The horse seller had thought about yelling for the officials, but since she was selling horses illegally, she didn't dare.
If the officials found out, not only would they take her horses away, but she might also get beaten.
So, even though she was angry, she had to swallow it down and stay quiet.
"Miss, can you pay a little more? I really can't sell it for that price," the horse seller begged.
"Then how about eleven taels?" Julie said. She didn't want to be greedy.
She knew that even one tael of silver could buy a lot of things.
The horse seller looked like she was about to cry.
This wasn't buying food where a few coins made a difference — horses were expensive!
"Miss... fine, deal," she finally agreed.
She had wanted to refuse, but after seeing Julie crush a piece of brick into powder with one hand, she was too scared to say no.
After sprinkling the dust on the ground, Julie gave her a cold look.
It was a clear threat...
But the horse seller knew she couldn't win against her.
Julie, satisfied, let go of her and even patted the dust off the seller's shoulder.
The horse seller flinched, thinking she was going to get hit again.
Julie handed over eleven taels of silver and bought a black horse along with a carriage.
The horse seller quickly taught her the basics, like how to hold the reins and control the speed.
She just hoped the horse would finally be sold for good and wouldn't come back — it had caused her so much trouble.
Otherwise, she would never have sold it so cheap, not to mention giving away a free saddle too.
Julie easily stepped into the stirrup with her left foot, placed her right hand on the saddle, jumped up cleanly, straightened her knees, swung her right leg over, and sat firmly on the horse.
Her movements were smooth and quick.
The horse seller had said the horse would throw people off and kick them, but none of that happened.
Instead, the black horse gently rubbed its forehead against Julie's clothes, acting friendly and cute.
The horse seller's face showed complete shock.
Was this horse a spirit or something?
Could it really tell the difference between people?
A glint of light flashed in Julie's eyes — it seemed this horse was quite clever.
Julie let Bailee, Haven, and Lorrie sit in the carriage, then snapped the whip and drove off, raising a cloud of dust.
No one could tell that this was her first time riding a horse because she was so calm and steady.
Even the three brothers didn't notice anything strange.
Without realizing it, their hearts and thoughts were drawn to their new wife.
Their eyes were full of light and admiration.
Julie drove the carriage straight to a grain store.
She told them to stay in the carriage while she went to buy things herself.
The store clerk saw her rough, plain clothes and immediately looked bored and impatient, thinking she was just another poor person.
He was about to brush her off by saying they only had coarse grains when he noticed the cold look in her eyes and felt a shiver.
But he quickly laughed it off, thinking she was just putting on a scary act.
His eyes showed his disdain.
Julie ignored him completely and walked inside.
The shopkeeper was busy calculating with an abacus.
When he saw someone dressed so plainly, he thought she'd only buy a little coarse grain, so he didn't even bother to look up.
Julie glanced around.
The grain store wasn't very big, but it was the closest one.
The larger store was farther away, and she still had a lot to buy.
She didn't want to waste time running around. It was getting late — better to finish things quickly.
"I'll take one hundred jin of rice, one hundred jin of broken old rice, fifty jin of white flour, one hundred jin of yellow flour, fifty jin of black flour, fifty jin of soybeans, and twenty jin of mung beans. That's all," she said.
Julie knew she didn't look rich.
It was normal for people to judge by appearances — it had always been that way.
Usually, poor families wouldn't buy good rice or fine flour.
They'd mostly buy old broken rice or yellow flour just to fill their stomachs, not for taste.
But Julie had come back to life to live well and enjoy herself.
So why not start with good food and drink?
She didn't plan to eat only fine food. She'd mix it up with coarse food sometimes too.
She pulled out a five-tael silver piece from her pocket and placed it on the counter, making it clear she wasn't just pretending to be rich.
The store clerk quickly forgot all his earlier judgments and happily grabbed the silver to give to the shopkeeper.
Then he rushed off to weigh the grain.
After all, the more he sold, the more commission he earned.
Rice cost eight coins per jin, so one hundred jin cost 800 coins.
Old broken rice was three coins per jin, so one hundred jin cost 300 coins.
White flour was six coins per jin, so fifty jin cost 300 coins.
Yellow flour was three coins per jin, so one hundred jin cost 300 coins.
Black flour was two coins per jin, so fifty jin cost 100 coins.
Soybeans were four coins per jin, so fifty jin cost 200 coins.
Mung beans were three coins per jin, so twenty jin cost 60 coins.
Altogether, it added up to about two taels and sixty coins.
The clerk quickly packed everything up and said because she bought so much, they could deliver it to her home if she paid two coins for cart service.
Julie agreed immediately.
There was no way her small carriage could hold all that food plus the other things she still needed to buy.
The shopkeeper worked his abacus and quickly gave her two taels and 938 coins in change.
Julie told them her address and then left to buy more supplies.
She wasn't worried they would cheat her.
Her shop was here in town, and if they tried anything funny, she could easily shut them down the next day.
Also, in ancient times, reputation was very important, especially for shops doing long-term business.
They wouldn't risk it like a shady black market shop would.
When Julie came out of the grain store, the three brothers saw she didn't bring anything and thought she forgot to pick up the grain after paying.
Lorrie panicked, "Wife, where's the grain? You paid but didn't take it! You're so young, how can you be so forgetful? We can't just let them cheat you! I'll go get it!" He was about to jump out of the carriage.
Julie's eyes showed a bit of amusement and relaxation, although she didn't smile.
"No need. I bought a lot, so I asked them to deliver it. We still have other things to buy, and it wouldn't fit anyway."
She didn't mention paying the extra two coins for delivery, afraid Lorrie would scold her for wasting money again.
Whenever Julie dealt with Lorrie, she always felt more relaxed.
He had a way of making her want to tease him just to see him get flustered.
It amused her.
Was this what people called bad humor?
Julie told them to sit tight as she drove them to a fabric store.
This time, she didn't leave them in the carriage.
She brought Bailee, Haven, and Lorrie inside to help pick colors and styles.
She tied the horse carriage outside and gave a young servant boy one coin to watch it.
The boy smiled happily and took the money.
After all, he didn't have to do much, and he got a coin for free.
Who would be foolish enough to say no?