In the afternoon of the next day, Li Jiqian woke up from a hangover. Li Shaer was sitting outside his house. Hearing a sound from inside the house, he hurriedly walked in and said, "Brother is awake."
Li Jiqian said "hmm", picked up his clothes, took a shower, changed his clothes, and then came back again. He asked Li Sha'er with a smile: "Little sister, you are waiting here for big brother. Is there something wrong?"
Li Shaer nodded and said: "Yes. Brother, tonight is New Year's Eve, but our family hasn't bought any New Year's goods yet. Brother, please accompany me to the market outside to buy some New Year's goods."
Since the official opening of the Shanghai Shipping Company, markets have been formed outside the North and South cities. From the beginning, they sold grain, vegetables and meat. Even businessmen cannot live without food and drink.
At first, Yunxi wanted to treat these items as export supplies and required them to be purchased only in Nanshi, but he was dissuaded by the people around him. Yunxi also felt that with the storage level of this year, vegetables and meat could not be pickled.
It cannot be stored for a long time, and the food and vegetables in Southeast Asian countries are cheaper than those in the Ming Dynasty. It is impossible to resell these things from the Ming Dynasty, so Zhang Yanfang was allowed to acquiesce in such a thing.
As time went by, these self-formed markets also secretly sold some things that were stipulated to be sold in Nanshi. Zhang Yanfang often sent people to check. Because they were small and the agents were all locals, they turned a blind eye.
. Now during the Chinese New Year, even the county government has sealed the doors, so there are a lot of New Year goods sold in the market.
Li Jiqian said: "Aren't you afraid that eldest brother will be recognized?"
Li Shaer replied: "If you are recognized in Shanghai, then brother you will definitely be recognized when you arrive in Pingjiang? Then brother, how can you go to Pingjiang?"
Li Shaer's idea was: Shanghai is a coastal area after all, so it is easy to escape. Let's test Li Jiqian's disguise in Shanghai first to see if it is effective. If he is exposed in Shanghai, it will be easy to escape.
Li Jiqian also guessed Li Sha'er's thoughts and said, "Okay, then big brother will accompany you to the market to buy new year's goods."
Li Shaer asked: "Do you want to wait for sister-in-law? Isn't sister-in-law here too this afternoon?"
Li Jiqian said: "What are you waiting for her to do? Just let her clean up the house when she arrives and wait for us to buy the new year's goods."
The brother and sister brought several other people with them to sell some New Year goods.
When we arrived at the market, it was really crowded with people. Many merchants did not choose to go back. Merchants from the vassal state were not allowed to enter Shanghu County and could only buy things in the market outside, so there were very many people.
Li Jiqian disguised his face, which was similar to the basic disguise technique, but it was not very clever. People who were familiar with it could still recognize it.
But obviously the people in the market did not associate him with one of the wanted pirate images hanging outside the city walls of Shanghai. No one passing by took a second look; those who had been staring at his shopping did not recognize him at all.
signs.
Li Shaer took a group of them and walked around the market for a long time, until the sun was almost setting and all the hands were full of things, and then she said: "It's been so long, let's go back."
Li Jiqian looked at his hand, which was full of things, and said, "I bought so many things."
Li Sha'er glanced at him sheepishly and said, "Don't I think this is everyone's first year here, so I should buy more things!"
Li Jiqian said: "I'm not saying that you bought a lot of things, but there is one most important thing that you didn't buy!"
Li Shaer asked: "What?"
Li Jiqian smiled and said, "Of course it's wine! Didn't you realize that after last night's meal, there wasn't much wine at home? I ordered some. I guess I won't have enough tonight, so I have to buy some more."
Li Shaer said dissatisfied: "Huh! You just know how to drink!"
Li Jiqian smiled and said: "It's not just me who knows how to drink, but many of us know how to drink."
Li Sha'er snorted and said, "It's up to you." Then she stretched out her hand to take what Li Jiqian was holding, and took the others back. The other two people who also like to drink also took the hand.
Pass the contents to others and take them home one by one.
Li Jiqian quietly asked the person next to him, "In this market, the place you mentioned is the only place that sells wine?"
One person said: "Anyway, I only know one place. The Ming Dynasty was very strict about the brewing of wine, and it was also very strict about selling wine abroad. It is very difficult to find."
Li Jiqian said: "Then let's go buy it somewhere."
A group of three people walked towards a shop. After a while, they arrived at the place they were thinking of. This shop apparently sold grain, and the store was full of grain, but even the local policemen did not know that they still had food at home.
Selling alcohol is very hidden.
As soon as a man who followed Li Jiqian walked into the shop, he shouted: "Brother Xu, come out, there is business."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man who looked to be in his fifties and had some gray hair came out. As soon as he came out and took a look, he said: "What, Brother Dai, are you here again? Didn't you just sell it five days ago?
Don't you have much? Are you gone today?"
The person who was called Brother Dai was called Dai Zong, and said: "Aren't there a few more people here! So it's not enough. I'll buy some more from you."
Brother Xu looked at Li Jiqian and asked, "Who is this?"
Dai Zong said: "This is our eldest brother. He just came from the sea these days. We are one of our own, so don't worry."
After hearing Dai Zong's assurance, Brother Xu led them into the back room, turned on another switch, walked into a secret room, and then opened another cover, revealing the bamboo tube containing wine hidden underneath.
.Suddenly the aroma of wine overflowed, and the other person who had followed Li Jiqian started to drink.
Brother Xu said: "There are only sixty bamboo tubes in total. How many do you want?"
Dai Zong said: "We all want it! You send a man to follow us back, put all the bamboo tubes in the car, cover them up, and then put grain on top to cover them. We also bought these grains."
"It would be a bit dangerous to do this in normal times, but now the guards have all gone home to celebrate the New Year, and no one is checking, so it's no problem."
Brother Xu thought for a moment and said, "Okay! But since you bought them all, the price is a bit more expensive than usual." As he said that, he held out three fingers.
Dai Zong immediately said dissatisfied: "Brother Xu, you are not doing this right. We are also old customers. Why did you increase the price?"
Brother Xu said: "Usually, because you buy a lot, the price given to you is cheap. Now during the Chinese New Year, businessmen from vassal countries like you drink a lot, so they don't have to worry about selling. If they still sell at the usual price, I can't