Chapter 63: The Donkey and the Hairband
Guo Baiwen originally planned to sit and rest near the hairpin shop so that they would see him as soon as they returned from shopping.
But even though the pot of tea they ordered was almost empty, the two of them still hadn't returned.
Does it really take this long to buy just a pork hock?
The tea stall owner asked him if he wanted more water, but Guo Baiwen waved his hand and finished the remaining tea snacks on his plate in a few bites.
He got up, paid for the tea, and prepared to head towards the pork hock stall to look for the person.
He was still carrying the two wrapped hairpin pouches in his hand, but one hand remained hidden inside his sleeve.
He was clutching the hairband he had just bought inside his sleeve.
When Grandma went out to the market in the morning, she was altering her old clothes while muttering that she needed to make two new summer outfits for the family.
He figured it was on the way anyway, and he could also see if there was any suitable fabric.
Compared to fine cotton cloth, which tends to cause sweating in the summer, the coarse cloth we used to wear was much more breathable.
But now that he has plenty of money, Guo Baiwen wants to pick out two pieces of coarse cloth that are either finely woven or brightly colored to take back with him.
While I was asking the shopkeeper if there were any other fabrics more suitable for summer besides this coarse cloth, I suddenly heard several dogs barking outside.
The barking is so noisy!
Forced to interrupt the conversation, Guo Baiwen took two steps away from the stall and heard a strange woman's voice from not far away: "They ran away! Hurry! Be careful! Get out of the way!"
They ran away?
What ran away?
Hearing the commotion outside, the stall owner, who had been sitting behind the stall, also stood up, stopping cracking the melon seeds in his hand and standing up abruptly.
But he didn't rush out to look. He just stood at his stall, craning his neck and peering out.
Because of the stall's structure, Guo Baiwen had to stand further out than him.
But after watching for a while, the two of them still didn't see what the man meant by 'ran away'.
Just as they were about to return to continue discussing the fabric,
Suddenly, a startled donkey darted out of the market and galloped away, leaving the people shouting behind far behind.
Seeing that there was still some distance between them, Guo Baiwen finally realized what had run away. He even had time to think, 'This donkey is running faster than any of the oxcarts I used to ride in.'
The next second, the stall owner, who had been watching the commotion, quickly began packing up the fabrics on his stall.
In the midst of the chaos, all he could manage to say to Guo Baiwen was, "Be careful!"
Guo Baiwen then belatedly realized that the donkey was actually running towards his location!
no? !
Why is that?!
He wasn't wearing any red clothes today!
No, that's a donkey, not a cow—
There was no time for him to think about the reasons in detail. If he didn't dodge, he would really be hit by this donkey.
He twisted his body and almost bumped into the stall behind him; his mind raced in that instant.
She even thought about whether being hit by a donkey or being hit by an electric scooter in her past life was more harmful.
Chen Baoyue happened to see him too, so ignoring the donkey that was rapidly approaching, she hurriedly took two steps forward and pulled him aside. In the critical moment, the two of them barely managed to avoid the donkey.
It crashed headfirst into the stall frame that had been set up.
With a loud 'bang,' accompanied by the sound of shattering wood, the wooden frame was broken.
The dust cover that was originally hanging on the fabric stall has now fallen down because the frame broke.
If that violent impact had actually hit someone, their ribs would probably have broken.
Guo Baiwen felt a wave of fear wash over him.
The donkey, which had been running wildly, was stunned and stopped in place by the violent impact. The dust cloth that had fallen down covered its head, making it completely disoriented.
That's how it was. The few people who had been chasing the donkey finally caught up with it, and after a few steps, they grabbed the donkey's head rope under the dust cover.
Just as they were about to leave with the rope, the fabric stall owner grabbed them, saying, "Your donkey has wrecked my stall! It almost hurt my customers! And you think you can just walk away like that?!"
"Pay up!"
"If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll call the market patrol team over here to settle this matter!"
"Since there are so many people gathered around, let's all take a look! Let's see if you can continue selling these livestock at the market in the future!"
