Before the rainy season was over, Zhou Chenyu and Baoyu went to the back mountain again and picked two large baskets of fresh bamboo shoots. After cleaning them, they took the chicken coop and winnowing basket woven by Li Xiuju with them and went to the market in a hurry.
Just like last time, the fresh bamboo shoots sold out extremely quickly. After two small orders, a wealthy restaurant owner came and bought them all for a flat price of one hundred coins.
Baoyu carried the goods to the kitchen of his restaurant himself and ran back with a smile: "Sister, this is great! We earned several dozen more coins than last time. Mother will be very happy when she finds out."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the people coming and going on the street, opened her eyes and glared at him, "Don't you know that you shouldn't flaunt your wealth? Be careful someone doesn't steal it from you."
"Sister, the money is with you, it won't get lost."
Baoyu flattered her with a grin, not taking her words to heart.
"I think you're asking for a beating!" Zhou Chenyu reached out to pinch his ear.
Zhou Baoyu was already familiar with his sister's usual tricks, so he immediately dodged backward and stuck out his tongue at her, "You can't hit me."
"Fine, you think you're all grown up now? You better stop right there!" Before Zhou Chenyu could finish speaking, he watched as the man crashed into a woman.
The woman stumbled, "Oh dear, what's wrong with you, child?"
Zhou Chenyu covered her face, unable to bear looking at this brat.
Baoyu jerked back and quickly apologized, "Auntie, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you alright?"
The woman had just noticed that Baoyu was sunny and cheerful, and his upturned mouth and smiling eyes were inexplicably endearing.
She helped him up, saying, "Alright, alright, you have to be more careful next time. It's a small matter if you bumped into me, but it would be bad if you bumped into one of those pregnant girls."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Baoyu honestly admitted his mistake, saying, "I will, I will."
Seeing his sincere attitude, the woman smiled and walked past him toward Zhou Chenyu. "Miss, how much is your winnowing basket?"
Oh, so you're buying winnowing baskets.
Zhou Baoyu rushed forward and said with a warm smile, "Auntie, this winnowing basket costs two coins. My mother made it by hand. She has been making these since she was a child, and her skills are excellent."
"Is that so?" The woman carefully felt the texture of the winnowing basket. "Let me take a look."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the middle-aged woman. Although she looked older, the mole on her right eyebrow gave her a charm that was very similar to that of a certain actress.
She quickly slapped Baoyu and teased, "Why are you calling me 'Auntie'? You should call me 'Sister'."
Call me "sister"?
Zhou Baoyu looked at Zhou Chenyu in front of him, then at the woman, and said with a forced smile, "Sister."
Although the woman didn't mind being called "auntie" by others, she couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing "sister" twice. She was in a great mood: "My son is older than both of you, why are you calling me 'sister'? Girl, I'll buy two winnowing baskets."
The woman didn't haggle at all, readily paid the bill, took her things, and left.
Zhou Baoyu watched her walk away, his eyes filled with melancholy: "Sister, we are clearly the same age, but Mother looks more than ten years older than her."
Zhou Chenyu thought of Li Xiuju's hands, which were covered with wrinkles and cracks from years of hard work, and said, "That's why we work hard to earn more money so that the old lady can live a better life sooner."
The silly boy wiped away his tears, nodded vigorously, and immediately ran back to his stall, shouting and hawking his wares. By 2 p.m., he had finally sold out.
Baoyu's voice was hoarse from shouting, "Sister, let's quickly find something to eat, I'm hungry."
Zhou Chenyu counted the money. "More than a hundred coins a day, not bad, not bad. What do you want to eat today?"
"Sister, I want to eat that." Baoyu pointed to the aroma wafting from afar, which looked like wontons.
Zhou Chenyu stuffed the money into her pocket and readily replied, "Okay, we'll eat this."
"Okay, let's have wontons today, let's have wontons!"
