Starting with the sentries on the frontier

Chapter 21 Buying Fish

The market was rather deserted in the afternoon, with hardly anyone around. The fishmonger was drinking with the mutton vendor, a scene that Zag had witnessed more than once.

However, the two men used to drink beer, but since they had just posted a notice about the alcohol ban yesterday, they were now drinking wine.

Good afternoon, Zag!

The fishmonger was the first to see Zhage and greeted him loudly from afar.

The mutton stall owner nearby joined in the greeting: "Good afternoon, Mr. Sentinel. Are you here to buy dried fish again?"

"Good afternoon," Zag greeted him, then said, "This time I'm not buying dried fish. See if you have any fresh fish, and what kind?"

"The only decent fish left are a golden flounder, some coho salmon, and a small amount of spotted sea bass. There are still quite a few cod, white-bellied mackerel, spotted flounder, and herring, as well as miscellaneous fish like yellow pudding, silver pudding, small herring, and tooth cod."

Very well, apart from coho salmon, cod, and herring, he had never heard of any other fish.

His knowledge of herring came from accidentally seeing the famous "surströmming" online before he transmigrated. Because of this negative impression, he had no desire to try this fish.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What kind of spotted bass?"

Since it's called "sea bass," it should be similar to the sea bass he's familiar with... right?

The shopkeeper pointed to several dead fish on the stall, each no bigger than a palm, and said, "Look, they're not big, but they're quite fresh. One shilling per pound."

"It's too expensive, and a bit small... What kind of fish is that?"

Zag wasn't too confident in his fish-handling skills. If the fish was too small, he might end up with just a layer of skin after gutting it. So he wanted to buy a larger fish and pointed to the biggest, flat fish on the stall.

"Golden flounder, this is more expensive, one costs 5 shillings."

"What about the coho salmon?"

The only cut-up fish that Zag recognized was the coho salmon, because it looked exactly like the Atlantic salmon he knew.

"Six pence per pound"

The price isn't expensive, but in his mind, salmon is usually eaten as sashimi or fried.

"Um, if I'm making fish soup, or adding it to a thick broth, what kind of fish would be best?"

"Silver salmon is good, it tastes great with cheese, or you can use mixed fish, which is cheaper. Cod and white-bellied mackerel are better for pan-frying, while flounder is good for grilling. Herring has the most unique flavor after being marinated, and it's also the cheapest. You can buy ten for just 3 pence, which is cheaper than bread, so it's worth buying!"

The fish stall owner even made a joke.

It was indeed very cheap, almost the same price as buying miscellaneous fish, but Zag still declined to accept the "flavor" that "herring" represented.

"How much is the cod?"

"At 2 pence a pound, it's cheaper than bread."

Zag couldn't help but complain, "Bread is almost becoming the standard for measuring prices!"

The fishmonger shrugged: "Who told food prices to rise so drastically these days!"

"Then how about two pounds of cod, two pounds of coho salmon... and how much for shrimp and oysters?"

As he spoke, Zag pointed to the still-living river shrimp in the bucket next to the fish stall, and a large box of oysters that were all tightly closed.

It's very fresh, making you want to buy it; it's definitely not because he's greedy.

"Three pence per pint, that's the price of shrimp. As for oysters, four for one pence, it's a great deal!"

Upon hearing the word "pint," Zag paused for a moment before realizing what it meant.

The various damn units in the Eternal Supreme Kingdom are so nauseating to convert! Even shrimp isn't measured in pounds, a unit of weight, but in pints, a unit of volume for liquids!

"Three pints of shrimp, and then... eight oysters."

「没问题，一共是……4便士、12便士……呃，3品脱的3便士是……9便士！然后还有牡蛎……以及1便士的包装费，我建议您下次最好带个篮子……」

等用纸袋装完所有的鱼虾和牡蛎后，鱼摊老闆掰了半天手指，终于给出了答案：「一共4便士、12便士、9便士、2便士和1便士。」

Zag was speechless. He held back for a moment and said, "It's 28 pence in total, which is 2 shillings and 4 pence, right?"

Upon hearing Zag's words, the fishmonger's face showed an expression of shock and admiration: "My God, Mr. Sentinel, you truly deserve to have attended the church school at Golden Helmet Fortress! Your counting skills are amazing! Although I really can't do the math, you're absolutely right!"

What's so praiseworthy about this elementary school level of calculation?!

Zhage suppressed his inner complaints, took a deep breath, maintained the most polite social smile possible, counted out the money, handed it to the fishmonger, and took the paper bag.

These paper bags are coated with a special wax that prevents them from getting wet, and therefore they are not provided free of charge. Unless Zag, like those thrifty housewives, brings his own basket when he goes shopping, he can save this money.

Moreover, most stalls do not provide packaging bags. If you have a good relationship with the stall owner, you may be able to borrow their spare basket. Otherwise, you will have to carry the bread or potatoes you bought home in your clothes.

Zha Ge also has a basket, but that was the original body's. Ever since Zhang Rui transmigrated into Zha Ge, he always forgets to bring a basket when shopping, so he always buys wax paper bags from the fish stall, wasting a lot of money.

However, with yesterday's income of 200 shillings, he no longer cares about the cost of a 1-pence paper bag.

He even dared to buy coho salmon for Snowball at a price as high as 6 pence per pound!

Isn't it a bit too much to spoil Snowball?

Zag paused for a second in thought, then turned to the mutton stall: "How much is the mutton?"

He decided to treat himself to a taste of meat!

The mutton vendor, somewhat flattered, quickly replied, "Ten pence per pound, Mr. Sentinel."

"Hmm...that's a bit expensive..."

Zag couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Ten pence can buy five pounds of potatoes or 30 pounds of cabbage! Enough to feed him for several days!

but……

I just earned 200 shillings yesterday, so there's no need to be overly frugal.

Convincing himself this, Zag, his mouth watering as he stared at the mutton on the stall, finally spoke: "Two pounds of mutton, one shilling and eight pence, right?"

"Yes, sir, two pounds of lamb for 1 shilling and 8 pence."

The stall owner carefully weighed out about two pounds of mutton and then helped stuff it into the waxed paper bag that Zag was holding.

After buying the meat he had been longing for, Zag replenished his salt and black pepper supplies and bought a quart of diluted milk. Unfortunately, he didn't bring his own container, so he had to buy a large glass jar from the grocery store for 5 pence to store the milk. This made the price of the milk jump from 2 pence to 7 pence, with the container costing more than twice as much as the milk!

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【雪球的科普小剧场】：愚蠢的诺瑟人用着世界上最麻烦的换算机制却以此为荣，比如离谱的12进位和20进位并行的霍兰德钱币换算，和更加离谱的容积换算：1加侖=4夸脱，1夸脱=2品脱，1品脱=20液量盎司，1及尔=5液量盎司。

以及更更更离谱的重量换算：1长吨=80夸特，1夸特=28磅，1磅=16盎司，1盎司=16打兰。

In response, Xueqiu commented: "This is complete fabrication! It must have been some incredibly stupid Northrend king who made up a system of rank on the spot and then forced everyone to follow it!"