Upon arriving at the rice shop, the best-quality rice cost ten wen money per catty, and the fine white flour was eight wen money, while sorghum rice and coarse flour were nearly half as cheap. Despite her brothers' opinions, Yang Mengchen haggled with the shopkeeper and ended up buying three hundred catties each of the top-quality rice and white flour, as well as some seasonings.
Seeing them purchase so much all at once, the shopkeeper also threw in an extra eight catties of rice and eight catties of flour, and agreed to have it all delivered to their home by horse cart.
"Shopkeeper, what's in that bag?" Yang Mengchen pointed at a certain bag in front of her and asked curiously.
Glancing at the bag, Yang Mengchen indicated, the shopkeeper honestly replied: "That's something my nephew left here to sell on consignment, claiming it was some kind of seeds purchased from merchants from Qing'an Country. Unfortunately, no one recognizes them, and they have not been sold to this day."
"How much?" she asked.
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up immediately. "Does the young lady recognize them?"
Shaking her head, Yang Mengchen stated nonchalantly, "I'm just curious."
"Oh." A flicker of disappointment and suspicion crossed the shopkeeper's eyes. "Originally, my nephew spent one hundred taels on it. If the young lady genuinely wants to buy, I'll let it go for fifty taels of silver, and I'll throw in those three bags as well." Then he had his worker bring over another three large hemp bags.
Yang Mengchen opened the hemp bags to look inside and discovered they contained sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn; the sweet potatoes and potatoes estimated to be over two hundred catties, and the corn about one hundred. She had glanced briefly at the previous bag, which seemed to contain seeds for chili peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, cauliflower, and other vegetable and fruit varieties. She felt secretly delighted, but her face showed none of it.
"Ten taels of silver, and I'll take it all." Seeing the shopkeeper's pained expression, Yang Mengchen spoke with feigned indifference, "As the shopkeeper said, no one recognizes these seeds. If they remain unsold, they will just slowly go bad, and eventually, you won't get any wen money for them. At least now you can get ten taels of silver. Besides, I'm just trying to see if I can grow them. It's very likely all my money will just go to waste in the end."
The shopkeeper was indecisive.
Yang Chengyou suddenly chimed in, "It's not easy to earn money at home, our ninth sister should perhaps not buy them."
"Fourth brother is right; I acted rashly." Yang Mengchen nodded in self-reproach. "Let's go."
As the six siblings truly turned to leave, the shopkeeper, whose heart had been swayed by Yang Mengchen's words, hurriedly called them back and agreed to sell for ten taels of silver.
After paying, Yang Mengchen told the shopkeeper they still had other things to buy and asked him to wait for a bit. The shopkeeper agreed enthusiastically, and Yang Mengchen took a receipt from the shopkeeper and walked towards the market with her brothers.
Yang Chengrong quietly asked his sister, "Do you really recognize those seeds, ninth sister?" He knew ten taels of silver was not a small sum.
"I didn't look closely, but I should recognize them all." Yang Mengchen responded mysteriously, "I'll tell all of you when we get back home. Once you know, you'll definitely feel that this money was well spent. I should also thank fourth brother; without his cleverness and quick thinking, I wouldn't have been able to acquire these fine things."
Flattered by his sister's thanks and praise, Yang Chengyou's handsome face blushed slightly, "As long as it's ninth sister's decision, I will support it."
"We also support ninth sister," Yang Chengbin and the twins quickly expressed their stance, and naturally, Yang Chengrong was no exception.
Looking at her brothers, who wholeheartedly protected and cherished her, Yang Mengchen felt moved yet fortunate, "Big brother, is there a bookstore nearby?"
"There's one not far ahead. Does ninth sister want to buy books? But the books in the store are expensive, and we can't read." Yang Chengrong said with a troubled face.
Yang Mengchen smiled, "Big brother, I can read. I'd like to go to the bookstore to see what books they have, so I can teach you all when I get back."
"Will Ninth Sister really teach us to read?" Seeing his sister nod her head with a smile, the five brothers were overjoyed.
Walking into the bookstore, Yang Mengchen picked up a few books to look at, and saw they were written in the same traditional characters as in her previous life, which she could read. She knew several styles of calligraphy because he had taught her, hand by hand, for a full five years. Even after they had parted ways, she continued to study traditional texts for half an hour and practice calligraphy for another half hour every day until the day before she died.
Thinking of him, Yang Mengchen felt a heart-wrenching pain, and a layer of mist gradually formed in her eyes.
"Ninth Sister, what's wrong?" Seeing that his sister's expression was obviously off, Yang Chengyou asked with concern.
Lowering her eyelids to hide the longing and pain in her eyes, Yang Mengchen pointed at the books in her hands and said softly, "These books are indeed very expensive." Even the "Three-Character Classic" costs two taels of silver, because they are all handwritten copies. No wonder they're frighteningly expensive—is there no printing using movable type in this era?
"Both books and paper are very expensive, and ordinary people simply can't afford them, so naturally, they can't read."
"Hasn't the Imperial Court thought of a way to change this situation?"
"The Imperial Court has certainly thought of many ways, but unfortunately, none have been successful," Yang Chengyou replied in a low, helpless and indignant voice. "Paper-making is a royal secret of Nanping Country. Not only is it strictly protected, but it is also explicitly forbidden for citizens to privately sell paper and books to the three countries, or else the whole Nine Clans would be punished. Our Qing'an Country can only spend a lot of money buying paper from the Nanping royal family, and then hand-copy various books. That's why books and paper are so expensive."
At these words, Yang Mengchen became pensive.
So, paper-making already existed, but she noticed that there were only a few common types of paper in the bookstore, while she knew how to make various kinds of paper.
When the right opportunity arose, she would introduce movable type printing and the paper-making technique. Not only would this improve the situation of expensive books and paper in Dongchu Country, but it would also enable more people to learn to read and write. She knew that only through gaining knowledge and understanding it could one's destiny be changed, and the entire country would then become more prosperous and powerful.
Dongchu Country had vast territories but was not wealthy, which was due to the constant warfare and depletion. The other three countries were even poorer, and therefore they coveted Dongchu eagerly.
Six years earlier, the other three countries had joined forces to attack Dongchu Country. The Third Prince, only ten at the time, led the army to the border to meet the enemy, and after two years of fighting, he finally inflicted heavy losses on the three countries, thus ensuring peaceful coexistence among the four nations for the next few decades. Only then were the people of Dongchu able to rest and recover.
Yang Mengchen bought the "Three-Character Classic," "Miscellaneous Records of Dongchu," "Legal System of Dongchu," and "Multiplication Table"—four books in total for twelve taels of silver. She also bought some ink, a brush, and a stack of the cheapest paper.
As for the "Xiliang Arithmetic," although it was more detailed than the local "Multiplication Table," it lacked addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division mnemonic tables, yet it cost ten taels of silver. Yang Mengchen inwardly cursed the people of Xiliang for being so unscrupulously greedy.
The six siblings left the bookstore and went on to buy several pounds of pork, over ten bolts of cotton cloth, cotton quilts, and a pair of shoes for each family member.
Watching the silver flow out like water, the five brothers Yang Chengrong felt a bit heartbroken. However, since their sister insisted on buying these things, they went along with her.
As the sun gradually shifted westward, the six siblings rode home in the carriage arranged by the rice shop owner.
On the way, they greeted people from their village. The villagers inquired about Yang Mengchen's health with concern, but few paid attention to the items on the carriage. Even when asked, and learning it was rice and flour, everyone advised her to eat more to regain her strength, which touched Yang Mengchen deeply.