Gu Yan paid the money, changed Ye Jin into new cotton shoes, and threw her worn-out straw sandals far away.

"Hey, why did you throw my shoes? I wanted to take them back and wear them as slippers."

Ye Jin watched helplessly as the straw sandals that Gu Yan had just thrown away were picked up by a little boy. She ran forward anxiously to chase after him.

A big hand clasped her slender wrist, and the tall body stepped forward. When Ye Jin looked up, she saw Gu Yan, who was as strong as a wall, blocking her way.

"Don't stop me. If you let me go, my shoes will be taken away by someone else if I'm late."

Ye Jin was extremely anxious. Gu Yan held her shoulders with both hands and looked into her eyes with a smile.

"How can such worn-out shoes be worthy of you? What kind of shoes do you want? I'll buy them for you."

His eyes were firm and his voice was gentle. Ye Jin turned her head away awkwardly, not daring to look at him.

"Don't, don't look at me like that. It's embarrassing."

"Young man, do you think these cloth shoes of mine are good? They have double happiness patterns and mandarin duck patterns. If your partner wears them, I guarantee you'll have a happy marriage, like mandarin ducks playing in the water and flying side by side."

The aunt who had just wanted to trick Ye Jin walked over with a shameless face.

She held the soles of her shoes with both hands and had a fawning smile on her face.

Ye Jin rolled her eyes at her. Seeing that she was about to get angry, Gu Yan quickly protected her behind him.

"How much do you plan to sell these shoes for now?"

Gu Yan asked about the price seriously, and Ye Jin pinched his waist in anger. Gu Yan's muscles shrank in pain, but he remained calm on the surface.

"50% off, 5 yuan will be enough, what do you think?"

The aunt stood on tiptoe, and wrinkles appeared on her old face as she smiled.

"Five dollars? Why don't you just rob it?"

Gu Yan took the shoes that the aunt handed to him and quickly pointed out several serious flaws.

"Look at these shoes of yours. The fabric is all pieced together from scraps of cloth. You think you handled it well, but in fact, the creases are still very obvious."

"Also, your stitching isn't fine enough, and the mandarin ducks you're showing are two males."

At the farmers' market, everyone, whether they were doing business or just passing by, was covering their mouths and laughing. The old lady's face turned red, and she screamed.

"Impossible! I've been embroidering mandarin ducks for so many years, how could I possibly make a mistake?"

Ye Jin was also confused. Mandarin ducks all looked similar. How could Gu Yan, a rough old man, tell the difference between male and female?

"Male mandarin ducks have pointed, back-shaped heads, while female mandarin ducks have flatter, rounder heads. Your two mandarin ducks both have pointed, back-shaped heads, so they must be males, right?"

Everyone looked with wide eyes and found that it was indeed the case.

The laughter that had been suppressed just now could no longer be suppressed.

"Hahaha, hahaha, auntie, I think you are not embroidering mandarin ducks, you are embroidering mandarin ducks!"

A young man with a slicked-back hair was laughing so hard that he fell forward and backward.

"If you use this kind of embroidery to harm others, it's impossible for others to have a happy marriage if they wear the shoes you embroidered. They might even fall in love with men."

An older sister had a meaningful smile on her face. It was hard to tell whether this auntie really didn't understand or was pretending not to understand.

The aunt still didn't believe it. She took the shoes and looked at them carefully, only to find that the two mandarin ducks she was showing looked exactly the same.

It's also her own fault. She didn't know what a mandarin duck looked like, so she just showed off based on her memory. Who knew it would turn out like such a joke.

The most important thing is that several people have bought the mandarin duck shoes she embroidered before. If they find out this detail later, will they come to settle the score with her?

The aunt trembled with fear at the thought of this possibility. Her face turned pale in an instant. She picked up her small basket and ran faster than a rabbit.

"Hey, auntie, auntie!"

A young man was about to come over to buy shoes when a cart happened to pass by him. He watched the aunt run away.

By the time the cart drove away, the aunt had disappeared without a trace, but the young man was still marveling at her.

"You can actually run faster than me? Are all the elderly people these days so healthy? And where can I buy these shoes?"

The young man was a little annoyed again, and Ye Jin couldn't help laughing when he saw it.

The other person just wanted to buy a pair of shoes, but the aunt thought that she was the one who was looking for a settlement. How guilty must she be?

"Let's go, I know a place that has really nice shoes."

Gu Yan naturally reached out to grab Ye Jin's arm, but Ye Jin shrank back reflexively, and he quickly put his hand down.

Gu Yan led the way in front, and Ye Jin followed closely behind.

He looked back at Ye Jin from time to time, fearing that she could not keep up with his speed and got lost.

"Follow closely, the road here is quite winding, don't get lost."

When passing an intersection, Gu Yan saw that Ye Jin did not catch up in time, so he stood there and waited patiently.

His hand stretched forward imperceptibly, then quickly retracted.

"Well, I'm already walking pretty fast, but there are a lot of puddles on the road, so I have to be careful to avoid them."

Ye Jin was afraid of getting his cotton shoes dirty, so he was extremely careful.

The two walked for more than ten minutes before arriving at another street. Gu Yan took her through the alley and into a hidden little shop where a wide variety of shoes were displayed.

These shoes are beautifully shaped, and the uppers are hand-embroidered with fine stitches and exquisite patterns.

They are both cloth shoes, but the shoes worn by the person just now looked very low-quality, while the shoes in this store looked very high-end.

The owner of the shoe store wore glasses and was conscientiously making shoes with her head down. She embroidered the patterns skillfully. The stitches on the soles placed aside were very fine, and the owner's care was evident.

“How do the shoes feel here?”

Gu Yan asked in a low voice. Ye Jin specially took out a pair of shoes embroidered with mandarin ducks. Sure enough, she found that the mandarin ducks on them had completely different head shapes as Gu Yan said.

"It's very beautiful and exquisite, but the price shouldn't be cheap, right?"

"You get what you pay for. The shoes made by this master craftsman are made with top-notch materials, and the embroidery is impeccable. Even the soles are beyond the reach of most people."

Gu Yan picked out a pair of shoes embroidered with lotus flowers. The round green lotus leaves wrapped the light pink lotus flowers, and the layout of the lotus flowers on the shoe surface was also particularly exquisite.

It doesn't take up too much space, nor does it look stingy.

In short, it looked comfortable no matter how she looked at it, and Ye Jin felt very satisfied.

"Boss, how much are these shoes?"

Ye Jin also fell in love with the shoes with lotus pattern at first sight, and she asked casually.

"30 yuan."

The shop owner didn't even look up and quoted a price seemingly casually.

"I'm talking about these shoes. Please take a look at them."

Ye Jin took the shoes over, and the shop owner looked up and frowned.

"I've seen it. Every pair of shoes in this store is embroidered by me personally. Most of the shoes have owners. The pattern you chose was just shown to me yesterday. I know it better than anyone else."