Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Being proposed to?
The leader was none other than Sun Linlang, the Hubing seller. He was accompanied by two grown men from his family. They stood there, tall and strong, and faced Ji Xu.
Sun Linlang yelled with a threatening look on his face, "Hey! Who allowed you to sell here? Get out of here!"
As he said this, his two sons rolled up their sleeves and tried to push and chase her away.
Ji Xu nimbly hid behind the crowd. These groups of people, young and old, men and women, had heard her hawking and came from nearby to buy steamed buns for breakfast.
Ji Xu dodged the big hand and continued to speak fluently:
"The Lai family in the valley, the Ni family by the lake, the Zhao family at the foot of the mountain... every one of these families has ordered steamed buns from me, waiting for me to deliver them for breakfast. Tell me, who gave me the go-ahead to sell them here?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Linlang's face turned as black as charcoal. In just four days, this girl had done business with all the families. The families she was talking about, like the Ni family, were wealthy families, and Sun Linlang could not afford to offend them.
The neighbors nearby chimed in, "That's right, we're all waiting to buy steamed buns, why are you chasing us away?"
"Go, go, don't delay my breakfast."
"Girl, don't worry about it. Hurry and pick me two steamed buns."
"We're all here, let's see who dares to chase you away!"
This girl was willing to come to Shengchangli and sell her craft door to door, as it was a rare skill in the surrounding area. They didn't have to go out to buy it. It was such a cheap deal that Ji Xu naturally supported her.
Besides, compared with their group, Sun Linlang's group was obviously smaller in number and weaker in power, so they had no need to be afraid. They joined in the cursing. Among them were Cai Gaohuan's men, who also followed the trend to buy steamed buns.
"After eating Sun Linlang's Hu Bing, I can't even taste the mutton anymore!"
"It's still selling for five cents. If you drive her away, where are we going to get a meat pie for these two cents?"
Everyone was talking at once, and Sun Linlang was so embarrassed that he staggered away.
"Oh! Let's go, let's go."
"Sun Linlang, Sun Linlang—mutton stingy and cowardly—"
The children made up rhymes and cheered at the figure while holding up steamed buns.
"Cousin, look, they were scared away." Ji Zhi came forward and said.
Someone asked, "Xu Nu, who is this your sister?"
"Yes, yes, I'm her sister, and I'm here to sell pickled vegetables." Ji Zhi nodded hurriedly, opening the basket. Inside was a ceramic basin with a lot of pickled vegetables in it.
The overbearing smell of pickled mustard greens suddenly came out, and some people pinched their noses.
"No, your pickles have lost their flavor."
Ji Xu smelled it and it also had a sour and stinky smell. It was probably because the jar for pickled pickles was not clean or was not sealed tightly.
The mouth of the jar must be weighed down with a large stone. After more than half a month, when you take it out, it will be as red as a gold hairpin and the juice will be sour and delicious. It is then done. It is most suitable to be eaten with porridge or wine.
Ji Zhi's pickled mustard greens did not look bright, but rather had a dark color.
Everyone came over to take a sniff, then left without buying anything.
Ji Zhi said: "My family has been eating it for decades, and we don't think it has any taste! It's clearly the authentic sour taste."
Ji Zhi continued to sell her wares in this area. She carried a basket and went from house to house. Everyone said that the food tasted bad and no one was willing to spend money to buy it.
Since no vendors came to chase her away, she went back home in the evening feeling depressed.
After Ji Xu sold the steamed buns, she went to the country market to buy some duck eggs and pork. The flour at home was being used up quickly, so she added two more hu of flour.
I met Zhuang at the country market. She could sell forty pieces steadily these days. She looked happy and energetic. She could earn twelve cents in half a day. It was like a dream just thinking about it.
She was about to go home after selling all the flour when she saw Ji Xu carrying flour. She came to take over and said, "Let me carry it, and you can just carry the light duck eggs and meat."
The man was very strong and grabbed the flour bag and put it on his right shoulder.
"Auntie is very strong."
They walked a long distance without taking a break. Ji Xu had to take a break every time he walked. Seeing this, he couldn't help but praise.
