W Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Buying Shoes

Today when Ling Xing went out, Xu Youfang was still worried and told him to rest at home for a few days before going back to the stall.

After someone fainted in front of him, Xu Youfang felt somewhat worried and scared.

Ling Xing knew that he fainted because of low blood sugar and there was nothing else seriously wrong. He assured Xu Youfang that he was fine, and also said that the stall had just started, and it wouldn’t be good to work for three days and rest for two, as it would be easy to lose customers. Only then did Xu Youfang nod in agreement.

She instructed Shen Hui to take better care of Ling Xing, and also told him to go to the embroidery workshop on the way back to pick up some embroidery work.

Ling Xing followed Shen Hui to the mountain path. Shen Hui’s carrying basket was transferred to Ling Xing’s back, while Ling Xing was carried by Shen Hui.

Ling Xing was a little weak, and his attempts to keep his spirits up were unsuccessful. He fell asleep on Shen Hui’s back before long.

The surroundings were quiet and silent, and the sound of breathing in his ear was infinitely amplified. Shen Hui subconsciously turned his head to avoid it, and quickened his pace towards the town.

Today was half an hour earlier than yesterday, and with Shen Hui walking fast, it was still pitch black when they arrived at the town gate.

There were still many empty stalls, and Ling Xing still chose the same one as yesterday. There would definitely be repeat customers today, and it would be difficult to accumulate customers if the location kept changing.

This time, after paying the stall fee, they could go directly. First, they went to the warehouse to get the bamboo skewers and retrieve the stored clay stove and pottery pot, and then they went straight to the stall’s location.

Today, they learned from yesterday’s lesson and decided to make and sell buns at the same time, instead of starting to make them only when they were almost sold out.

Ling Xing rolled out the dough and made buns, while Shen Hui fetched water and started the fire.

As time passed, more and more people appeared on the quiet streets. Wealthy households with some money came out to look for food.

In Osmanthus Alley, Aunt Lu Hua carried a vegetable basket, preparing to go to the early market to buy vegetables.

The man standing in the courtyard, cleaning his teeth with tooth powder, said, “Mother, buy some more of those buns and steamed buns you bought yesterday. I need to go to the bookstore in the county to check the accounts, and I’ll eat them as dry rations on the way.”

There was only one bookstore in Yunxia Town, and the owner was a prominent wealthy family from Yuzhou. They had bookstore businesses in various counties and towns under theState Prefecture jurisdiction.

Liu Guiliang was the accountant for the Zhao’s bookstore in Yunxia Town, and he had to go to the county every month to report the accounts.

He earned one tael and five hundred coins a month, which was considered a high salary. However, his family’s expenses were also high, and Liu Guiliang tried to save as much as possible when he was away from home.

The buns and steamed buns he ate yesterday tasted very good. Liu Guiliang, who usually brought sesame flatbreads every time he went out, also wanted to change his tastes.

Aunt Lu Hua smiled when she heard this, “You said you were going to take a long detour to buy you sugar oil pancakes. It saves me a lot of trouble that you like those buns and steamed buns.”

“Mom, we want to eat too.”

The voices of her son and daughter came from the house, and Aunt Lu Hua had no choice but to agree, “Buy, buy, buy, I really owe you in my past life. After you eat this time, you won’t be able to eat any more this month.”

After agreeing, Aunt Lu Hua realized that she didn’t seem to have enough money on her, so she went back into the house to get more.

……

As Ling Xing expected, many repeat customers came to the bun stall today.

Because they came early, many new customers were also attracted.

The first batch of buns and steamed buns sold much faster than yesterday, and because they were steaming as they sold, the customers didn’t have to wait too long.

When Aunt Lu Hua arrived at the bun stall, there were already many people lined up to buy.

Fortunately, the buns and steamed buns didn’t need to be made on the spot like noodles, so they didn’t have to wait in line for too long.

After finally reaching the front of the line, Aunt Lu Hua calculated the number of people in her family and the amount she needed to take away for her husband, “Little stall owner, give me ten buns and ten steamed buns.”

The buns in front were all sold one by one, and the steamed buns were sold two by two. This was the first time someone had bought so many at once.

“Sixty-five coins, please.”

Shen Hui calculated quickly, and as he used the bamboo tongs to pick up the buns and steamed buns, Aunt Lu Hua counted the copper coins.

Ling Xing saw that it was Aunt Lu Hua, who was the first customer yesterday, and she had come to buy so much again today, so he said to Shen Hui, “Second brother, pack two more buns for Auntie. She bought a lot, so we’ll thank her for taking care of our business.”

Hearing that she would get two more buns, Aunt Lu Hua beamed with joy, “Oh, thank you so much, little stall owner.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Ling Xing and Shen Hui, “I didn’t expect the little stall owner to look so young, but he’s actually older than that man.”

