"To be honest, I was just thinking of buying some eggplants. The barbecue at the Ghost Market tonight is almost done." Lan Yamei didn't hide anything.
"How many eggplants can your small business use! Just pick as many as you want from my field, it's free." Hearing that Lan Yatou was using them herself, she generously let her take them for free.
"That won't do. I don't want it if you give it to me for free! After all, it's a crop of crops, and the hard work has paid off, don't you think?"
Er Gou's mother said with a smile, "You're such a reasonable girl. Alright, I'll go down to the ground and pick some for you in a bit. You can give me a couple of coins then."
"Okay, ma'am, I'll give you two coins for one eggplant. Please prepare 100 eggplants for me and deliver them to my home right away. We'll settle the payment on the spot." Lan Yamei was offering a fair price. The market price for eggplants had recently dropped to three coins for two and nobody wanted them.
Upon hearing this, Er Gou's wife excitedly exclaimed, "Sister, do you mean what you say?"
Lan Yamei put down 100 copper coins and said, "Sister-in-law, this is the deposit. I'll pay the balance when I receive the goods. Let's hurry up and go pick them; I need them urgently tonight." Lan Yamei had already thought about how to process the eggplants and how much to sell them for.
Er Gou's mother then realized what was happening and hurriedly grabbed Lan Ya Mei, who was about to leave, saying, "Lan Ya Mei, eggplants aren't that expensive, don't be ripped off!"
"Don't worry, Auntie! I know what I'm doing. Not just today, but I also need 100 eggplants tomorrow." After saying that, his eyes caught sight of the few pieces of dried steamed buns that Auntie Guan had laid out to dry by the door, and he said to her, "Auntie, could you help me collect 50 jin of dried steamed buns in the village, the kind that's dried to a crisp? I'll buy them for 5 wen per jin. You give them 4 wen and keep 1 wen for yourself. I need them tonight. Also, 200 free-range eggs, 1 wen each, also for tonight. I'll give you a separate 30 wen tip for the eggs."
This barrage of words, delivered like a machine gun, left Er Gou's mother stunned, muttering, "How much does this cost?!"
"Don't worry, just deliver the food to my house and I'll pay on the spot. Let's get moving, I still need to go home and prepare other things." Lan Yamei had a big business plan in mind; she had to win over all the foodies in Longyang Town tonight.
Er Gou's wife suddenly shouted and took off running towards the field.
Lan Ya Mei looked bewildered. "Auntie, what's wrong?"
"That guy Er Gou, seeing that eggplants weren't worth much, just went to the field to pull up the seedlings, oh dear!" Er Gou's mother said, slapping her thigh, and also picked up Gou Dan and ran outside.
Lan Ya Mei looked at the family with a smile, and finally strolled home with ease.
Aunt Guan had already washed the lotus roots, but she couldn't get them onto the skewers. She was sweating profusely with anxiety. Butterfly wanted to help, but Aunt Guan wouldn't let her, so Butterfly could only watch helplessly. Luckily, Lan Ya Mei came back.
"What's wrong?" Lan Yamei asked with a smile, looking at the large bowl of lotus root slices.
"How did you manage to string them yesterday? I just couldn't get them through; they were so hard, and I broke quite a few of the skewers."
"Of course you can't do this, watch me." Lan Yamei picked up a skewer, and with just a light prick, she easily finished it off like a flying needle.
Enraged, Aunt Guan threw down the lotus root slices with a "smack" and said, "This is really bullying!"
"Hahaha, Aunt Guan, the lotus root isn't cheating anyone, it takes skill to string it together." Lan Yamei wasn't wrong, without skill, an ordinary person really couldn't string lotus root slices together. "Aunt Guan, you and Butterfly will be busy for a while, I went to the village to buy some eggplants, eggs and dried steamed buns, you guys help me out later, I'm going to do something big tonight!"
Butterfly has changed into coarse cloth clothes these past two days, and also wears a veil because of the injury on her face. Having lived in Flower-Filled Pavilion for years, this is the first time she's experiencing such mundane daily life, and she finds it quite interesting.
