Yuan Zhuan strolled along the street with Yuan Zhu, discovering that the surrounding area had all sorts of amenities, and their basic needs could be met: a vegetable market, a kindergarten, a pharmacy, a hospital—everything they could need was there. The most advantageous thing for them was that they could spend a little money to set up a small stall near the vegetable market. She planned to have Zhao Ma set up a stall, selling pancakes in the morning and skewers at noon. Although it might be tiring, it wouldn't leave them with too much time to overthink things. She didn't believe that after today, Zhao Ma would have forgotten about the original owner of this body.
"Sister, I want that, the white candy!" Yuan Zhu grabbed her sister's hand and jumped excitedly, pointing to the tray tied to the old-fashioned bicycle in front of her. On it was a whole piece of snow-white candy. The candy seller was tapping the candy with a small hammer and a small iron rod. There were five or six children around seven or eight years old standing around. Two of them had already started eating. The long strands of candy dazzled the children's eyes, including Yuan Zhu's.
Yuan Zhuan smiled. It's been a long time since he's had white sugar!
The siblings bought five yuan's worth, which was quite a large piece. They bought a little extra because they wanted Zhao's mother to try it.
"Did you just move here?" After buying the candy, Liu Da turned his head and saw two unfamiliar faces. He asked with a surprised look and a grin.
When asked why he was baring his teeth, he said it was because he was too clingy.
Liu Da met the siblings while buying candy. They lived nearby. The chubby boy was very talkative. In his words, there wasn't a single person in the ten streets of Shui'anli that Liu Da didn't know.
Yuan Zhuan had a good impression of the cheerful chubby boy. The boy was a chatterbox and could talk to Yuan Zhu. It would be nice to have a friend like him.
And so, Xiao Liuda started strolling around with the siblings.
“Well, we’ve just moved here and are thinking of renting a house nearby. If there’s no house available, a two-bedroom apartment would be fine too,” Yuan Zhuan said truthfully. The little guy was young, but he should be able to understand.
"Rent a place? My family has one!"
And so, Yuan Zhuan and her brother stood in Liu Da's yard with him.
Hearing her son's voice, Li Damei came out and saw two unfamiliar children. "Oh, Dazi, you have new friends? Did you move here recently?"
It turns out that their personalities are like their mother's; they can tell at a glance that these people don't live nearby.
Hello, Auntie!
Hello, Auntie!
"Oh, oh, good, good, you're such a good girl. Come on, come to Auntie's house and have some candy." Aunt Liu warmly invited them into the house, her round, silver-plated face beaming with smiles, as approachable as a long-lost neighbor.
"Mom, Yuan Zhuan said she wants to rent our yard."
Yuan Zhuan: When did I say that?
"Rent a courtyard? Sure, your name is Yuan Zhuan? What's your brother's name?" Aunt Liu stopped and looked surprised for a few seconds.
"Yuan Zhu, nicknamed Zhuzhu." Pigs are easy to raise, her mother said.
"Okay, okay, little piggy, haha..." The mother and son laughed, showing their teeth.
Yuan Zhu: ...I feel inexplicably hurt.
Yuan Zhuan led Yuan Zhu through the tasks expected of an eight-year-old, and after eating and taking some food, they went home.
The next morning, the mother and her two children stood at the gate of Li Damei's courtyard with their meager luggage.
Li Damei and her husband have two sons. Their eldest son, Liu Le, is already in his first year of high school. This time, he will be staying at school for a month due to intensive training.
The courtyard house was clean and tidy, covering an area of one acre. The main gate was in the north, and there were three rooms in each of the four directions: the middle room was the living room, and the left and right rooms were the bedrooms. The east room was occupied by the couple and their eldest son, Liu Le, while Liu Da lived in the south room, which had a kitchen and a study. When the Yuan family moved in, the house was full. At Yuan Zhuan's strong request, he occupied one of the two west rooms.
Yuan Zhu didn't see anything wrong with sleeping with her mother.
