“An adult man… might spend more than ten copper coins at once. Those who eat better can spend twenty to thirty copper coins. A woman or a child might be able to eat their fill with ten copper coins if they include two-flavored noodles.”
“However, the taste is really appetizing. I spent more than twenty copper coins, but I didn’t have enough. I ordered another bowl of noodles…” The man mumbled, looking unhappy.
The village woman had long frozen. “What did you say?! You spent more than twenty copper coins at once?!” Because the woman was too shocked, her voice became shrill.
The village woman couldn’t believe it. Her family’s strong men worked at the docks and didn’t even have twenty copper coins a day! Ye Lulu’s stall could earn twenty copper coins from just one person?!
The village woman’s mind was buzzing and she was stunned. She pointed at the group and asked the man, “There’s a long line of people over there. All of them will spend more than ten to twenty copper coins, right?”
“That’s right.” The man looked at her in confusion and said, “If you’re so curious about Malatang, why don’t you queue up and buy some to try? After all, you can choose to eat more or less. It’s all up to you. Why are you grabbing and asking me?”
This woman looked strange and even asked so carefully. Who was she? What was she thinking?
The woman’s attention was no longer on him. She replied with an ‘oh’ in a daze and ignored the man. The man twitched his eyebrows and looked at her a few times before walking away.
This woman in the village was called Auntie Beizi. Her full name was Liang Beizi. Her sisters were Liang Diezi and Liang Wan. They were all named after utensils at home.
These were even used for food. The meaning of that was to have food in the future.
Moreover, this Auntie Beizi was from the Liang family. It was the same Liang family as the one who had said a few words about the apples that Ye Lulu had previously bought.
Auntie Liang was a married woman who followed her husband’s name. As for this Auntie Beizi, she was equivalent to Auntie Liang’s husband’s younger sister.
As Auntie Beizi’s real name was relatively unique, after she married out, the villagers didn’t call her by her husband’s surname, but Auntie Beizi instead.
To Auntie Beizi, this amount of money was incredible…
Auntie Beizi felt a little dizzy. She stared at Ye Lulu for a while to confirm that she was not seeing things. That person was Guan Chibei’s wife in the village. Moreover, Guan Chibei was standing around her to help.
Only then did Auntie Beizi turn around. Her thoughts of strolling around the market were gone as well. She walked back in a daze. When she was about to walk out, she smelled another extremely fresh and sweet smell.
That was the smell of porridge… It seemed to be fish porridge. It was so fragrant.
After winter, Auntie Beizi’s house did not have much food left. It was because of this that they had to walk around in the crowd for so long today to see if they would bump into farmers selling cheap things.
She had only eaten a black flour steamed bun this morning. As soon as she smelled the fresh porridge, her stomach rumbled with hunger.
Auntie Beizi returned to her senses for a moment and happened to hear a person walking past her say, “This stall selling congee is really unique. It’s a wooden cart, right? You can just push it along. Everything can be on it. It’s so convenient. I asked the old woman and she said that her husband made it himself. No wonder I didn’t see a second cart at the docks.”
Auntie Beizi was shocked again.
A wooden cart…
Her husband made it himself…
Did not see a second cart… No, there was a second one. It was at the innermost part of the market at the docks. Wasn’t the stall Ye Lulu had set up a wooden cart?
Auntie Chuan could hear very clearly that the person selling food in this stall was an old woman…
The image of Mother Rong popped up in her mind and Auntie Beizi’s heart rate sped up for no reason. Her entire body seemed to be heating up. She was in a daze for a while and felt indescribably shocked.
Another stall by the Guan family?!
The Guan family had set up two stalls at the docks?! There were not only one but two stalls?!
Just now, a person would spend ten to twenty copper coins each at Guan Chibei’s wife’s stall. That was the same for Mother Rong’s stall as well. If both sides were combined, wouldn’t it be…?
Auntie Beizi’s legs went limp and her soul almost left her body. However, she still had things to buy in the city. After buying everything, she returned to Yunwu Village. It was already dark.
She returned one after another with Mother Rong and the rest. Auntie Beizi was in front while Mother Rong and the rest were behind. They didn’t bump into each other.
When Auntie Beizi returned home and put down her things, she immediately told the family about the Guan family’s Mother Rong and Guan Chibei’s wife opening stalls at the docks.
She even told them about their daily income!
Not only that, but Auntie Beizi didn’t even care that it was night. She ran out of the house and found the family next door. She also told them about the Guan family doing business.
This matter was shocking enough in the village.
“Really? Oh my! Each person spending twenty copper coins?! How many coins can they earn in a day?!”
“No wonder I didn’t see Mother Rong and the Guan family during the period before winter… I was still wondering where they went…”
“But when did the Guan family go down the mountain to do business? If they set up a stall in the city, wouldn’t they have to go down the mountain every day? I’ve never seen them before!”
“I know. Voyages in the Yuan River start early in the morning, and the market by the docks opens very early as well. They probably went there before dawn and only returned after it was dark. Doesn’t that mean that no one in the village saw them?!”
“Oh, they can even hide this from the entire village…”
After a night of brewing, the matter of the Guan family setting up a stall at the docks in the city to do business exploded in the village.
The next morning, when the sky was still dark and the stars were sparse, the Guan family woke up as usual. There was also Ye Lulu now. Even she had to wake up at this time.
After settling everything, the family walked out the door. Unexpectedly, they saw dozens of people in the village guarding the Guan family’s door. It was unknown if they were asleep or not. Their eyes were filled with awkwardness and vigor as they stared at the Guan family!
Mother Rong was shocked. Why were so many people gathered at her door this morning?! It was not even daybreak yet!
“Mother Rong, there are so many of you. Where are you going so early in the morning?”
A villager standing at the front looked straight at Mother Rong and asked.
She asked in a knowing tone.
