Chapter 197: Outrageously Expensive
She had money, but she wasn’t a fool. However, she also understood that when on someone else’s turf, sometimes she had no choice but to bow her head.
Those who could walk around Feng City so arrogantly were not ordinary people—she couldn’t afford to offend them now, but she would definitely return in the future.
“Oh? You actually paid up!”
“Well, of course. Anyone who comes to Feng City knows to bring plenty of silver. But judging by the looks of you three, I’d guess you just got here. Let me tell you, the prices in Feng City are ten or even a hundred times higher than the outside world. You’d better get used to it. If you don’t have enough money to spend, it’s best to leave early.”
With that, the waiter smirked, pocketed the silver, and turned away.
Yu Luo curled her lips into a cold smile, glancing at Zhang Hu and Tao Ming.
“Robbery in broad daylight, but with clearly marked prices. A single meal cost one hundred and eight taels. If it’s like this, will I even be able to afford buying servants later?”
Tao Ming was still in shock from the enormous cost, swallowing nervously as he thought about how ridiculously expensive the meal had been.
When he was eating, he didn’t think much of it. But now, recalling the taste, it wasn’t even that good—maybe even a bit unappetizing.
“Young master, if we can’t afford them, I can find another way to buy people elsewhere. It’ll just be more dangerous.”
Zhang Hu maintained his usual deadpan expression, speaking calmly but with certainty, as if he had already devised a plan.
Yu Luo knew that if he said something, he meant it.
“We’ll see later. If it really doesn’t work out, having servants isn’t a life-or-death necessity. But with a city that big, if we don’t have our own people guarding it, sooner or later, someone else will take over.”
The three of them continued walking in silence.
Even though this street was only about a hundred meters long, compared to the city the system had built for her, it felt like a tiny village.
Feng City might have multiple streets, but in terms of scale, it couldn’t even compare to a small town from her previous life.
The more she looked, the more worried she became.
They moved on to another street, which sold clothing, animal hides, fabrics, daily necessities, and weapons.
Yu Luo casually picked up a dagger and asked for the price.
After hearing the shopkeeper’s quote, she almost dropped it in shock.
A 20-centimeter dagger—50 taels…
A beast bone bow—over 100 taels…
A bronze greatsword—more than 200 taels…
A gemstone-embedded sword, looking slightly better—over 1,000 taels…
After going around and asking prices, Tao Ming clutched the broadsword in his hand, gulping nervously. When he turned to look at Yu Luo, his eyes were full of gratitude.
“This broadsword of ours would be worth at least 200 taels here… Young master, you’ve really spent a lot on us.”
Hearing this, Yu Luo chuckled and shot him a sideways glance.
“You’ve only been with me for a few days, and you’re already learning to sweet-talk?”
Tao Ming scratched his head and laughed sheepishly, caressing the broadsword like it was a precious treasure.
“If we’d had a sword like this five years ago, we could have exchanged it for food and seeds and wouldn’t have had to suffer for so long.”
“Let’s check the grain prices. Since the young master is selling grain to those families, we need to know the market rate.”
Zhang Hu remained serious as ever, completely ignoring the banter between the two.
“Alright.”
Yu Luo nodded in agreement.
She had no intention of raising the price for those three families, but she needed to understand the general market rate—who knew when more exiled prisoners would be sent here?
They entered the only grain store in Feng City.
The storefront had three sections, each at least five meters wide, with sacks of grain stacked inside wooden storage bins.
Yu Luo picked up a handful of rice, inspecting it while scanning the store.
Besides the rice she held, which was of poor quality, the store also sold brown rice, sorghum, wheat flour, and black flour.
However, there was no soybeans or corn.
Additionally, there were bundles of unhulled rice, wheat seeds, and some vegetable seeds wrapped in oiled paper.
But among all the rice varieties, only this low-quality one was available—there wasn’t even a better alternative.
“How much for this rice?”
“Ten taels per dou. How much do you want?”
Ten taels per dou?!
Yu Luo nearly bit her tongue in shock.
According to ancient measurements, one dou was about twelve jin (approx. 6kg)—meaning one jin of rice cost almost a whole tael of silver.
One tael was equivalent to 100 copper coins!
Compared to what she was selling to those three families, the price here was 80 or 90 times higher!
Just as she was processing the price, the shop assistant had already scooped up a dou of rice into a bag.
But when he looked up and saw her frozen in shock, he immediately scowled, dumped the rice back into the bin, and snarled.
“You got no money and came here just to mess around?!”
Yu Luo stiffened, hurriedly bowed in apology, and backed out of the store.
There was no point in arguing now—if she caused trouble, she might not even make it out of Feng City.
She had realized something: every shop in this city belonged to a single dominant force.
If any shop assistant raised an alarm, all the other shopkeepers would join in with weapons, ready to deal with the troublemaker.
They had only been wandering around for a short while and had already seen two such incidents.
Both times, the troublemakers were beaten nearly to death, without a chance to fight back or escape.
A wise person doesn’t take unnecessary risks—better to swallow her pride and move on.
The three of them stepped away from the grain store, watching from outside as other customers entered and made purchases, observing how much silver they handed over.
After gathering some information, Yu Luo concluded that all the grains here were priced dozens of times higher than in the capital.
Next, they visited a general store.
And what they saw inside made Yu Luo even more speechless.
A single sewing needle—one tael of silver.
Three feet of cotton thread—ten copper coins.
A small packet of salt—yellowish, coarse, and unevenly granulated—ten taels of silver.
Oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea had all become luxury goods.
A clay jar that cost only ten copper coins in the capital was five taels of silver here.
A ceramic bowl—one tael of silver.
An iron pot—fifty taels.
Yet despite the outrageous prices, many rough-looking men with strong martial auras were still buying without hesitation, as if money wasn’t an issue for them.
