Ruo Shui cheerfully pushed the cart, following behind the woman, leaving Yang Qixiang and his wife on the street, consoling their daughter who was throwing a tantrum over the ripe persimmons that had seemed within reach yet flew away.
Ruo Shui helped move the persimmons into the back entrance of a majestic and imposing mansion.
The butler had already tried one of the persimmons, which turned out to be exceptionally sweet, juicy, and soft, very delicious; plus, they were large and had a good appearance too!
She hadn't expected them to be this tasty!
Madam Liu would definitely be pleased when she saw them!
Thinking of the young master's upcoming birthday feast, and the need to prepare various kinds of fruit, she asked, "Did you grow these persimmons yourselves? Do you have more? Do you have other types of fruit?"
Ruo Shui was about to deny it, but Ruo Xuan beat her to it, saying, "We do, there are still two baskets of persimmons, and we have dates too. Old lady, do you want to buy some?"
Ruo Shui: "..."
The dates at home weren't even ripe yet!
The butler was thrilled to hear about the dates, "Are the dates ripe so early too?"
Ruo Shui hastily replied, "Each mountain has its season, ten miles could hold different weathers. We found these persimmons and dates in the deep mountains, we brought back the persimmons, but not the dates, and we don't know if there are any left. The things in the mountains, well, anyone can pick them. If auntie wants them, we'll look for them the next time we go into the mountains. If they are still there, we'll pick and bring them to you."
Ruo Xuan blinked her eyes, seeming to understand something.
When the butler heard that there wasn't a certainty of having more, she was a bit disappointed, but she could understand, since things from the mountains are unpredictable, "Alright then! If you go into the mountains and find any good mountain produce, bring them here for me to see. If they're good, I'll buy them all! Do you still have two baskets of persimmons at home? Deliver them to me at this time tomorrow!"
Ruo Shui happily accepted, "Okay! Thank you, auntie, for your kindness."
The butler had someone weigh the two baskets of persimmons. Because hay and torn cotton-padded jackets lined the baskets, the two baskets of persimmons weren't very heavy, totaling sixty-nine catties, not even seventy.
The butler paid a total of 1,735 wen, with the extra ten wen being for the cost of the two baskets.
Xuanbao's chubby little hand gripping the money pouch, she asked excitedly, "Daddy, are we going to buy candied hawthorn sticks now?"
Ruo Shui, pushing the cart, cheerfully responded, "Right!"
Xuanbao began to count on her fingers, "First, we'll buy candied hawthorn sticks, then sugar figurines, after that lamb skewers, then wonton noodles, and then tofu pudding..."
Ruo Shui's smiling face stiffened!
Wait, had he really agreed to buy all that?
Ruo Shui looked to his wife for help.
Madam Liu looked up at the birds in the blue sky, feigning ignorance.
She didn't know anything, nothing at all!
Ruo Shui: "..."
Wait, Xuanbao was only three years old! How could she remember all these details so clearly?
*
In the end, Ruo Shui took a shortcut, first taking his dear daughter to have wonton noodles, then tofu pudding, filling her little stomach so she couldn't eat anything else!
For the rest, he would go hunting in the mountains in the afternoon, sell some game, and then buy more for Xuanbao!
At the wonton stall, Ruo Shui asked Xuanbao and his wife to find a seat while he ordered two bowls of wonton.
About a quarter of an hour later, he came to the table with two steaming bowls of wonton, handing one to his daughter and the other to his wife.
Madam Liu gave Ruo Shui a glare, "Why did you get two bowls? I'm not eating."
Ruo Shui smiled tenderly, pushing the bowl towards her, "The wonton skins are thin, and the filling is generous. They're very tasty; you should try some."
"I don't want any, I don't like them. You eat," Madam Liu pushed the bowl of wonton back to Ruo Shui.
"You eat, I'm not hungry. I've gotten sick of them over time," Ruo Shui pushed the bowl back.
"I don't like them, and I'm not hungry either!" They kept insisting and pushing the bowl back and forth.
Xuanbao looked at her parents, who were stubbornly refusing to eat, then at the bowls of wonton in front of her and her mother.
She suddenly understood something.
She picked up the small spoon, blew on it, and then held it to Ruo Shui's mouth, "Dad, eat."
