The pretty young girl stood in front of the crowd, glaring fiercely at the people next to her: "Everything is about first come, first served. I got here first, so I can buy it, and no one can say anything about it!"
"How dare you talk like that, young lady? Do you own this market?"
"Exactly, you came early, so you could have just bought some, but you wanted to buy the whole thing. We all came early, so we didn't buy the whole thing because we didn't have money? How selfish."
"Everyone has enough food, why is your family the only one who doesn't?"
"..."
There's never a shortage of enthusiastic onlookers, and the unspoken rule is that each person can only buy a maximum of five jin (2.5 kg). That's what the villagers who come here to set up stalls all say.
But the little girl insisted that she would buy them all, and that if she wasn't given them, no one else would be able to buy them either.
As more and more people around her began to curse her, the little girl's eyes filled with tears, and she timidly glanced at the woman next to her.
Shang Qiu lowered his eyes and shook his head at the little girl.
The little girl seemed to draw strength from this, and her earlier hesitation vanished without a trace: "No, I must have this food..."
"Shengnan, forget it."
Shang Qiu stepped forward at the opportune moment to interrupt Shang Shengnan, raising his voice before Shang Shengnan could speak.
“Our family is short of food, but there are so many other people around us who might be short of food too. Let’s not be so selfish, okay?”
Shang Shengnan was shocked that her aunt, who had initially told her to make sure she bought the grain, would suddenly turn against her. Her eyes widened immediately: "Aunt, didn't you say..."
"Alright, Shengnan, listen to me, we'll just buy five jin." Shang Qiu interrupted Shang Shengnan, then apologized to everyone.
"I'm sorry everyone, my little girl has a bit of a temper. I'll teach her a lesson when I get back."
Shang Qiu's voice remained gentle throughout, and in the end, he also pressed down on Shang Shengnan, only buying five catties of grain.
"Shang Qiu, didn't you say you were going to buy all the food here because your family was short of food? What are you pretending to be now? I used to think of you as my dearest aunt, but you're so annoying!"
Shang Shengnan is a spoiled, naive girl who doesn't understand any unspoken rules.
Shang Qiu was a few years older than her and was her elder, so she naturally listened to Shang Qiu.
Unexpectedly, she listened to her elders and went against the whole world, only to have those elders betray her in the blink of an eye.
Hearing others criticize and praise Shang Qiu, Shang Shengnan couldn't take it anymore. She cursed at Shang Qiu and stormed off.
Shang Qiu's expression stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and returned to a smiling face.
"The child is just being childish, please don't hold it against her."
Shang Qiu apologized to each of the people who had spoken earlier, then took five jin of grain and hurriedly chased after Shang Shengnan in the direction she had left.
As soon as she left, Aunt Huang sighed, "The child of Battalion Commander Shang is ruined, but his sister is quite good."
Sister-in-law Ye immediately chimed in, "That's right, the girl from Battalion Commander Shang's family is really nice. I heard she came all the way from her hometown to serve you. It's a pity that Battalion Commander Shang's husband is also intolerant. I heard he's already kicked her out several times in just a few days."
Xia Wenhua didn't join her two sisters-in-law's conversation; her gaze lingered on Shang Qiu's departing figure for a long time.
Is this the female lead chosen by the small world?
At that moment, she began to have some doubts about the explanation given by the time-traveling god.
People nowadays are too naive. Without the exposure to TV dramas and novels of later generations, they simply cannot imagine how treacherous people can be.
The original author portrayed Shang Qiu as kind and perfect without any flaws. Therefore, Pei Songbai did not marry Shang Qiu, which was entirely due to the original owner's betrayal of Pei Songbai, causing Pei Songbai to lose all interest in women.
But in just one glance, Xia Wenhua saw through the true identity of the original female lead.
She's just a white lotus flower. Pei Songbai may have a good temper, but he's also a smart man. He probably could tell what kind of person the original female lead was just by looking at her.
The original author insisted on pairing Pei Songbai with so many innocent-looking women, so it's not surprising that he doesn't want to get married.
As Xia Wenhua thought of this, a sharp pain suddenly flashed through her mind.
Fragments of memories flashed through her mind, and despite her best efforts to find them, she could only watch as those memories scattered into fragments.
"Xia, what's wrong?"
Sister-in-law Huang's voice woke Xia Wenhua from her daze. When she tried to recall what had just happened, she found that she couldn't remember anything and just shook her head.
"Nothing, I just got distracted."
By now, Sister Huang and Sister Ye had finished talking about Shang Qiu. After all, it was someone else's business, and everyone could just chat casually. Nobody wanted to keep paying attention to other people.
The grain vendors are located at the entrance of the market, and if you walk a little further in, you'll find handicrafts brought by the locals.
Xia Wenhua could find something she liked every few steps, and the items weren't very expensive, so she bought them all along the way.
Sister-in-law Huang and Sister-in-law Ye weren't surprised. They had learned from their conversation that morning that Xia Wenhua was an educated youth sent to the countryside, and the city kids found it quite novel. They said they would get used to it eventually.
Indeed, even though Xia Wenhua bought a lot of things, Sister Huang and Sister Ye were both honest and practical people who knew how to make the most of their lives, and they couldn't do without the little things that were easy to use at home.
The two of them didn't think Xia Wenhua was wasteful at all; instead, they would occasionally give her suggestions on what she could use. The shopping trip was truly enjoyable.
They happened to run into some fellow villagers selling bamboo baskets, and Xia Wenhua bought one because she was worried that she had too many things to carry back.
The two sisters-in-law previously thought this thing was unnecessary, since they didn't do any housework and already had baskets at home, so there was no need to spend money to buy another one.
But when I saw Xia Wenhua carrying all the things she had just bought on her back, she suddenly felt a little envious.
“I always felt that this thing could be made at home, and it wouldn’t be worth buying it now. But I haven’t been home for three or four years since I came to live with the military, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back. Why don’t I just buy one?”
Sister-in-law Huang was clearly tempted and began to seek validation.
She and Sister-in-law Ye get along well, and their ideas are mostly the same.
Sister-in-law Ye immediately chimed in, "I think so too, let's buy it!"
Sister Huang and Sister Ye were very happy to have bought the baskets, and Xia Wenhua, who successfully sold the goods, also felt a great sense of accomplishment.
The friendship between women is so strange and comes without reason. After the basket incident, the relationship between the three seemed to become even closer.
Xia Wenhua was in a really good mood today because she made some friends and went shopping.
On the way back, she was still feeling emotional, but just as she was about to reach the camp, some disgusting people suddenly appeared.
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