"It's just rough strength." Zhuang said shyly.
Halfway through, Ji Xu wanted to replace her, but she was unwilling to do so. "I'm used to doing farm work, so I don't feel heavy. Don't break your thin arms and legs."
"No, I won't let my aunt carry it all the way. How can I, as a junior, feel comfortable with it?" Ji Xu said.
Later, seeing that there was not much time left for Zhuang to go, she let her daughter carry her back and went home by herself.
The woman weeding in the field teased her, "Hui Niang, selling steamed buns every day must be exhausting, right?"
Zhuang Hui Niang said honestly, "How can I be tired? I don't have to carry it on my shoulders. The basket is light and not tiring."
The speaker didn't mean it, but the listener felt jealous. If Zhuang Huiniang just went over and sold the goods, she could get 30% of the profit. Why didn't they get a better deal with Ji Xu?
Isn't this the job for me? I gritted my teeth for a moment, feeling sorry for it, but smiled and said:
"Miss Xu is making a lot of money in Shengchang, why don't you take you there to sell? At least I can teach you how to make more profit."
"The market is good too. I sold forty of them today."
Ji Xu had clearly explained the profit sharing: one hu of flour could make 200 steamed buns. So, the flour cost accounted for 30% of the profit from the White Jade Steamed Buns, so she got 30% and Xu Nu got 40%. At the time, both Lu Ai and Zhuang Hui Niang, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, had agreed, considering their craftsmanship and the fact that they had worked so hard early in the morning to prepare the buns. They simply came to take them, and there was nothing else they could ask for. Their hearts were filled with gratitude.
Therefore, what Zhuang Hui Niang said was true. After entering the yard, she went to the west room to weave cloth and did not take those weird words to heart at all.
Seeing the good relationship between the Chen family and Ji Xu, Liao Shi could no longer sit still. She was worried about the marriage of her eldest son, so she hurried home from the fields and pulled her husband Cui Dadao.
"I think we shouldn't wait any longer. I heard that the girl can sell a hundred steamed buns a day in Shengchang. The money she earns is much more profitable than farming.
Do you think that Zhuang Hui Niang, being so close to her, wouldn't be thinking of marrying her?"
Cui Dadao said, "That's impossible. Her son is still young and hasn't grown up yet. Let's wait a little longer until her family can build a house, then we can propose this marriage."
"We can't wait any longer. It will be next year before she becomes a grown-up. It's not something that can be bought overnight. Look, she can even move into Shengchangli. Why should we worry about her not being able to earn money for our family?
Besides, we have enough space to live in, so why should we ask her to build that house? It would be better to save the money and use it for other purposes.
If Zhuang Hui Niang also had this idea, she would have been ahead of us."
Cui Da was moved by these words. Liao changed into a new dress, combed her hair again, and went to Ji's house with her chest puffed out.
"Miss Xu, are you watering the vegetables? You're so diligent."
Ji Xu came out of the vegetable patch behind the house carrying an old wooden barrel, and saw a woman coming to greet him happily in front of his thatched cottage.
Liao even came to take the empty bucket from her hand, which was so warm.
"Is there something wrong, Aunt Liao?" Ji Xu did not give her the bucket and continued to carry it himself.
"Something's happening, something's happening! It's great news!" Jin, who was standing by, interrupted.
Liao had just visited the main house, and when she heard it, she found out that it was a good match for that Xu girl.
You know, the Cui family has more land than hers, and Cui Guangzong can become a blacksmith in the future. Now that the salt and iron are state-owned, he is very popular. Of course, he is not good enough to match her Yuannu, but he is more than enough to match this Xunu.
Now that Ji Xu's parents have passed away, although Jin, as Ji Xu's elder, has no contact with him, Liao still approached her first regarding this important matter of marriage.
As for Jin, when she heard that she could get a matchmaking reward from the Cui family, she packed up and came. Being able to marry off Xu's daughter was like removing a thorn in her side.
Every day in the fields, she listened to Ji Xu making extra money selling steamed buns in Shengchang. She felt really bad. She wondered what would happen if the second wife also built a tiled house and a small courtyard one day?