Ling Xing heard that she had misunderstood, “I’m his ge’er, not his older brother.”

Aunt Lu Hua had seen that Ling Xing was a ge’er yesterday.

Although there was no obvious trace of covering up the pregnancy mole, the absence of a beard at the corners of his mouth and no obvious Adam’s apple were the external characteristics of a ge’er.

She originally thought that this was a couple running a stall together, but she didn’t expect it to be a ge’er and his second brother.

She couldn’t say these words no matter how straightforward she was. Aunt Lu Hua only smiled and replied to the previous sentence, “Look at my poor eyesight, I made a fool of myself.”

The amount of dough and fillings today was the same as yesterday. There were only ninety-plus buns and steamed buns combined. The raw materials were limited, so they couldn’t sell for too long.

In less than an hour, the bun stall closed.

Some people who had been recommended by previous customers to buy were unable to, and they all told Ling Xing to prepare more tomorrow.

Ling Xing thought that he currently had two taels of silver, so he could buy more raw materials. If he sold for a longer period, he could earn more money.

He nodded and agreed, saying that he would make more tomorrow and asked everyone to come and support him again.

Because of the bun stall, it had somewhat affected some of the surrounding food stalls.

The noodle stall was the most affected, after all, they both sold wheat-based dishes.

Ling Xing felt a little guilty. Yesterday, he had asked them to help keep an eye on Ling Yue, but today, the stall across from him hadn’t sold a few bowls of noodles in an hour.

However, feeling guilty was feeling guilty, it was impossible for him not to set up a stall.

He also had to live, the noodle stall owner’s life was difficult, and his life wasn’t much better.

That’s how business was, you couldn’t just not do business because you felt that other people also had a hard time.

Ling Xing silently persuaded himself in his heart, digested his emotions, and after successfully convincing himself, handed the buns and steamed buns that he had specifically saved to Shen Hui.

“Second brother, eat quickly.”

Shen Hui thought that Ling Xing had saved it for himself, but he hadn’t expected it to be for him, “I don’t need it, save it to sell for money.”

Ling Xing directly stuffed it into Shen Hui’s hand, “You do a lot of physical labor, how can eating porridge at home be enough to fill you up?”

Under Ling Xing’s gaze, Shen Hui chuckled and thought that Ling Xing’s gaze of watching a child eat was very interesting.

Shen Hui didn’t eat all of it, he broke off half of each, giving the larger portions to Ling Xing, “Eat some, don’t faint again.”

Shen Hui hadn’t mentioned the incident that happened yesterday. Now, he suddenly brought it up, and Ling Xing was stunned for a moment. He thought that Shen Hui didn’t know.

Because last night, Shen Hui hadn’t returned until everyone in the family had fallen asleep.

Thinking of his low blood sugar, Ling Xing was afraid of causing more trouble, so he didn’t refuse Shen Hui. However, he took the smaller half, stuffed it directly into his mouth, and didn’t give Shen Hui a chance to exchange it back.

“How did second brother know about yesterday’s incident? Did mother tell you when she was cooking?”

Shen Hui first stared at the larger half of the buns and steamed buns left in his hand, then put them in his mouth. He chewed the steamed bun and shook his head, “Shen Gui said it.”

Ling Xing said “Oh,” thinking that Shen Gui stayed up quite late.

After eating the buns and steamed buns, the stall was also packed up. When passing by the noodle stall, the stall owner, Wang Youmai, visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn’t thought much of the bun stall yesterday, and they weren’t selling the same thing as him.

But today, his noodle stall had lost a lot of business because of the bun stall.

The people in the town had a little more money than the villagers, but they weren’t extravagant enough to eat both buns and steamed buns and noodles in the morning.

Given the choice, they basically chose buns and steamed buns.

This made Wang Youmai feel very uncomfortable.

Although it was inevitable that there would be profits and losses in doing business, and competition was unavoidable.

But this kind of feeling of being suddenly overtaken was very unpleasant.

Fortunately, the people sold quickly and left. If they had stayed any longer, he didn’t know what to do.

Wang Youmai wiped the table and sighed in his heart. He knew he shouldn’t have accepted those buns and steamed buns yesterday, so that he wouldn’t even be embarrassed to get angry now.

After the bun stall closed, the noodle stall’s business picked up.

Soon, two diners sat down and ordered two bowls of plain noodles, plus eggs.

Wang Youmai didn’t have time to think about anything else and skillfully rolled out the noodles and cooked them.

On the other side, Shen Hui sent the things back to the warehouse for storage. Afterwards, the two of them didn’t rush back, but went to the embroidery workshop and the grain store.

After picking up the embroidery work for Xu Youfang from the embroidery workshop, the two went to the grain store to buy flour.

