Chapter 96

"You ok? You need to sit down?" Joseph worriedly asked in a hushed voice as he guided Isabelle towards the market. She didn't look unwell, but he still grabbed her hand in case something happened to her.

"I'm fine." Isabelle replied, trying to hide the content smile on her face. It was impossible as Joseph acting so cute and helpful was a total opposite of his usual dandy, sexy and bad guy vibes. He seemed to be the only brother who had this sort of change in his personality.

Ethan always looked approachable and friendly, even if he was a cunning fox that tended to deceive her with his wordplay. Lucas didn't change from his steady and reliable persona. Meanwhile, Felix , with his excitable personality, wouldn't be a surprise if he showed new behaviors from time to time.

Joseph was a bit skeptical, but trusted her for the time being. "If you need to use the loo, let me know." He once again whispered in her ear. The action brought a few weird glances from other passersby, yet he paid no heed to them.

His only worry was his Wife, who thought working and shopping on her bleeding days was a good idea. He thought telling the other women, back at the store, would make them convince her to quickly go back home.

In the end, Isabelle convinced them that everything was fine. Good thing that she promised to return to work in two days. So, he only needed to make sure nothing happened to her that day.

"Sure. I will let you know." Isabelle cheerfully said, letting his hand go and clinging from his arm. She couldn't hold back anymore the happiness she felt at his words and expressions.

Like that, they finally reached David's stall.

"Good to see you acting so harmonious!" David greeted the couple. "You coming to buy something?" He was aware of the plan the family had for the new plot, so he directly started making business. They were friends, yes, but he also had a family to feed.

"We came to buy lots of things today." Isabelle said, looking at Joseph to do his thing.

Joseph had actually written down the list of vegetables he wanted to plant. So, he pulled out a sheet of paper with very small words. "Yeah, let's see. Pepper, beet, onion, cabbage… We also need more cucumber… Sage, thyme and bay… And, tell me if you have any fruit plants."

David blinked. They were not joking when they said they wanted lots of things. "I only have seeds for beets, onions and cabbage. Because they are more sought after, I sell the bag at 1 coin each. But, I can make a discount if you buy three: 2 coins and 5 dimes."

Joseph narrowed his eyes, most likely thinking. They didn't need that many bags since he could also collect seeds from the plant, but he guessed he could buy the three to experiment a bit. Although the soil in the new plot seemed more fertile, he had no idea if it was perfect for all the vegetables. 

"Give me three of each." He finally decided.

"Right away!" David nodded, and took out the quite big bag; for a bag of seeds, that is. "Now, with the other plants..." He trailed off, searching around the stall at the many saplings he had. "Pepper… I have it this big." He showed a very small sapling. "Considering how big your family is, I recommend getting at least fifteen of these. I can give you a discount: 3 coins if you buy twelve."

For this Joseph really had to consider for the future. They were five at the moment, but they would be more with time. However, he didn't think they would use that many peppers. "Give me the twelve for the time being." No need to sweat about an unknown future.

He would leave that problem for his future self.

David took out eleven more saplings and put them in the squared basket Joseph had readied for them. It was long rather than tall, and he made it specially for carrying all the saplings. 

"I ran out of cucumber. It's not that profitable, so I stopped growing them." David said. "Instead, there's this plant." He took out a rather big sapling. It looked ready to plant on the ground. "It's called zucchini and is kind of the same as cucumber. You can use it in salads and it can even be pickled."

"How much is this one?" Joseph had no idea how to care for zucchini, so he was a bit hesitant.

"It's already this big. 1 coin. But, same as the seed bags, I can sell it at 2 coins and 5 dimes if you buy the three." He took out two more plants. 

"I'll take them." Joseph nodded. Due to the size of the zucchini plant, he put them in the basket he also carried. Using the seed bags as cushion. At the side, Isabelle was counting the money she carried to help with the purchases. 

"I don't have many fruits. Just these two watermelon, strawberry seeds and this blueberry plant." David had to really look around to get the only fruit saplings he had. People tended to buy vegetables as they thought they were more important than fruits, that's why he rarely had fruit plants in his stall.

Joseph looked at the saplings and noticed the watermelon one looked like a vine, but it wasn't coiled in a stick or anything. The blueberry looked like a normal shrub. "Do they grow tall?"

"Not really. The watermelon vine can be left in the ground. Just make sure it has plenty of space to grow. Then, this blueberry is pretty much like a bush, you decide how tall and big you want it, though it won't grow past your chest. And, strawberries are half the size of the blueberry." David explained.

"Get them!" Isabelle spoke up. She was excited at the thought of having berries to eat.

David smiled at her enthusiasm. "Since these are the only fruits I have I can give it to you at half the price. 2 coins for all." 

Isabelle nodded. "Before you move onto the herbs, do you have hay seeds or something?" She wasn't going to forget about the unnamed colt's food. 

"I don't, sorry. Those are normally bought at the place where you can get horses." David advised, getting another nod from her. "For the herbs, same as before, right? Two sage plants, two thyme and bay is actually a small tree, so one is enough. 1 coin for the five."

"Talkin' about the hay, you have any plant that can be made into flour?" Joseph asked. They were consuming a lot of flour, so he thought it would be nice to make their own. Or have another kind of flour for daily use and use the bought one sporadically.

"… I heard that rice can be made into flour; however, it is still expensive to buy here..." David recounted a bit of the gossip he had heard around. "There's also wheat, but the soil in this area is not good for it. That's why we can only bring it from outside."

Joseph frowned. Once again that rice was mentioned. He had money to buy saplings, yet no one seemed to know how to plant it. He was not going to spend his money in a very uncertain endeavour. "You got nothing then?"

"This is something I also heard in passing, but I have no idea how to do it." He crouched and moved around the small sacks of seeds he had until he found the correct one. "Corn. Something about letting the cob dry, then thresh and finally grind. You can only try."

"How much?" Joseph quickly inquired. He could try with a few cobs first. The rest could be normally eaten, so he was not making a big loss. 

"1 coin, too. For all, it'd be 17 coins." As the adept merchant he was, David rapidly did the math.

Once Joseph arranged all the plants and seed bags in the baskets, he took out a bag with the coins he had earned selling lemons at other villages. While Isabelle was suffering on her first day of her bleeding period, he was out doing business. 

There were also some coins from Lucas from selling game, and from Ethan's tips. 

All in all he had… 12 coins…

5 more coins were added to the money he had on his palm. He looked up to see Isabelle's smiling eyes. They were honestly telling him to take them and use them freely. Since he was not as proud as Ethan when it came to money, he had no qualms in using the money from his Wife.

If she willingly gave it, there was no problem.

"Thanks for the purchase! If I get new things, I'll let you know." David promised. 

Carrying one basket on his back and the other with his arms, he gestured at Isabelle to walk ahead towards the exit. The earlier they returned, the more chances for her to nap and rest. That was Joseph's plan.

Plan that was delayed when Isabelle said she wanted to go into Mrs. Priddy's shop when they passed by.