Upon seeing the Gu family's newly renovated old house, its imposing walls built of bluestone slabs, and a gatehouse that, though not very high, was completely renewed, they knew this was a wealthy household.
Even though the workers envied that they could host guests every day, they did not dare to pry or ask questions. In short, wealthy people had their reasons for doing things, and all the workers needed was to earn their wages.
The Gu family simply waited for the restaurant to deliver delicious food to their home every day.
However, Gu Qingcheng felt that the food delivered by the restaurant wasn't enough. She also missed hot handmade oil cakes, meat buns, and fried dough sticks. In those days, food had no additives and was purely natural and pollution-free. In fact, some of its quality was better than that of the goods in the "Mountain Cat" supermarket.
Gu Qingcheng told her parents that she planned to go down the mountain to gather these snacks.
Gu Chaobei and his wife had no objections. They couldn't stay on the mountain forever. Before the disaster struck, they might as well walk around and see the prosperous human world, creating more beautiful memories.
So, in the afternoon, after receiving all the meals delivered by the restaurant, the three of them locked the door and went down. Before leaving, Gu Qingcheng filled Wangcai's food bowl with dog food, fearing that if they returned late, Wangcai might go hungry.
Since Wangcai's injuries had not fully healed, they couldn't take him along and left him to guard the house.
Wangcai was quite self-aware. He escorted them to the courtyard gate. Seeing that they weren't taking him, he obediently returned to the house and lay in his dog bed to sleep.
Animals were actually very intelligent. They knew that they were not feeling well and should sleep as much as possible to recuperate.
Moreover, it was warm and comfortable inside the house, completely different from the cold outdoors.
Although Wangcai didn't understand why there was such a distinct temperature difference, he knew to lie down wherever it was comfortable.
The three members of the Gu family wore down-filled thermal pants and underwear, with a down jacket worn under their outer layers. Yet, the mountain wind still felt a bit cold.
Seeing his daughter's face turning red from the cold, Gu Chaobei chuckled:
"In the summer, we found it unbearably hot in the city, and it was much cooler on the mountain. The city has too much cement, creating a heat island effect.
The mountain environment is definitely two to three degrees Celsius lower than the city. The surrounding mountains and plants absorb heat, causing the temperature to drop and the feeling to be colder."
Gu Chaobei chattered on, and they all reminisced about the past together.
Gu Qingcheng felt very fortunate. If she had transmigrated alone, lonely and helpless, the Gu family would surely have devoured her alive.
Fortunately, she had her parents, who created a clear sky for her and shared common memories that they could recall together.
After descending the mountain and reaching the market, the three of them began to gather all sorts of snacks along the way.
At Wang Ji's Pie Shop, they had many varieties of fillings for their pies, such as taro paste, red bean paste, and peanut fillings...
Gu Qingcheng waved her hand and told them to pack all the pies in the shop. They wanted them all.
Hu Lanfang and her husband watched how the pies were baked at one end of the shop, while Gu Qingcheng bought the pies.
The young shop assistant was stunned when he heard Gu Qingcheng wanted to buy all the pies. Then, thinking he understood, he chuckled and said,
"Young lady, are these wedding pies for an engagement?"
What?
Gu Qingcheng was speechless.
How old was she? Why would she be engaged?
Thirteen years old, an age where even dating was considered too early!
Furthermore, thirteen was the bottom line in the Republic's criminal law that no one dared to cross!
Never mind, she wouldn't argue with them. That was their cultural upbringing!
Gu Qingcheng casually made a few perfunctory remarks, asked the shop assistant to pack the pies, and put them into the baskets that each of them carried on their backs. They left the shop and found a secluded corner in a back alley to store all the pies into Gu Qingcheng's storage cabinet.
Since they needed to stock up on supplies in the city, they had already agreed that each person would carry a large basket. Whatever they bought would be put into the basket, and then they would find a secluded spot to have Gu Qingcheng store it.
In this way, it was indeed convenient, and the baskets became the best cover.
After leaving Wang Ji's, there were also Zhang Ji, Chen Ji, and Liu Ji, pastry shops, each selling different kinds of pastries.
Zhang Ji sold flaky pastries, sugar dumplings, peanut brittle, and maluo, all sweet treats that would be excellent sources of energy in the extremely cold weather to come.
Gu Qingcheng again waved her hand and told them to pack everything.
Next, they went to Zhang Ji.
Zhang Ji sold handmade buns, with fillings such as pork, preserved vegetables, shredded bamboo shoots, and shredded radishes, offering a wide variety.
Gu Qingcheng bought all the freshly steamed buns, regardless of the filling.
These handmade buns were made with aged starter, resulting in a chewy texture. Especially the meat buns, when steamed, the top layer of dough would be stained with the meat juices, appearing semi-transparent and glistening, making one want to take a bite.
Gu Qingcheng and her parents couldn't resist the temptation of the meat buns and each ate one, storing the rest in the storage cabinet.
They bought all the various "Ji" shops' pies, pancakes, and potstickers. Along the way, they saw a dried goods store and went in, buying up all the owner's shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, white fungus, red mushrooms, kelp, seaweed, and dried squid.
Gu Qingcheng didn't have to worry about silver taels as she bought things, because every time she happily bought something, the system would give her between one to five "shuāng" points.
Gu Qingcheng exchanged her happiness for "shuāng" points, supporting her shopping spree, while shopping provided her with happiness and created "shuāng" points, forming a virtuous cycle of earning and shopping.
Seeing that their daughter had an endless supply of "shuāng" points to exchange for silver taels, Gu Chaobei and Hu Lanfang let go and stocked up heavily.
Besides dried goods, seafood was also indispensable.
Although the "Mountain Cat" supermarket had seafood, buying it with "shuāng" points exchanged for silver taels was more cost-effective. It was equivalent to buying three times the same amount of goods for the same price.
Gu Qingcheng was good at calculations and not foolish. With this, she directly used the "Mountain Cat" supermarket as a "shuāng" point exchange point, exchanging for large amounts of silver and continuously purchasing necessary living supplies. It was better to stock up as much as possible, and the money wasn't an issue.
The golden finger probably didn't expect Gu Qingcheng to use "shuāng" points this way, and fell into thought for a moment...
The three of them strolled to the seafood market.
Although this place was not by the sea, the presence of Golden Sand Mountain had fostered a group of merchants who traded gold mines and profited greatly, with strong purchasing power. Therefore, there was a market for seafood consumption, and the demand was still strong, resulting in a wide variety of seafood here.
Live seafood included: large yellow croaker, boss fish, cobbler fish, stone plaster fish, small mouth fish, turbot, black sea fish, Mr. Fish, Ms. Fish, moray eel, catfish, sea lu, fish sea, rabbit fish, and more.
Frozen fish included: shark, large moray eel, large lu zi, salmon, barracuda, yellow croaker, monkfish, pulled fish, red seabream, sea floating fish, octagonal fish, and more.
Shrimp included: lobster, small lobster, prawn, mantis shrimp, green shrimp, and more.
Frozen rehydrated products included: rehydrated sea cucumber and shrimp, sea dog penis, fish tendons, fish intestines, fish milt, fish maw, shark skin, ling fish skin, shark throat, silkworm pupae, male silkworm pupae, crab roe, and red roe.