In early December, a heavy snow covered the entire Tokyo city with a thick quilt. The gray-haired Guan Jun opened the door and was immediately trembling by the cold air coming to his face. This made him tighten his clothes, and then took a dog-skin hat from the table and put it on, and then left his room.

It was not dawn yet, and a trace of red light appeared in the sky to the east. However, Manager Hu did not dare to waste time and walked on the thick snow to a small courtyard next to him. The people living here were the lowest-level servants in the mansion, and the few people under Manager Hu were also here, so this place was also called the servant room.

Manager Hu came to the small door outside the Xiaren's room. Because the weather was too cold, he was lazy to reach out and kicked the door directly. As a result, someone opened the door inside immediately. Then a 15 or 16-year-old servant put on his clothes and smiled flatteringly, "Manager, you got up so early. We just discussed the heavy snow, so we won't bother you. Just now, just go shopping for groceries."

Hearing the slick words of the servant, Manager Hu laughed and scolded: "The little boy hadn't grown all his hair yet, so he knew he was foolish with me. He asked you guys to buy vegetables. I wonder how much you will eat? Get up soon and push the cart to buy vegetables!"

The servant knew that his words could not fool Guan Hu, who was a mature man, immediately agreed to call out the servants in the same room, and came to the yard to clean up the snow in the car. Then he followed Guan Hu, exited the mansion from the corner gate, and headed straight to the nearest vegetable market.

Tokyo City has millions of people. In order to facilitate the lives of the residents in the city, many markets have naturally formed, among which the vegetable markets in the morning are even more indispensable. Every day before dawn, various vendors gather in the vegetable markets in the city. Almost all the vegetables, meat and other items consumed in Tokyo City every day are provided by vendors in these vegetable markets.

Manager Hu brought a few servants to the vegetable market. Some familiar vendors immediately came up to say hello to him and recommended his own vegetables and meat to him. You should know that Manager Hu was purchased in the kitchen of the Queen's Mansion in Ouyang, and there were many people at the Queen's Mansion. The amount of vegetables and meat consumed every day was extremely large. If he could get his favor, they would have a stable financial opportunity in the future.

For these people who recommend them to the house, Manager Hu smiled and looked at their vegetables and meat. He would buy some of them if they are good, and would not turn against them even if they are bad. But he would not pay for them. It is very rare for Manager Hu to be a manager in the husband's house to treat others so kindly. This also allowed him to accumulate a lot of popularity in this vegetable market. Most of the vegetable stalls would keep any good dishes and meat for Manager Hu.

Manager Hu was very familiar with all the vendors in the vegetable market and soon bought a lot of vegetables and meat they needed, but then he was a little worried. Like other nobles, their mansion was divided into two kitchens inside and outside. The inner kitchen was only responsible for Ouyang Xiu, his wives, concubines, children, etc. The outer kitchen was responsible for the food of the people.

Among them, the vegetables and meat that the outer kitchen needs to buy every day are in a fixed quantity, and there is not so much attention, so Manager Hu bought it quickly. However, the inner kitchen is different. Ouyang Xiu and his wives, concubines and children have different tastes. The inner kitchen has to cook according to their own tastes. Some people even specifically told what dishes to cook today, so the inner kitchen needs to buy different vegetables and meat every day, and the quality requirements are also high.

Manager Hu took out the list of vegetables and meat to buy in the kitchen today, but couldn't help but smile a little bitterly. The meat on this list is easy to deal with, it's nothing more than some good mutton. There are also some expensive venison, which are all in the vegetable market. He had bought them all just now, but the remaining vegetables were difficult to deal with. Especially when he saw the "Ten kilograms of fresh vegetables" written on the list, he felt extremely headache.

The high salary of officials in the Song Dynasty is well known to the world. Even officials in the Western Xia and Northern Liao are extremely envious. Among them, the salaries of several ministers at the top of the officials are even more terrifying. Moreover, since Kou Zhun started, he has been a bad start, that is, his life is luxurious. Now, from Han Qi to Ouyang Xiu, almost everyone in the court pays great attention to enjoyment in life, and Ouyang Xiu is a representative of it. For example, even in winter, he has to eat fresh vegetables every day.

There are very few types of fresh vegetables that can be eaten in winter. The most common one is white radish. This thing can be stored for a winter as long as it is harvested in late autumn and dug a hole on the ground and buried it. Therefore, white radish is also the most common fresh vegetables for the people of the Song Dynasty in winter. In addition to white radish, the remaining lotus roots are also left. Most of this thing is transported from the south. Of course, there are also a small amount of it in the north, but no matter where it is produced, the price of lotus roots is not cheap.

