Chapter 53 Buying Walnuts
After leaving Linjiang Tower, Steward Ji led Fan Xiaoxiao alone towards the market.
"Hey, sis... that Zhu Er seems to be catching up."
Fan looked back nervously and saw Zhu Er swaggering behind them.
"Oh, let him come along. There's plenty of open road. If he wants to follow us, let him."
Fan Xiaoxiao, seemingly unconcerned, offered a slight reassurance to Madam Fan. The group continued walking towards the market without stopping. Just as they were nearing the market entrance, a child's innocent voice called out, "Oh! Mother! Auntie! Grandma!"
The sound made them stop in their tracks. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw Yu Xiaobao standing next to Uncle Wang and Old Zhao, waving his little hands frantically at them. His little face was flushed with excitement, and his big eyes were sparkling; he was incredibly adorable.
The group walked over, and Madam Fan squatted down, smiling as she asked him, "Little Bao, did you listen to your grandfathers today?"
"Yes, yes! Xiao Bao is very obedient!"
Fan Xiaoxiao squatted down and patted his little head. They'd all been busy lately and hadn't had time to play with the child, but Xiaobao was so well-behaved; he didn't cry or fuss, and obediently followed Grandpa Wang and Grandpa Zhao to the market to sell their woven baskets. Thinking of this, Fan Xiaoxiao softened her tone and said to Xiaobao:
"Little Bao is so great! Auntie will reward Little Bao with a sugar figurine!"
Upon hearing that he had another sugar figurine, the little guy was overjoyed and started waving his little arms and spinning around in place.
"Yay! Yay! There's candy!"
Mrs. Fan laughed and playfully slapped Fan Xiaoxiao: "You've been wasting his money again!"
"Oh! Madam Fan! Let the maid take him. Xiao Bao helped us sell several baskets today! That's amazing!"
Uncle Wang's words surprised everyone. Looking down at Xiao Bao's smug little face, they couldn't help but chuckle. Old Zhao, standing to the side, also nodded with a smile and said, "Yes! All the customers who come to buy him think he's cute, and quite a few have recommended him to others!"
Hearing this, Aunt Wang, who doted on Xiaobao the most, couldn't stop smiling. She patted Xiaobao's head and said with a smile, "Then we really should reward our little hero! Come on! After we buy the fish, we'll go buy some sugar figurines!"
After saying this, Aunt Wang took Xiao Bao's hand, and the group headed towards the fish market. Zhu Er, who had been following them all the way, was a little confused. Wasn't it supposed to be about buying mung beans? Why were they at the fish market today?
Before he could think further, the group had already arrived at a fishmonger's house. Manager Ji clearly recognized the man, and after greeting him, asked, "Old Li, are the fish fresh today?"
The man called Old Li gave a simple, honest smile, removed the banana leaves covering the wooden bucket, and said, "Hai, Steward Ji, look for yourself, these fish were just caught this morning! They weigh a good three or four pounds!"
After removing the banana leaves, the group could see what was in the bucket: three spirited grass carp leisurely swishing their tails. Steward Ji nodded and then asked Fan Xiaoxiao, who was standing behind him, "What does Madam think?"
"Hmm, not bad."
"Alright. Old Li, could you please take this fish to Linjiang Tower and collect your payment from the manager?"
When Old Li heard that a customer had come to his door, his honest smile broadened even more, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, good!"
After visiting several fishmongers and buying the fish the Ji family needed, Fan Xiaoxiao and the others took Xiaobao to buy sugar figurines. Old Wu, the sugar figurine seller, usually did his business near the port, a somewhat remote location, so his business was a little slow.
But when Fan Xiaoxiao and the others arrived at that place today, they were somewhat at a loss because of the lively scene before them. Next to Old Wu, there seemed to be a covered boat, and in front of the boat, a large group of people were arguing and shouting about something.
Old Wu, the sugar figurine seller, stroked his beard, watching the lively scene with great interest.
"Grandpa Wu!"
Xiao Bao's crisp cry of "Grandpa Wu!" brought Old Wu's attention back. He turned around and saw that it was Xiao Bao, and his face lit up with joy.
"Hey! Isn't this Xiaobao? What brings you here today!?"
"Hehe, today Auntie, Grandma, and Uncle Ji brought Xiaobao to buy candy!"
"Xiao Bao? You recognize Grandpa Wu?"
Fan Niang asked Xiao Bao with some surprise, seemingly astonished by Xiao Bao's familiarity with Old Wu. Xiao Bao shyly twitched his little finger, lowered his head and looked up at his mother, saying, "Well, Grandpa Wu is Grandpa Zhao's old friend! They play chess together after they've sold their goods."
Everyone then realized that Old Wu was actually an acquaintance of Old Zhao.
"Hehe, yes! You must be Xiaobao's family! Hey, let me tell you, this kid is so clever! We were playing chess over there, and he could remember most of the moves in a game! He's amazing!"
Fan Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow, looked at Xiaobao whose little face was already flushed, and smiled, "Oh! You have this skill! You must be rewarded! Uncle Wu! Could you please bring two sugar figurines?"
After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao was about to take out her money pouch to pay. Just then, Manager Ji raised his hand to stop Fan Xiaoxiao and said to Old Wu, "Hey, let me do it."
Without waiting for Fan Xiaoxiao and the others to react, he immediately took out four coins from his sleeve and handed them to Old Wu. Then, pretending to be nonchalant, he glanced at the stall next to him and asked, "Hey, old man, what's going on over there? Why is it so lively?"
Old Wu, who was picking out sugar figurines for Xiao Bao, heard Manager Ji's question and glanced at the stall next to him.
"Oh! This person seems to have just arrived in town. He's sitting in a covered boat setting up a stall, saying he's buying some antiques or something, like those walnuts and beads."
You know perfectly well that at the dock, as long as you don't disembark, you don't have to pay that one tael of silver tax. I just heard him say that he's leaving tomorrow. He's rushing to collect a batch of goods here!
Aunt Wang and Aunt Fan exchanged a glance, took a step forward and were about to speak when they heard Xiao Bao shout "Ah!"
"ah!"
This sound startled Madam Fan, who quickly squatted down and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell, son?"
To everyone's surprise, Xiao Bao simply shook his head, secretly glancing back while holding the sugar figurine. Following the child's gaze, everyone looked back and saw Zhu Er standing not far away, arms crossed, watching them. Seeing that Fan Xiaoxiao and the others had noticed him, Zhu Er took a few steps closer and sneered:
"What are you looking at! Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Zhu Er's fierce appearance made Xiao Bao's little body tremble. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, "We also had walnuts, but we gave them all to others!"
Fan Xiaoxiao almost burst out laughing at his pitiful look. She glanced at Zhu Er, who seemed not to have heard them, and bent down, laughing loudly, "Hai! I thought it was something serious! It's just two walnuts! If they're gone, they're gone!"
After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao gave Wang Da Niang a wink. The latter understood Fan Xiaoxiao's meaning almost instantly and began to shout, "Hey! You can't say that, girl! If we hadn't been desperate back then, I really wouldn't have agreed to let you give away our family's heirloom walnuts to those people! Otherwise, we wouldn't be in such a difficult situation now! Didn't you hear Brother Wu say that these can be exchanged for money!"
Zhu Er's ears twitched. He seemed to have heard the old woman say that walnuts could be exchanged for money over there? Zhu Er instantly perked up and rushed over to Fan Xiaoxiao and the others, asking arrogantly, "What money? Speak louder! I didn't hear you!"
(End of this chapter)
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