Aunt Guan asked, "What terrible idea do you have now?"
"You'll see when the time comes!" As she spoke, Lan Yamei saw Qiu Zeyu walking towards them.
Qiu Zeyu didn't sleep well last night. Since he couldn't find his younger brother, he wandered around the city aimlessly and somehow ended up at Lan Yamei's place.
"Why are you here?" Lan Yamei went over and tugged at Qiu Zeyu's sleeve, explaining to Aunt Guan and Butterfly with a smile, "This is the person who saved me last night, his name is Qiu Zeyu." She then said to Qiu Zeyu with a grin, "This is Aunt Guan, and this is Butterfly."
Although Aunt Guan had her suspicions, she stood up politely and said with a face full of courtesy, "It was really thanks to your help last night that this girl was alright! Please sit down, I'll go make you some tea."
The butterfly only bowed to Qiu Zeyu at the door.
Qiu Zeyu cupped his hands in return to the two men.
"I'm asking you, why are you here? Have you come to your senses and decided to take me as your disciple?" Lan Yamei couldn't have been happier to see this peerless martial arts master again.
"I was out having fun, got lost, and somehow ran into you. So you live here." Embarrassed by the question, Qiu Zeyu could only make up a story. He couldn't very well say, "I think you're kind of interesting, and I wanted to come and meet you."
"Oh, I see. By the way, are you busy tonight? If not, I'd like to hire you for a day. Of course, if you'd like to stay, that would be wonderful." Lan Yamei thought that they were short-handed tonight. If Qiu Zeyu could stay, he could learn kung fu, do chores, and act as a bodyguard on the way back—a triple win.
Aunt Guan served tea, and the group sat in the courtyard chatting.
"I'm very expensive, how much are you willing to pay?" Qiu Zeyu didn't know why, but he just wanted to tease the girl.
"How much do you want? I'll do my best." Lan Yamei didn't know how much it would cost to hire someone. Aunt Guan only provided food and lodging, and gave her three taels of silver a month for pocket money.
"Don't be silly. Perhaps Young Master Qiu has important business to attend to. Don't delay his important matters." Aunt Guan was somewhat resistant to Qiu Zeyu. This young man was handsome and highly skilled in martial arts. If he were to rob and plunder, a few women would be powerless to resist. Moreover, his name was exactly the same as that of the person rumored in the martial arts world.
"I'll give you five taels of silver a month, with room and board included. Since you're already sleeping under a big tree, no matter how bad it is, this place is still a place to stay. How about it?" Lan Yamei said eagerly, wanting to keep this highly skilled martial arts master.
"Pfft!" Qiu Zeyu spat out a mouthful of tea, momentarily stunned! Five taels! Sleeping under a big tree! What the hell?
"You think it's too little? Then I'll give you ten taels, that's my greatest sincerity, and you're not allowed to raise the price again. In addition, you have to become my master and teach me kung fu."
Before Qiu Zeyu could agree, Er Gou's mother and Er Gou pushed a cart full of eggplants into the yard. When they saw Hu Die and Qiu Zeyu, they were taken aback for a moment before asking, "Who are these two?"
"Oh, they're all my buddies. This one's called Qiu Zeyu, and that one's called Butterfly."
And so, whether they agreed or not, from this day forward they are all generals under the command of the Lan Family Barbecue in the Ghost Market.
"Auntie, you guys are really fast. Handsome guy, come over here and help with the inventory and unloading. Be quick and efficient." Lan Yamei grabbed Qiu Zeyu and assigned him tasks.
And so, the murderous tyrant known in the martial arts world as the "Jade-Faced Scholar" ended up working as a handyman at a barbecue restaurant without really understanding what was going on.
"Good, good! What a handsome young man! He's about your age, you should get along well and settle down together." Er Gou's mother looked at the handsome Qiu Zeyu and nodded in satisfaction.
These words made everyone's lips twitch involuntarily. The old lady was indeed an old lady; she saw through the secret in one sentence.
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