Chapter 35 Buying cotton! Lin Cuihua has bad intentions.
The next day.
Qiu Xuan set up a stall in the town early, at the same place as yesterday, except that there were spring rolls on the stall today.
The clan mother said that in previous years, it always snowed in the mountains in the twelfth lunar month, and the road down the mountain was difficult to walk on. They thought it would be impossible to set up a stall at that time, so they simply prepared more now that they could go down the mountain, and sell as much as they could, no matter how much.
"I heard from Erlang that you wanted to buy some cotton, so I thought you should go there early while there are fewer people around." The grandmother took the hot soup in her hand, blew on it, and took a sip.
Qiu Xuan shook her head. "Mom, if we buy cotton now, we'll just leave it on the stall. If passersby grab a handful or throw it away, we won't have anyone to complain to. I'm thinking of buying it after the stall closes. Then I can just buy it and go home."
"That's fine." The clan mother didn't expect her to be so thoughtful and couldn't help but praise her again.
The sun gradually came out and more people walked on the street.
Because of yesterday's promotion, there were a lot of people coming to the noodle stall this morning. In addition to selling braised noodles, the spring rolls brought by Qiu Xuan and her friends were sold out.
After working all morning, the few of them had no time to rest.
"Auntie, drink it." Huaixue held the porcelain bowl to Qiu Xuan's lips and said sweetly, "I blew on it, it's not too hot anymore."
Qiu Xuan had been thirsty for a long time. She had been entertaining guests all morning and had never stopped talking. Now she finally sat down on a stool to rest for a while, and Huai Xue hurried over with a bowl of water.
"Our Huaixue is so good." Qiu Xuan took the porcelain bowl and drank the water in a few gulps. "Auntie will buy you some date cake later, okay?"
Huaixue's almond-shaped eyes sparkled. Upon hearing this, she snuggled into Qiuyu's arms and said shyly, "Really, Auntie?"
"How can this be fake?" Qiu Xuan put down the porcelain bowl and held her on her lap. "We'll go after we close the stall."
There were still a few bowls of noodles left on the stall, and the clan mother wanted to sell them all before closing the stall. Selling these noodles would bring her money.
Qiu Xuan was not in a hurry. They had been selling for the whole morning and a little while wouldn't hurt.
But no one expected that just a little longer than the time it took to stick up an incense stick would allow Lin Cuihua to catch him red-handed.
She wanted to go back to her parents' home tomorrow, so she thought she could secretly buy some things while she was in town today and bring them back tomorrow morning.
Unexpectedly, when I turned around, I saw Qiu Xuan selling noodles.
Lin Cuihua learned her lesson this time. She didn't get close at all, but just watched from a distance.
After not seeing her for a few months, Qiu Xuan looked whiter and her face had gained some flesh. The most different thing was that she seemed much more cheerful and could even chat and laugh with the diners.
Lin Cuihua felt very jealous. She had planned everything but she never expected that Qiu Yun would have a good life after marrying her.
She hid behind a tree and kept watching. When she saw someone getting up and leaving the stall, she hurriedly blocked the person's way.
"Aunt, let me ask, are the noodles at that noodle stall expensive?" Lin Cuihua spoke after thinking for a while.
The man looked her up and down, and seeing that her clothes had no holes, he guessed that her family must not be poor.
"It's okay. It's one cent more expensive than the other noodle stalls, but their noodles are really delicious. If you want to eat meat sauce noodles, you can try theirs." The woman said and left.
Lin Cuihua muttered, "Ten coins! A bowl of noodles costs ten coins. In the short time she was peeking here, they'd already sold three bowls of noodles! That's thirty copper coins."
Lin Cuihua's eyes were filled with jealousy, but that was not the end. Qiu Xuan and the others closed their stalls and bought twenty copper coins worth of date cake from a cake stall.
Lin Cuihua had never been willing to eat that date cake, but this damn girl actually bought it for twenty cents.
"You guys go in and take a look. Mother is guarding the things on the mule cart." The clan mother said to Qiu Xuan, "Since you want to buy cotton, why not buy more? Then I'll make you some beds and quilts. New ones are warmer."
