Chapter 702 Changes in Chang'an City
After hearing Qiu Xiang's teasing words, Li San Niang laughed twice before replying, "Indeed, one is influenced by one's company. After spending so much time with me, your personality has become somewhat like mine."
As the two were talking, Lao Shi's carriage arrived.
Qiu Xiang placed the gift from Princess Qingyang on the carriage shaft, turned around to take the item from Li San Niang's hand: "What San Niangzi says is true. If I don't resemble San Niangzi, who else can I resemble?"
The tenth brother remained as taciturn as ever. After calling Li San Niang "San Niangzi" once, he helped Qiu Xiang organize the gift boxes and items.
When Li San Niang had boarded half of the carriage with Qiu Xiang's help, Lao Shi suddenly said, "Why have you lost so much weight, San Niangzi?"
Li San Niang stopped in her tracks and couldn't help but raise her hand to touch her thin cheeks. Only now did she truly begin to worry: "Is she really that obviously thin?"
"Even you, Tenth Brother, noticed?"
Upon hearing this, Lao Shi had something to say but didn't know how to express it. He was truly choked by Li San Niang's words, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable, and his face darkened.
Li San Niang looked at Qiu Xiang with concern: "What should we do?"
When I looked in the mirror this morning, I didn't feel that I had lost much weight, but I did feel that I had lost some weight.
Even the tenth brother can see it now. If I go home, won't my mother, father, sister-in-law, and Luzhu'er be heartbroken for me?
Li San Niang entered the carriage and asked Qiu Xiang carefully, "Is it really that obvious?"
Although I wanted to make my mother feel sorry for me and give me more love, I didn't really want to worry her.
Qiu Xiang neither agreed nor disagreed with Li San Niang's self-deceiving and self-deceiving remarks. Instead, she picked up the teapot that had been prepared in the carriage and poured Li San Niang a cup of tea to soothe her throat.
Old Ten drove the carriage very steadily and slowly, until they were almost at Anhua Gate, when the swaying Li San Niang leaned on Qiu Xiang's arm and fell asleep.
After about half an hour, Li San Niang finally woke up, awakened by the cries of vendors outside the city gate.
"Third Sister, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Judging from this, it will be quite some time before we can enter the city.
Li San Niang yawned and shook her head slightly. As she pulled back the carriage curtain, she asked Qiu Xiang and Lao Shi, "Is there anything you two want to eat?"
"It'll be a while before I get home, but my stomach can't wait."
Li San Niang called out to the woman carrying a basket not far away, and the woman quickly came to her side. The woman was very polite. She first bowed to Li San Niang, whose face was mostly visible through the carriage window, and then asked in a cheerful voice, "Does the esteemed lady want to buy some snacks to fill her stomach?"
The young woman here sells sesame-sprinkled flatbreads, both sweet and savory, as well as meat-filled baked buns. If you're particularly pleased, for an extra three coins you can also get a strip of her homemade pickled vegetables to go with it.
Li San Niang really liked the woman's straightforwardness. She got up and sat down by the carriage shaft, swinging her legs back and forth.
Li San Niang beckoned the woman to her side, and saw the woman lift the basket covered with a floral cloth, inside which lay four or five baked cakes and several meat-filled flatbreads.
The pickled vegetable strips the woman mentioned were actually packed in another small bundle on the outside of this layer.
Seeing Li San Niang's curiosity, the woman explained to her, "Please don't be offended, sir. These pickled vegetable strips have a strong flavor, and I was afraid they would stain the cakes, so I put them away separately."
"Don't worry, sir, it's all freshly made today, it's of the best quality."
Li San Niang took the purse and wrapped up all the remaining items in the woman's basket. The eleventh son could eat most of it, and with Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang, they should be able to finish it. If they really couldn't finish it, they could take it home.
Looking at the queue ahead, Li San Niang realized it would be quite a while before her carriage reached the front. She smiled and asked the woman, "Sister-in-law, are you in a hurry to get home?"
I only returned home a little over a month ago. Although I had seen snacks sold at the city gate before, I never expected so many people to come this time.
"Could my sister-in-law talk to her about it?"
As she was speaking, Li San Niang jumped off the carriage, startling Qiu Xiang, who cried out, "San Niangzi!"
The distance between the carriage shaft and the ground wasn't particularly high, but it wasn't low either. It wouldn't be a big deal for an adult to jump down. Usually, when Li San Niang was in a hurry, she wouldn't need Lao Shi to use a stool; she would just jump down directly.
However, during this time, Li San Niang was quite weak due to the hard work at the drug rehabilitation center. She was so thin that even Lao Shi, a rough man, could see it.
Given this, how could Qiu Xiang not be frightened by Li San Niang's action of jumping off the carriage shaft without a word?
"It's nothing, it's nothing. It's just jumping off a cart shaft. I know what I'm doing."
After calming down the glaring Qiu Xiang, Li San Niang turned to the woman carrying the basket and cupped her hands in greeting: "Did you frighten my sister-in-law too?"
Haha, please forgive me, please forgive me.
The woman wasn't frightened, but she could tell that Qiu Xiang and the coachman were very worried about Li San Niang's safety.
"Hey, why are you so scared?"
"Please feel free to ask me anything, sir. You've already bought all my food, so it doesn't matter if I come home early or late."
In front of others, Qiu Xiang wouldn't really take Li San Niang's act of jumping off the carriage shaft seriously, so she had no choice but to jump off the carriage shaft herself and stand behind Li San Niang.
"I vaguely remember that there weren't so many food vendors at the city gate a month or so ago. How come there are so many more people in just over a month?"
The woman was a talkative one. Li San Niang had only asked one question when she started chattering away. Of course, the reason was that Li San Niang had bought all the food in her basket without even lowering the price, which not only made her money but also saved her a lot of trouble.
Secondly, Li San Niang is a woman; if a man were to ask her questions, this woman would not be so nonchalant.
What are the three?
Of course, it was because Li San Niang's attitude was very approachable. After all, Li San Niang had bowed to her. The woman's thought at the time was: "Why is this noble lady so particular? Look, even the way a noble lady bows is so elegant."
Li San Niang was genuinely curious as to why the city gates of Chang'an had changed so much during her month-long absence.
If the number of people selling snacks at the city gate used to be one, now it's five. There are definitely more people now. Among them, young women of about one-third are women, another third are groups of three or five teenagers who look about thirteen or fourteen years old, and the remaining third are men carrying loads on their shoulders.
"So that the important person may know, it all started with the opium case a month or so ago..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com