Before dawn the next morning, Xiang Xi was already awake.
Madam Lü probably wouldn’t cause any more trouble for a while.
So from today onward, Xiang Xi felt that she should finally be able to live a normal life… right?
Rebuild the grass huts, find food, earn some silver…
There were plenty of things to do.
“Second Fool.”
“Present!”
“Get up. We’re going into the mountains to pick mushrooms!”
“Yes!”
The two washed their faces in the mountain stream before quickly heading into the mountains.
It had rained during the first half of last night. The mountains were so damp that water dripped everywhere. The morning air was still muggy, and even though the sun hadn’t appeared yet, it was already getting a little warm.
It was exactly the kind of weather wild mushrooms loved.
No matter what one did, it was best to have a plan.
Xiang Xi’s plan for today was perfect.
She would spend an hour picking mushrooms, then head toward the market while continuing to pick along the way.
By the time they reached the market, they should have gathered at least ten or twenty pounds of mushrooms, which could sell for dozens of copper coins.
She would use the money to buy some grain and necessities, and casually buy something for lunch.
In the afternoon, they would return and rebuild the grass huts. At night, they could cook some porridge and live a simple, peaceful day.
Unfortunately, ideals were beautiful, while reality was harsh.
The moment the two entered the mountain forest, they saw more than a dozen women carrying baskets on their backs.
They were lined up across the grass, searching through it like a group of fearless guerrilla soldiers.
Apparently, everyone knew there would be plenty of mushrooms after the rain.
“Hey, isn’t that Second Fool Liu and his wife?”
“Quick! Don’t let them get ahead of us!”
The women who had suffered losses last time immediately sounded a level-one alarm.
“Otherwise, they’ll steal all our luck and we’ll find nothing!”
“Really?”
“Absolutely! That’s exactly what happened last time!”
“Then let’s hurry!”
Watching the group of middle-aged women run ahead as if they had seen ghosts, Xiang Xi was completely dumbfounded.
Damn it.
She had only picked mushrooms once, and her reputation was already this terrible?
Still, she had principles.
If people didn’t offend her, she wouldn’t offend them.
If people offended her, she wouldn’t offend them either.
She’d just kill them!
The women were behaving themselves today and hadn’t provoked her like last time.
She couldn’t shamelessly go and steal their mushrooms.
“Consider yourselves lucky.”
Besides, she hadn’t intended to rely on anyone else in the first place.
She had already thought it through last night.
Picking mushrooms didn’t require anyone else’s help.
Second Fool Liu alone was enough.
She broke off a branch and casually pointed toward several patches of grass.
“There! There! There! And there!”
“Yes!”
Second Fool Liu was just about to rush over when Xiang Xi suddenly said,
“Wait!”
She focused her attention on Second Fool Liu and immediately entered the phantom world.
Second Fool Liu’s phantom rushed into several patches of grass.
He searched around for quite a while but found nothing.
Confirmed.
There was nothing there.
“There! There! There! And there!”
“Yes!”
Second Fool Liu was about to rush over again.
“Wait!”
Second Fool Liu froze once more.
Xiang Xi checked the phantom world again.
This time, two of the patches of grass actually contained mushrooms.
So Xiang Xi said to Second Fool Liu,
“Next time, when I say ‘there,’ you only need to take one step. When I say ‘there are some there,’ then you go pick them. Got it?”
“Got it!”
“Go. There are some there, and some over there too.”
Second Fool Liu hurried over and, sure enough, found two fresh mushrooms.
Xiang Xi repeated the process.
Every time, she could accurately predict where the mushrooms were.
This was one of the advantages of the phantom world.
It could save them a tremendous amount of time and effort.
The two walked along while picking mushrooms.
Before they even reached the market, they had already filled nearly half a basket—roughly twenty pounds.
Xiang Xi decided to stop picking.
They needed to get to the market early.
If they arrived too late and everyone had already left, who would they sell the mushrooms to—the ghosts?
…
This was Xiang Xi’s first time going to a market in this world, so she found it quite interesting.
The little street was lined with all kinds of shops. Many people had set up small stalls along the roadside selling vegetables, wine, steamed buns, and other things.
The street was also packed with people.
Most carried baskets on their backs or carried shoulder poles, while others held chickens and ducks or led goats around.
Everyone squeezed past one another, creating a lively scene.
Second Fool Liu rarely came to the market either.