Qiu Xuan had just had this idea, but unfortunately she was not good at needlework. Now that she heard that her grandmother was willing to help, she bought some more cotton.
Not only that, she also bought some new cloth, and that one piece alone cost her three hundred coins.
On the street, Lin Cuihua was still hiding behind a tree and peeping at them. When she saw Qiu Yun coming out of the cloth shop, talking and laughing, holding some cloth, she felt so angry that her teeth itched and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
She also bought cotton, and actually bought four bundles. It looked like all this cotton would cost at least two hundred copper coins.
Lin Cuihua didn't know how she got home. All the way there she was thinking about the things in Qiu Yun's hands.
It would have been great if the cotton was bought for them, and even better if the noodle stall business was hers, but why did they break off the relationship? Now there was no chance for me to get close to Qiu Xuan.
The more Lin Cuihua thought about it, the more unwilling she became. Why did those things belong to Qiu Xuan? Why couldn't she, as her stepmother, have a share?
In the Qiu family courtyard.
Qiu Shitou was squatting on the steps eating rice porridge. Lin Cuihua was not at home today and there was no one to cook at home, so this bowl of rice porridge tasted really bland to him.
He was resentful, and when he heard the noise outside the door, he got even more angry and shouted, "You're just lazy. The whole family is waiting for you, and you don't even know to come back early to cook."
Lin Cuihua had never suffered such injustice before. These were the words she had said to Qiu Yun. It was a pity that she had to live such a miserable life as a result of fate.
"You're back and you don't even know how to cook. Where are the things you bought? Why did you hide them and prepare to send them to your parents' home?" Qiu Shitou was very sharp-tongued. Whenever Lin Cuihua made him unhappy, he would bring up Lin Cuihua's parents' home.
Lin Cuihua was in the wrong, so she naturally didn't argue with him. However, she couldn't get over the fact that she had seen in the town today unless she told him about it.
She walked up to Qiu Shitou and sighed, "I didn't buy the things, but there's a reason for this. Why are you arguing with me?"
"What's wrong again?" Qiu Shitou glanced at her, his eyes full of impatience.
Lin Cuihua still didn't say anything, she continued to sigh.
"Stop dilly-dallying. If you have something to fart for, just fart it." Qiu Shitou cursed.
Lin Cuihua looked at him and pretended to be shy, "Then don't be angry if I say so."
She continued, "Guess who I saw in town today? Your good girl, Qiu Xuan."
Qiu Shitou snorted. Ever since the day Qiu Yun came back home, he completely hated her. He had raised her for so many years but ended up raising an ungrateful person.
"She's having a wonderful life now. Did you know she's set up a stall in town, selling braised noodles? A bowl costs ten copper coins." Lin Cuihua glanced at Qiu Shitou as she spoke. Seeing that he was a little annoyed, she added, "I even saw her buy a cartload of cotton and cloth. The cloth was the best in town. I heard it cost half an ounce of silver per bolt."
Lin Cuihua deliberately exaggerated in order to provoke Qiu Shitou's anger.
Sure enough, after hearing what she said, Qiu Shitou raised his foot and kicked the bamboo basket next to him down.
That damn girl is actually living so well? She even has a stall?
"Oh, it would be great if such a good thing were ours. The weather is getting colder and colder, and our parents don't have new cotton to make clothes." Lin Cuihua learned to be smart and deliberately blamed the old lady.
Qiu Shitou's brows were furrowed so tightly that they could pinch a fly to death. He asked, "Did you really see it clearly?"
Lin Cuihua said, "I saw it so clearly, how could it be fake?"
Lin Cuihua continued to deceive: "After all, you are her biological father. How can you say goodbye to a biological child? Why don't you go and see her? She will think that you are her father. When she realizes her mistake, will you not give us the things?"
"You still expect me to go see her? Bah, you unfilial thing." Qiu Shitou cursed, but secretly had some thoughts in mind.
Before dawn the next day, Qiu Shitou stood in front of the Zong family courtyard, carrying a thin piece of lean pork.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door, shouting inside: "My dear daughter, are you home? Daddy is here to see you."
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The author has something to say: Sorry everyone, I've been very busy these past two days, ahhhhhh I'm late updating again, and I'll still apologize with a red envelope.
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