There were no lanterns hanging outside the courtyard gate, but Hong Xiaoduo could see clearly because the person knocking on the door was carrying a lantern.
The person carrying the lantern was an elderly man in his fifties or sixties, and next to him was another man in his forties, carrying a satchel on his back and leading two sheep in his hands.
"Are you two looking for Manager Yang? You'll have to go to the inn; he doesn't stay here," Hong Xiaoduo kindly told them.
“Young lady, we’re not looking for Manager Yang, but for a young master. He was looking for mutton when he went to buy vegetables this evening,” the old man explained.
Huh? Tianxuan?
Hong Xiaoduo remembered that she had said on the way the day before that if she found a suitable courtyard to stay in, she would buy some mutton to make barbecue.
We ate there twice along the way, and everyone liked it. They also loved the mutton hot pot and mutton dumplings.
"Lamb? But what you have here?" Hong Xiaoduo pointed to the lamb in the man's hand in confusion.
“Oh, we can slaughter them on the spot. Let the young master choose which one he wants. My son has also brought his butchering tools,” the old man added.
"Is this even allowed?" Hong Xiaoduo suppressed a laugh and asked again, "So, young master said he wanted a whole sheep?"
"Young master said he wanted at least twenty catties. Don't worry, young lady, after we slaughter it, you can have as many catties as you want. We'll take the rest with us. My son and I will clean it up after slaughtering." The old man's tone was somewhat cautious, as if he was afraid that Hong Xiaoduo would refuse and drive him away.
The person leading the sheep remained silent, observing Hong Xiaoduo's reaction.
"That's great! Please wait a moment, old man, let me ask and confirm." After saying that, Hong Xiaoduo whistled to her lips, and soon footsteps came from behind her.
"Huh, where's that young master?" The old man looked at the children who had come running out and quickly glanced around, then became a little nervous.
The old man's eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed behind Hong Xiaoduo and said, "That young master is with this young master."
"What happened?" Quan Jinghuai stepped forward and asked.
"When you two went shopping this evening, Tianxuan was looking for mutton?" Hong Xiaoduo asked.
Upon hearing this, Quan Jinghuai nodded, his gaze falling on the person leading the sheep outside the door. He noticed what was in the person's satchel.
Quan Jinghuai then told her what had happened, focusing on Hong Xiaoduo, that he hadn't noticed the two people at the time, and that Tianxuan hadn't mentioned living there to anyone.
Hong Xiaoduo briefly explained the situation to Quan Jinghuai, and then smiled and said to the old man, "Uncle, you guys are so good at doing business!"
I just overheard a kid saying he wanted to buy mutton, and I took it seriously. But how did you find your way here? Do you have to be so shrewd to sell mutton?
“Young lady, we are not bad people. The butcher who sold the ribs to the young master is a distant relative of our family. He happened to pass by here this afternoon and saw you move in.”
"Knowing that my family urgently needs money, and hearing the young master mention wanting to buy mutton, they wanted to help us," the old man quickly explained.
"Oh, I see," Hong Xiaoduo nodded and asked, "Is your place far from here?"
"It's not far, it'll only take about fifteen minutes," the old man quickly replied, but he couldn't tell from her words whether she wanted the mutton or not.
“Uncle, it seems we’ll take this sheep. We’ll give you the money now, but it would be best if you came back tomorrow to slaughter it. It’s a bit late today. Is that alright?” Hong Xiaoduo asked.
Upon hearing this, the old man immediately said, "Alright, alright, there's no need to pay now. Young lady, see which sheep you want. We'll leave the sheep here tonight, and my son and I will come back tomorrow to slaughter it."
"Uncle, are you sure you don't want to leave the sheep here even if we don't give you the money now? Aren't you afraid we'll deny it tomorrow?" Hong Xiaoduo asked with a smile.
When the old man heard Hong Xiaoduo say yes, he was certain that the business was secure. He finally felt completely at ease and relaxed, smiling as he said, "Don't worry, don't worry, anyone who can stay at Manager Yang's house must be a good person."
This shows that Manager Yang is highly respected in this area, and his character is widely recognized.
"Young lady, see which sheep's meat you want, and keep that one." The person leading the sheep finally spoke, and you could tell from his tone that he was also very happy.
"Big brother, why don't we leave these two behind? We can eat them after the New Year." Hong Xiaoduo turned to ask the person beside her.
Upon hearing this, Quan Jinghuai turned to look at her, thinking to himself, "Why are you discussing the matter of the two sheep with me? As if I have the authority to make that decision? It was clearly you who heard that they urgently needed money and wanted to do a good deed to help them, and you had already decided to keep the two sheep!"
"Okay, then leave them all." Quan Jinghuai thought to himself, but still gave the correct response out loud.
Upon hearing this, the two men exchanged glances, neither able to believe their ears.
"You heard me right, we want both sheep, the whole ones, not just some meat after you slaughter them. So, how much are these two sheep?" Hong Xiaoduo was confident in her eyes and knew she couldn't be wrong about these two people; they really did have some kind of emergency and urgently needed money.
The two people selling the sheep were a father and son. They originally thought that if they could sell ten or twenty catties of mutton today, it would be a great success. Unexpectedly, the other party wanted more than one sheep, and even wanted two sheep!
Although the Lunar New Year is just around the corner, there are still very few people buying mutton at the market. In addition, many people are eager to sell some poultry and livestock before the New Year to raise some money for the holiday. Therefore, even if a sheep is slaughtered and sold at the market, it may take several days to sell out.
I'm so lucky! By selling these two sheep, I've already raised half the money.
"Young lady, the price of a sheep in town right now is about one tael and three mace, depending on the weight. If you want two, how about two and a half taels of silver?" the old man asked tentatively after discussing it with his son in a low voice.
"Two and a half taels of silver, no problem," Hong Xiaoduo replied, reaching for her waist but finding nothing.
I suddenly remembered that when I was resting in the afternoon, I took it off and put it next to my pillow because it was in the way. When I got up, I thought it was evening, so I didn't put it back on.
"Whoever pays the sheep fee first, I'll pay you back later," Hong Xiaoduo asked the little ones beside her.
Yuheng and the others immediately rummaged through their purses, but Tianji was quicker and gave the silver to the old man.
"Thank you very much, young lady. We'll come tomorrow. When would be a good time?" The old man gave the silver to his son to put away, and then asked.
"Well, not too early, not too late," Hong Xiaoduo said simply.
After the father and son left, Hong Xiaoduo and the others closed the door and walked back. When they arrived at the dining room, A Ping was putting the last dish on the table.
Tianxuan took off her apron and asked, "I was just about to look for you. What's up?"
Ah Ping, who was pretending to straighten his chair, also pricked up his ears to listen...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
