After Xie Zhongjian disappeared at the corner of the street, Bai Qingzhou followed suit and lay directly on the lounge chair at the door, and began to wait patiently for the guests who came to the door.
By the way, I picked up the pamphlet left by Xie Zhongjian and started to read it carefully.
There is a lot of information recorded in the book. It turns out that in addition to the semi-annual herb transactions, the store also collects some rare herbs and then sells them to earn a price difference.
Therefore, dozens of low-grade spiritual stones were left in the store to facilitate store turnover.
Bai Qingzhou studied the brochure while waiting for the guests to come.
But after waiting for two full hours, he found that there was no one there. This made Bai Qingzhou believe Xie Zhongjian's words, the business was indeed bleak.
From looking through the autumn water to falling asleep, it quickly became dark.
Seeing that there were indeed no guests, Bai Qingzhou moved the lounge chair back to the door, then locked the wooden door and walked directly to the street.
He had been running around all day, and now he was so hungry that he planned to eat something.
In the market, there are not only restaurants where you can enjoy exquisite dishes, but also many small stalls selling simple dishes.
The food street in Luogufang is on a small road next to the market. There are many stalls selling various food, and the prices are very low, and they only charge secular gold.
Gold is the lowest currency in market transactions, and it is also the most commonly used currency by many casual cultivators. When exchanged with spiritual stones, it is generally one hundred taels of gold to exchange for one low-grade spiritual stone.
However, exchanging spiritual stones has a price but no market, and many people are unwilling to exchange them.
After all, spirit stones are the hard currency in the world of cultivation, and gold is just change. Unless there is really no more gold to use, precious spirit stones will be used to exchange it.
Bai Qingzhou wandered all the way, watching as he walked in a leisurely manner.
Soon we arrived at the market.
The market was still bustling with people, and people in different clothes and services made all kinds of noises, bargains, and inquiries, and the sounds came one after another, forming a very lively scene.
But Bai Qingzhou's destination at this time was not the market. He kept moving forward and walked towards the edge of the market.
Away from the market center, I walked to the nearby small streets. The number of people gradually began to decrease, and there were more food stalls on both sides of the streets.
The stalls sold a wide variety of products. Bai Qingzhou only wandered for a short distance and saw stalls such as Chaos, noodles, glutinous rice balls, sesame cakes, steamed cakes, etc.
Behind each stall were some casual cultivators in shabby robes, shouting hard and grabbing the few customers who were passing by.
They are not much different from ordinary traffickers and lackeys.
Bai Qingzhou looked around and finally came to a small stall called "Lao Luo Wonton".
The stall was not big, and there were a few simple tables and chairs on the side. Seeing the steaming iron pot, Bai Qingzhou's appetite gradually increased, and he walked directly to the stall and sat down.
"Shopkeeper, here's a bowl of wontons!" Bai Qingzhou shouted cheerfully.
"Okay! Fellow Taoist, wait a moment!"
The shopkeeper is a lean man with a simple and honest face. When he saw the business coming, his eyes lit up and he immediately started working.
Bai Qingzhou looked around and found that most of the people eating here were casual monks in shabby clothes, but there were also some monks in fine clothes.
Everyone was sitting at the stall, chatting and laughing, having a good time, and giving a market atmosphere.
The shopkeeper was quick and very familiar with the process. After a while, he brought out a bowl of steaming wontons.
Bai Qingzhou waited for a day and was already hungry. When he saw the delicious food, his appetite suddenly increased. Without saying much, he immediately lowered his head and started eating.
After eating the warm wontons, Bai Qingzhou could feel a warmth rising in his stomach. He sensed it carefully and found that there seemed to be some spiritual energy in the meat filling of the wontons, and there seemed to be some monster meat.
After taking a few bites, Bai Qingzhou raised his head and asked, "Shopkeeper, what kind of monster meat is in your wontons?"
"It's the meat of the first-level monster [Wild Wind Wolf]. I went to the market to buy it. How about it? Is the meat delicious?" the lean man replied with a smile.
Bai Qingzhou nodded and said with a smile: "It does taste good, the shopkeeper is very good at his craftsmanship!"
"Hehe, of course, my Lao Luo's skills are not bad! Before I ascended to immortality, my father was a famous local chef! I rely on his guidance for all my skills." The lean man wiped his hands.
, said with a simple and honest smile.
"It's good to have skills. You can make money steadily without going out to fight." Bai Qingzhou said while eating.
Bai Qingzhou is the only customer at the stall now, so the stall owner is not busy and just starts chatting with Bai Qingzhou.
"If I had the cultivation level of the middle stage of Qi refining, I would dare to go out and fight monsters. Unfortunately, I am only at the third level of Qi refining. I may not be able to withstand a slap from the monster. Hahaha, I can only do this to support myself."
Lao Luo said with a smile.
Speaking of this, Bai Qingzhou couldn't help but think of the couple he met today. They were fighting for the spirit stone with their lives. The two chased after each other and used a lot of spells to defeat a monster, but the monster they actually obtained
Meat can only be sold for five spiritual stones.
"It's not that easy to fight monsters. You have to trade your life for money..." Bai Qingzhou said with emotion in his heart.
Lao Luo chuckled and said, "Hey, I'm just saying it casually. I don't have the guts to go out and hunt monsters. Fellow Taoist, please don't take it seriously."
Bai Qingzhou didn't care, smiled, skipped the topic, and started chatting with Lao Luo.
Lao Luo is a talkative type. He won't stop talking once he starts talking, and he keeps chatting with Bai Qingzhou.
After chatting for a while, I learned that Lao Luo was living in a shantytown and would push his cart to the market every night to sell wontons.
