CH 5

Entering the town.

Cheng Yun tried to persuade Yang Hongjin by all means necessary and finally convinced him to stay home obediently.

Aunt Wang carried some vegetables to sell in town, not a lot, and Cheng Yun helped to carry some, making the load even lighter.

On the way, Aunt Wang told Cheng Yun about some things in town. “If we go to the market, we must go early in the morning. We can’t be lazy. Although we sell some vegetables that we grow at home and nothing special, some wealthy families in town don’t grow them, and there are restaurant kitchens that come to town to buy them every day. What we sell is fresh, and we can always sell them if we wait a little longer.”

Cheng Yun nodded, but his mind wasn’t on selling vegetables. Making money this way was just too slow, but it didn’t hurt to know the market.

“Do they sell seeds in town?” Cheng Yun asked. “Besides the ones you gave me yesterday, I want to see if there are any other kinds of seeds.”

“Yes, there is,” Aunt Wang said. “There’s a seed shop on the east side with a lot of varieties. Some seeds can’t be planted now, but you can buy them cheaply. There’s also a chicken and duck shop next door where you can buy some and raise them in your backyard. They’re not expensive.”

Cheng Yun remembered everything and when they got to town, Aunt Wang took the lead to find a spot to sell her vegetables. After she finished selling, she also planned to do some shopping in town. So Cheng Yun decided to buy some seeds first and then go around on his own before meeting up with Aunt Wang later.

In the early morning, there weren’t many people in town yet, but the shops had already opened for business. Following Aunt Wang’s advice, Cheng Yun went to the seed shop first and bought some cabbage seeds. He then spent one penny to ask the shopkeeper for one of each seed variety, enduring the strange look the shopkeeper gave him.

Next, he went to the chicken and duck shop next door and looked around to learn about the prices. A chick cost only two pennies, and he would have to rely on luck to get either a male or female. A grown male chicken cost twenty pennies, while a female chicken cost fifteen pennies, which surprised Cheng Yun.

He remembered the prices and didn’t rush to buy. After walking around town, more people had come out, and some vendors were already shouting out their prices. He found Aunt Wang’s stall, and in less than an hour, she had sold most of her things. When Cheng Yun arrived, a woman had just bought the last of her vegetables. Aunt Wang happily closed her stall and said, “Xiao Cheng, you’re my lucky charm. We sold out so early today. Come, let’s go shopping together.”

Just now, Aunt Wang was preoccupied with setting up her stall and forgot to tell Cheng Yun some things about the town. She was afraid that this kid didn’t know anything and would be cheated by others. Now she sees that Cheng Yun has come back empty-handed, except for a small bag of seeds. She breathed a sigh of relief but also felt that this child was clever.

Cheng Yun helped Aunt Wang carry the empty basket and asked, “I just checked the chicken stall you mentioned earlier. How come the hens, which can lay eggs, are cheaper than the roosters?”

“I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was afraid you would be fooled,” Aunt Wang said. “The hens sold in the market are all old hens that cannot lay many eggs anymore. Hens are lazier than roosters, and their meat is not as firm as that of roosters. They do not taste as good as roosters, so ordinary people do not buy hens.”

Cheng Yun understood and asked some questions he did not know. With the help of Aunt Wang, he bargained with the vendors and bought some chicks and ducklings, totaling ten for eight wen.

As Cheng Yun paid, Aunt Wang whispered in his ear, “These adult chickens and ducks are not very useful. They are bought by wealthy families to eat. Let’s buy some chicks and ducklings to raise. When I go back, I will teach you how to do it.”

Aunt Wang knew that there were only two boys in the Cheng family, and they usually had to help Cheng Chuan in the fields. Especially this elder brother, because the red dot under his ear was light in color, he was often gossiped about by people in the village. In the past, he could often be seen helping out in the fields. These household chores were not taught at home before, and now that he is married, he has to learn slowly.

Aunt Wang bought various things, and Cheng Yun also bought some durable food such as radishes, potatoes, corn, etc. He also bought two catties of flour and some spices. In total, he spent nearly one hundred wen. When he returned, he only had sixty or seventy wen left in his pocket.

When they returned to the village, it was already past noon, and Cheng Yun was a little hungry. He did not know if that fool would come back and have a proper meal at noon. After talking to Aunt Wang for a while, he hurried back home.

