The oil seller was short, with dark skin and bright eyes.
He saw Yuan Doudou and smiled, "Doudou, are you still the same as always?"
Yuan Doudou rarely buys oil, and she only buys half a bottle at a time.
The oil seller brought his own oil jug; a jug cost fifty coins, and half a jug cost twenty-six coins.
It's more accurate to pour a measured amount of oil into the buyer's oil container than to pour it directly into the seller's container.
"Give me two jugs," Yuan Doudou said, wanting to buy more oil to have on hand while the oil seller was there.
The young man exclaimed in surprise, "Did I hear that right?"
Yuan Doudou smiled slightly, "There are many places in the house that use oil, so let's buy more just in case."
Only then did the young man dare to open the lid of the large oil drum, pick up the basket, fill it with water, and pour it into the ceramic jar given to him by Yuan Doudou.
The two jugs of oil filled a ceramic jar perfectly, and the air was filled with the aroma of rapeseed oil.
"I'm going in to get the money." Yuan Doudou turned and went into the house.
When she came out again, a group of people who had come to buy oil had gathered at the entrance. One of them, wearing a pink shirt, saw Yuan Doudou and his eyes flashed with a fierce light.
"Oh, who is it? It's Widow An. Weren't you so poor you couldn't even afford to cook? How could you possibly afford oil?"
Hearing the piercing sound, Yuan Doudou turned around and saw that it was Wang Cuihua's daughter, Li Xueqing.
After thinking it over, she realized that she had no grudges against Li Xueqing, except for one argument with her mother.
It seems she wanted to stand up for her mother.
"So that's who it is. It's Wang the matchmaker's daughter. Isn't Wang the best at matchmaking? How come you haven't been married off yet? Are you going to stay at home and be an old maid?"
Yuan Doudou heard the people around her chuckling. She wouldn't let anyone who bullied her get away with it. After all, she had received nine years of compulsory education, and she understood the principle that kindness is often taken advantage of.
"You, Yuan Doudou, you've gone too far! What's with all the smugness about you, a widow? I think you're just jealous of me." Li Xueqing put her hands on her hips, striking a pose as if she wanted to devour someone, a spitting image of Wang Cuihua.
Yuan Doudou smiled brightly, stunning many people. They had to admit that An Rong's wife was indeed very beautiful, and the hardships of their life could not hide it.
"I'm jealous that you're uglier than me, fatter than me, and less sophisticated than me?" Yuan Doudou raised her thin eyebrows, speaking without any mercy.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Li Xueqing's face was as if a vat of dye had been poured over it, displaying a riot of colors, making her look quite unsightly.
"Yuan Doudou, how dare you insult me?" Li Xueqing was furious and reached out to grab Yuan Doudou's face.
Wang Qiqiang happened to be passing by and saw Li Xueqing attacking Yuan Doudou. He rushed forward, grabbed her wrist, and angrily shouted, "Li Xueqing, what are you doing?"
Li Xueqing looked up and met Wang Qiqiang's face. Her arrogance subsided by half, and her tone changed. "Brother Qiqiang, did she insult me?"
Wang Qiqiang hesitated before letting go and turning his head to look at Yuan Doudou.
"You're lying! You were the one who cursed first!" Angie tugged at Yuan Doudou's skirt, her little body standing straight.
Li Xueqing vehemently denied it: "I didn't, she was the one who called me ugly and fat!"
Yuan Doudou looked around and smiled calmly, "Fellow villagers, uncles, aunts, and elders, tell me, who started this?"
"She's the one who insulted me, and she's the one who wanted to hit me."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement.
There's always trouble around a widow's door, and they didn't want to cause any more trouble for Yuan Doudou, so everyone sided with her.
"Li Xueqing, it's your fault. You should calm down and apologize to her," a kind old woman in the village reminded her.
"The old lady's ears are sharp; she also heard that Li Xueqing started by swearing and raised her hand to hit someone."
