Gu Qingcheng and her parents entered the city, and their eyes immediately lit up.
The three of them, having grown up in a bustling modern metropolis, had been in the old forest for too long and now felt like Liu姥姥 (a character from a classic Chinese novel) visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time.
After all, they had been living in the mountains, constantly having to guard against the attacks of wild beasts and navigating almost pathless mountain trails...
Now, seeing a flat bluestone path as wide as two carriages, with pedestrians jostling each other, and the red lanterns already lit in the shops all around, they had arrived at such a prosperous place that the three of them became somewhat timid and hesitant.
Not knowing the situation or the circumstances, they truly dared not be presumptuous.
Thinking of the strict hierarchy and numerous rules in ancient times, they were afraid of violating some local law.
After enduring so much hardship to get here, they certainly didn't want to end up separated from each other because of it.
"Dad, Mom, let's be careful and cautious," Gu Qingcheng urged, thinking of the dangers of feudal society.
"We know, daughter. You've really grown up to be sensible, even caring for us in return," Hu Lanfang's heart felt warm.
"Let's find an inn to stay first. I think we should look for an ordinary inn, not a luxurious one for the rich. You see, with our tattered clothes, our social circle is clearly different from theirs. Going in would definitely attract attention, and perhaps bring trouble," Gu Chaobei said.
Gu Qingcheng and her mother nodded in agreement.
With their refugee attire, wandering aimlessly through the streets like headless flies wasn't the right approach.
Gu Chaobei asked a steamed bun vendor by the roadside.
The vendor was quite friendly and said, "Go another 500 meters straight ahead. There's an inn across the street called Yue Lai Inn. The facade is small, but it's quite spacious inside, and you can spend as much or as little as you like."
Looking at their clothes, the vendor added, "If you stay in the communal dorm, it's only 5 wen per night."
Gu Chaobei quickly cupped his hands in thanks.
He noticed that the bun shop had good business. Besides meat buns, they also sold lean meat soup. So, he asked Gu Qingcheng and her mother, "Are you hungry too? Shall we have dinner here?"
"Okay." Gu Qingcheng also wanted to taste the warmth of the food here. Hu Lanfang, seeing her daughter willing, had no objections.
The owner was delighted to see business coming his way.
The Gu Chaobei family of three entered the shop, chose a corner seat, and ordered nine meat buns and three bowls of lean meat soup from the owner.
These buns were made with aged yeast, giving the skin a chewy, elastic texture and a slight sour taste from fermentation. With each bite, you could taste the rich meat filling. They were quite delicious.
This was the first time Qingcheng had eaten handmade, finely chopped meat filling and hand-fermented steamed buns in her life.
Let alone her, even Gu Chaobei and Hu Lanfang ate with relish, saying it tasted like their childhood.
As society developed, their diet had become industrialized. The buns sold on the street that someone like Qingcheng ate were basically industrialized pre-made products.
A uniform taste, a uniform filling, lacking the soul of good food.
The lean meat soup was also generously portioned, with large slices of meat, thoroughly kneaded with starch, and then boiled in a large pot of simmering bone broth. The meat was tender and melted in the mouth.
Each of the Gu Qingcheng family ate three buns and a bowl of lean meat soup, feeling 100% satisfied.
Naturally, while Gu Qingcheng was enjoying the pleasure of her first authentic ancient meal, the system rewarded her with a "satisfaction point," sourced from: the joy of tasting delicious food.
Essentially, dinner was on the house, and they even got paid.
Gu Chaobei handed the owner a one-liang silver ingot.
A meat bun cost three wen. They ate nine buns, totaling 27 wen. A bowl of lean meat soup cost five wen. They each ate one bowl, totaling three bowls, costing 15 wen. The total expenditure was 42 wen.
These small business owners were excellent at mental arithmetic and immediately calculated the amount they owed.
Then, the owner gave Gu Chaobei a large string of copper coins as change.
One liang of silver was equal to 1000 wen of copper coins. After deducting 42 wen, Gu Chaobei was left speechless, as his one-liang silver ingot had been exchanged for 958 copper coins.
It was a heavy string of coins, making him feel quite dizzy.
Fortunately, they had a backpack. He put the exchanged copper coins into the backpack.
It was a pity that the silver wasn't broken down earlier; otherwise, they wouldn't have lost a liang of silver to the officials for nothing.
It was good to break it down now, as it would be useful when they needed small change, preventing them from attracting too much attention by always using silver ingots.
Gu Qingcheng, after a satisfying meal and seeing the prices, suddenly realized the astonishing purchasing power of silver ingots.
Taking their dinner as an example, in modern society, a handmade meat bun would cost 3 to 5 yuan. Let's say 3 yuan; a bowl of lean meat soup would cost 5 yuan; the three of them would have spent the same 42 yuan. One liang of silver is equivalent to 200 yuan. If they had taken 200 yuan to spend in modern society, they would have 158 yuan left.
However, after spending like this in ancient times, their one-liang silver ingot still had 958 wen left. Staying in the communal dorm for the night for three people cost only 15 wen, leaving them with 943 wen.
But in modern society, if they spent their remaining 158 yuan on the cheapest guesthouse, they would not only have spent it all but probably wouldn't have had enough.
When calculated this way, using the silver ingots exchanged from the "Shamao Supermarket" to spend in ancient times was incredibly cost-effective!
Gu Qingcheng had clearly found a clear path to being wealthy here.
She could exchange for silver ingots cheaply at the supermarket and then exchange them here for a super high cost-performance ratio.
Gu Qingcheng told her parents about her calculations, and they were also stunned.
"With such an exchange rate difference, it seems we don't need to do business here to live a good life. The key is how to overcome the natural disaster," Gu Chaobei said, rubbing his nose.
Hu Lanfang heartily agreed.
As they were talking, the family of three found the Yue Lai Inn.
The inn's facade was indeed ordinary, but upon entering, they discovered a hidden gem. The main hall was spacious, and the staff were very friendly, not looking down on them because of their ragged clothes.
This foiled Gu Qingcheng's imagined scenario of being slapped in the face.
She had initially thought that if the waiter looked down on them, she would take out a silver ingot, place it on the counter, and say, "Here, take it! I'm rich!"
Gu Qingcheng was too naive.
She was too deeply influenced by online novels about face-slapping.
The waiters here dealt with guests from all over the country every day. In this era, who would dare to wear brightly colored clothes if they were traveling without bodyguards or servants?
There were plenty of wealthy people who arrived at inns looking disheveled.
Therefore, the waiters treated everyone equally and wouldn't foolishly discriminate based on wealth and poverty.
As long as you could afford to pay for a room, you were a valued customer.
The waiter enthusiastically introduced the inn's facilities.
The rooms were divided into three categories: low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.
Low-grade rooms were communal dorms, which were cheap, costing only three wen per person per night, of course, with separate rooms for men and women.
Mid-grade rooms were private rooms but without private hot spring baths, costing twenty wen per night.
High-grade rooms had private hot spring streams within the room, allowing for hot spring baths, costing three hundred wen per person per night.