The only paper-craft shop on the third street, Fu Bo sorted through the newly arrived cinnabar and yellow paper, then began moving the expired cinnabar into a wooden box, which was to be thrown into the warehouse. "Master, this isn't a pharmacy, why do we need so much cinnabar? And other people's cinnabar doesn't expire, why do we have to change ours every year?" the shop's assistant grumbled, but his hands moved quickly and skillfully. They only bought twenty catties of cinnabar each year, but its value was equivalent to the total cost of all the other goods in the shop. The key point was that the total amount sold each year was less than a catty. Although the other goods in the shop sold well, they couldn't afford to waste them like this. The worst part was that if he bought even an ounce less, his master would scold him mercilessly. When he asked, his master just kept a stern face and didn't say anything.
"Just do your own thing." The old man's voice was calm and indifferent from behind the counter.
Fu Bo pursed his lips, lowered his eyelids unhappily, and said, "That same phrase again. Humph, I don't know what he's insisting on. It's so weird."
He was an orphan abandoned by both his parents. He wandered here when he was just over six years old and didn't even have a name. He was taken in by his master and given a name, Fu Bo. His master's name was Fu Quan. His master raised him and he is now married with children. His master was like a father to him, giving him everything he could, but he wouldn't allow him to call him "Dad." When asked, the answer was always "No."
Fifteen years have passed, and there are now two large vats of cinnabar in the backyard. They are all discarded. The master doesn't throw them away, but he doesn't sell them either; he just stores them there.
"Uncle, I want to buy some cinnabar and yellow paper." A child's voice came from the doorway.
Fu Bo turned his head and saw a young girl with blond hair walking in with a smile.
"How much do you want?" Fu Bo didn't think twice. Buying cinnabar was certainly a good idea, but he didn't bother to ask what it was for.
"Three taels. Three reams of yellow paper."
The keyboard clattered and the fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly producing the price: "One hundred and thirty-five yuan and eight mao."
Yuan Zhuan: ...
She knew cinnabar was expensive, but this was outrageous—over a hundred yuan! That would have been enough for her whole family to eat for a month and a half.
"I have some old ones that I've already replaced. I can cut the price in half. Do you want to take a look?" Noticing that the shopkeeper wasn't at the front door, Fu Bo had a sudden idea. "Let's make it clear first, these are all old ones that we're going to get rid of. Don't come looking for trouble later if there are any problems."
Yuan Zhuan's gaze fell on the cinnabar in the wooden box. Its quality was, of course, inferior to that in the jar, but it was enough for her.
"Since it's a clearance sale, then give it all to me. I'll give you a hundred in total, how about that?" It looked like it weighed more than ten kilograms, enough for her to use for a year. The price was thirty yuan less than Fu Bo's quote. Since it was a clearance sale, it had to be at the clearance price, right?
"Deal." Fu Bo didn't hesitate at all. He was satisfied that he could exchange trash for money and keep his principal.
Yuan Zhuan added three more reams of yellow paper, along with a brush and some incense and candles. In total, Fu Bo asked for a round number: one hundred and fifty.
Yuan Zhuan carried it away contentedly; it weighed over twenty pounds and bulged in his homemade little schoolbag.
Just as Yuan Zhuan disappeared at the intersection, Fu Quan came out from the backyard, carrying some incense and candles. He was about to walk to the inside of the counter when his gaze inadvertently fell on the empty box. He paused, "Where's the cinnabar?"
"A little girl just came and bought it all, and she even bought some more... It's a total of 150." Fu Bo was overjoyed to have sold so much cinnabar for the first time, especially since it was salvaged from other sources. He grinned from ear to ear, showing that he hadn't lost money on the cinnabar this year, although he had only made less than 100 in total.
"Didn't you say it was a swap?" Fu Quan's brow furrowed even more.
"I already told her, she wants them all."
Hearing this, the old man didn't say anything more. He glanced at the bustling crowd outside the door, then turned and went back to the backyard.
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