Although Yun Ruochun didn't know what elephant grass seeds looked like, seeing that Yun Ling had searched so much without finding any, she also started searching. She walked towards a narrower passage at one end, and while walking, she inadvertently bumped into a burlap sack on a shelf.
The seeds tumbled out of the torn sack and fell out of the bag. She quickly squatted down and picked them up. "This mouse doesn't bite anything, it just bites this sack. It's really picky about food."
Upon hearing this, Yunling immediately walked towards Yun Ruochun. Her superpower activated, and she excitedly squatted down to take the seed from Yun Ruochun's palm. It was it, it was the one.
"Auntie, you're amazing."
Yun Ruochun was a little bewildered by the sudden praise. She seemed to have done nothing wrong, so how could she be so amazing?
Yunling picked up the seeds from the ground and gestured to Bashar, "We'll take these."
Bashar smiled and nodded, "These things aren't worth much, you can take them as you like."
That's what they say, but free things are always the most expensive.
Yunling knew that she had come to buy things, not to owe anyone a favor. Bashar wanted to befriend her, but she couldn't break the rules.
She was brought by Uncle Hua, so if she needs to find Bashar again next time, she will have to ask Uncle Hua or someone from the Fu family business to act as a bridge for communication. She cannot bypass these people to contact Bashar privately, just like Yun Ruoxia cannot bypass the Lu family business to contact wealthy and powerful merchants in the capital to sell royal jelly.
These are industry rules; every industry has its own rules. She must abide by them and not cause Yun Shenghua any unnecessary trouble.
Yunling took out a small string of copper coins from her money bag. "This is one hundred coins. I want to buy a small bag."
“No need.” Bashar asked the shopkeeper to bring over a few cloth bags. “Put as much as you want in them. As long as you don’t find them too heavy, you can carry these sacks back.”
Yunling took only a cloth bag, then put the hundred coins on the table. "Mother said that you have to pay with coins when you buy things. There's no such thing as not paying. It's quite a lot of work to transport it from such a far place and bring it here."
Seeing this, Bashar said nothing more, shrugged, and walked out.
Yun Ruochun had no idea what kind of veiled meaning Yun Ling and Bashar were conveying, but she knew that Yun Ling had bought the seeds, so she just needed to pack them up properly.
She pulled the seeds out of the small hole, filled the cloth bag, tied a knot, and that was it.
The two women came out of the shop and were quickly led outside. Uncle Hua was sitting at a tea stall drinking a fragrant beverage. Upon seeing them, he immediately waved and exclaimed, "Have you found them?"
"Found it, thank you Uncle Hua."
"Why thank me? It's not like I found it for you."
“If it weren’t for Uncle Hua bringing us here, and if it weren’t for Uncle Hua mediating, we wouldn’t have been able to find it so easily. We remember all of that.”
Uncle Hua was very pleased with these words, and Yun Ling and Yun Ruochun also got a cup of fragrant drink, which they enjoyed very much.
Having found the elephant grass seeds, Yunling's heart began to drift towards home.
Three days later, the business was almost settled, and the goods at the port were loaded onto the merchant ships in batches. After communicating with the Lu family business, Uncle Hua informed Aunt Yun that she would set off to return the next day.
Grandma Yun and Yun Ruochun quickly packed their things. Remembering that it was already autumn and it wasn't cold in Fujian, they would definitely need to wear padded jackets when they got back home. So they rushed to the city to buy two dark-colored padded jackets.
The day before her departure, Zhao's mother and aunt prepared a large table of dishes to send her off, including shrimp wontons that Yunling had been looking forward to.
The wonton wrappers are incredibly thin, becoming almost translucent after the meat is boiled. The meat itself is also prepared with care; it's not just ordinary minced meat with seasonings, but rather pounded into a meat-filled dumpling shape, with some pork skin jelly added. A bite reveals a meat filling that isn't sour, but rather springy and bursting with juice.
Yunling took another sip of soup. The umami flavor of the dried shrimp mixed with the meat created a battle among her taste buds, making it hard to tell whether the dried shrimp or the meat swallow came first.
"I also made some steamed dumplings, do you want some?"
Yunling looked at Zhao Laoniang and instinctively wanted to be polite, but those were steamed dumplings, those were steamed dumplings!
Seeing Yunling's expression, Old Lady Zhao continued to urge her, "How about I go and steal two for you?"
When it came to stealing, Yunling didn't hold back. She gulped down the meat she had hidden in her mouth, nodded, and said, "Thank you, Grandma Zhao."
Old Lady Zhao was overjoyed to hear this. She quickly went to the kitchen, took two steamers out of the steamer, and then, after thinking for a moment, took one more.
Seeing the steaming dumplings, Yunling didn't rush to eat them. Instead, she put one into Zhao's bowl and said mysteriously, "Grandma Zhao, let's eat them secretly."
Old Lady Zhao never expected that the extra one would be put into her bowl, so she was naturally delighted and secretly started eating it too.
Aunt Zhao and Granny Yun looked at each other with a smile, raised their teacups to toast each other, and that's how the night passed.
The next day, the group dragged their luggage to the dock. Yunling put some sour fruit candy in her mouth beforehand to avoid seasickness.
Fortunately, she did so; otherwise, the bumpy and arduous return journey would have been quite unpleasant for her.
With autumn approaching, the group figured they could speed up their journey to get home for the New Year, so they increased their speed and even skipped the opportunity to stop and rest.
That night, Yunling didn't sleep well. She had a feeling that something was going to happen, and she prayed that nothing would happen. But in the middle of the night, a clicking sound, like a hook catching something, rang out, and she woke up immediately.
Yun Ruochun, who was sleeping next to Yun Ling, was awakened by Yun Ling's movements. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she murmured, "Ling-jie, do you need to use the restroom?"
Yunling pressed her ear to the door and faintly heard light footsteps. "Oh no, we've run into river bandits."
Sure enough, right after she finished speaking, someone outside shouted, "Bandits! Grab your weapons, quick!"
Yun Ruochun was so frightened that she jumped up and hurriedly grabbed the stick from the side gate to rush out, but was stopped by her mother, "Sister Chun, don't be impulsive. Those are river bandits, not to be trifled with. If they find out you are girls, they will definitely be captured and forced to become bandit mothers."
The sounds of clashing swords and spears, smashing wooden benches and windows, breaking cups and porcelain bowls, and gurgling water outside were amplified to the maximum in this small room.
Old Lady Yun prayed that the three of them would stay safe here, that all the river bandits would be driven away, and that they could return home safely. But before her prayers could reach the heavens, the door to the side room was kicked open...
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