Chapter Thirteen: The Plan to Enter the City
Upon hearing that beautiful mechanical voice, Li Yan, who was already grinning, grinned even wider.
Her smile stretched almost to her ears. She couldn't contain her excitement; she hadn't expected that before she even went to them, they would come to her door and offer her points for her beauty.
People are in high spirits when they have a happy occasion, so Li Yan immediately greeted the two of them with joy.
"Father, Aunt, what brings you here?"
When they first met, Li Yan didn't address Yue Shi by any formality. But thinking that they might see each other often in the future, and considering she was an elder, it wouldn't be appropriate not to address her. However, Li Yan couldn't bring herself to call Yue Shi "Mother."
Most importantly, the original owner of this body probably wouldn't agree.
Since you've taken over someone else's body and are using this vessel to continue living, you should at least have some reverence and respect the original owner's wishes.
This Yue Shi was an old acquaintance of the original owner's mother, Lin Shi, and the two had addressed each other as sisters when they were young. Now, it was not inappropriate for her to call this Yue Shi "Auntie".
But to everyone's surprise, this simple "Auntie" earned Li Yan another 5 beauty points.
So, this Yue family member was indeed only gentle and virtuous, seemingly kind and good to the children she had left behind, but in reality, she was full of scheming.
For example, she would be unhappy if someone didn't call her "mother" but instead called her "aunt".
Now, Li Yan has pretty much figured out how to increase her [Beauty Value] points.
To increase your "Beauty Value" points, firstly, you must have face-to-face contact with the Li family. Secondly, you must not suffer the slightest displeasure yourself, while simultaneously making them angry.
She can earn these points whenever the other party gets angry or upset.
Madam Yue was indeed very unhappy. This address of "Aunt" was undoubtedly a slap in the face, reminding her of her past friendship with Lin Yunniang.
She and Lin Yunniang used to be such good friends, but now she's married to her husband.
For the past ten years, Yue had been trying to forget the past, to forget her past relationship with Lin Yunniang. But now, just now, this girl had bluntly exposed everything.
How could she not be angry?
But Yue quickly composed herself. With a gentle smile in her eyes, she slowed her pace and walked over calmly.
"Yan Niang, why are you setting up a stall here? It's so hot today. Hurry up and pack up your stall and come home with us to rest."
Li Yan knew that she was being insincere and that she was only saying these things to the customers who came to buy her drinks, in order to maintain the image of a good stepmother.
"Aunt, didn't you say I'm a jinx? Aren't you afraid that if I come to your house, I'll bring bad luck to your home? You want a bowl too, right? Okay, I'll get you a bowl." Li Yan kept working while dealing with Yue Shi.
"Here's the money for you."
"I'm happy today, so the drinks are free."
Upon hearing that they were no longer charging a single penny, even more people crowded in from behind, all shouting, "Give me a bowl!"
"Give me a bowl too."
Some of the newcomers didn't recognize the Yue couple. Seeing them standing there without saying whether they wanted anything, they pushed their way through the crowd and said, "If you're not buying, just stand over there. We're all regular customers here."
"Yes, yes, we come here often."
Taking the opportunity, Li Yan said, "So today, as a way of thanking our loyal customers, we're giving away drinks for free, while supplies last."
A bowl of rice was already selling well for just one cent, but now that it's free, it'll sell even better.
The cool juice was poured into the mouths of the guests bowl by bowl, the dark purple liquid flowing down the corners of their mouths, making Li Zong, the only son of the Li family, drool.
Li Zong was six years old when he saw it and started sucking his fingers because he was so envious.
Unable to resist any longer, he shouted, "I want to drink too!"
Whether it's tea drinks or flavored drinks, these are things that only wealthy people can afford to consume regularly.
It's only because Li Yan sold it cheaply; otherwise, a serving of mulberry drink like this would cost at least three or four coins in the city. And the portion size wouldn't be as large as what Li Yan gave.
The Li family could certainly afford the three or four coins, but this drink wouldn't be sold separately in the city.
It must have been a meal at a high-end restaurant or eatery, and the drink served afterwards was not for ordinary people; it was sold alongside other dishes.
Therefore, one can afford three or four coins, but must think twice about three or four hundred coins, and would have to give up on three or four taels.
This time, the Han family, their in-laws, hosted a grand banquet for them at Yuanbaolou Restaurant in the county town. At Yuanbaolou Restaurant in Huating County, they enjoyed refreshingly icy drinks.
They even went so far as to serve Zong Ge a serving of ice cream cheese.
While his son was eating, Li Shangping secretly took a bite. He would probably never forget that taste for the rest of his life.
If an adult like this, it's no wonder that Zong-ge'er wants food.
"Give your brother a bowl," Li Shangping said.
Li Yan was unwilling to give it to him, even though he was just a child; she would argue with him about it.
Because in the last remaining trace of the original owner's consciousness, this so-called younger brother was no good either.
While it's possible that the child was influenced by adults and, due to their immaturity, went astray, why should she be held responsible for the child's misbehavior?
“Sure.” Li Yan didn’t refuse outright. She ladled out a bowl, held it in one hand, and then stretched out her other hand to Li Shangping, “Pay up.”
"Didn't you say it was free?" Li Shangping was so angry that his nose twisted and his face turned blue.