Shanty towns, located outside the city, are the gathering places and residences of many casual cultivators.
Although it is not in the town of Fangshi, it is still within the mountain protection formation of Fangshi, so there is no need to worry about attacks by monsters, and casual cultivators can live in the shanty towns with peace of mind.
And from Lao Luo's chat, I learned that even if the house he lived in was built by himself, he still had to hand in a low-grade spiritual stone to the Wuji League every three months, which was equivalent to rent.
The two of them chatted for two full incense sticks. When they saw another guest coming and Lao Luo started to work, Bai Qingzhou paid the bill and left.
A bowl of wontons cost two taels of gold.
This is the price of food in Fangshi.
On the way back, Bai Qingzhou couldn't help but make some calculations in his mind.
A meal costs two taels of gold. If you have three meals a day, six taels of gold will be used for daily food. One spiritual stone can be exchanged for one hundred taels of gold. In that case, almost two spiritual stones will be eaten in a month, and it will be spent in a year.
Go get some twenty low-grade spiritual stones!
This immediately made Bai Qingzhou speechless.
"Just eating alone costs more than twenty spiritual stones a year, not including spells, magic weapons and other expenses. If the casual cultivator does not cook at home, then the annual expenditure will be a huge expense..."
Bai Qingzhou once again understood how difficult it was for casual cultivators. It turned out that their situation was extremely difficult, and he was secretly glad that he could live in Xuanyang Sect. In the sect, he didn't have to worry about food or safety, and he still had spiritual stones as his monthly income every year.
It is really very different from casual cultivators.
Without a sect, it is like a duckweed without roots.
"Even if my monthly income increases, I can't afford to eat like this. It seems I have to cook for myself..." Bai Qingzhou thought to himself.
This time when he came to Luogufang to look after the shop, Bai Qingzhou's quarterly allowance has been increased, from the usual one spiritual stone to two spiritual stones. In addition, two additional low-grade spiritual stones are distributed every month as food expenses.
From this calculation, Bai Qingzhou can receive eight low-grade spiritual stones every three months, which is a high income.
Although the income is high, if you eat out every day, I believe you won’t be able to save many spiritual stones in a year.
"Let's buy some spiritual rice now!" Bai Qingzhou made a decision in his heart.
Just as he said, Bai Qingzhou turned around and walked towards the place where the spiritual rice was sold.
The place where Lingmi is sold is not a stall, but a shop on the street. The Lingmi shop also has a signboard of "Wujimen".
Obviously this is the rice shop of Wuji Gate.
"Shopkeeper, how do you sell spiritual rice?" Bai Qingzhou stepped forward and asked.
The clerk in the store glanced at Bai Qingzhou and said in a cold tone:
"Low-grade spiritual rice, a piece of low-grade spiritual stone, fifteen kilograms, no gold, no selling in bulk, no bargaining."
When Bai Qingzhou heard this price, his heart ached secretly.
It’s so expensive!
Bai Qingzhou's current food intake is about twenty kilograms of spiritual rice per month, and even that one spiritual stone is not enough to last for a month.
It’s true that you don’t know how expensive firewood and rice are. In the past, spiritual rice was distributed at every door, sixty kilograms every three months. This made Bai Qingzhou not have a clear idea of the price of spiritual stones.
"Thirty pounds!"
Bai Qingzhou directly took out two low-grade spiritual stones and placed them on the stage.
The guy didn't expect that Bai Qingzhou could buy thirty kilograms at once. He was stunned for a while, then took out the rice bag and started filling it.
Holding the packed rice, Bai Qingzhou walked towards the market again.
He also had to buy some monster meat, vegetables and fruits.
The market still looks like that, but as the sky slowly gets dark, many items that are not sold on the countertops during the day are quietly placed on the market.
But Bai Qingzhou was not interested in this at this time, he was just looking around for supplies to stock up.
"Fellow Daoist Bai!" a greeting suddenly came.
Bai Qingzhou looked back and discovered that the source of the sound was Zhang Yao and Peng Peng, the couple he met in the forest today.
They were selling the monster meat they got today at a stall.
"It's you!" Bai Qingzhou smiled and stepped forward to greet him, "That's just right. I just wanted to buy some monster meat, so I'll buy it from you!"
Peng Peng smiled and agreed: "Okay, how much do you want, fellow Taoist Bai?"
"Well, let's get fifty pounds." Bai Qingzhou said after thinking for a while.
Monster meat usually costs one tael of gold per pound, and the cost of fifty pounds is about fifty taels.
"Okay!" Zhang Yao agreed, and immediately picked up the knife in his hand and started cutting the meat. His knife skills were superb. He raised and lowered the knife in his hand, and in a short time, he cut a large piece of monster beast.
Peng Peng took it, put it in a paper bag, and handed it to Bai Qingzhou.
Bai Qingzhou took it and asked with a smile: "How much?"
"I won't accept it now. I just want to thank fellow Taoist Bai for his help today." Zhang Yao wiped his hands and said with a smile.
Bai Qingzhou laughed and cursed: "How can this be done!"
After that, he took out fifty taels of gold, placed it on their stall, turned around and left immediately.
Even the couple pretended not to hear the shouts from behind and left quickly.
After a while, Bai Qingzhou returned to the shop, opened the locked wooden door, locked the shop, entered the inner hall, and then entered the small courtyard at the back.
Put all the supplies purchased tonight in the kitchen.
After using some water and cleaning briefly, I went to lie down on the bed.
The new environment brought a sense of strangeness. Bai Qingzhou had a lot of thoughts in his mind, thinking about this and that, and finally fell asleep in a daze.