His eyes were practically spinning as he looked around.
After asking around, they learned that there was an open area in the western part of the town specifically for selling vegetables.
It was basically the ancient version of a modern farmers’ market.
It was even livelier here.
Besides vegetables everywhere, there were also people selling chickens, ducks, fish, cattle, sheep, and pigs.
There were vendors selling various farming tools, furniture, and carts.
Along the city wall was a row of shops selling grain, oil, rice, flour, and other staples.
What interested Xiang Xi the most was the blacksmith shop.
The master held a small hammer while the apprentice swung a huge one.
The master lightly tapped the glowing red piece of iron, and the apprentice immediately brought the large hammer crashing down.
Sparks flew everywhere, and the ground around them seemed to tremble.
After walking around the market once, Xiang Xi found an empty spot in a corner.
There were quite a few people nearby selling mushrooms.
The women from Nan Zhu Village were there too.
But they hadn’t gathered many mushrooms.
Those with the least had three to five pounds, while those with the most had only six or seven.
When they saw that Xiang Xi and Second Fool Liu had nearly twenty pounds of mushrooms, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Among them was Hu-shi, the woman who had falsely accused them of stealing cucumbers.
She looked as though she hated them enough to bleed from her eyes.
“Second Fool Liu,” one woman asked, “did you bring a scale to weigh your mushrooms?”
Second Fool Liu had no idea what a scale was.
He didn’t know that goods had to be weighed when they were sold either.
He shook his head like a rattle.
“How can you sell things without a scale?”
“Exactly. You can’t sell anything without a scale. You’d better carry them home and eat them yourselves.”
Second Fool Liu looked confused.
He honestly told Xiang Xi,
“Wife, we don’t have a scale. Let’s go home.”
“Why should we go home?”
People were alive, while scales were dead.
There was no way a living person could be stumped by something like this!
No scale meant they couldn’t sell anything?
Were they trying to fool an idiot?
These women clearly didn’t have good intentions.
Seeing that Xiang Xi and Second Fool Liu had picked so many mushrooms, they wanted to trick them into leaving so their own mushrooms would sell better.
Hmph!
Xiang Xi spread some clean grass on the ground and placed several small piles of mushrooms on top.
Others had scales and sold their mushrooms by the pound.
She didn’t have a scale, so she would sell hers by the pile!
And each pile would definitely contain at least one pound.
They had been picked for free in the mountains anyway.
A little extra didn’t matter.
Seeing that she had come up with this method, the women’s expressions immediately darkened.
Soon, someone came over to ask about the price.
The women hurried to promote their own mushrooms.
Some people noticed that Xiang Xi and Second Fool Liu’s mushrooms looked good and casually asked about them.
But before Xiang Xi could answer, Hu-shi quickly spoke up.
“Don’t buy theirs.”
“Why? Are their mushrooms bad?”
“That’s not it,” Hu-shi said. “They’re a fool and a crazy woman.”
The customer looked up.
Sure enough, Second Fool Liu was grinning foolishly at her.
The woman immediately took several steps backward.
Naturally, she didn’t buy the mushrooms.
Who the hell would dare buy something from a fool and a crazy woman?
What if they got scammed or falsely accused afterward?
Three customers came one after another, and Hu-shi scared every one of them away using the same method.
Seeing that her scheme had worked, Hu-shi couldn’t help sneering at Xiang Xi and Second Fool Liu.
You two want to compete with me?
You’re still hundreds of thousands of miles behind!
Xiang Xi remained silent the entire time.
After all, Second Fool Liu really was a fool.
It was understandable that people were afraid of dealing with one.
But Hu-shi was going too far.
Hadn’t she gotten enough from having a cucumber stuffed up her ass last time?
Now she wanted to grow mushrooms there too?
“Second Fool.”
“Present!”
“Come here. I need to tell you something.”
“Yes.”
Xiang Xi whispered a series of instructions into Second Fool Liu’s ear.
“Remember?”
“Remember.”
“Then let’s begin.”
“Okay!”
Second Fool Liu immediately picked up his copper basin and began banging it.
Bang, bang, bang—
“Come buy mushrooms! Cheap mushrooms!”
“One pound is only six copper coins!”
“Two pounds for ten… ten… Wife, how much was it again?”
“Eleven,” Xiang Xi said.
“Oh! Only eleven copper coins!”