Li Yan: "Regular customers get free service. Are you regular customers?"
Li Shangping, with a cold face, reluctantly reached into his purse to take out money.
He really only took out one copper coin and handed it over.
Li Yan rolled her eyes at him: "One tael of silver!"
"How much? One coin? Why don't you just rob someone?" Li Shangping felt a sharp pain in his chest from anger.
At that moment, the beautiful mechanical voice rang out in Li Yan's mind once again.
[Ding~ Congratulations, host, your beauty score has increased by 5]
From this, Li Yan could roughly guess that the couple must have been quite angry.
But so what? She won't be soft-hearted because of this.
"This is the last bowl, Dad, are you going to buy it or not? If not, I'll give it to someone else."
Li Zong was crying and begging for a drink, which gave Li Shangping a headache. He could only grit his teeth and say "buy".
Li Yan held out her hand: "Take the money, one hand for the money, the other for the drink." With so many people watching, are you afraid he'll rob you?
They certainly aren't afraid.
Li Shangping tossed a small piece of silver onto the stall, which Li Yan quickly picked up. Afterward, she also handed over a mulberry drink.
After Li Zong drank the beverage and stopped crying, Li Shangping continued to threaten him: "Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing this? How dare you treat your elders like this?"
Li Yan said nonchalantly, "You treated me like that, and you didn't get any retribution."
"you!"
Just then, Li Zong finished a bowl in one go and started crying again, saying that this drink was even better than the drinks in the restaurants in the county town, and that he wanted more.
Li Shangping, having no outlet for his anger, seized the opportunity to yell, "What are you drinking for? You're so short-sighted. If you still consider me your father, stop howling!"
Li Yan knew he was making a veiled attack, but she didn't care.
Li Zong's words just now revealed a very important piece of information to her.
That is, this mulberry drink tastes better than the drinks in the city, and if it were sold in the county town, it could make money.
That evening, Li Yan found a time to talk to Aunt Xue. She told Aunt Xue about her family members coming to see her that evening, and also told her about Li Zong's words.
"There are fewer opportunities in town, and more in the city. Mom, have you ever thought about our family moving to the city someday?"
Erlang had mentioned this before, when he was still alive. Back then, with Erlang around, she felt at ease and longed to go to the city one day.
But after Erlang died, she never dared to have such a thought again.
Now, this Li woman, sitting in front of her, brought up her plan to go into the city.
After a moment of confusion, Aunt Xue said, "There are many opportunities in the city, but it's not easy to make a living there." But then she thought, this woman is the daughter of a wealthy family in town. If it weren't for rumors that she had brought bad luck upon herself, she wouldn't have married into Xinghua Village.
It is said that "people strive to rise higher, and water flows downhill." If someone has such lofty aspirations, how can she stop them?
She didn't even have a wedding ceremony with Erlang; she only had one with a rooster. Furthermore, her household registration wasn't linked to Erlang's.
Strictly speaking, she wasn't yet Erlang's wife.
After spending some time together, Aunt Xue realized that her daughter-in-law was a very good person. She didn't want to keep her tied down like that for the rest of her life, making her work like a slave in the Xue family. If she really wanted to leave, Aunt Xue wouldn't object.
Thinking of this, Aunt Xue changed her tune: "Yan Niang, you are a kind-hearted child. It is our Xue family that has dragged you down. Actually, you and Erlang are not really married. If you want to leave, I will never force you to stay."
Li Yan had no intention of abandoning the Xue family and leaving alone. In fact, the current situation was that not only did the Xue family depend on her, but she also depended on the Xue family.
In such a feudal society, a woman would not be accepted by her own family, and if she also severed ties with her husband's family, her life would be very difficult.
Living with the Xue family would only cost more money, but the safety would be relatively higher.
“Mother, you’ve misunderstood,” Li Yan explained earnestly. “Actually, I’ve always had this idea in my mind: I want Xu Ge’er and Yue Jie’er to learn to read and write. Living in the city will not only give me more opportunities for business development, but it will also make it easier to find teachers for Xu Ge’er and Yue Jie’er.”
Aunt Xue never dared to imagine that she would actually think of sending Xu Ge'er and Yue Jie'er to school.
Does she know how much it costs to send one person to school?
"You...you really think that way?" While Aunt Xue was grateful for everything Li Yan had done before, she hadn't quite reached the point of being completely open with her feelings. Now, however, Li Yan was saying she wanted to earn money to support Xu Ge'er and Yue Jie'er's education, and Aunt Xue was so moved that tears streamed down her face.
[Ding~ Congratulations, host, your target's favorability has increased by 10]
At the same time, the blurred panel popped up in front of him again, clearly showing that he had accumulated 60 favorability points. He only needed 40 more to reach the maximum.
Gaining favor with Aunt Xue was part of Li Yan's plan. She knew that once she mentioned sending her two children to school, Aunt Xue would be moved and she would receive the points. It was only a matter of time.
But those "beauty scores" are different.
Li Yan was in a great mood after gaining +15 beauty points in just one day.
"Mother, do you think I've become prettier?" Li Yan suddenly asked.
A note from the author:
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I'm planning to start a business in the city; there are so many more opportunities there!
20 red envelopes will drop!
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