The little girl heard the voice and, for a moment, thought she was imagining things.
The person speaking had such a beautiful voice that she had never heard anything like it in her entire life.
When she looked up, sunlight streamed down across the young woman’s face.
Staring at Su Qingran, the girl couldn’t help thinking that even immortals might not be this beautiful.
“Th-thank you, Immortal Sister,” she murmured.
Su Qingran sighed softly.
Then she crouched down and checked the old man’s pulse.
After a moment, her expression darkened.
There was no pulse.
Looking at the little girl, she gently said,
“Your father… has already passed away.”
The man had likely been suffering from illness for a long time.
The beating from the soldiers had simply been the final straw that broke his already fragile body.
The little girl seemed strangely numb.
She didn’t cry.
Instead, she quietly asked,
“Father always said his health was bad and that maybe death would be better than living.”
“Miss… do you think he said that because he didn’t want me anymore?”
Before Su Qingran could answer, the girl raised her head again.
Her eyes were cautious and hopeful.
“Miss, could you… could you buy me?”
“Half a tael is enough.”
“I just want to take my father outside the city and bury him.”
“I can do anything.”
“Really.”
“You only need to give me half a bowl of food every day.”
“No… not even half a bowl.”
“A little bowl of rice bran would be enough.”
“Can you cook?” Su Qingran suddenly asked.
The girl’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Yes!”
“I can!”
“I always cooked at home.”
“And if there’s something I don’t know how to do, I’ll learn!”
Su Qingran glanced at the cold body lying on the ground and sighed.
Then she took out two taels of silver from her pouch.
“Do you know how to arrange your father’s burial?”
“Can you handle it alone?”
The girl nodded quickly.
“I can.”
“Some people from our village are also in the city.”
“They’ll help me.”
Yet the moment Su Qingran handed her the silver, the little girl finally broke down.
She hadn’t cried when she learned her father had died.
But now tears poured down her face uncontrollably.
“Miss… you’ve given me too much.”
“Take good care of your father’s funeral.”
“If you’re willing, come find me at the Lucky Fortune Inn.”
“I’ll wait until noon the day after tomorrow.”
“I still need to continue my journey, so I won’t stay here long.”
Having a little maid who could cook didn’t sound bad at all.
After all, Su Qingran was technically the daughter of a Marquis’s household.
What was wrong with having a maid?
More importantly, she wasn’t particularly good at cooking and was too lazy to do it herself.
She had plenty of grain and food stored inside her space.
Eventually there wouldn’t always be inns serving prepared meals.
But honestly…
The biggest reason was simply that she felt some affinity toward the girl.
She trusted her instincts.
Back in the apocalypse, her judgment of people had usually been quite good.
The only problem was that circumstances changed.
People changed.
That was how betrayal happened.
After giving the girl the silver, Su Qingran left.
If the girl never came to find her, she wouldn’t be disappointed.
She had always lived according to her own whims.
The prices here were indeed cheaper than in the capital.
Meat buns cost only two copper coins each.
Unfortunately, premium rice was practically impossible to find.
As she wandered through the marketplace, something suddenly caught her eye.
A stall selling saplings.
Beside the saplings sat several fruits.
Wait…
If she wasn’t mistaken…
Those were passion fruits.
Passion fruit!
That was perfect.
Her space didn’t contain any fruit trees at all.
Growing a few passion fruit vines would be a great way to satisfy cravings.
The vendor immediately brightened when he saw her approach.
“Miss, would you like some saplings?”
“The fruit they produce is delicious.”
“You can try one if you’d like.”
“The fruit beside them comes from these trees too.”
“Sweet and sour. Very tasty.”
The man wiped sweat from his forehead while enthusiastically advertising his goods.
Su Qingran picked up one of the fruits and smelled it.
There was no mistake.
It was definitely passion fruit.
She was about to ask for the price when a nearby vendor suddenly interrupted.
“Miss, you’d be better off buying from me.”
“His fruit is just some wild thing picked off a mountain.”
“It’s so sour it’ll make your teeth ache.”
The passion fruit vendor’s face instantly turned red.
Because, unfortunately…
The other man wasn’t entirely wrong.
The saplings and fruits had indeed been collected from the mountains.
Still, he had tasted them, found them delicious, and decided to bring them into town to sell.
Su Qingran turned toward the second vendor.
He was selling saplings too.
Though she couldn’t immediately identify them.
“What kind of trees are these?”
The second vendor immediately forced a smile.
“Miss, these are osmanthus saplings.”
“And these are plum blossom saplings.”
“Very popular among wealthy families.”
Seeing her interest shift away, the passion fruit vendor panicked.
“Flowers and trees are boring!”
“My fruit trees are much more unique!”
“Nobody else grows these!”
The neighboring vendor snorted.
“Your wild fruit?”
“Forget it.”
“You’ll be sitting here until dark and still won’t sell a single basket.”
“Bullshit!”
“You interrupted my customer first!”
“Keep talking and I’ll knock your teeth out!”
“Come on then!”
“I’m only telling the truth!”
“Those trees are wild.”
“You can find them all over the mountains.”
“Yet you’re trying to sell them.”
“Bullshit!”
“If they’re everywhere, then go find them!”
“I worked hard to collect these.”
“Have you seen anyone else selling them?”
“If you don’t know what you’re talking about, stop talking.”
The two men were moments away from fighting.
Quickly, Su Qingran stepped between them.
“Hey, hey, hey.”
“What’s there to argue about?”
“I never said I wasn’t buying anything.”
Instantly, both vendors’ eyes lit up.
Each assumed she meant his products.
Instead, Su Qingran walked directly to the passion fruit vendor.
“How much for these?”
“Ah?”
“You mean the saplings?”
he asked excitedly.
She shook her head.
The vendor’s face immediately fell.
Then she added,
“I mean everything.”
“The saplings and the fruit.”
The man froze.
Then joy exploded across his face.
“Not expensive!”
“All together… just one tael of silver.”
Afraid he had quoted too high a price, he hurriedly opened every basket for her inspection.
Su Qingran glanced over them.
Four full baskets of passion fruit.
Enough to satisfy her for quite a while.
When she remained silent, the vendor became nervous.
“Miss, we gathered these deep in the mountains.”
“It was dangerous.”
“If you think the price is too high, I can lower it.”
Looking at the honest-faced vendor, Su Qingran couldn’t help smiling.
People in ancient times really didn’t know how to do business.
She hadn’t even negotiated yet, and he was already offering discounts.
Still, she understood.
Life for ordinary people was difficult.
One tael of silver might represent several months of living expenses for a poor family.
“Let’s keep it at one tael.”
“I’ll buy everything.”
Su Qingran agreed immediately.