Village Belle Chapter 116
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 116: Milksop’s Little Wife
After Lin Sanzhu thanked the store owner, she didn’t think much about it. After all, it was getting late.
She then took out the straw mats to sell, and shouted at the top of her voice, "Durable and big straw mats for sale! Two coins each, two coins each."
Su Tao admired her very much. At least if she were asked to shout, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to shout.
Actually, she knew that it was due to the pressure of life. If she lived the same life as Lin Sanzhu, she would probably be able to shout.
Xie Yuntang hadn’t forgotten that Sister Taozi wanted to eat buns. He glanced around and finally his gaze stopped at the bun shop not far away. "Sister Taozi, I'm going to buy buns. It's over there." He pointed to it for her.
Su Tao followed his hand and looked over. She was relieved when she saw that it wasn’t far away. She smiled and said, "I want to eat one sweet bun."
"Okay." Xie Yuntang nodded and then walked over.
Su Tao kept her eyes on him all the way as he walked over. After all, Milksop was her "precious one."
She didn't notice in their usual interaction, but now that he was a distance away, she realized that Milksop had grown taller.
He was about 1.5 meters tall, and he was only nine years old, so he would grow taller in the future.
He was handsome, tall, and rich.
Milksop would definitely be highly sought after when he grew up.
Whoever married him would have endless blessings.
She was envious.
Pfft, pfft, pfft, she wasn't envious. As long as she could go home, her life would be more comfortable than Milksop’s.
After Xie Yuntang bought the buns, he met her gaze and grinned. He liked Sister Taozi looking at him.
Then he strode over. "Sister Taozi, here you go."
Su Tao took the buns, her little face beaming with joy. She gave him one first, and then gave one to Lin Sanzhu.
Lin Sanzhu glanced at Xie Yuntang, feeling a little embarrassed. How could an adult like her eat something from a child?
She returned the bun to Su Tao. "You guys eat it. I won't. Yuntang, how much did they cost? I'll give you the money when we get home."
If Su Tao knew she was thinking this, she'd have retorted. Despite Milksop’s small size, his wealth was enough to last the Su family for dozens of lifetimes. "Eat it so you'll have the energy to sell the straw mats."
Xie Yuntang nodded in agreement. "Auntie Su, eat it. I don't want any money."
Lin Sanzhu still felt a little embarrassed. She was about to say something when the bun stuffed into her mouth stopped her from speaking. Su Tao said, "Mom, stop rambling. Eat it and then sell the mats, or you'll have come to town for nothing."
After saying that, Su Tao ignored her and grabbed a meat bun for herself. But the seller of these buns was so stingy. There was only a tiny bit of meat filling.
What a dishonest merchant.
"Milksop, don't buy from them next time. There's so little meat."
"Okay." Xie Yuntang took note.
Not many people were buying straw mats, and after half a day, they only sold three. Lin Sanzhu's throat was sore from shouting, but she didn't complain. Money was hard-earned for anyone.
Xie Yuntang looked at the straw mats on the ground with a look of hesitation and struggle. He could ask someone to buy all the straw mats.
But his father said to give to the needy, but not to the poor.
Even if he could buy the straw mats from Sister Taozi's family this time, what about next time?
Su Tao didn't pay attention to him. She felt that this couldn’t go on forever. She thought for a while and finally hollered at the top of her voice, "Come and take a look! Lucky straw mats for sale. Grab them now, don’t lose out. Everything will go smoothly and your wealth will increase."
"Buy three and get one free. Buy five and get two free."
She was a bit embarrassed at the first shout, but she let loose with the next few.
As she shouted, several women gathered around to take a look. They picked up the mat and examined it. "This is just an ordinary straw mat. Why did you call it a 'lucky mat'?"
Su Tao cleverly replied, "Aunties, look carefully at it. It's sturdy. You can use it for years."
"This straw mat might look ordinary, but every time one was made, my mother and I would take it to the small stone temple in the village to pray for blessings and wealth. Thus, it’s a lucky mat."
There was a stone statue in the village. Nobody knew what deity it was, but many villagers went there to worship.
It seemed that the people here were quite superstitious.
She wasn't lying. She passed by it every day.
Lin Sanzhu, who was standing nearby, was visibly stunned by her words, but quickly reacted and agreed, "That's right. The Peach Blossom Lady in Xingtao Village is very efficacious."
The women were skeptical, and the woman who had spoken earlier asked, "Buy three, get one free?"
She was asking mainly because it was cheaper than other places.
"Yes." Su Tao nodded.
"Six coins for four is too expensive. Why don’t you give a discount? Five coins and I'll take three."
"This pretty auntie, I can’t reduce the price further, or I won't even have enough money for the donkey cart ride to go home. Selling four for the price of three is already a losing business. I have no choice because I’m really in a hurry to go home."
Which woman wouldn't like to be complimented? When the woman who was speaking heard her being praised for her beauty, she subconsciously touched her face, and smiled so hard that wrinkles appeared on her face. She said without hesitation, "Okay, I won't bargain anymore then. Give me four for six coins."
"You’re such a sweet-talker, little girl. You’re good at doing business."
Su Tao picked four mats quickly. She continued sweetly, "Okay, pretty auntie, I've picked out four nice ones for you. We hope to see you again."
"Okay, if they're good, I'll introduce you to other people next time. You'll have to give me a cheaper price."
"Okay, I'll give you one for free next time. Just don't tell anyone. It's an exclusive offer for you."
Su Tao had the woman beaming with joy with just a few words. After she left, Su Tao handed the money to Lin Sanzhu, and boasted with a wink, "Mom, aren’t I the best?"
Lin Sanzhu was naturally delighted by the money and smiled. "Yes, yes, you're amazing. I wonder where your eloquence came from."
"I was born with it," Su Tao said with a grin.
Xie Yuntang looked at her with admiration. Sister Taozi was really amazing.
She was much more capable than him.
With her hawking, they sold all the straw mats in an hour, earning nearly seventy copper coins.
Lin Sanzhu was so happy that she was grinning from ear to ear. She looked at Su Tao as if she was looking at money. She never knew that her daughter was so good at doing business.
"Mom, don't look at me like that. I feel like you’re going to eat me."
Su Tao pulled Xie Yuntang up and said as a matter of course, "Milksop, I want to eat noodles. I'm hungry."
It was already past noon, so of course she was hungry.
If she wasn't so young, others would’ve thought she was Xie Yuntang's little wife.
Xie Yuntang was about to say something when Lin Sanzhu yelled, "Wretched girl, why are you asking Yuntang to buy you noodles? If you want, I'll buy them for you."
If the Xie family knew about this, they would probably overreact.
She had just eaten the buns bought by Yuntang.
However, Xie Yuntang didn't care at all. Instead, he was very happy that Su Tao asked him for food.
As for Xie Qing and his wife, they didn't care as well. As long as Yuntang was happy, that was enough.
Xie Yuntang said softly and seriously, "Auntie Su, I'll buy them for Sister Taozi. My parents gave me some money when they left, and asked me to buy food for Sister Taozi."
It was true. Mrs. Xie-Qin had indeed instructed him to do so. After all, they had been together for a while, and she knew that Su Tao loved to eat.
It was clear that she truly treated Su Tao like a daughter.