Jin Cuiru and Tian Guinv had been arguing with each other for half their lives. After the family split up, she was living a very prosperous life. She was always better than Tian Guinv in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, and even offspring. But in the end, she was surpassed by her eldest daughter who had just come of age. It was really embarrassing for her.
Therefore, she was eager for Ji Xu to get married quickly.
"Your Aunt Liao has chosen you to be the bride of her eldest son."
Jin gestured happily, as if Ji Xu had picked up a great bargain.
"Oh, her eldest son, Cui Guangzong,
When I was a naughty kid, I even took off your bun and made you cry. Have you forgotten?
But he is now a well-established man, tall with strong arms, and works as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop. He can be a blacksmith just by talking."
After hearing this, Liao's face lit up and she proudly brushed off the linen knee pads tied around her waist.
Ji Xu said: "I remember now, but I won't marry."
"What? Not marrying?"
While Jin was speaking, Liao remained silent and arrogant. She was just about to give the new bride a warning, but she didn't expect her to refuse to marry. Her face suddenly turned ugly.
"Yes, I won't marry." Ji Xu repeated.
Jin couldn't help but get anxious, "Cui Guangzong is such a good man from Benguli, why are you leaving him alone and not marrying him?"
Ji Xu was neither humble nor arrogant. "He is a good boy, and I am a good girl, not inferior to him. Why do you act like I am trying to climb up to him?"
Jin was choked, thinking that this girl was no better than before after doing business. Liao glanced at her family's simple thatched house.
"Your family has a thatched hut with a pottery window, no land, and two young sisters.
If you marry into my family, you will have to provide food and support your two younger sisters, and pay them a small fee every year. How can you not marry above your station?"
"In that case, why did Aunt Liao choose me as her bride?" Ji Xu asked calmly.
"Of course you can..." Liao almost said what was in her mind, but quickly stopped talking.
Ji Xu took over the conversation, "Of course I can cook and make steamed buns to sell. I'd like to ask my aunt if the money earned by the Cui family's new bride can be used as a shilling for herself."
"Once you enter my house, your money will naturally be paid into the public account for the family's expenses."
Liao frowned at her desire to keep the money for herself. This girl was too dishonest.
"In other words, the money I earned could have been spent by just the three of us sisters, but after I got married, I now have a whole family to spend my money. What am I getting for it?"
"I just want to have a good husband and continue my family line." After hearing this, Liao was already considering whether to go through with the marriage. This girl was too ungrateful.
She did not refute, but only said:
"I don't want these. Please go back, aunts."
Although Liao was very dissatisfied with her after this incident, she felt humiliated by the rejection. Her face was as dark as the bottom of a pot when she left. She really couldn't understand why this girl looked down on the relatives of the Cui family?
Thinking of something, she paused and raised her voice again.
"Could it be that you're really in love with Yun Lang from the Feng family? Let me tell you, don't even think about joining the Feng family. At most, they'll pay you to be a cook, but scholars like you won't be looked down upon by a cook like you!"
It must be like this. Feng Jiasanlang is the only scholar in Benguli. He looks gentle and many girls are attracted to him.
And this girl Xu had been good friends with him since childhood, so she might have been thinking about him.
Yun Lang? Feng Yun? Ji Xu hadn't even noticed what he looked like now, so he ignored the question.
If she had wasted this time, she would have already prepared lunch.
It happened that Feng and Zhu were carrying firewood back from Niupi Mountain. When Ji Feng heard the latter part of the story, he dropped the firewood and started to chase after them and scold them.
"What nonsense are you talking about! Be careful of getting a sore in your mouth! My sister is worthy of being a god, but she only earns a day's salary as a cook for the Feng family. How dare you, a bunch of sour women, come to my house and say such nonsense? Just wait, I'll throw feces in your house to cover up your foul mouth!"
The women all knew that Ji Feng had a sharp tongue. Her mother, Tian, had indeed done the same thing before. After all, they had their own houses and yards, so no one could dare to do that. They did not argue with Ji Feng, but hurried home, closed the door, and spat:
"At such a young age, such a hottie, isn't she afraid of not being able to get married..."
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