Ling Xing was thinking of buying more this time so that they could take a bullock cart back, which would save them from buying every few days in the future.

After telling Shen Hui this idea, he learned from Shen Hui that the bullock cart would also charge extra if the goods exceeded five jin.

One coin for every five jin.

The amount that the ox could pull was limited, and if the goods were heavy, they could only carry fewer people. Moreover, the ox couldn’t be too tired, and the bullock cart driver only made two round trips a day, and the number of people he could carry was also limited, so the price was high.

Depending on the distance, it cost eight coins per person to take the bullock cart from the town to Xiao Liucun.

After Shen Hui finished speaking to Ling Xing, he lowered his head and asked him, “I’m strong, even if I carry you and another hundred jin of flour, I’ll feel relaxed. Does ge’er still want to spend money on a bullock cart?”

Ling Xing was first surprised by Shen Hui’s great strength, and then calculated the accounts in his heart, and finally shook his head.

It cost too much to take the bullock cart, so it was better to save the money that could be saved.

The space inside the grain store was quite large. There were rows and rows of large wooden barrels on the ground, filled with different grains.

Ling Xing went straight to the flour area. He didn’t buy a hundred jin, he didn’t have that much money to buy that much.

He only had two taels of silver after the compensation, and a hundred jin of flour would spend it all. Ling Xing didn’t want to spend all his silver on this. If something happened later, he wouldn’t be able to take out any silver.

He still only bought twenty jin of good flour, spending four hundred coins. Although he had to come to buy it every day, it was convenient since he was coming to town anyway.

When counting the money and sending it out, Ling Xing had only one thought.

This place really earned little and spent a lot. It was too difficult to earn money.

After buying all the things, Ling Xing followed behind Shen Hui, who was carrying the bamboo basket, empty-handed.

The straw sandals on his feet didn’t fit properly and were previously worn by Shen Hai. After he threw his pair of straw sandals out yesterday, he couldn’t pick them up in time.

After Xu Youfang carried him home to lie down, she realized that Ling Xing’s shoes were gone. There was no way to find them again if he went back.

Whoever saw them and picked them up would have them.

Plus, the heel of the shoe was stepped on, preventing it from rubbing against his heel, so he not only walked a little slowly, but the sound of the shoes dragging on the ground was also a little loud.

“Ge’er wait for me here for a moment.”

Shen Hui asked Ling Xing to sit at the tea stall and paid the stall owner two coins for tea.

Before Ling Xing could ask him where he was going, he quickly left.

One street away from the tea stall, there was a shop that sold shoes.

Inside, there were cloth shoes, embroidered shoes, backless shoes, cloth boots, and leather boots, everything one could want.

The shop assistant didn’t neglect Shen Hui because of his tattered clothes. He greeted him with a smile and asked him what he needed.

“I want a pair of cloth shoes.”

After the shop assistant knew his needs, he took Shen Hui to the cloth shoe area, “These cloth shoes are fifty coins a pair. The soles are made of a thousand layers of cloth, which are durable and not easily damaged. This type next to them is five coins more expensive. The inside of the heel and the top of the shoe are sewn with soft flannel to prevent chafing and are more durable.”

“I want the fifty-five coin ones.”

The shop assistant smiled, “Okay, what size do you need? And what kind of color do you want?”

Shen Hui didn’t know what he was thinking. After a moment of silence, he stretched out his left hand, and his right fingers gestured against the palm and wrist of his left hand.

“This kind of size is fine, black.”

The shop assistant, knowing the shoe size and color, went to the warehouse to find the shoes. After returning, he handed the shoes to Shen Hui to check.

Shen Hui measured the size with his hand and it was fine. He took out the money from his tattered pouch and gave it to the shop assistant, and left with the cloth shoes.

When he returned, Ling Xing had finished his tea.

The tea stall could refill tea. Ling Xing saw Shen Hui and noticed that there was sweat on his forehead and his breath was a little disordered. He guessed that he had run back.

So he asked him if he wanted to drink tea, he could refill it.

Shen Hui glanced at the empty teacup beside Ling Xing, and then looked at Ling Xing. Seeing that his face didn’t show any abnormality and his expression was sincere, he told the tea stall owner to refill a bowl.

He was a little thirsty, and there was still a long way to go back, so it was better to drink some water first.

The refilled tea could only be in the previous bowl. If he wanted a new bowl, he had to pay another two coins.

Shen Hui held the teacup that Ling Xing had drunk from, and without caring whether the tea was too hot, he drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking the tea, the two left the tea stall.

When they left the city gate, they didn’t see Xu Qi. He probably took people to the stall.

When they arrived at the deserted path again, Shen Hui put the bamboo basket back on Ling Xing’s back, put his jacket over Ling Xing’s head, carried him on his back, and strode home.

