The elderly men were playing chess on the street as usual.
"Sigh." Grandpa Song suddenly sighed, "It's been so long since I've seen Xiao Xing. I wonder how things are going at home?"
“That’s right,” the other old men chimed in, saying, “We used to see each other every few days, but now that we haven’t seen each other for so long, it feels like something’s missing.”
"I wonder if things at home are too complicated for her, since we don't even have her contact information. Otherwise, we could ask her; maybe we brothers could help out," Grandpa Xu continued.
“That’s right, that’s right,” the other old men echoed.
"Oh, oh..." Professor Wu suddenly exclaimed, pointing forward with a trembling finger.
Grandpa Xu glanced at him sideways: "What's wrong? Shaking like that, is it a stroke or Parkinson's?"
Professor Wu rolled his eyes, slapped him, and pointed behind him with his finger: "Xiao Xing is here."
"Oh?!" The old men exclaimed in unison, and immediately looked in the direction Professor Wu was pointing. Sure enough, they saw Xing Zhaozhao walking towards them with a smile. She was still dressed plainly and carrying a basket on her back. She was still the same little Xing they knew.
Xing Zhaozhao walked up to the elderly men and greeted them with a smile: "Hello, gentlemen, it's been a long time. How are you doing?"
The elderly men quickly surrounded Xing Zhaozhao with excitement.
"You've finally arrived, Xiao Xing. We've been missing you terribly."
"Have you taken care of everything at home? If you need any help, just let us know, don't hesitate to ask."
"What good stuff did you bring today? The wild berries you gave me last time were so delicious. My husband has been craving them ever since. Do you have any more? If you do, I'll buy them all. You can name your price."
"Get out of here! How can you be so greedy and hoard everything? If there's any more, I want some too, Xiao Xing. I'm not as greedy as this old man; I'll share some with him."
“I’m different from them, Xiao Xing. I don’t care about wild berries. Whatever you brought today, I’ll take it all.”
"Shameless..."
Seeing that the old men were about to fight, Xing Zhaozhao smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, gentlemen. The family matter has been resolved. We don't have any wild berries, but yesterday I took the children into the mountains to pick a lot of wild vegetables. They are fresh, first-harvest, tender, and nutritious, so I brought them to you to try."
As Xing Zhaozhao spoke, she took the basket off her shoulder, took out the wild mountain vegetables that had been cleaned and packaged, and gave each of them a large bag.
The elderly men were all locals and knew their stuff. When they opened the package, they were delighted and asked, "How much?" They started reaching into their pockets, knowing that Xing Zhaozhao only accepted cash, so they would always bring some with them when they went out.
Xing Zhaozhao shook her head and said, "No need, they're everywhere in the mountains, they're not worth much. Just give them to these gentlemen." The main reason was that she was now rich, with eight figures, she was quite wealthy, so she didn't care about such a small amount.
The old men all objected: "How can that be? You worked so hard to collect them, you definitely have to give them to us."
Xing Zhaozhao thought for a moment, took out her phone, and opened the QR code for receiving payments: "Okay, scan my code, just give each of you 10 yuan."
The elderly men all looked surprised: "Oh, you bought a cell phone?"
Xing Zhaozhao smiled and nodded: "Since we're going out to do business, it's more convenient to have a mobile phone, so I bought one."
"That's more like it." Several elderly men took out their phones, scanned Xing Zhaozhao's QR code, and paid.
When Xing Zhaozhao saw the money coming in, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily. Why was there an extra zero in all the entries?
She opened the payment record and pointed it out to the elderly men: "You paid the wrong amount."
The elderly men glanced at it, pretending to realize something, and then said, "Oh dear, it really is! I didn't even notice. Never mind, you can keep it for now. It's too much trouble to give you a refund. We can talk about it next time."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." She knew the old men meant well, but she really wasn't short of money. Oh well, she'd find them something nice later.
"Since you have a cell phone, let's leave a contact number," said Grandpa Song. "It'll be easier to stay in touch later."
“Yes, yes, we’ll take this one,” the other old men chimed in.
Xing Zhaozhao exchanged phone numbers with them and made a special reminder: "The signal is not very good in the mountains, so I may not be able to get through when I call. If you can't reach me, you can send me a text message, and I will reply when I see it."
The elderly men immediately nodded in unison: "Okay."
