Xu Anyan stepped forward and crouched down, looking seriously at the two little ones.
“All right. In a little while, you must hold tightly onto Mother’s clothes and absolutely do not let go. Do you remember?”
“Mhm!” the two children answered in unison, nodding their little heads like bobble dolls.
Standing at the entrance of the small courtyard, Xu Anyan’s heart surged with emotion. She had finally stepped outside the courtyard gate.
Then she knocked on Aunt Wu’s door.
A moment later, Aunt Wu’s voice came from inside.
“Who’s there?”
“Aunt Wu, it’s me.”
Aunt Wu opened the gate and looked at Xu Anyan standing there with Dabao and Xiaobao. She seemed a little surprised.
“Xiaoyan, come in quickly.”
Xu Anyan waved her hand repeatedly.
“No, Aunt Wu, I won’t go in. I want to take Dabao and Xiaobao out for a walk, so I came to let you know. I was afraid you’d worry if you didn’t see them later.”
“All right, but your arm hasn’t healed yet. Can you really manage taking two children out?” Aunt Wu asked worriedly.
“I can. I’ll keep a close eye on them.”
“Fine then. Be careful.”
After saying goodbye to Aunt Wu, Xu Anyan slowly led the two children toward the mouth of the alley.
According to her memories, the place where they lived was called Wenliu Alley. The houses on both sides stood directly opposite one another, making the lane especially narrow and cramped. If any family quarreled, every neighbor could hear it clearly.
Precisely because of this, everyone kept their courtyard gates tightly shut. Other than occasionally visiting one another, no one sat outside chatting. Otherwise, running into acquaintances would only make things awkward—after all, her reputation wasn’t exactly good.
Fortunately, they lived right at the entrance of the alley, so it didn’t take long to reach the main street.
At this moment, Dabao and Xiaobao stood on either side of Xu Anyan, their tiny hands tightly gripping the hem of her skirt. One adult and two children stood at the alley entrance, staring at the bustling market filled with all kinds of goods. It felt as though even six eyes weren’t enough to take everything in.
Although Xu Anyan possessed the original owner’s memories, seeing it with her own eyes was still deeply moving. As for Dabao and Xiaobao, because no one ever brought them out, they rarely visited the market and usually only wandered between two courtyards.
She remembered that Changshan County had two marketplaces, one in the east and one in the west.
The East Market was filled with famous and grand shops, while the West Market was home to small stores and street vendors, full of everyday life and lively bustle. Ordinary households usually bought their daily necessities in the West Market.
The North and South Streets were mainly residential areas. Wealthy and influential families lived on South Street, while smaller, ordinary households lived on North Street. The residents of Wenliu Alley barely managed to get by. Families that were truly well-off lived in Taoxi Alley and Shuangxi Alley. Though they couldn’t compare with the rich and powerful, they all had private courtyards and much more spacious homes than here.
Xu Anyan sighed inwardly. One day, she would definitely buy herself a private courtyard and open a small shop. Then she could continue living her ideal lazy, carefree life.
“Mother…” Dabao gently tugged at her skirt. “Where are we going?”
“To the pawnshop first.”
Xiaobao looked up at her, his eyes full of curiosity.
“Mother, what’s a pawnshop?”
“It’s a place where you exchange things for silver.”
Xu Anyan reminded them once more seriously.
“Remember, hold tightly onto Mother’s skirt and don’t let go.”
“We’ll definitely hold on tightly!” the two children replied in unison, gripping her skirt even harder.
Following the route in her memories, Xu Anyan led the two children toward the West Market. She planned to find a pawnshop and pawn some jewelry. She only had a handful of copper coins left, barely enough to buy anything. Keeping the jewelry served no purpose now; exchanging it for silver was far more practical.
Although there were pawnshops in the East Market as well, the larger shops offered pitifully low prices for silver jewelry, and they might not even be interested in her items. It was better to try her luck with a smaller pawnshop in the West Market.
She was deep in thought when she suddenly noticed that one side of her skirt wasn’t moving.
Turning around, she saw Xiaobao standing still, his big eyes fixed longingly on something in the distance.
“Mother, I want to eat that.”