The stall owner's words were quite forceful, and the group of people who had originally hoped to downplay the matter suddenly found themselves at a loss.
After exchanging glances, one of the men, who was clearly the leader, stepped forward and said to the stall owner with a smile, "This donkey was startled, which is why we couldn't control it and it started running around in the market."
"I didn't mean to cause trouble for your stall," he said, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect. Knowing he would have to spend some money to avoid further trouble, he could only continue with a pained expression, "How much would it cost to repair your stall?"
Ignoring his obsequious smile, the cloth stall owner simply did a quick calculation with his fingers and tossed out a number, "One tael of silver!"
Upon hearing this, the man was startled. "How come a few wooden frames cost one tael of silver?"
His words only fueled the stall owner's enthusiasm. He glanced at him sideways, his tone laced with disdain: "What, did you think I was trying to scam you?!"
"No, no."
"Hmph!" The cloth stall owner barely managed to suppress his temper, and his tone softened a bit. "You only calculated the price of this wooden frame, didn't you see what day it is? If you smash up the stall, where am I supposed to put my cloth to sell next?"
"I paid a full day's stall fee to come to this market today!" The fabric stall owner got angrier as he spoke, and just then he saw Guo Baiwen, who was still in shock, not far away, so he simply pointed at him, "And my customers! They came here to sell fabric, but before they could even choose any, they ran into this mess!"
"If it weren't for the fact that his wife was quick enough to avoid being hit by your donkey, you'd be crying all by yourself!"
Upon hearing this, the group of people looked in the direction the stall owner was pointing.
Guo Baiwen was initially taken aback by his boss's remark about "someone's wife," but after meeting the gazes of several people, he belatedly realized what was happening.
He was referring to himself and Chen Baoyue.
In order to avoid the donkey, Chen Baoyue had hastily placed her palm directly on the back of his tightly clenched hand, and even now that she was safe, her hands were still not separated.
Suddenly surrounded by onlookers, both of them froze for a moment.
In a panic, Guo Baiwen pulled his hand away, then belatedly began to shake his head, saying, "We're fine, we're fine."
But the stall owner clearly wasn't going to let it end there. "Look at you! You've scared our customers like this! Tell me, is one or two taels of silver expensive?! In my opinion, besides me, you should also compensate the young couple a little!"
Upon hearing this, the money that had already been lost was not reduced, but instead added to the losses.
These people were clearly not wealthy, otherwise they wouldn't have chased a donkey for so long.
So he started begging the cloth stall owner for mercy again.
Seeing that the group of people turned their attention back to them, although nothing serious happened in the end, the shock was real.
Guo Baiwen was about to pat his chest when, by chance, the hairband he had been holding in his hand fell out.
Worried that the hairband would get dirty, he reached out to grab it, but missed. His outstretched fingertips just happened to touch the tip of her ear, which was reddening as she looked down.
Chen Baoyue felt the warmth of her ear, paused unconsciously, pretended not to have noticed anything, and continued to squat down to pick up the hairband.
Hmm.
This headband looks vaguely familiar.
Did you buy it to give to Guo Xiaohua?
They're quite pretty.
Chen Baoyue examined it carefully, then reached out and patted the dust off the straps on both sides to make sure nothing was stuck on it before handing it over, saying softly, "It's okay, it's not dirty."
Guo Baiwen did not reach out to take it, but instead pushed Chen Baoyue's hand back.
"I originally bought it... intending to give it to you as a gift."
He finally spoke, not daring to look up at Chen Baoyue's reaction, only staring at the hand holding the hairband, feeling uneasy.
His heart tightened as soon as his hand moved slightly.
He couldn't see what expression Chen Baoyue had on her face, but he could see that the hand that had been hovering in mid-air paused for a moment before finally tucking the hairband into her sleeve.
Guo Baiwen's ears turned red, and his neck also turned red.
Forgetting that he hadn't bought the fabric yet, and in the somewhat awkward silence between them, he stammered about something else, "Where's Xiao, Xiaohua? Isn't she with you?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
