The seafood and meat area of the market is smaller than the vegetable area, but there are at least 20 to 30 meat stalls of varying sizes. Those with strong financial resources rent shops, while those with less financial resources only rent a stall.
The butcher shop sells a wide variety of meats, including lamb, fish, pork, chicken, duck, goose, pigeon, etc. Basically, except for beef, all the famous meats can be bought here.
There are even a few stalls selling shark fin, one of the eight delicacies.
"What kind of meat is this? It looks like a spear."
Liu Dadao followed Zhu Ping'an around and was very interested in shark fin. He had seen bear meat and venison, but had never seen shark fin before, so he asked curiously.
Liu Dachui was equally curious.
"This is shark fin, one of the eight delicacies." Zhu Ping'an explained to the two, "There is a kind of fish in the sea called shark, which is as big as a house. This shark fin is made from its dried fins."
"A fish as big as a house? Sir, are you calling for ours?"
Liu Dadao and Liu Dachui both opened their mouths wide, with expressions of disbelief and "I'm not well-educated, so don't lie to me" on their faces.
"Really? Some sharks are bigger than houses, and some are smaller. I'll take you to see them when I have the chance." Zhu Ping'an nodded seriously.
"This young man is really knowledgeable. The shark fins here are famous in our capital. Would you like to buy a few pounds to take home and try?" The shop owner came forward with a smile, complimented Zhu Ping'an, and then spared no effort to encourage Zhu Ping'an to buy a few pounds of shark fins to take home and try.
The clothes that Li Shu made for Zhu Pingan were all low-key and luxurious. Zhu Pingan liked low-key and Li Shu liked luxury, so the point they agreed on was low-key luxury.
Therefore, only those who know what is good at judging would think that Zhu Ping'an is the son of a wealthy family as soon as they see his clothes.
The boss who sold shark fins in the vegetable market naturally had a keen eye. He could tell at a glance that the material of Zhu Ping'an's clothes was the most expensive Fuguang Guangling silk in the capital. This kind of silk was the famous "soft gold" among fabrics. One foot of Fuguang Guangling silk cost at least several taels of silver.
Fuguang Guangling is made of top-grade Eurya grandis, which is soaked in special Chinese herbal juice, then crushed with a variety of precious medicinal materials and mixed with iron-rich riverbed mineral mud for sealing. It is exposed to the scorching sun in summer for several days, and then immersed in the Chinese herbal juice. This cycle is repeated for several months and is made after more than thirty processes.
Because of the mineral pond mud, this floating light Guangling cloth feels cool when worn, dries quickly when in contact with water, and is not easy to wrinkle. At the same time, due to the infiltration of various Chinese herbal medicines, this silk cloth has the effect of clearing away heat and removing blood stasis, as well as multiple functions such as insect removal, mildew prevention, sterilization, and deodorization, and can be called the best green fabric.
Those who can afford to wear Fuguang Guangling are all descendants of officials and wealthy families with very, very, very strong financial resources.
Shark fins are sold to people like this.
Most wealthy people love face, and the shop owner is still very confident in his way of doing business. He feels that since Zhu Ping'an is not short of money, he will buy at least half a pound after hearing what he said, even if he can't buy several kilograms.
But, what a pity.
"Forget it, it's too expensive."
As soon as the shop owner finished speaking, Zhu Ping'an raised his head, smiled and shook his head, his white teeth sparkling in the sun.
Are you kidding? I couldn’t afford shark fin before I went bankrupt, let alone now that I’m bankrupt.
Zhu Ping'an's straightforward and decisive refusal with a natural look on his face surprised the shop owner. How could a rich man say something like "too expensive" so naturally... Don't you have any face...
Just as Zhu Ping'an refused, Liu Dadao's voice was heard beside him.
"How much is one pound? The young lady has asked the manager to pay us our monthly salary, which is a full two taels of silver." Liu Dadao asked the boss with a generous look on his face, as if he had just received his salary today and had no shortage of money.
Zhu Ping'an had his salary deducted by the emperor for one or two years, and was fined 100 taels of silver by the emperor. This was no longer a secret in the Linhuai Marquis's mansion. Liu Dadao and his men often followed Zhu Ping'an, so they naturally knew more about it. They knew that Zhu Ping'an was short of money recently, and had to rely on his wife for help... ...
So Liu Dadao decided to buy two kilograms of shark fins and let Zhu Ping'an take them back to taste with the young lady, as a token of their thoughtfulness.
The shop owner stretched out two fingers and gestured in front of Liu Dadao.
"Twenty cents a pound? Well, it's a little more expensive than pork, but not that expensive. Give me ten or eight pounds." Liu Dadao thought that the two fingers the boss pointed to meant twenty cents a pound, so he couldn't help but laugh, and generously asked the boss to weigh him ten or eight pounds.
The shop owner seemed to be petrified when he heard this. He looked at Liu Dadao as if he was an idiot, then slowly shook his head.
"Oh, that's two hundred wen per catty. Well, it's indeed a bit expensive. How about five catties?" Seeing this, Liu Dadao couldn't help but swallow his saliva. The price was beyond his expectation, and his tone was not as generous as before.
The shop owner shook his head again and gave Liu Dadao the same expression and look as before.
"That's two taels of silver per pound?"
Isn't it 200 coins per pound? Liu Dadao took a deep breath, raised his head and asked, looking extremely surprised.
"It's not one catty, it's one penny." The shop owner was speechless. He didn't give Liu Dadao a chance to guess and directly quoted the price.
"What? Two taels of silver for one penny? ... This is not even enough to fill the gap between our teeth."
After hearing this, Liu Dadao's eyes widened and he was dumbfounded. He could not believe his ears. He took a deep breath and exhaled after a long while!
Well, here is another vivid example of "poverty limits my imagination"... In fact, when Zhu Ping'an heard about the price of shark fin for the first time, his expression was not much better than Liu Dadao's. He also looked like he was going to eat one to two kilograms of shark fin.
"Ahem, now I understand what you meant by 'it's too expensive'. It's simply too expensive. Forget it. I'd better hunt a whale myself in the future when I have the chance, cut its fins and present them to you and your wife as a gift." Liu Dadao coughed and scratched his head embarrassedly.
"Yeah." Liu Dachui nodded in agreement. The monthly salary of him and Liu Dadao combined was not enough to buy a shark fin...
"Well, okay, I've made a note of it. Let's go and take a look at the pork." Zhu Ping'an smiled and nodded.
"Don't worry, sir. We will definitely hunt a big whale in the future..." Liu Dadao and Liu Dachui followed Zhu Ping'an and promised while patting their chests.
The shop owner behind them watched them leave with an expression as if they were idiots bragging.