However, before Cheng Yun reached his home, he just turned a corner and saw that fool sitting at the door looking around. When he saw Cheng Yun, his eyes lit up, and he shouted, “Wife!”

Cheng Yun hastened his steps, and when he arrived, he saw Yang Hongjin sweating profusely. He touched his head, which was scorching hot from the sun. He did not know how long he had been sitting here.

Cheng Yun brought a kettle of water and filled a bowl. Yang Hongjin drank a large bowl first. Then, Cheng Yun wetted a towel and helped Yang Hongjin wipe his face and body.

Wherever Cheng Yun went, Yang Hongjin followed him. He drank water when he was told to drink and obediently sat down to have his face wiped. His eyes were sparkling as he watched Cheng Yun let him play around.

Cheng Yun was a bit embarrassed at first, but later he felt helpless.

“Where did these big dogs come from?”

Cheng Yun couldn’t find the two steamed buns in the pot and guessed that Yang Hongjin had probably eaten them. He asked him, “What did you eat for lunch?”

Yang Hongjin pointed to the direction of the pot and made a “two” gesture with his fingers, answering, “Steamed buns.”

“Are you full?”

Yang Hongjin shook his head very honestly.

Cheng Yun smiled, “How about I make some corn for you to eat?”

Yang Hongjin grinned and nodded in response.

After buying some things in the town, Cheng Yun felt less anxious about the state of their household. With lunchtime approaching, he didn’t plan to cook anything complicated. He boiled some water, took four medium-sized ears of corn, removed the corn silk and put it aside, and boiled the corn in the pot.

The corn in the countryside is very fresh and sweet even when raw. As soon as the water boiled, Cheng Yun took out the corn and put the corn silk into the pot. He turned off the heat and let the corn silk soak in the residual heat.

He gave two ears to Yang Hongjin and kept two for himself. They sat at the table and gnawed on the corn. Cheng Yun asked Yang Hongjin what he had done in the morning, but he quickly realized that Yang Hongjin could only do one thing at a time. Whenever he spoke, he couldn’t eat, so Cheng Yun stopped asking and told him to eat his corn.

After eating the corn, Cheng Yun felt hungry again. He finished it in no time, cleaned up, and scooped the water used to soak the corn silk onto the table. Yang Hongjin followed him and watched him. Cheng Yun didn’t care if he understood or not and explained to him, “Corn silk water can quench your thirst. When you wake up from your nap later, it should be cool enough to drink. Take it with you when you go to the field this afternoon.”

As he spoke, he quickly prepared the corn silk water and washed his face before helping Yang Hongjin clean his face. He then pushed him to take a nap.

They had lunch later than usual today. They got up from bed in the afternoon, just before the midpoint of the hour of Wei. Yang Hongjin panicked when he saw the time, like a child who had done something wrong. He kept saying, “Wife, wife,” but Cheng Yun patted his head and reassured him, “It’s okay. We can go later. It’s not that hot outside. Don’t worry.”

Cheng Yun didn’t want to rely on farming to make a living, so he wouldn’t blame Yang Hongjin if there wasn’t much work done in the field. As usual, he fetched water and helped Yang Hongjin wash his face. He then poured the half-cooled corn silk water into a container and gave it to Yang Hongjin. He reminded him to come back early and not to stay in the sun for too long. Finally, he let Yang Hongjin go to the field.

The idiot saw that he didn’t seem to be angry, and didn’t beat him like Li Fengjiao used to, threatening to not let him eat. Then he smiled and sweetly called out “wife” before leaving.

Cheng Yun stored the things he bought in the morning one by one, stored the seeds he bought, and waited for the next time he could use his speech spirit to plant them. He also watered the crops that had emerged in the backyard. He didn’t know if he had brought a “speech spirit filter,” but he always felt that these few plants were growing well and had grown higher than yesterday.

He put the baby chickens and ducks he bought into the chicken coop, and fed them some corn first. Aunt Wang told him some things to pay attention to when raising the baby chickens and ducks on the way back in the morning, but he didn’t have time to take care of them yet.

Cheng Yun looked at the two male ducks, crossed his arms and examined them closely.

It was time to slaughter them.

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