The round-faced young lady slapped her forehead, causing the pearl hair ribbons tied into two round buns on her head to sway. “My father asked me to remind you not to be deceived by brokers. The houses here, including the shopfronts, shouldn’t cost more than six hundred and fifty guan at most.”
Before she could finish, the round-faced young lady beside her reacted, frowning and saying, “What’s wrong with being an outsider? Does that mean they can be bullied at will? Ruan Er, you’re really embarrassing the people of Bianjing!”
Influenced by the round-faced young lady, several other children or half-grown youngsters nearby also became righteous, chattering and pointing fingers in accusation.
“That’s right, that’s right, Ruan Xiaoer is so shameful!”
“We should tell his older brother. His brother is really fierce and will definitely beat him up.”
“No, I saw Ruan Laoda ride away on horseback yesterday, and he even carried a bundle. He must have returned to the military camp. We should tell Ruan Shenmu instead!”
…
A group of half-grown children, even when accusing someone, lacked a bit of harshness.
But it was enough to make an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy flee in shame. Stiffening his neck and blushing, he apologized to Yuan Niang, “I… I didn’t mean it.”
Then Ruan Er hurriedly ran off.
Leaving only a gust of wind sweeping past everyone.
Ruan Er didn’t understand why it had turned out this way. He truly hadn’t meant to mock Yuan Niang. It was just that when he saw her, he thought she was so beautiful, like the young maiden beside the Guanyin painting his mother worshipped, and he couldn’t help but keep looking at her. His earlier laughter was meant to catch her attention, but he didn’t know why the words that came out of his mouth were so… so harsh.
He regretted it immensely, wishing he could slap his earlier self twice.
But obviously, one cannot go back in time to stop oneself.
Leaving aside Ruan Er’s deep remorse, Yuan Niang’s side was already filled with warmth and harmony. Everyone comforted her, telling her not to mind Ruan Er’s offense. What did it matter if she was an outsider? Once she entered Bianjing, she was a Bianjing person!
This wasn’t just the children’s sense of justice; it was the prevailing ethos of Bianjing, passed down through the words and actions of elders.
In Bianjing, if someone bullied an outsider, passersby would surely rally together to confront them. The warm-hearted people of Bianjing couldn’t stand to see outsiders mistreated and always stood up for justice.
They gathered around to comfort Chen Yuanniang, even though Yuan Niang repeatedly said she didn’t take it to heart.
It took Yuan Niang immense effort to finally disperse the crowd, leaving only the round-faced young lady with whom she had a bowl-related entanglement.
The round-faced young lady’s comfort was clearly much more skillful than the others. “Actually, lychees aren’t that expensive. In years of good harvest, they’ve sold for just over ten wen per jin, much cheaper than Zhengzhou pears. Even this year, you could buy a jin for just over a hundred wen. It’s a pity they’re out of season now. You probably won’t find lychees even in the market west of Zhouqiao that specializes in fresh fruits.
“But!”
The round-faced young lady paused, as if suddenly remembering something, her eyes lighting up as she began to smile. “Wait here for me.”
With that, she trotted toward the small door at the back of Xu Family Shop. Of course, it was only a few steps away from the small door near Yuan Niang.
But even in those few steps, the round-faced young lady’s dress fluttered like a butterfly’s wings, extremely beautiful.
She wore a light red hezi, a pearl-colored skirt, and a peach-colored long beizi. The ends of the hair ribbons tied around her head were adorned with small pearls—a standard outfit for a young lady from a family with some spare money in Bianjing, naturally bright and lovely.
Compared to her, Yuan Niang’s clothes appeared dull in color and quite worn.
Yuan Niang waited there as instructed, not entering the house immediately. However, the round-faced young lady didn’t make Yuan Niang wait too long; roughly after counting to a dozen or so in her mind, she arrived before Yuan Niang, slightly panting.
“Here!” The round-faced young lady handed it to Yuan Niang.
Yuan Niang stared blankly at several small, round, yellowish-brown fruits hanging from a branch, unable to resist asking, “What is this?”
The round-faced young lady smiled brightly and patiently explained, “This is longan. It tastes very similar to lychee, both sweet and juicy. You can try it. If you become our neighbor, next year I’ll invite you to eat lychee.”
“Oh, right!” The round-faced young lady slapped her forehead, causing the pearl hair ribbons tied around her two round buns to sway. “My father asked me to remind you, don’t be deceived by brokers. The house here, including the shopfront, shouldn’t exceed six hundred fifty guan at most. Don’t waste money. Some brokers see you’re from out of town and try to raise prices arbitrarily.”
This was indeed extremely important!
Chen Yuanniang couldn’t linger chatting any longer, quickly thanked her, and frankly said she needed to go inside to secretly remind Grandma. She hurriedly stood up to enter.
The round-faced young lady was not at all shy, also waving her hand to urge her to go in quickly, then suddenly added another reminder, “Oh, right, my name is Cheng’er.”
“My name is Yuan Niang!”
The two young girls smiled at each other, lively and bright. The slanting sunlight filtered through the swaying tree shadows in the courtyard, passing through layers of white walls and black eaves, casting upon them a warm yellow halo, as if in an unforgettable old dream gradually fading yet becoming clearer.
When Chen Yuanniang ran into the courtyard, Granny Wang and the others had already inspected the entire house, including the shopfront in front.
This house had a good location, and the layout and lighting of the rooms inside were also decent. Even the window of the Jiao Fang on the west side could catch sunlight, not to mention the other spacious and bright rooms.
After looking all day, clearly this was the best.
Even looking further ahead, it would be hard to find such a suitable house—just the right size for their family to live in, with the shopfront in front and the courtyard behind able to be locked separately. Even if they didn’t run a business and rented out the shopfront, it wouldn’t interfere with each other.
Granny Wang directly asked about the price.
Shou Broker’s face remained smiling amiably, showing no trace of slickness or deceit. He extended his hand and gestured an eight, “If you sincerely want it, eight hundred guan!”
Yuan Niang heard this price as she entered.