Her mouth twitching, she gave him an insincere compliment. “That mask sure is intricate.”
Si Jin looked at the mask and told Qi Qingyao, “I want to buy a mask too.”
“No, you can’t wear one.” Qi Qingyao shot him down resolutely.
“?” Si Jin pursed his lips, hurt. His gaze seemed to accuse her of choosing favorites. She had given Jiang Yeqian money, but she would not even let him buy a mask.
Qi Qingyao did not feel the slightest bit guilty. “You’re basically a walking signboard. Just stand there, and people might come to buy our pork just based on your looks alone.” She already lost one mascot, she could not lose them both!
Si Jin’s shoulders slumped. He said in a low voice, “I used to be a servant at a wealthy family. I… I just escaped from there, so if my previous master finds me…”
“Fine, fine. Get yourself a mask.” Qi Qingyao waved her hand, distraught.
A while later, Si Jin came skipping back with a horse-face mask.
Qi Qingyao looked to either side of her. One had an ox-head and the other a horse-face.
Her face fell.
“Hey, you two! Why Ox-head and Horse-face? What does that make me, Yanluo Wang the King of Hell?”
Neither Jiang Yeqian nor Si Jin said anything.
Qi Qingyao rolled her eyes exasperatedly and turned around to tell the three sleepy toddlers, “You three, sit under that tree over there and play nice. Your two uncles and I are in charge of selling the meat. Si Jin, you cut the meat. Jiang Bai, you weigh it. I’m the cashier. No objections, I take it?”
“No objections!” The three children grabbed some straw and sat under the tree obediently.
“I object!” Jiang Yeqian said.
Qi Qingyao narrowed her eyes and grinned at him. “Are you saying that you’re all style and no substance? You don’t know how to use the weighing scales?”
A-All style and no substance…
Jiang Yeqian nearly had an aneurysm.
Qi Qingyao stared at his ox-head and said kindly, “Oh, just so you know, don’t tell me you don’t know how to use scales because you lost your memory. If you don’t know, freaking learn! If you can’t figure it out, I’ll sell you to the brothel as a gigolo to pay back your debt!”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Si Jin’s expression under the horse-face mask was one of admiration. “So cool.”
“You think so?” Qi Qingyao harrumphed. “Don’t act cute to try and affect my judgment. Slice up the meat, get to it.”
“Okay.” Si Jin immediately got to work.
The corners of Jiang Yeqian’s lips twitched. “Don’t you think you’re like…”
“A pimp forcing nice girls into prostitution? That’s what you wanted to say, right?” Qi Qingyao asked nonchalantly.
Jiang Yeqian hastily shook his head. “No, no. You’re not a pimp, and I’m not a prostitute!”
“Hmph.”
…
The triplets sat under the tree, watching Qi Qingyao as she stormed around in front of the stall. Xiaobao whispered to his older siblings, “Is it just me, or is Mommy especially worked up today?”
“Worked up? More like explosive.” Si Jin was done cutting up the meat, but there were no customers yet, so he walked over to join in the conversation.
“Uncle, why…” do you think so? Before the toddler could complete that sentence, Si Jin interrupted him.
“Call me Big Brother.”
“But you’re not that much younger than the other uncle.” Xiaobao pointed at the Ox-head pitifully.
Erniu added, “He’s almost twenty years older than us. Of course we should call him Uncle.”
Si Jin, “…”
Jiang Yeqian could hear what was going on behind him, so he said evenly, “Uncle Si Jin, cut the nonsense and get back to slicing up the meat.”
Si Jin, “…”
…
While the two of them traded barbs, Qi Qingyao sat in front of the stall, deep in thought. She had no idea how much they could earn today, but it would definitely not be enough to repay her debt to the villagers.
At this rate, she would have to delve into the mountain again.
If she could just find another ginseng…
…
On the other hand, after Qi Qingyao’s small hut collapsed, the Qi family were not unduly bothered. They simply returned home gleefully.
Once in the main hall, they launched into a heated discussion.
Everyone had to put a word in to decide how to distribute the ten taels!
All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.
It sounded slightly familiar.
Madam Wu frowned.