"Oh, right." At this moment, Professor Wu suddenly remembered something, looked at Xing Zhaozhao, and said, "Xiao Xing, the bronze mirror that you asked me to pass on to Lao Lu last time has been sold. Lao Lu just came to Lanyuan with Mr. Zhou yesterday and specifically mentioned it when he had dinner with me. He asked me to tell you if he saw you and arrange a time to meet."
Xing Zhaozhao's eyes lit up: "What a coincidence! Is he free today?"
"I'll call and ask," Professor Wu said, immediately calling Mr. Lu, and then telling Xing Zhaozhao, "Today is fine, let's meet at Xunlan Tea House again."
Xing Zhaozhao nodded and readily agreed, "Okay, I'll be right there."
Before going to Xunlan Tea House, Xing Zhaozhao went to the pedestrian street to find Xiao Xu, a street vendor. Fei Ge needed to restock his stock, and she also wanted to bring over a set of bunny clothes that Fu Lan had just finished to show Xiao Xu, set a price, and see if she could sell it.
When Xiao Xu, the peddler, saw Xing Zhaozhao, he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes: "Sister, you've finally come! My uncles and cousins from the factory have come to me several times asking if you still want the goods."
“Of course I want it, why wouldn’t I?” Xing Zhaozhao said, taking out a list she had written in advance and handing it to Xiao Xu, the peddler. “Prepare the goods for me according to this list, and I’ll come and pick them up later.”
When Xiao Xu, the peddler, took the list, he saw that there were quite a few different kinds and quantities, and he could make another profit. He immediately smiled and said, "No problem, I'll get it done for you right away."
Xing Zhaozhao took out a bundle from her basket and handed it to the peddler, Xiao Xu: "I have a set of clothes here. Do you think you can set a price for them?"
When Xiao Xu, the peddler, took the bundle, he was somewhat nonchalant. Clothes? A whole set? He didn't sell secondhand clothes here. However, considering that Sister Xing was one of his biggest customers, if she insisted on selling, he wouldn't mind paying out of his own pocket to help her.
But when he opened the bundle and saw the lifelike, exquisitely crafted, and adorable little rabbit head, his eyes immediately lit up. "This garment is perfect!"
"Why do you only have one outfit?" Little Xu, the vendor, looked at Xing Zhaozhao anxiously and asked. This outfit alone wouldn't be enough to sell.
"It's all handmade. I just finished this outfit a few days ago. I brought it over for you to see if you can sell it," Xing Zhaozhao said.
"Yes, definitely," the vendor, Xiao Xu, nodded without hesitation. No little girl could possibly resist such an adorable little rabbit.
Xing Zhaozhao felt the same way. She trusted Fu Lan's cooking skills.
"What price do you think is suitable?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
"Well..." Little Xu, the street vendor, frowned, still thinking.
A young mother walked by with her daughter.
The little girl immediately spotted the delicate and adorable rabbit head on the stall: "Cute little rabbit, Mommy, I want it."
At first, Mom was reluctant: "I won't buy it. You've already bought so many bunny toys."
When Mom saw the complete set of exquisite bunny clothes spread out on the stall, from head to toe, even including pink bunny paw gloves, she was immediately tempted. She looked at the vendor, Xiao Xu, and asked, "How much is this bunny outfit?"
“Uh…” Little Xu, the vendor, hesitated, unsure of what price to set.
"Would you sell it for 500?" Mom asked.
"Huh?" Little Xu, the vendor, was taken aback. He had only intended to sell it for 300.
When the mother saw that the vendor, Xiao Xu, was not agreeing, she assumed he thought the price was too low. She frowned and said, "This price is almost as high as children's clothing in brand stores. If it weren't for the fact that your little bunny dress is really well made, I wouldn't have paid this price."
Just then, another mother walked by with her daughter. She must have overheard their conversation. She curiously came over for a look, and immediately stopped in her tracks, saying without thinking, "800, I'll take it."
The mother who had come first was unhappy and turned to glare at her: "I was here first."
"Didn't you say you didn't want it because it was too expensive?"
"Who said I thought it was too expensive? 800, I'll take it." After saying that, she took out her phone, scanned the code to pay, asked the vendor Xiao Xu to give her a bag to put it in, and left impatiently, as if she was afraid someone would snatch it away.
The vendor, Xiao Xu, watched the mother leave, still looking bewildered. He hadn't even finished saying a word, and besides, he had only originally intended to sell 300.
Xing Zhaozhao's eyes were already squinting with joy. This time, Fu Lan could finally amass a large fortune.
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