A string of coins plus seven more coppers!
Old Li’s wrinkles spread outward from his nose and mouth like ripples.
A whole string of coins in one day!
That was almost as much as his family earned in half a year.
Chen Xiaoman looked at the shopkeeper happily. “Grandpa Shopkeeper, if we get more Wupao later we’ll sell it to you too.”
The shopkeeper’s mood was complicated indeed.
Now that the Wupao was in hand, he didn’t have to worry anymore.
But handing out more than a string of coins all at once really hurt.
Still, if he didn’t buy it, the other herb shops under his master wouldn’t have enough Wupao either.
Gritting his teeth, he bent down and took ten strings of coins from the money chest, then counted out seven more coppers and set them on the counter, pushing them toward Old Li.
“Some of the Wupao at the bottom got crushed and can’t be used as medicine, so today it’s still this price. Next time I’ll only take the whole pieces.”
Old Li reached out both big hands and swept all the coins into his arms.
Feeling the weight of the money, he grinned so wide his eyes disappeared.
“Fine, next time we’ll pack it more carefully.”
Chen Xiaoman stared happily at the coins.
They’d earned so much more.
Zhou Daya could have kissed Chen Xiaoman hard.
This was a whole string of coins!
Old Li tucked the money into his shirt, then took a carrying basket and slung it in front of him, guarding against thieves.
Only then did he happily lead Zhou Daya and Chen Xiaoman out of the herb shop.
They didn’t notice that after they’d walked far away, someone came out from the corner of the wall and went into the herb shop.
…
The three of them walked to an empty alley.
Old Li set down the basket on his chest, revealing his bulging belly.
He guarded it tightly with both hands.
A whole string of coins!
Old Li stuck out his belly and walked up to Zhou Daya.
“Old woman, feel it!”
Zhou Daya put her big hand on it and felt it once, then pulled Chen Xiaoman over. “Xiaoman, you feel it too.”
Old Li generously offered his “big belly” to Chen Xiaoman.
Chen Xiaoman stretched out her little hand, felt it once, and pressed on it too.
It was hard.
And it dug into her hand.
Old Li beamed. “Never felt this much money before, have you?”
Chen Xiaoman nodded hard. “Mm!”
“Feel it a few more times, don’t lose out.”
Old Li stuck out his belly again.
Chen Xiaoman kept feeling it until a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
Zhou Daya looked at the little one, then turned her eyes to the old one.
“Old man, let’s get Xiaoman a couple sets of clothes.”
The smile vanished from Old Li’s face at once. “What?”
His blue-brick house with proper tiles hadn’t even been repaired yet. What clothes?
Zhou Daya pointed at Chen Xiaoman’s clothes. “Xiaoman’s clothes and shoes are torn beyond mending. Look at her, both her big toes are sticking out, and her shoes don’t even fit anymore.”
Before the house was fixed up, she hadn’t wanted to spend much either.
But Xiaoman’s clothes and shoes were too small, not to mention they could barely cover her body anymore.
That just wasn’t right.
Chen Xiaoman lowered her head, saw her two big toes poking out, and secretly tried to curl them further into her shoes.
That only made more of her heels stick out the back.
Seeing this, the words on the tip of Old Li’s tongue just wouldn’t come out.
They’d earned a whole string of coins today after all.
More wrinkles appeared on Old Li’s pained face.
“Then let’s give her twenty—fifteen coppers to get it done.”
Zhou Daya glared at him. “Thirty coppers.”
What could fifteen coppers even buy?
Old Li was about to object when Zhou Daya shot him a knife-like glance.
He huffed and counted out thirty coppers, stuffing them into Zhou Daya’s hand. “Take it, take it!”
Zhou Daya glared at him. “Are you that reluctant?”
Old Li’s whole body shook, and he immediately forced a smile.
“Am I, Li Mancang, the stingy type? I’ll go get it arranged right now!”
Only then did Zhou Daya let him off, taking Chen Xiaoman’s hand and saying grandly, “Let’s go, let’s get our Xiaoman some new clothes!”
