Luo Yang hesitated and asked, "Can we go?"
"Sure, it's almost winter, I'll take you to buy some suitable cotton-padded coats, and you should also change your shoes, I noticed that Luo Chen's toes are touching the tips of his shoes."
Luo Chen wiggled her toes, which were a little sore from being squeezed. She noticed such a tiny thing?
"Eat quickly, stop spacing out, or we'll miss the oxcart."
The group quickly finished their meal, and Xiao Yunying, carrying a basket on her back, took Luo Xin's hand, locked the gate, and headed towards the village entrance.
They were the first to arrive. They counted out five coins and handed them to Old Man Zhang: "Old Man Zhang, I need to take a big iron pot back with me. Could you give me a ride?"
Old Zhang took out a coin to return to Xiao Yunying: "It's enough to pull it, just put it in the middle of the cart. You've given too much, the girl is too young to accept it."
Xiao Yunying refused, saying, "Even a little girl takes up space, and the iron pot we brought back also takes up space. Uncle Zhang, please accept it."
More people were approaching from afar, and Old Zhang didn't refuse again, putting the copper coins into his money bag.
She habitually sat in the corner, holding Luo Xin on her lap. The oxcart was bumping along, and she was worried that the little girl would lose her balance and fall off.
Three children sat around her, surrounding her in the middle.
Luo Li was particularly excited as he looked at the scenery along the way. He had never been to the city since he settled in Xiaqu Village with his father.
A woman nearby asked, "Yun Ying, are you taking your child into town?"
Xiao Yunying pinched Luo Xin's little face, too lazy to even lift her head, and casually replied, "Yes."
She particularly disliked people who made conversation for no reason. She was already on the oxcart; where else would she go if not into the city?
"What are you doing taking the child into the city?"
"Let's go play."
The woman clicked her tongue, exchanged a glance with the others, and said with a sour tone, "Taking children into the city to play, just the oxcart ride and the city entrance fee alone will cost a lot. Has Yunying made some money recently?"
"Whether we earn a lot or a little, it's enough to bring the kids to the city."
"Did you make a lot of money selling the embroidery or did you find some other work? Tell me about it."
"No."
"Did your mother give you money again?"
"It has nothing to do with you."
The woman's face turned ugly: "I'm only saying this because I'm thinking of you. Taking them into the city will cost ten or twenty coins. It would be better to buy a few pounds of grain."
Xiao Yunying lifted the little girl up a bit to prevent her from slipping: "It's not your money you're spending, so stop worrying about useless things, or you'll age faster."
The woman was speechless after being choked by a single sentence. Another woman said to the person next to her, "She's just talking big. What money could she possibly earn? Maybe she's going to the city to sell her children."
Luo Xin twisted her body and retorted loudly, "Mother is taking us to buy cotton-padded clothes, not to sell us."
Xiao Yunying then looked up at them and said that the woman selling the child was an unfamiliar face, someone she didn't know and probably wasn't related to, so there was no need to be polite.
"Did you hear me say I was going to sell the child?"
The woman dared not lie: "No, that's not true..."
"Oh, I thought you were my pet dog. Did you hear me talking about selling my child?"
The woman nearly jumped up on the oxcart: "How dare you talk like that!"
"If it's not a dog, why is it barking at people?"
The woman was so angry she couldn't speak: "You...you..."
Luo Xin didn't understand and tilted her little head up: "Mom, we don't have a dog at home."
Luo Li couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The two older ones were much more reserved, turning their heads away while trying to suppress their laughter.
The woman glared at Luo Li: "Still laughing? Once she sells you, you'll have nowhere to cry."
Luo Li smiled and said, "No need for you to worry, Auntie. My stepmother won't sell us off."
The woman pointed to herself: "Me? Auntie?"
She's only two or three years older than Xiao Yunying, how did she become an "auntie"?!
Luo Yang said to her younger brother, "Don't call her 'Auntie,' just call her 'Auntie.'"
The woman was so angry she was panting heavily, and even her aunt couldn't help it.
Luo Li obediently replied, "I understand, Second Brother. Stepmother is right. Don't worry about useless things, or you'll age faster."
Enraged, the woman reached out her hand at Luo Li: "You ill-mannered brat..."
Xiao Yunying quickly grabbed her little finger and bent it down: "How well my child is raised is none of the business of outsiders. At least he doesn't talk nonsense or make up stories to frame others. He's much better than some people who just spout nonsense."
The woman cried out, "It hurts! Let go!"
Several women nearby said, "Why did you hit someone?"
"Let go quickly, what if you really hurt someone?"
"He hits people after just a few words; what a terrible temper."
Xiao Yunying gradually increased her pressure: "Not only are your hearing and eyesight poor, but you are kind-hearted. You can't hear what she is saying, and you can't see that she wants to hit my child, but when she cried out in pain, you immediately came out and accused me of hitting her."
The group fell silent after being mocked. The woman whose fingers were being pried open said, "Let go right now, or your fingers will break!"
Xiao Yunying released her hand: "Don't jump around in front of me anymore, and don't talk to me. I don't want to see you."
"You shameless slut..."
"Alright," Old Zhang, sitting in the front, scolded, "What are you making a fuss about on the oxcart? What if you fall off and get run over? Behave yourself. If you don't want to ride, get off and walk into town."
Xiao Yunying played with the little girl's two little pigtails with a normal expression. The woman's face darkened and she stopped talking. Old Zhang was known for his stubborn temper; if he angered her, he would really make her get off the bus.
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