Of course, in addition to white radish and lotus root, there are also some other fresh vegetables in Tokyo. For example, there are hot springs in Xi'an, where you can use hot spring water to grow some vegetables in winter. There are also a small amount of vegetables that have been transported from the south in an expedited manner. However, the number of these vegetables is sparse, and a considerable number of them are sent to the palace. The rest have been divided by some great nobles before they enter the capital and rarely flows to the market. Moreover, whenever these fresh vegetables are on the market, they will be sold out immediately.

Manager Hu purchases ten kilograms of fresh vegetables every day. Of course, Ouyang Xiu is not an unreasonable person, so he does not stipulate the types of fresh vegetables he buys. As long as it is fresh vegetables, even white radish can be used. Of course, it is better if there are other vegetables.

Manager Hu also knew that his master understood his servants, but calculating the days, he had been buying white radish for a month, and even couldn't stand the kitchen. Yesterday, the manager in charge of the kitchen specifically told him that he must find a way to buy some other fresh vegetables to improve, otherwise even their kitchen would be embarrassed to make radish dishes again.

Thinking of this, Manager Hu couldn't help but sigh. In this kind of snow-covered road weather, even if some fresh vegetables are transported from the south or Xi'an, it may be difficult to deliver them to the city. He had already transferred the entire vegetable market twice just now. The fresh vegetables he saw were only white radish, and the rest were either dried vegetables or pickles. Naturally, these things could not be bought back for his husband to eat.

"Master, should we go to Butcher Xu to take a walk? At worst, we can add more money. Maybe we can buy some lotus roots back?" At this time, a servant suggested that they all knew that Manager Hu was having a headache about fresh vegetables.

"Oh, I can only try it at Butcher Xu!" Manager Hu sighed.

Butcher Xu was not a real butcher, but a lotus root seller. Most of the lotus roots were transported from the south. Not only were they expensive, but they were not large in quantity. The lotus roots sold by Butcher Xu were even more expensive than others. Others called him the name of a butcher, which was why he became the butcher. Manager Hu used to be disliked by Butcher Xu's greedy face and had a fight with the other party, so he did not want to go to Butcher Xu's place to be cut by him before.

Manager Hu brought people to the stall of Butcher Xu. He saw that Mrs. Xu was as famous as her name, with a fat face and a strong body, with a shiny face shining brightly. She looked like a butcher, but her small eyes were extremely shrewd, which seemed very inconsistent with his figure.

"Oh, isn't this Manager Hu? You are a rare guest!" Butcher Xu immediately greeted with a smile when he saw Manager Hu coming to his stall, but his little eyes were shining, thinking about how he would cut a piece of meat from the other party this time.

"But Xu, I won't say much nonsense. How do you sell these lotus roots?" Manager Hu was not mentally polite to the other party and went straight to the topic.

"Hehe, Manager Hu is still so generous. The little lotus roots were sent just the day before yesterday. They were very fresh and not expensive, at 500 yuan per catty!" Butcher Xu deserves the name of a butcher and quoted a sky-high price on the spot. There are also people behind him, so he is not afraid of Manager Hu. Moreover, he also knows very clearly that Ouyang Xiu's house has ten kilograms of fresh vegetables every day. In the entire vegetable market, except for white radish, only the lotus roots in his hands are fresh vegetables.

"Five hundred coins? Why don't you rob it? The lotus roots in the vegetable market were only 300 coins a few days ago. Why did it increase by 200 coins when you got here?" Manager Hu immediately said furiously when he heard this price. It's not that he couldn't afford the five hundred coins, but he really couldn't stand the appearance of the butcher Xu's villain's success.

"Hehe, Manager Hu, you said it was a few days ago. Moreover, lotus roots have always been priced but have no market. Didn't you buy 300 yuan per pound a few days ago? In addition, the road is blocked with heavy snow, and even fresh vegetables outside cannot be transported. The prices of vegetables in the city naturally increased. A lotus root of 500 yuan per pound is not expensive at all." Butcher Xu said with great striking remarks, and then he pointed to the dozen lotus roots in front of him and said, "Mr. Hu, there are only so many lotus roots left. If you don't want them, maybe the next customer will buy them all."

In fact, the price of Butcher Xu sold to others was only 400 yuan, but he did not forget the last time that Manager Hu quarreled with him. Now he has taken private revenge and has added 100 yuan at once.

"You..." Manager Hu often traveled around the vegetable market, so he naturally knew that Butcher Xu had bought only 400 cents of lotus roots these days, but the other party insisted on raising the price to 500 yuan, and he had no choice. After all, lotus roots belong to someone else, so the other party would naturally have the price of whatever the other party wanted to sell. In addition, Butcher Xu also had a backing station, so the other party was not afraid of him at all.

Thinking of this, Manager Hu also cursed the villain secretly and wanted to turn around and leave, but there was no other fresh vegetables in the vegetable market, especially the manager in the inner kitchen, which had already given instructions. He could not buy white radish again. It seemed that a piece of meat would have to be cut off by Butcher Xu this time.
Chapter completed!