Following the direction he pointed, she saw an old man selling candied hawthorns.
“All right. One skewer each.”
Xu Anyan readily agreed and led the two little ones over.
The vendor greeted them warmly.
“Miss, candied hawthorns are three copper coins each, or five coins for two. How many would you like?”
“Two.”
“Coming right up!”
After taking the coins, the vendor handed Xu Anyan two bright red skewers of candied hawthorns.
Xu Anyan gave one to each child and instructed them,
“Just hold them for now. Don’t eat them yet.”
Dabao looked puzzled.
“Why can’t we eat them now?”
Xiaobao pouted.
“Mother, I want to eat mine right now.”
Xu Anyan crouched down and patiently explained,
“There are too many people on the street. If you eat while walking, the bamboo skewer might poke your little mouths. If your mouth gets hurt, you won’t be able to eat anything delicious.”
“How about this? We can stand here while you finish eating, and then we’ll keep going.”
The two children looked at each other before answering together,
“Mother, we’ll wait and eat them later.”
“Such good children.”
With that, the figures of the three disappeared into the crowd.
…
“Sir, I’d like to pawn three pairs of silver earrings and one silver hairpin.”
Xu Anyan took the earrings and hairpin from her bosom and handed them through the counter.
The shop assistant carefully examined them before slowly asking,
“Miss, is this a redeemable pawn or an outright sale?”
“An outright sale,” Xu Anyan answered without hesitation.
“The three pairs of earrings are worth three taels of silver, and the hairpin can fetch two taels.”
Xu Anyan could hardly believe it.
The three pairs of earrings had originally been worth six taels, and an outright sale cut the price in half. As for the hairpin, it had cost five taels when it was purchased.
The original owner had saved for three months to buy it, and now it was worth only two taels.
“Sir, could you possibly offer a little more? I’m truly out of options. This is all the property I have left. My life depends on this silver, and I still have two sons to raise.”
Xu Anyan immediately put on a pitiful act. If she could get more money, she didn’t mind acting even more miserable.
Seeing this, Dabao and Xiaobao instantly put on pitiful little expressions as well.
The assistant looked at the woman with her arm in a sling and the two little children beside her. After a moment’s thought, he said,
“I can add at most one more tael.”
“Deal!”
The assistant was startled by the speed at which her expression changed. A moment ago, she had looked utterly miserable, but the instant she heard there was another tael of silver, she beamed with joy. She could probably earn more money performing face-changing tricks in an opera troupe.
Besides, he had deliberately lowered the price at first. The three pairs of earrings were only ordinary in craftsmanship, but they were all nearly new. As for the hairpin, it was finely made and completely new, so it was certainly worth more.
After receiving six taels of silver, Xu Anyan immediately took the two little ones to a general store, where she bought salt, vinegar, seasonings, and other necessities, spending three hundred copper coins.
Seeing that it was nearly noon, she then brought the children to a somewhat famous restaurant in the West Market called Shu Flavor Pavilion.
Recently, they had been eating coarse grain noodles every day and thin porridge morning and night. She felt like her mouth had practically forgotten what good food tasted like.
“Honored guest, we have Rose Tofu, Jade Bamboo Shoots, Dragon’s Beard Greens in Clear Soup, Crispy Fragrant Duck…” the waiter rattled off the menu nonstop.
“All right, that’s enough. We’ll have one serving each of Rose Tofu, Jade Bamboo Shoots, Dragon’s Beard Greens in Clear Soup, Lotus Seed Soup, and Crispy Fragrant Duck.”
Considering there were children present, and that she herself shouldn’t eat too heavily, Xu Anyan ordered only light dishes.
Dabao and Xiaobao sat side by side on the bench next to her.
Xiaobao muttered softly,
“Mother didn’t even ask Brother and me what we wanted to eat.”
Dabao also looked at Xu Anyan expectantly.
“I’ve already arranged it for you. You’re still young and can’t eat just anything.”
Xu Anyan explained seriously.
Hearing this, Dabao put on the air of an older brother.
“Little Brother, listen to Mother.”
Xiaobao’s little face immediately fell, full of disappointment.
“Mmm… I’ll listen to Mother and Big Brother.”