bear to see someone take advantage of them.
The shopkeeper looked at Muniang in surprise, clearly not expecting such a bold demand from a village woman, but his face also took on an unkind expression.