On the way, Ling Xing kept talking to Shen Hui, asking him about things in the village, focusing on the Fang family.

Yesterday, he thought that the Fang family was extraordinary, which was why his family was so afraid of them. But after hearing Shen Hui’s explanation, he realized that it was only because Fang Xiuxia had married well, and one person’s success brought benefits to the whole family.

He had to say that Fang Xiuxia’s life was really good. When she was young, her appearance in the village was one of the best.

If it weren’t for her terrifying temper and mouth, then she would be impeccable.

The Fang family had many children, and it was difficult to raise them when they were still young.

But as the girls and ge’ers reached the age to marry, the family slowly accumulated wealth with their betrothal gifts.

One year, the grain store’s clerk brought his assistant to collect grain. They were caught in a heavy rain and happened to be received by the Fang family, so they took shelter in their home.

A few days later, the grain store’s clerk went to the Fang family to propose marriage through a matchmaker, saying that he wanted to marry Fang Xiuxia.

This was the first person in Xiao Liucun to marry into the town and live a good life. The person she married was the grain store’s clerk. In the villagers’ eyes, it was simply like marrying into heaven and enjoying blessings.

Later, the clerk became the grain store manager, and the Fang family’s status in Xiao Liucun also increased because of this.

Seeing that Fang Xiuxia had given birth to children, the Zhao family was also willing to help the wife’s family. The Fang family’s eldest son and second son were now working at the grain store.

The Fang family had also become richer in the past two years.

After Ling Xing finished listening, he sighed.

Shen Hui endured the unfamiliar warmth in his ear and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, I just think that status is oppressive.”

The Fang family was just an ordinary family in the end, but they lived a little better than the other villagers.

But even so, it was enough to overwhelm everyone in Xiao Liucun, making it difficult for people to breathe.

Shen Hui lowered his eyes, “Yes, but there is no need to be too afraid of the Fang family. Zhao Fan is just the grain store manager, working for someone else. If they come to make trouble again, just kick them out directly. If they don’t collect the grain, I can carry it to the county to sell it anyway.”

Ling Xing’s thoughts were brought back by Shen Hui’s words, “Carrying so much grain to the county, does second brother want to tire himself to death?”

“I thought ge’er would say that it’s better to avoid trouble.”

Ling Xing shook his head, “Second brother, people are bullied when they are kind, and the weaker you are, the less you can show your timidity.”

Shen Hui looked like he was being taught, nodded, and asked him, “Ge’er is reasonable, have you read books?”

Thinking that although he had suspended school in the second half of his freshman year, he definitely counted as having read books, and the original owner also had memories of reading and being enlightened, Ling Xing said “Yes,” and said, “I heard your eldest brother say that you also studied for a few years when you were young, what did you learn?”

Then Ling Xing heard Shen Hui recite a bunch of book titles like a string of names.

“You’ve read so many books at such a young age!” Ling Xing was a little surprised.

Shen Hui’s voice was low and calm, “I’ve had a good memory since I was young, and I can remember books as soon as I read them a few times. Therefore, I gradually read more.”

Hearing this made Ling Xing a little envious. If he had such a good memory, he would definitely be able to get into a better university.

When they were almost home, Shen Hui suddenly said, “There are a pair of cloth shoes in the basket that I bought for ge’er. Don’t let mother and them know that I bought them.”

Ling Xing was stunned, “Why did you buy me shoes?”

After saying that, he said again, “How can I spend your money, how much do they cost, I’ll give you the money.”

“I bought them for ge’er, there’s no reason for ge’er to pay.” Shen Hui refused.

“Where do you have any money to spend…”

They were almost home, and Shen Hui could only interrupt Ling Xing first, “Ge’er doesn’t need to worry that I don’t have enough money to spend. Yesterday, I went up the mountain and dug up some herbs in the deep mountains and sold them to the doctor in the neighboring village. I have enough money.”

Ling Xing was really embarrassed to accept the cloth shoes. Shen Hui seemed to feel Ling Xing’s hesitation and said again, “Eldest brother asked me to take care of ge’er. I’m doing this for eldest brother. Ge’er doesn’t need to feel burdened, just accept them.”

Hearing this, Ling Xing silently thanked Shen Hai in his heart, for thinking so comprehensively for him. But he was also very strange that Shen Hui was so obedient.

He didn’t look like the kind of person who would obediently listen to others.

Ling Xing no longer refused the cloth shoes, but asked the question in his heart, “Second brother, why do you listen to your eldest brother so much?”

Shen Hui said, “Eldest brother saved my life, three times.”

They arrived home, Shen Hui didn’t continue to speak, Ling Xing knew that he didn’t want to say, so he didn’t ask any further.