Want a discount? Zhao Defa took a half step back, frowning as he looked at Yuan Doudou. This girl looked beautiful and kind, but it turned out she was quite calculating.

"Girl, this is the lowest price I'm giving you. Buying more won't help. The lowest price is three coins." Even three coins is a loss for me.

Although the bamboo comes from the mountains and doesn't require much capital, cutting, slicing, and polishing all require manual labor, and nowadays, labor is more valuable than anything else.

Yuan Doudou felt her scalp tingle under his gaze. She wasn't good at bargaining to begin with, and now she felt even more that she had gone too far, suppressing other people's prices and cutting off their source of income.

"Then I don't want it." Yuan Doudou didn't want to argue, so she simply didn't buy it.

No one loses out.

Seeing Yuan Doudou turn around gracefully, as if she was about to go home, Zhao Defa became uneasy.

He had been out for half a day and only bought one bamboo mat. The man bargained even harder, offering him a mat for 30 coins when it was originally priced at 100 coins, and then ran off with the mat.

Compared to that, this bamboo tube isn't as labor-intensive as a mat, so let's make it even cheaper.

"Please wait, young lady, how much do you want?" he suddenly asked.

Yuan Doudou suddenly felt that something was going to happen, turned around, and calmly said, "One hundred."

"So many?" He thought it would be ten or eight, he never expected it to be this many.

I almost missed out on a big client.

"Look at you, you wanted so many but didn't say so earlier. If you had said so earlier, I would have given you a discount. Normally, I sell one bamboo tube for five coins, but seeing that you have a hard life, I'll give you three coins. Now that you want so many, it's settled, I'll charge you two coins each. What do you think?"

Zhao Defa was on tenterhooks. This girl seemed unusual; he wondered if she would disagree.

Yuan Doudou considered the two coins and thought it was alright; it was a hundred coins less.

After hesitating for a while, Yuan Doudou agreed.

“You’re a straightforward girl, but I’m having a bit of a problem. I only have fifty here; the rest are at home and can’t be brought out easily. So, if you need them urgently, I’ll go back and pack them now.”

After listening, Yuan Doudou thought for a moment. She didn't have much stock on hand today; fifty should be enough.

"Master, I'll buy fifty first, and you can bring more tomorrow, then I'll buy more. Is that alright?"

Zhao Defa had no objections and readily agreed, exchanging money and goods with Yuan Doudou.

Before leaving, he specifically reminded everyone that the bamboo tubes had been washed and could be used directly.

Yuan Doudou put the bamboo tubes into a burlap sack and went into the yard. For food hygiene, she boiled water and scalded all the bamboo tubes.

After tidying up the bamboo tubes, she carried a basket on her back containing small wooden buckets covered with wooden lids to keep out the dust.

There were too many things, and Yuan Doudou struggled to carry them. Anji followed beside her, wanting to help his mother, but he didn't know where to start.

Not far away, Wang Qiqiang had just returned from the fields. Seeing Yuan Doudou's heavy steps, he quickly ran over.

"My God, are you trying to think you're some kind of superhero?" Wang Qiqiang said when he saw her carrying a full basket of things on her back and a bulging sack in her hand.

Yuan Doudou was both amused and exasperated. She really hoped that heaven would grant her divine power. Someone like her, who transmigrated without any special abilities, was one in a million.

"Don't move, let me do it."

Wang Qiqiang, with his strong and powerful arms, effortlessly took the basket off his back, carried it on his back, and then nimbly picked up the sack on the ground and strode forward.

Yuan Doudou, holding Anji's hand, stood frozen in place.

Anji, the clever little boy, exclaimed, "Uncle Wang is so handsome!"

Anji thought of the story his mother had told him. Could it be that Uncle Wang was the prince on the white horse in the story, sent by an angel to help his mother?

Yuan Doudou was amused; Anji was so young, yet he already had the potential to be a fanboy.

"When I grow up, I will definitely surpass Uncle Wang and become Superman," Angie began to boast.

Yuan Doudou rubbed her forehead, realizing she would have to tell him Ultraman stories again; she was starting to get carried away.

Wang Qiqiang kept walking forward, afraid of missing the bus, thinking he should get there quickly so he could wait for it for them.

By the time Yuan Doudou realized what was happening, he was already out of sight.

"Anji, stop daydreaming, the important thing is to catch up with your Uncle Wang." Yuan Doudou pulled Anji forward.

The two arrived at the village entrance, panting. There stood Wang Qiqiang, carrying a basket on his back, as steady as a mountain, unusually calm.

"Brother Wang, your stamina is truly amazing." The men at the gym were working up a heavy load, struggling to even fill half a bucket of mineral water, but compared to Wang Qiqiang, they were worlds apart.

Wang Qiqiang blushed, somewhat embarrassed, "You flatter me. All I have left is my strength."

He dreamed of becoming rich through his own abilities, buying a house in town, marrying DouDou, and living a life of leisure with her.

Unfortunately, he is now getting further and further away from that dream.

"DouDou." He pursed his thick lips. "I have a question that I haven't been able to voice."

With no one around, Wang Qiqiang mustered his courage, wanting an answer.

"What's the problem? Tell me." Yuan Doudou rarely saw him with such a serious expression; it seemed the matter was far from ordinary.

Wang Qiqiang looked around, approached Yuan Doudou, and lowered his voice, "I heard from my mother that Brother Anrong is still alive, but why hasn't he come back?"

Upon hearing this question, Yuan Doudou was immediately dumbfounded.

The problems she didn't want to think about, but couldn't avoid facing.

Wang Qiqiang wasn't the only one who wanted to know the answer; she herself did too.

Wang Qiqiang noticed the change in her expression and regretted his rashness; he shouldn't have asked such a private question.

"It's okay, if you don't want to talk about it, just pretend I never mentioned it," Wang Qiqiang quickly reassured her, afraid that she would be angry.

Just as Yuan Doudou was about to say something, she heard the sound of horse bells.

"Mother, the carriage is here." Anji pointed to the carriage not far away.

Yuan Doudou regained her composure, bent down and picked up Anji, "Anji, be good, you get in the car first, Mommy still has some things to get."

Once the carriage came to a stop, Angie was carried inside.

The driver's face immediately fell when he saw the things on the ground. "Miss Yuan, I can waive your money for the child, but you're carrying so much stuff, it's taking up too much space. I need to pay you five extra coins."

Yuan Doudou didn't say a word, took out her money bag, counted out fifteen coins and handed them to him.

The driver drove the cart towards town with satisfaction. Wang Qiqiang watched them drive away before turning to go home.

Under the big locust tree, Li Xueqing's eyes were red with anger. That damned Yuan Doudou! It was she who bewitched Brother Wang and broke her heart, which led her to give herself to Anping in a daze, preventing her from marrying Brother Wang legitimately.

Watching Wang Qiqiang walk away, Li Xueqing, with her heavy legs, ran with difficulty, wanting to get closer to him and catch another glimpse of him, yet afraid of being discovered by him.