Zhou Baoyu, like a wild monkey that had just come down from the mountain, ran through the bustling crowd and arrived there.
The wonton shop is located opposite the restaurant. It is run by an elderly couple with gray hair. The old man stands in front of the pot to scald the wontons, while the old woman sits beside him wrapping the wontons and filling them.
Zhou Chenyu stopped at the wonton stall and looked at the signboard next to it that read "Qiu's Wonton".
Baoyu brushed the aroma away with his hand and asked with a smile, "Shopkeeper, how much are the wontons?"
The old man, taking a moment from his busy schedule, gave a kind smile and said, "Young man, it's three coins a bowl, would you like to try some?"
"Three coins a bowl? That's so expensive!" Baoyu's smile faded; he thought it was only two coins a bowl.
Seeing Baoyu hesitate, the old man continued, "You look unfamiliar to me, so you must not be a local. To tell you the truth, we have been running this shop for over twenty years and have many regular customers. Even the officials in the yamen like to eat here."
Seeing Bao Yu's longing look, Zhou Chenyu said, "It's alright, we'll just eat this."
Baoyu smiled contentedly, "Mmm!"
"I didn't steal anything!"
A woman's scream came from the restaurant across the street. Then, a beautiful woman was forcibly dragged out by the officials, shouting repeatedly, "Indecent assault! The officials are abducting a woman! Where is justice?!"
Zhou Chenyu's gaze was drawn over, instantly freezing. The man gripping the woman's wrist looked just like that aloof, handsome guy!
She wanted to believe it, yet dared not.
The crowd gathered around, and Zhou Chenyu squeezed into the crowd as well.
Baoyu, who was following behind, tripped and fell flat on his face. He winced in pain and said, "Sister, my hand is scraped."
Zhou Chenyu stared at the man so close to her, her burning gaze fixed on him, and she said with a lovesick smile, "Oh, isn't this my husband whom I haven't seen in so long?"
"Husband?"
Zhou Baoyu stared wide-eyed in absurdity.
How did he become her husband?
Didn't you just shut your heart and lock away your love yesterday?
Zhou Baoyu bit his lip in grievance, looking at his sister with a resentful expression.
She's just bluffing!
Once outside the restaurant, the beautiful woman could see the man clearly. He was tall and imposing, with an upright and dignified air. One glance was enough to stir her heart.
She gave up struggling, her body limp as water. "My lord, I'm innocent!"
The woman's voice softened, completely different from her previous wails and roars.
Zhou Chenyu was completely charmed. This was clearly a honey trap. Would he fall for it?
The man looked at the cunning and treacherous woman, increased the pressure on his hand, and sneered, "Innocent? You've been stealing for days, we've been secretly watching you for a long time. This time the evidence is conclusive, what other excuses do you have? Stop struggling!"
“How dare I deny it before you?” The beautiful woman took a step closer to Yang Xi, blinked her fox-like eyes, and said softly, “Since you say I stole something, I beg you to search me yourself and clear my name.”
The man looked into the woman's alluring eyes, his sharp gaze flickering with a mocking smile, and a cold, unrestrained smirk played on his lips. "You want me to search you myself?"
The woman gave a sweet, innocent "hmm," and then secretly pulled her hand out to gently stroke Yang Xi's collar, convinced that her seduction had worked.
Unexpectedly, the man's face turned cold instantly. He violently grabbed her hand, showing no mercy whatsoever. "Now that you're in my hands, do you think you can escape? Arrest her!"
"Yes!" Two constables quickly stepped forward and detained the woman.
"My lord, how could you do this to me?" Knowing there was no hope of escape, the woman wailed again, "Yang Xi, you will get your retribution!"
The man smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes, his eyes cold and contemptuous. "Fine, I'll wait."
Zhou Chenyu witnessed the whole thing, her heart pounding. "Yang Xi, so that's his name. Not only is he good-looking, but his name is also so beautiful."
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