Ye Qingcheng glanced back at Ugly Girl, who immediately nodded at her and insisted she was absolutely correct. "Madam, I always hang around this market, I know exactly how much everything sells for! It's definitely not two taels of silver for this ewe; it's at most one tael and two qian of silver!"
Although the original owner had lived here for three years, she didn't know the price of a ewe! That's why Ye Qingcheng was already preparing to take out silver just now.
"Exactly, old man, your price is too high!" Ya Dan'er chimed in, "I also know a place that sells ewes, and it's definitely cheaper than here!"
"Young lady, just look and see! The ewes here are fed grain, they are very plump, and they will surely produce a lot of milk! How about this! I won't ask for two taels of silver anymore! I'll go by what this young lady said, one tael and two qian of silver!" The old man selling the ewe hurried forward, afraid of losing the customer.
He had been here all day without a single person asking the price. It was rare to finally get a customer, and one who wanted to buy three ewes that had just given birth to lambs. He couldn't let her leave.
"That's more like it…" Ugly Girl mumbled quietly but didn't speak again, watching Ye Qingcheng.
"Fine! Then bring them out!" Ye Qingcheng took out a ten-tael silver ingot and gave it to the old man.
The old man's eyes lit up. He immediately brought the ewe and the two lambs out for Ye Qingcheng and returned the remaining eight taels and eight qian of silver to her.
Before Ye Qingcheng could give an order, Ugly Girl stepped forward to take the rope leading the ewe, and Ya Dan'er helped herd the two lambs from behind.
Along the way, Ye Qingcheng also bought rice, flour, oil, vegetables, meat, and a large rooster.
She asked, and the two girls said they both knew how to kill a chicken. She didn't know if it was true, but if they said they knew how, she would buy it back; it would be good to satisfy a craving.
However, her craving wouldn't be satisfied; she was craving things every day, haha.
"Madam, is there anything else we need to buy?" Ugly Girl was already holding so many things in her hands that she couldn't hold anything more.
"Just buy some pots and pans, and then buy some clothes for you two, that will be enough! Put the things here first, go hire a carriage, and we'll go home!" Ye Qingcheng fanned herself, sweating profusely.
Ancient people were too conservative; in the middle of summer, they couldn't even show their arms and had to be completely covered from head to toe. It was too hot.
"Okay!" Since Ya Dan'er was injured, Ugly Girl shouldered most of the burden. When she put down the things she was carrying, she felt instantly relieved. She then handed the rope leading the ewe to Ya Dan'er and ran off to hire a carriage.
The three of them finished buying everything and got into the carriage, all panting heavily. Ye Qingcheng sighed that the original owner's health was too weak; she needed to properly train her body.
The two girls fanned Ye Qingcheng from the left and right. They had bought the fans from the fabric shop because it was unbearably hot.
The carriage clip-clopped along, and it was almost dark when they reached Taoli Village. Upon arriving at Ye Qingcheng's small courtyard, the two girls froze for a moment, but only briefly. They quickly snapped back to reality, showing no signs of disgust, and hurried to unload the carriage and move the purchased goods inside.
Ye Qingcheng helped them. It was quite tiring for the three of them to finally move everything inside.
"That's enough. You two will live in the east room from now on! Move your things in first, then clean yourselves up properly and change your clothes before coming out!" Ye Qingcheng didn't bother explaining to the two girls; after giving the order, she rushed back to her own room.
As soon as she entered, she was melted by the cuteness of the two little tiger babies. The two little ones had just fallen to the ground, hadn't even opened their eyes yet, but they wobbled toward the door upon hearing the sound of the door opening.
It seemed they were starving, so she quickly rushed over and picked up the two little ones.
The weather was too hot; the goat milk from last night must have spoiled long ago. She needed to quickly feed the ewe tied up in the yard well and then milk her for the two little ones to drink.
Just as she was thinking this, Granny Hua called out to her from the courtyard.
"Ye Girl, you're back?" Granny Hua called out while walking inside, shouting "Ye Girl… Ye Girl!" a couple more times as she walked.
Ugly Girl and Ya Dan'er had obediently gone to the east room to start tidying up. Hearing the voice, they were about to come out when Ye Qingcheng placed the two little tigers on the bed and ran out.
"Granny Hua! I'm back! Come in and sit down?" Ye Qingcheng replied as she walked.
"This child, you were out all day. I came by at noon, but you weren't home. I only knew you were back when I heard the noise just now! I squeezed some goat milk for you; quickly take it to boil and feed the children!"
Granny Hua had been worried about the children she mentioned last night, so she brought the goat milk over eagerly.
"Granny Hua! You should come in and see! It's hard for me to explain!" Ye Qingcheng held her forehead. Everyone misunderstood her; it was better to let them see with their own eyes.
"What's wrong? Did something happen to the children?" Granny Hua walked in anxiously. "I knew you and Emerald were still young ladies; you wouldn't be able to take care of children properly. I should have kept them with me last night!"
She regretted her words while rushing into the room. Ye Qingcheng said nothing, following her inside. There would be something interesting to see shortly.
Soon, Granny Hua entered her room, only to find no child on the bed. She turned back and asked Ye Qingcheng, "Where are the children? Did you throw them away, you girl?"
"Granny Hua, look! These are my children! Both of them! Aren't they right here, perfectly fine? They're hungry right now! I'll go boil some goat milk for them to drink!" After speaking, Ye Qingcheng playfully stuck out her tongue and walked out with the goat milk Granny Hua had brought.
She left Granny Hua inside the room, utterly stunned and bewildered, like something fried on the outside and tender on the inside.
These… these two kittens were her children? Not infants?
"No!" Granny Hua walked forward to check, muttering to herself. "This isn't a kitten… Heavens, what is this? A little tiger?"
Granny Hua was shocked by what she saw and quickly ran outside. "You girl are too bold! Why are you raising tiger cubs? Hurry up and send them back to their mother tiger!"
Ye Qingcheng was just about to start a fire when Ugly Girl ran out. Seeing that she was about to start a fire to boil the goat milk, Ugly Girl quickly took over the task. Upon hearing the old madam coming out of Madam's room mention tiger cubs, she was also startled and quickly straightened up to look at Ye Qingcheng.
"Granny Hua, they are very pitiful. The mother tiger died; she was bitten to death by a black bear. She gave birth to these two little tiger babies right before she died. If I don't raise them, they will starve to death!" Ye Qingcheng took two steps forward, supported Granny Hua, and said softly.
Granny Hua was also a kind-hearted and soft-hearted old man. Hearing that the mother tiger was dead, her heart softened a little, but how could one raise a tiger nearby? It was too dangerous.
Thinking this, she spoke firmly again, "Girl! Hurry up and have Emerald send these two tiger cubs away! Tigers cannot be kept nearby! They grow up to eat people!"
"Granny Hua, please don't worry! I will tame them…" Although Ye Qingcheng dreaded trouble and explanations, Granny Hua was exceptionally kind to her, so she patiently explained.
"Emerald! Hurry up and come out to help your Miss send these tiger cubs away! It's too dangerous!"