Chapter 226 - 20-80 Split

“We are having dumplings!”

“What are dumplings?” Little Twelve was puzzled. They had never heard of something called dumplings. Could it be a specialty of Ning An town or a specialty food at the Lin family Village?

“You’ll know tonight. Why so many questions, little boy?” Lin Yuelan said. She forgot that she was younger than the little boy.

Little twelve immediately blushed and said in a low voice, “Miss Lin, I’m not a little.” Then, he seemed to have thought of something and continued, “if I’m a little boy, then Miss Lin, you’re a little little girl. You’re obviously younger than me!” As he spoke, little twelve even stood up straight to prove that he was taller than her.

‘Good. Now even Little Twelve has learned to tease me.’ Lin Yuelan huffed and left in a rage.

Little twelve touched the back of his head. He had no idea how he had offended Miss Lin. The reason was he didn’t know Lin Yuelan was not really 12. Of course, she’d feel a certain way when Little Twelve talked back to her.

Lin Yuelan quickly walked to the pork stall.

“Young lady, do you want to be fat meat or lean meat?” The bearded butcher asked.

Lin Yuelan looked at the pork and asked, “how much are they?”

“Fatty meat is twenty Wen per catty, lean meat is sixteen Wen per catty, and meat that is a mixture of both is eighteen Wen per catty!”

...

The farmers in the countryside usually bought fat meat to make lard out of them. Then, the residue could be used to cook vegetables. This was why fatty meat was more expensive than lean meat. Fatty meat sold better than lean meat.

“Hmm, give me five catties of fat meat, three catties of lean meat, ten catties of pork belly… I mean, the half fat and half lean meat!” Lin Yuelan said.

‘So much?’ The surrounding customers and the butcher were also shocked.

There was a total of 18 catties of meat. Could the young woman’s family finish it?

“Alright!” Butcher immediately replied happily. Then, he used the knife to cut off the meat that Lin Yuelan had specified. He deboned the meat, cut it, and weighed it.

After everything was done, the butcher handed the meat tied with dried grass to Lin Yuelan and said, “Miss, take this!” As he spoke, he placed the bones that he had picked out into the basket frame at the side.

Little twelve quickly took the meat and grinned happily. ‘We are eating pork tonight!’ He cheered internally.

Lin Yuelan looked at the pig bones and innards in the basket. She pointed at the basket and asked, “how much for the bones and pig’s offal in this basket?”

The butcher looked at the basket frame and said in surprise, “no one wants these. They’re not delicious, miss!”

Little twelve also whispered to Lin Yuelan, “Miss Lin, those things are not delicious. Only people who can’t afford meat would put one or two bones in the dishes to add a little bit of meat flavor. As for the large intestine and the like, they have a horrible smell, so they’re not delicious at all!”

Lin Yuelan glanced at little twelve and said disdainfully, “Then, why did you eat the innards of the wild games I cooked?”

It wasn’t that these things weren’t delicious at all, but that the people here didn’t know how to cook them.

Little twelve immediately explained, “But those things are wild game. They will definitely taste different from the ones that are raised at home.”

Lin Yuelan said, “okay. Just promise you won’t eat them when I’m done cooking them!”

Little twelve immediately cried out in alarm, “I won’t!” Based on his intuition, anything Miss Lin made would be delicious, even if it was pig offal. How could he deprive himself of the chance of a feast?

The butcher listened to their mutterings and asked in confusion, “Miss, do you want these things? If you want them, I’ll give you everything in the basket for five Wen!” He would have thrown them away anyway. If he could earn some money from them, why not?

Lin Yuelan didn’t refuse. She nodded and said, “okay.” As she spoke, she took out the money and handed it to the boss. “100 Wen for five catties of fatty meat, 48 Wen for three catties of lean meat, 180 Wen for 10 catties of half fat half lean meat, and five Wen for the pig offal. That’s 333 Wen in total. Boss, here!”

The surroundings became silent!

Even little twelve, who was usually by Lin Yuelan’s side, opened his mouth in surprise. He stammered, “This… is amazing!”

In this ancient dynasty, there was no mental arithmetic or even normal arithmetic. Businesspeople had to rely on experience and notes. Normal people could barely do mathematics. Therefore, the fact that Lin Yuelan calculated everything so easily shocked everyone.

Lin Yuelan looked at the butcher, who was a little stunned and didn’t take the money, and asked in confusion, “Boss, what’s wrong? Don’t you want the money?”

The butcher heard Lin Yuelan and immediately reacted. He shook his head and said, “no, no, miss. I’ll take it now.” Then, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, “Miss, how did you get the number so quickly?”

Lin Yuelan felt that something was wrong with the butcher’s question. She raised her head and saw the surprised gazes of the people around her. It was obvious that they were surprised by her mastery of mathematics.

Lin Tuelan suddenly remembered that there was no such thing as mental arithmetic in ancient times.

Lin Yuelan didn’t want to cause any trouble. She immediately took the basket and shouted at little twelve, “little boy, let’s go!”

After Lin Yuelan and little twelve left in a hurry, someone suddenly remembered and asked in shock, “Isn’t that child the one who sold the tiger? The rumored jinx of the Lin Family Village?”

“Yeah, I think so too. Did you see it just now? The big basket of things had to weigh at least twenty to thirty catties, but she carried it with one hand! Other than her, there is no other girl with such great strength. ”

Some people immediately said regretfully, “sigh, what a pity! She’s a jinx. Who would dare to marry her in the future?”

“That might not be true. Don’t you see the boy beside her? Who knows, maybe he’s her fiancé?”

“I don’t think so. What girl would call her fiancé a little boy?”

Everyone had heard Lin Yuelan calling little twelve ‘little boy’.

“If they’re not engaged, then this person is too indecent. She actually hooked up with a man in public.”

“You don’t say. I think I saw the two of them shopping on the street before!”

“Hmph, such a shameless person should be drowned!”

“Tsk, she’s not from your village, nor is she from your family. Mind your own business.”

“I just can’t stand seeing this.”

All of a sudden, the butcher’s stall became lively.

Little twelve didn’t know what had happened after they left, but Lin Yuelan heard the commotion behind her. However, it didn’t matter. In any case, no one would really dare to come and capture her anyway!