"I wonder which family would dare to marry someone like that in the future. She'll cause trouble and bring unrest to the household." The white-haired old man stroked his beard, his tone helpless.
Li Xueqing blushed. She never expected that everyone in the village would speak up for Yuan Doudou. She thought it must be because Yuan Doudou was good-looking.
"You're all bad people, I'm not talking to you anymore!" Li Xueqing shouted, turned around and rushed out of the crowd, heading home.
Wang Qiqiang stood there blankly, looking at Yuan Doudou, unsure how to comfort her.
"Don't take it to heart." He paused for a moment before speaking.
After paying for the gas, Yuan Doudou nodded slightly, turned around and went inside without closing the door.
Wang Qiqiang was stunned; her back view resembled that of a lone warrior.
Yuan Doudou spent the whole morning busy in the kitchen, frying a large bowl of oyster mushrooms, sprinkling them with seasonings, and setting them aside to cool.
Wang brought in the washed wild berries and placed them on the table.
"I've only ever eaten candied hawthorn berries, I've never heard of candied strawberries."
As Wang spoke, she chopped bamboo with a knife.
The bamboo was cut down by Yuan Doudou from the mountain; one bamboo stalk can make many bamboo sticks.
Yuan Doudou soaked the bamboo skewers in hot water and then scraped them flat with a knife.
A bamboo skewer with a pointed end, on which wild berries are threaded, ten berries on one skewer is just right.
The strung wild berries, each one like a ruby, look so appetizing.
Working together, the two of them finished stringing all the wild berries in half an hour. Yuan Doudou counted them and found that there were exactly one hundred strings.
Yuan Doudou took out a charcoal stove, lit the wood, placed a shallow pot on the stove, added white sugar and water, and boiled it into syrup. She picked up a bunch of wild berries, gently rubbed them between her fingers, coating each berry with syrup, and placed them on a cutting board to cool.
"Wow, what beautiful candied hawthorns!" Angie stared at the glistening wild berry skewers, his mouth watering.
Yuan Doudou smiled sweetly, revealing two small tiger teeth, "Here, have this one, try it and see if it's good."
No child can resist candied hawthorn, especially wild berry candied hawthorn.
With a crunch, Anji bit into the rock sugar coating. It was so sweet! He then tasted the wild berries inside, which were sour and sweet, filling his mouth with a delightful sweet and sour flavor.
"It's so delicious, Mommy, you're amazing!" Angie ate one and immediately ate another.
Yuan Doudou smiled, "Let Grandma have a taste."
Anji obediently picked up the candied hawthorn and held it to Wang's lips, saying, "Grandma, eat this."
"Grandma's teeth aren't good, Anji, you eat it." Wang Shi patted Anji's head, feeling a warmth in her heart.
Working until dark, the wild berry candied hawthorn skewers were all finished.
Yuan Doudou looked at the results of her afternoon's work and looked forward to making a profit in town tomorrow.
The next day, before dawn, Yuan Doudou carried a straw bundle covered with candied hawthorns and went to the village entrance to wait for the bus.
He was also carrying a bamboo basket on his back, inside which were fried oyster mushrooms wrapped in cloth.
As the sky turned white, the post carriage slowly arrived, empty of any passengers, just as Yuan Doudou had hoped.
The same uncle was driving the carriage as last time, from the neighboring Wang Village. His surname was Wang, and his given name was Yougui.
When Zhao Yougui saw Yuan Doudou carrying too much weight, his expression changed. "Miss, you're carrying a lot of stuff, you'll have to pay extra."
"How much?" Yuan Doudou asked calmly.
Zhao Yougui's eyes gleamed, and he held up five fingers, "Five coins."
Yuan Doudou saw through his thoughts, "If it's so much, then forget it, I'll just walk there."
After saying that, he didn't give Zhao Yougui a chance and walked towards the town.
"Hey, girl, let's talk this out." Early in the morning, there were very few people taking the bus. It cost ten coins per person, and missing one person meant losing ten coins.
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