Ruo Shui almost shed tears, he smiled and forced back the tears, and patted Ruo Xuan's little head fondly, "Dad's not hungry, Xuanbao eat! It's okay if Xuanbao and Mom eat."
Ruo Xuan shook her little head, her short arms stubbornly held up, "Let's eat together, Dad eat, Mom eat, I eat too."
In the end, the couple couldn't win against their daughter, and the three of them shared the two bowls of wontons.
The wontons were steaming hot, warming the couple's hearts.
After finishing the wontons, Ruo Shui had his wife and daughter sit on the cart as he pushed it, asking Ruo Xuan whether she wanted to eat candied haws or lamb skewers first.
Ruo Xuan patted her little belly, shaking her head, "I'm full, can't eat anymore."
She actually still wanted to eat, but neither her father nor mother were willing to partake, and what's the fun in eating alone?
It's all because of poverty!
She glanced at the scorching sun in the sky and stretched out her arms to embrace the sunlight.
She should focus on her cultivation, return home to ripen some more fruits, and work hard to earn silver.
Just then, a straw hat came down over her head, blocking her view.
"Xuanbao, don't stare at the sun, you'll see darkness in front of your eyes later," Madam Liu adjusted the straw hat for her daughter, revealing her delicate and fair, rosy little face.
Ruo Xuan pulled down the straw hat, "Mom, I'm not wearing a hat, I want to bask in the sun."
She needed to cultivate, absorb the essence of the sun and moon, to earn more silver to buy delicious food.
"The sun is too strong, you'll get tanned! Being tanned isn't good looking," Madam Liu reached for the straw hat again.
Ruo Xuan's chubby little paw held down the straw hat firmly, shaking her head vigorously, "It won't, it will make me more and more beautiful."
She was a flower, and basking in the sun could make one more beautiful and more powerful, every ray of sunshine was useful, and every bit of effort wouldn't be wasted!
Seeing that her daughter was unwilling to wear it, Madam Liu let it be.
She thought that her daughter was still young and didn't yet know about vanity. When she grew up a bit more, she would be afraid of becoming tanned, and by then, she wouldn't need to say anything, her daughter would be clamoring to wear it.
Ruo Shui still bought candied haws for his daughter and a few for the other children at home, then he went to the grain shop to buy grain.
He bought a total of fifty pounds of mixed grain and two pounds of clean rice.
The mixed grain was a combination of different coarse grains and impurities, such as husks, which made it cheap, only two wen per pound.
However, the impurities didn't matter; when ground into a fine powder and fried with wild vegetables, it was very fragrant.
The rice, more expensive at three wen per pound, was cleaner and just a bit broken, without impurities; it was for making porridge for Xuanbao.
Seeing Ruo Shui buy so much, Madam Liu couldn't help but say, "Isn't fifty pounds too much?"
Although they had earned a little over one tael today, it would not last long.
Soon, they needed to take Xuanbao to the clinic to see if she was truly healed, and the eldest brother's medicine was running out; they would have to procure a couple more prescriptions for him.
"It's not too much; the new harvest will be in soon, and buying now is the cheapest. I am thinking about buying a few more dozen pounds tomorrow for winter consumption. Our harvest this year is definitely not as good as last year's."
Madam Liu felt distressed thinking about the crops in the field, "That's true, this year's rice crop had a pest infestation once, and now it seems that more than half of it is empty husks; it's uncertain whether we'll harvest a hundred pounds per acre."
Talking about this, both couldn't help but worry, the entire village's rice was growing well except for their own, which was infested with pests, as if they had bad luck.
Ruo Xuan saw Madam Liu's brows furrowed with worry, and she reached out her chubby hand to smooth her mother's forehead, "Dad, Mom, don't worry, everything will turn out fine."
She would increase the yield of the rice plants after she got back.
The couple both smiled upon hearing this, "Xuanbao is right; everything will turn out fine!"
Now that Xuanbao could talk, what was there that could possibly stump them?
Ruo Shui pushed the cart toward the clinic, his steps light, feeling that the future was all bright ahead.
As they passed an antique shop, Ruo Xuan saw a stone and stood up excitedly, "Dad, stop for a moment!"
Ruo Shui turned his head to look, and his legs nearly gave out—he almost knelt!