Old Li made a pained face behind them.
Thirty whole coppers!
Not even warm yet and already being spent.
Chen Xiaoman’s mouth was nearly stretched back to her ears.
She hopped along after Zhou Daya, heading toward the cloth shop.
She was going to have new clothes!
Old Li hurriedly slung the basket back onto his chest and hurried to catch up.
Not far out of the alley, he saw Zhou Daya and Xiaoman stopped in front of a stall.
Old Li was startled.
What did this money-drainer want to buy now!
Old Li hurried over, just in time to hear Chen Xiaoman say to Zhou Daya, “Ma, I don’t want new clothes. Can we give the money to Ba to buy tobacco instead?”
Old Li’s steps slowed. He looked down and saw an old man selling tobacco.
His heart trembled.
Zhou Daya was also surprised.
“It’s fine if your ba doesn’t smoke. You’re a girl, you need to be dressed properly.”
But Chen Xiaoman shook her head. “Ba suffers a lot without smoking. I’ll be fine.”
Ba had picked up his dry tobacco pipe and puffed on it so many times, frowning when there was no tobacco to smoke.
She had seen it all.
It was all because buying her had cost money that Ba had no tobacco to smoke.
She wanted to buy tobacco back for Ba.
Zhou Daya stroked her little head, saying tenderly, “You don’t need to worry about this. Your ba and I have a plan.”
This child only thought of others, never of herself.
Always sensible, Chen Xiaoman was stubborn this time. “I want to buy tobacco.”
Zhou Daya paused.
The old man had a heavy tobacco craving, and he’d tossed and turned half the night yesterday. He must be suffering badly.
They’d earned quite a bit of money today. Maybe they should buy some tobacco first…
“Buy it! Buy all of it!”
Old Li’s bold voice rang out.
Zhou Daya no longer hesitated and spent ten coppers buying a catty of tobacco from the stall owner.
Money that should be spent should be spent.
Chen Xiaoman watched happily as Zhou Daya put the tobacco she’d bought into Old Li’s basket.
Ba had tobacco to smoke now.
Old Li reached out and took Chen Xiaoman’s little hand, saying cheerfully, “Come on, come on, let’s go get our Xiaoman some clothes. Tsk tsk tsk, the shoes can’t be worn anymore either. I’ll have your ma make you two new pairs later.”
Chen Xiaoman’s little mouth fell open in surprise into an “o” shape.
Ba’s smile at her was so scary!
Zhou Daya looked at Old Li in surprise.
Seeing how affectionate he was being, she understood, and found it funny too.
The old man had been moved by Xiaoman.
Old Li went on talking to himself. “Make the clothes and shoes a bit big, so she can wear them for more years, that’s worth it.”
Chen Xiaoman looked to Zhou Daya for help. “Ma…”
Zhou Daya quickened her steps and took Chen Xiaoman’s other hand, smiling. “Your ba dotes on you. He wants to get you all new things from head to toe.”
“But… but our family has no money…”
Chen Xiaoman muttered quietly.
Old Li’s brows shot up. “We’ve got plenty of money!”
After deducting the thirty-four coppers spent buying the Wupao, they’d made a net profit of nine hundred seventy-three coppers.
How could they have no money?
Chen Xiaoman was startled by his shout and quietly edged closer to Zhou Daya.
Ba was so scary!
Fortunately, they soon reached the shop.
Zhou Daya went up to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have brightly colored hemp thread?”
Hemp thread was cheaper than cloth. She knew how to weave, and buying some nice-looking hemp thread to weave cloth for clothes would save quite a bit of money.
The young shopkeeper smiled and nodded repeatedly, turning to bring out several boxes.
“We have red, green, yellow, all of it. How much do you need?”
Zhou Daya took a liking to the red and green thread.
Bright colors looked good on a little girl.
“What’s the price for these two?”
The shopkeeper named a price, and Zhou Daya began haggling with him.
Chen Xiaoman was drawn to a few baskets against the wall.
She walked over to the baskets, saw the thread inside, and said in wonder, “So much thread!”