Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

Besides salt and sugar, the families also bought some miscellaneous items. Shen Dehou bought five jin of millet, and Wang Laoshi bought three jin as well. Millet is more expensive than brown rice, but it's the New Year, so the family should eat something different.

After settling the bill, the shopkeeper tucked the charcoal stick back behind his ear, glanced at the row of water tanks in the yard, and then at the group of poorly dressed outsiders in front of him. Their cotton-padded jackets were old, with several patches on the cuffs and shoulders, and the color had faded from washing; they were obviously worn for a long time.

The boss stroked his chin and suddenly said, "How are you going to get all these water vats back? The mountain road is difficult to walk on. Carrying the water vats for more than an hour, if you fall, they'll all shatter."

That's a very pertinent question. The families looked at each other, all somewhat troubled. Water jars are not like grain jars; they are not only heavy but also bulky, and their round shape makes them difficult to carry or transport. The mountain path is narrow and slippery, so carrying them back would indeed be quite a challenge.

"Here's what we'll do," the shopkeeper clapped his hands, "I have an old handcart in my shop, which I usually use for hauling goods. Today is the last market day before the New Year, and I won't be opening the shop after dusk tomorrow. The handcart will just sit there collecting dust. You can pay for the water tank today, and someone can come and take the handcart back tomorrow and return it to me."

Shen Dehou was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly clasped his hands in thanks. The shopkeeper waved his hand and laughed, "No need to thank me. We're all poor people, it's only right that we help each other out. I've been running this shop in town for decades, this isn't the first time I've lent out my cart."

Several families paid the deposit and settled the remaining balance. The water tank was temporarily placed in the backyard of the general store; they would come to pick it up tomorrow.

After leaving the grocery store, Jiang Xing whispered a few words in her third uncle's ear. Her third uncle nodded and turned to Shen Dehou, saying, "My Xing'er is going to buy grain. She said she can go by herself and wants us to buy pots and pans first. Do you need any grain? Let Xing'er buy it for you too."

Shen Dehou glanced at Jiang Xing but didn't ask any further questions. He had witnessed Jiang Xing's reliable handling of matters along the way, and she must have her reasons for going alone.

When Wang Laoshi and Widow Sun heard that Jiang Xing was going to buy grain, they quickly took out the money they had saved for the grain. Wang Laoshi gave 600 coins, Widow Sun gave 400 coins, and Shen Dehou also gave 400 coins.

"Pots and pans are sold next to the blacksmith's shop up ahead," Shen Dehou pointed to the alley ahead. "We'll come and meet you after we buy them."

Jiang Xing nodded, then turned and walked alone toward the grain shop.

The grain shop was located at the west end of the street. It was larger than the general store. Several sacks of brown rice and wheat were stacked at the entrance. A shop assistant stood at the door and shouted, "Brown rice is seven coins a pound! Wheat is nine coins a pound! Last day before the end of the year, we'll close up shop when we're done!" The shop was crowded with people, all rushing to buy grain at the last minute before the New Year.

Jiang Xing stood at the door for a while, glancing at the price tags hanging in the grain shop: seven coins for coarse rice, nine coins for wheat, twenty coins for refined rice, and twenty coins for fine white flour.

It was a little more expensive than she had expected, but at the end of the year, the price wasn't too outrageous.

She turned and walked along the street for a while before turning into a quiet alley.

After confirming that no one was following him, Jiang Xing opened the system shop.

On the mall's interface, grain products were neatly arranged. Brown rice was cheap and plentiful, so I bought 500 jin at once; polished rice was more expensive, so I bought 50 jin; and I bought 80 jin of white flour. I'll have to steam a few baskets of white flour buns for the New Year, I can't just eat brown rice buns.

I bought fifty eggs, ten pounds of fine salt, and five packets of brown sugar.

After making her purchase, she found the cart on the online store page. It was large, sturdy, and had iron hoops on the wheels, making it more robust than any cart she had ever seen before.

She spent a considerable amount of points to redeem the cart, and then bought a large, thick tarpaulin, enough to cover the entire cart completely.

She took the cart out of her storage space and placed it in the alley, then began to load the grains onto it one by one. Five hundred catties of brown rice filled several large sacks, while refined rice and wheat flour were packed in separate bags. To prevent the eggs from breaking, she lined the bottom with dry straw and stacked them on top of the cart. Salt and brown sugar were wrapped separately in cloth and stuffed into the gaps in the grain bags.

After unloading, she circled the cart and stuffed a few more bags of old grain she had stockpiled on the road into the grain pile. She had quite a bit of grain stored in her spatial storage, and she took it all out today, planning to buy new grain from the mall from now on.

Finally, she unfolded the large oilcloth and covered the cart tightly, tucking in the four corners and tying it twice with hemp rope to make sure it wouldn't come undone on the way. Then she clapped her hands and pushed the cart out.

The cart was quite heavy, weighing at least several hundred pounds, but fortunately the wheels had iron rims, so pushing it on the bluestone road wasn't too difficult. She pulled the cart out of the alley, and hadn't gone far into the street when she saw her third uncle and the others coming out of another alley with baskets full of things on their backs.

Several people saw Jiang Xing pushing such a large cart from afar, and they were all stunned for a moment before rushing over to help.

"My God!" Old Wang took the handle of the cart, looked down, and saw that the contents were completely covered by an oilcloth, but just by looking at how high the oilcloth covered the cart, he knew that the weight was definitely not small: "Jiang girl, how much grain did you buy?"

"Enough for our families to eat until spring," Jiang Xing said casually, tucking the tarpaulin covering the cart in even more. "The cart and the tarpaulin were borrowed from the grain shop owner. We'll return the cart with the water tank in town tomorrow, and return this one too."

Shen Dehou glanced at the cart, then at Jiang Xing, his lips moved, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Third Uncle walked over to Jiang Xing and helped her tighten the rope on the cart.

"Have you bought everything?" Jiang Xing dusted off his hands and turned to ask.

Third Uncle nodded: "That's about it, only the cloth hasn't been bought yet. I just discussed it with Dehou, and all the cotton quilts in our family are no good anymore. The cotton has all clumped together, and it feels like sleeping on a stone slab. It's almost New Year's, so we should at least buy a few more feet of cloth and a few more kilograms of cotton to keep the family warm."

"Let's go to the fabric shop then." Jiang Xing pushed the cart. "Put the things on the cart first, it'll save energy if we push it."