Perceptive George quickly noticed the look in Lynn and Lex’s eyes.
He followed their gaze, understanding their intentions, and placed the iron pot in front of Lynn.
George smiled and spoke, "Master, are you looking to purchase the iron pot? If you buy both, I can offer you a discount!"
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
He hadn’t even started bargaining, and George was already offering a discount?
George seemed to see Lynn’s confusion and began to explain.
"Master, I am a crop trader, ordering crops from various villages to sell in town."
"Of course, when I come to the villages, I also bring items from the town to sell... Now I’ve already ordered suitable crops, but the items I’ve brought haven’t sold out yet."
"Especially these two large iron pots, they take up too much space..."
Local traders are just —buying and selling goods back and forth in a fixed area to earn the price difference.
Lynn asked, "How much are you selling the iron pots for?"
Without hesitation, George responded directly, "Twenty-five pence each! If you want both, it’s forty pence in total; this is a friend price I can offer. How does that sound?"
Lynn didn’t say anything but picked up the two iron pots.
Each iron pot weighed about ten pounds, with a diameter of fifty centimeters and a depth of thirty centimeters, a moderate size.
Lynn glanced at Lex, who nodded.
"Alright, forty pence for two iron pots."
George’s smile became even more pronounced, "Very well, Master, happy cooperation."
George took out a piece of string, tied up the iron pots and handed them to Lynn.
Lex stepped forward, took them over.
Lynn looked again at a plate of fine salt on the linen cloth, "How much for the salt?"
George picked up the salt plate, "Master, this fine salt is six pence a pound, the salt merchants say bandits are becoming more and more numerous. The Great Lords levy their salt tax but do nothing." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.net
"Many caravans are unwilling to escort, the supply of fine salt has decreased, and prices have risen."
Lynn nodded and left with Kuisi and the other two.
Six pence a pound for fine salt, who can afford that?
Passing by villagers selling wheat, Lynn also purchased thirty pounds of wheat, barley, and vegetables.
Thus, the pence earned from selling two hundred pounds of smoked fish was all spent!
One person led the ox carrying the load, barley and wheat on the ox’s back, one person pushing a light plow, one carrying the iron pots, and one holding the Horn Bow at the back.
The four returned to the wooden houses.
Lynn gazed at the two wooden houses in front of him, lost in thought.
Lex immediately guessed Lynn’s thoughts and spoke first, "Master Lynn, did you forget we also built two more wooden houses?"
"Since we haven’t started brewing beer yet, we can use the warehouse as a cowshed for now?"
Lynn nodded, "That works."
Hearing Lynn’s response, Lex, Kuisi, and even Red felt relieved.
They could sense that if there wasn’t a place to protect the ox, Lynn might drive it into their wooden house!
They certainly couldn’t just let it wander outside the wooden house.
With wolves and wild beasts around, the ox could be devoured overnight.
That ox was worth seven shillings!
Nearly three months’ salary for a free person without any skills!
Lynn stood at the edge of the clearing, looking ahead.
Kuisi held a stick in her right hand, occasionally whipping the ox, while also shouting commands.
Behind the ox, Red held the light plow with both hands, maintaining the plow’s stability and controlling its depth and angle.
Both Kuisi and Red had Level 2 [Planting] skills.
Lynn didn’t need to instruct them much; they knew how to use the ox to plow the land.
With limited pence left after buying the ox, light plow, and iron pots, they had not purchased many wheat seeds.
Just enough to expand wheat planting by an acre.
However, with the ox, they could continue to clear more land for the upcoming summer plowing!
Satisfied, Lynn averted his gaze and walked towards the two wooden houses in the distance.
There stood the constructed brewing workshop.
Its separation from the living wooden houses takes into account fire safety and odors.
Lynn didn’t want to live in the air of beer fermentation every day.
Inside the wooden house.
Lex was sitting on the ground with a troubled expression, looking at the two large pots in front of him.
Seeing Lynn arrive, Lex’s eyes lit up, "Master Lynn, you finally came... I need your help!"
Lynn nodded, "Go on."
Lex quickly spoke, "Master Lynn, the main equipment for brewing beer is almost ready, but... I still need some small tools."
With some distress, Lex brought out all the small tools in one go.
Tools for selecting barley and drying malt, winnowing baskets, a mill for grinding malt, a long wooden spoon for stirring, and wooden barrels for fermentation, among others...
After hearing Lex’s words, Lynn wasn’t upset.
He understood that wanting to start brewing immediately wasn’t so easy.
Especially since they were building this brewing workshop from scratch.
However, the only thing Lynn found slightly challenging among these tools was the millstone!
But with the Cross Pickaxe and Iron Chisel, it wasn’t a big problem.
Lynn looked at Lex, "Come with me to find some large stones to make the millstone!"
Lex was filled with gratitude, and quickly replied, "Alright, Master Lynn."
Lynn returned to the wooden house to fetch the Horn Bow and handed the chiseling tools to Lex, just in case.
Then, Lynn and Lex left the wooden house.
To make a millstone, they needed to find two hard stones, like granite.
To find a whole large stone, they had to go to the mountainous area in front of the wooden house.
That area was full of undulating stone mountains.
Red and Kuisi, busy plowing the clearing, saw Lynn and Lex leaving.
While driving the ox, Kuisi asked Red.
"Red, where are Master Lynn and Lex going?"
Red pondered, "It’s probably related to Lex’s brewing workshop!"
Kuisi nodded, suddenly thinking of something and asked again.
"Red, after we finish planting this acre and spring plowing is over, do you have any plans?"
Red recalled the promise he had made to Lynn back then.
That after helping Lynn with spring plowing, they would leave this place.
Seeing Red’s silence, Kuisi said, "Red, I think staying here is quite good. Master Lynn saved our lives and never treated us like slaves..."
Red unconsciously acknowledged.
Lynn almost always ate, lived, and even worked with them.
Every day started with the sun and ended with its setting.
Three full meals a day, with meat at every meal!
Where could you find a lord like that?
Red felt it didn’t matter where he went.
But he had to think of his sister.
In this chaotic world, a stable place to live was invaluable.
Red hesitated, "Kuisi, but we’ve already told Master Lynn we would leave after spring plowing. Would he... be willing to take us in?"
Kuisi raised her eyebrows, "As long as you want to stay, Red, I’ll ask Master Lynn to keep us!"
"At worst... we’ll just do more farm work!"