“Ma’am, you’re asking about my personal business, and I don’t care to answer. Besides, I have things to do, so please don’t bother us.”
Upon hearing Su Mian’s response, the woman’s face darkened visibly.
“Ungrateful fool,” she spat, her tone suddenly turning sour and sarcastic.
This reaction only confirmed Su Mian’s suspicion that the woman had approached her with ill intentions, so Su Mian ignored her completely.
The truth was, no matter how warmly this woman tried to smile or how pleasant she attempted to appear, her sharp, triangular eyes betrayed her.
Su Mian’s father had always told her never to mess with people who had eyes like that—they were invariably ruthless characters.
Fortunately, the woman didn’t chase after them, allowing Su Mian to breathe a sigh of relief.
Without power or background, and with no strong man by her side, she was an easy target for bad actors.
Su Mian felt she could handle things fine on her own; her heavy frame was hardly a prize to anyone right now. Her main concern was the safety of her two children.
Which made finding their biological father an urgent priority.
At the very least, given that man’s status, he should be able to protect the children properly.
Su Mian led the two kids into the trading market. It was peak market hour, and a massive crowd was pouring in.
Dabao and Erbao were wonderfully behaved, walking quietly while holding Su Mian’s hands, only shooting the occasional curious glance at the children’s toys displayed on the roadside stalls.
Yet both children were sensible to a fault; neither threw a tantrum or asked for a toy.
When they could barely afford to eat, how could they dare hope for such luxuries?
Seeing how mature the kids were broke Su Mian’s heart.
The pocket watch wasn’t sold yet, and the money Qin Chuan had given her last night was emergency funds that couldn’t be squandered.
Still, for just a simple toy, Su Mian didn’t think she was so useless that she couldn’t even afford that.
So she turned back toward the toy stall with the two children and asked, “Dabao, Erbao, see anything you like? You can each pick out a toy.”
Both children looked at Su Mian in pleasant surprise—this was the first time their mother had ever offered to buy them toys.
But after the initial wave of excitement, Dabao quickly composed himself, dropping his head as he said, “Mama, buy one for Little Sister. I… I don’t really like any of these toys.”
Hearing her brother’s words, Erbao naturally refused to get one either.
She tugged at Su Mian’s shirt and waved her little hand, signaling that she didn’t want anything either.
Seeing this, Su Mian let out a soft sigh and decided to return after selling the pocket watch for cash.
Once the kids saw that she actually had money in hand, it would ease the psychological burden on them.
“Alright, let’s hold off for now. We’ll come back later. Mama will take you to make some money first.”
With that, Su Mian led the kids away from the stall.
The two children had no idea how their mother planned to make money, but they willingly followed whatever she asked them to do.
Su Mian wove through the trading market, seemingly browsing, but actually searching for the right target.
When she spotted a man wearing a crisp suit, polished leather shoes, and neatly combed hair, she immediately stepped up with a warm smile. “Hello, comrade! Interested in a pocket watch? It’s a genuine imported piece, guaranteed to satisfy.”
The man in the suit perked up instantly upon hearing her words.
However, after taking in Su Mian’s heavy frame and plain appearance, his expression quickly turned into one of disdain.
“You? You have a pocket watch?”
It was no surprise he was skeptical—Su Mian and the two kids were dressed in shabby, worn-out clothes, looking like the last people who would own such a piece.
Ever since snapping back to her senses yesterday, Su Mian had grown accustomed to these contemptuous looks.
Let them look down on her all they wanted. Circumstances change; one day, she would make something of herself so people would look up to her instead of despising her.
“It’s a family heirloom. I just couldn’t bear to part with it until now,” Su Mian said with an apologetic smile.
The man curled his lip in distaste before replying, “Fine, pull it out and let me take a look.”
Su Mian hesitated, glancing at the crowd bustling past them.
“Bring it out already. Don’t tell me you’re lying?” the man pressed.
With no choice, Su Mian reached into her pocket and produced the pocket watch.
It looked as though she pulled it from her pocket, but she had actually retrieved it from her spatial dimension.
The space the transmigrator had left behind was so useless that Su Mian had completely forgotten its existence, failing to put the watch inside last night.
Only when stepping out this morning—worrying about pickpockets in the crowded market—did she remember to stash the watch safely away.
That was when it hit her that she possessed this otherwise underwhelming spatial pocket.
The moment Su Mian produced the watch, the man’s eyes lit up.
He had been browsing the market all morning without finding anything worthwhile, and here was a genuine treasure right in front of him.
Wanting to snag the piece at a bargain price, he quickly suppressed his excitement, letting out a cold, indifferent snort. “This old thing? A family heirloom? I’ll give you five yuan max for it.”
Hearing his offer, the flattering smile on Su Mian’s face vanished instantly. She tucked the watch away, took the children by their hands, and turned to walk off without a word.
Seeing her walk away, the man panicked and hurried after her. “If five isn’t enough, how about ten? This thing might be an heirloom, but it’s really not worth that much. Offering ten yuan is already being extremely generous.”
Su Mian paused in her tracks.
She turned to face him, a cold laugh escaping her lips. “Comrade, just because I’m dressed plainly, do you take me for an ignorant country bumpkin? The fact that I have this watch and brought it to you means I know exactly what it’s worth, and I approached you because I assumed you could actually afford it. If you’re genuinely interested, make a sincere offer. Otherwise, let me save us both the trouble.”
Truth be told, Su Mian didn’t know the exact market value of the watch either, but it was certainly worth far more than five or ten yuan.
She put on a tough front to test if the man would offer a fair price, having caught the unmistakable flicker of awe in his eyes when he first saw the piece.
Her sharp words caught the man off guard.
Save him the trouble? How could he just let it go? It wasn’t every day he stumbled across a watch of this caliber.
Unwilling to let such a rare find slip through his fingers, he realized this heavy woman wasn’t so easily fooled and that he had no choice but to negotiate properly.
“Fine! Name your price, then. How much do you want for it?” he asked.
Seeing that he was finally willing to let her name a price, Su Mian stopped.
Gazing toward a more open, less crowded spot ahead, she said, “Let’s talk over there.”
“Fine by me!” the man agreed right away.
The two children watched on in quiet confusion, letting Su Mian lead them by the hand.
So their mother really came to the market to do business, not to steal things.
Did that mean they were actually going to get toys after all?
At the thought, both kids felt a surge of excitement.
Reaching their destination, the man asked again, “Have you thought it through? Name a price. But let me make one thing clear—I’m no fool, so don’t throw out a ridiculous number.”
Despite his tough front, domestic production capabilities were currently limited and manufacturing remained underdeveloped. Intricate pocket watches like this were exceptionally rare, and given its clear age, it held immense collectible value—essentially a priceless commodity in high demand.
The Lu family was a prominent, distinguished household in Xiangcity, so anything coming from them was bound to be valuable.
Su Mian pondered for a moment and was just about to name her price when a deep male voice cut in from the side.
“I’ll give you a thousand yuan for that watch.”