Chapter 1720 - 1543: Entertainment Tycoon from Another World 3

The girl bringing mantou to Jian Shuangshuang was called Du Xinning, and she was Jian Shuangshuang’s good friend. She was dressed so lightly not because of the heat, but because her family couldn’t afford fabric.

For ordinary families, fabric is very precious and is the best item for barter outside of currency. To some extent, cloth can also substitute for money.

The village where Jian Shuangshuang lived had very poor land, producing little grain each year. The villagers were gathered refugees fleeing from hardship, so the village had people with every surname.

This place was called Hundred Families Village, a well-known poor village. The village had many bachelors because girls tried hard to marry out, and girls from other villages were unwilling to marry in.

Under these circumstances, where every household struggled to feed themselves, it was rare for villagers to support Jian Shuangshuang. When people are poor, it’s truly difficult to engage in good deeds because managing one’s own survival is hard enough.

The mantou Du Xinning brought today, which she claimed was especially delicious, was actually a coarse grain mantou made from black flour. The grain was just ground a bit finer, making the texture slightly better.

Homemade mantou by farmers were large; the mantou Du Xinning brought was as big as two adult fists. Even after eating such a large mantou, Jian Shuangshuang still didn’t feel full.

That’s how people are: the poorer they are, unable to afford food, the bigger their appetite becomes. When they are wealthy, just a few bites fill them up.

Though not entirely full, with food in her belly, Jian Shuangshuang finally had the strength to get up. However, she was dizzy from lying too long, and instinctively supported her forehead as she rose.

Du Xinning hurried over to support Jian Shuangshuang to sit down, worriedly asking, "Shuangshuang, why didn’t you come out all day and stayed in bed so long? Are you sick?"

Du Xinning was a bit worried. Hundred Families Village was very poor, and children’s mortality rates were high. Even though Du Xinning was young, she had seen many people die for various reasons, especially children and the elderly.

Du Xinning was afraid something might happen to Jian Shuangshuang, but she didn’t dare say it, fearing she’d scare Jian Shuangshuang, so she could only worry quietly.

Jian Shuangshuang knew what kind of person she was and immediately saw Du Xinning’s worry. She quickly reassured, "Don’t worry, I’m not ill. I was just too hungry, so I didn’t want to move, because moving makes me hungrier."

Hearing this, Du Xinning put down her worry and couldn’t help but laugh, pointing at Jian Shuangshuang and teasing her: "Silly Shuangshuang, why are you so dumb?

If you were hungry, you should have come to me. Lying in the house wouldn’t solve the hunger. If I hadn’t come looking today, you’d be a skeleton by now."

"I know now. I must thank you for saving my life. Without your mantou, I would truly starve to death. I’ll go out to dig some wild vegetables now."

Feeling less dizzy, Jian Shuangshuang stood up again, rubbed her forehead, and looked at the small grass skirt that was losing a lot of straw, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

The straw pricked terribly, making it uncomfortable to wear, and it would scatter as she walked, making Jian Shuangshuang feel a bit ashamed, though fortunately, there was a small pair of shorts underneath.

However, staying inside wasn’t an option either. With no food at home, she couldn’t rely entirely on others’ charity. Jian Shuangshuang wasn’t used to accepting handouts.

Leaving the grass hut, Jian Shuangshuang realized she had another asset, a small bamboo basket specifically for gathering wild vegetables, and a bamboo shovel, presumably for aiding in digging wild vegetables.

Seeing Jian Shuangshuang ready to gather wild vegetables, Du Xinning followed and said, "Shuangshuang, wait, I’ll go home to get a shovel to help you dig wild vegetables."

Without waiting for Jian Shuangshuang to respond, Du Xinning rushed home to get the items, leaving Jian Shuangshuang helplessly waiting.

Jian Shuangshuang not only dug wild vegetables for herself but also to sell. However, wild vegetables were easily available and didn’t sell well, only bought by those who wanted them but didn’t want to pick them themselves and weren’t short of money.

Such buyers were scarce. Many, even if they had spare money, wouldn’t be willing to spend it on readily available things.

So often, after working hard to gather wild vegetables, Jian Shuangshuang would return from the town empty-handed, and occasionally when sold, a whole basket couldn’t earn her a few copper coins.

Du Xinning often helped her family gather wild vegetables and worked efficiently. Poor children managed households early; even young children would go out to collect a few sticks of firewood.

There were plenty of wild vegetables around the village, and with Du Xinning’s help, Jian Shuangshuang soon gathered a full basket. After bidding farewell to Du Xinning, Jian Shuangshuang carried the wild vegetables to the nearby town.

The closest town to Hundred Families Village was Wujia Town. At Jian Shuangshuang’s pace, it would take half an hour to get there.

Upon reaching Wujia Town, Jian Shuangshuang, familiar with the place, found the vegetable market. She picked a spot with a decent crowd and set her basket on a vacant spot.

The vegetable vendors around saw that Shuangshuang was just a child selling some wild vegetables, so no one minded her stepping in to sell. A sister selling vegetables even kindly lent Shuangshuang a stool.

This kind of thing was only permissible for children; if an adult did this, randomly taking space would equate to stealing business and could lead to fights.

Jian Shuangshuang had no choice; her wild vegetables were already hard to sell, and without a good spot, it would be even harder.

To sell her wild vegetables at a good price, Jian Shuangshuang didn’t just put them directly in the basket after picking as she usually did.

She wove several small baskets with willow branches, cleaned the wild vegetables, and neatly arranged them inside, placing a tied bunch of wildflowers on the side.

This arrangement made the wild vegetables look much more exquisite, even more appealing than the cultivated vegetables beside her.

Sure enough, soon, a well-dressed man approached Jian Shuangshuang to ask the price. She didn’t ask for much, offering one basket for a copper coin. The man quickly bought two baskets and left.

The currency in this world wasn’t weighed out but was directly cast into round coins for circulation, with a square hole at the top for stringing.

The currency was distinguished by Purple Gold Coin, Gold Coin, silver coin, and copper coin. The Purple Gold Coin was the most valuable, with one exchanging for one thousand gold coins. One gold coin exchanged for one hundred silver coins, and one silver coin was worth one thousand copper coins.

Ordinary people were lucky to see a Gold Coin in their lifetime. Purple Gold Coins were rarely seen, while copper coins were most common. Every household surely had a few silver coins tucked away.

One copper coin could buy three adult fist-sized coarse bread rolls. The two copper coins Jian Shuangshuang earned could be exchanged for six coarse bread rolls, enough to keep her half-full for a day.