Chapter 1432: Chapter 887: The Candidate for the Eastern Ghost Emperor_3

The weight of a sack of well salt is around forty to fifty jins.

Four sacks, that would be around two hundred jins.

In the eyes of the common folks in the marketplace, this is definitely considered great strength.

The porters around silently glanced over, already numb to the sight.

They all privately call Shen Zhinan “Shen Daniu”, because he has the strength of an ox.

Although resentful that a part of their wages was taken away, no one dared to make a peep.

Because previously, when someone verbally provoked, wanting Shen Daniu to roll out of this place, they were beaten to the ground looking for teeth without a second word, and didn’t get out of bed for a good ten days to two weeks.

Since then, everyone understood that this youth was ruthless at heart.

…

Only when dusk fell was all the well salt finally moved, and it was time to settle accounts.

Shen Zhinan did the most work, as one person doing the work of two, carrying a total of two hundred and sixty sacks, with a wage of one wen per sack, totaling two hundred and sixty wen.

After calculating the wages and holding the money in hand, Shen Zhinan felt much more at ease.

In these troubled times, with frequent conflicts, although the buying power of money has greatly diminished, without money, one would truly starve to death.

Just about to leave, an elderly man clad in brocade suddenly approached and stopped Shen Zhinan.

“As mentioned earlier, whoever does good work, the master will give extra reward money. This is your reward.”

The elderly man spoke with admiration, and at the same time, he took out an additional ten wen.

“Thank you, Housekeeper Ma!” Recognizing the identity of the elderly man, Shen Zhinan hastily expressed his respect, immediately taking the money.

Housekeeper Ma nodded subtly, then turned and left.

To him, a porter was just one with greater strength and not worth wasting too much of his breath.

…

Glancing at the sky, Shen Zhinan quickly put on the rough cloth jacket resting at the side, and hurried towards the grain shop.

As for why not wear it while working, first, because it would get too sweaty and require washing when returning home, and second, to avoid wearing it out.

The dusky sunset glow spilled over the earth, enveloping the Ancient City.

At the grain shop,

After asking about the prices, Shen Zhinan felt his head pound a little.

The prices had risen again.

In these chaotic times, the price of grain changes daily.

The price of the cheapest sorghum had risen to twenty wen per dou.

As for the price of rice, fifty wen.

The money earned in a day could only buy a few dou of rice, hardly enough to fill the gaps between teeth.

The choice of most poor people is sorghum, eaten with bran to make it last longer during meals.

Bran is a feed used for livestock rearing in later times, composed of various cereal husks; it is barely edible and difficult to swallow.

In normal times, he would do the same, as no one knew if they would live to see the next day, who would care about what they eat, but today is a special day.

His inexpensive wife is pregnant.

One person, two mouths to feed, it was no longer possible to scrape by as before; nutrition could easily fall short, and miscarriage was a common occurrence.

He bought three dou of rice, in addition to five dou of sorghum and finally went to the butcher shop on the east street to buy two jin of lard and one jin of lean pork.

Following the street, he turned into a small alley, and before him lay a vast area of low and cramped black-tiled earth houses.

As the sky turned dark, Shen Zhinan came to his own door, pushed open the old wooden gate, and inside the narrow courtyard, a woman in a rough hemp cloth was washing clothes.

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, with fine features and picturesque eyes and brows, showing her innate beauty despite looking a bit more aged than her real age due to constant hard labor. As she saw the man bought a bunch of things, she was about to scold him.

Shen Zhinan preempted her: “You’re pregnant, you need to bolster your nutrition, or else it’s bad for your health.”