Chapter 35: Little Peddler
Under the Red Crow fruit tree.
The young girl, wearing a coarse linen skirt, climbed onto a chair and tied a red string to a tree branch.
She sacrificed the beloved red string that her Eldest Brother had given her.
Standing on tiptoe with her neck stretched out, she carefully hung it on the tree.
As the wind blew, the red string fluttered about.
After tying the red string, the young girl stood under the tree and bowed devoutly.
【Image】
She muttered under her breath, “Bless the Tree Immortal to grow thicker and thicker, and bear more and more fruit.”
Jiang Mianmian lay blankly in the wooden basin, wondering if she should also bow.
However, her little fists were very stiff; it was easy to raise them separately like Ultraman, but putting them together seemed a bit difficult.
She was like a fierce little T-Rex right now; even if she had the skill to catch a blade with bare hands, she couldn’t use it… her arms were too short to bring her hands together!!
She could only wave her arms to cheer for her sister.
After Jiang Yu finished bowing, she happily picked up all the red bubbles in her sister’s wooden basin and put them into a bowl.
It was a large bowl.
As Jiang Yu picked them up, she accidentally broke a few. Since they couldn’t be stored once broken, she had no choice but to put them in her mouth.
She muttered, “Tree Immortal, Tree Immortal, please bestow a little more fruit.”
Jiang Mianmian:…
Should she rename her little Ant to Ant?
Jiang Yu picked the largest red bubble, took a gentle bite, and indeed, it was exceptionally sweet. Then, she split it open to check for bugs; finding none, she stuffed the remaining half into her sister’s mouth.
Seeing that her sister was eating it very earnestly, it must have been super sweet; her sister grinned.
She couldn’t help but taste another one.
For every ten she ate, Jiang Mianmian would get one.
Jiang Mianmian heard her sister repenting while eating, “Eldest Brother doesn’t like to eat them, Father doesn’t like to eat them, and Mother doesn’t like to eat them either, so it is up to me and my sister to eat them. Since I am eating with my sister, it does not count as eating alone.”
“Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell…”
A crisp ringing sound suddenly came from the village.
Jiang Yu’s eyes widened.
“The Tree Immortal is truly effective; the Little Peddler is here!”
Then Jiang Mianmian was picked up by her sister, who spread her legs…
“Shh, shh, shh, pee, pee, pee…”
Jiang Mianmian shamefully complied and peed.
She understood her sister’s feeling of needing to pee before rushing out to play.
When she was interning at the hospital before, the first thing she did before meeting the head physician was to find a restroom… after peeing, she would not be as nervous.
Before seeing a patient, she would run to the restroom first.
Heaven knows, an intern doctor like her was even more scared than the patient when examining them.
Thinking back, the restroom was the beginning of every important moment in her life…
Life, it is a mix of all flavors.
After Jiang Yu finished helping her sister pee and wrapped her diaper, she carried her on her back and returned to the room to take out the small copper coins from a tattered cloth bag inside a small wooden box hidden under the bed, tucking them away close to her body.
Jiang Mianmian had discovered another place where her sister hid money.
If she waited until she grew up and replaced her sister’s copper coins with stones, would her sister cry to death?
Jiang Mianmian thought about it… suddenly feeling that her thoughts were wrong; how could she have such an idea?
Jiang Yu took the money, carried her sister on her back, and, wearing her new embroidered shoes, prepared to walk towards the center of the village.
Before leaving, she suddenly needed to pee… She put her sister in the basin and ran to the latrine.
Jiang Mianmian:…Truly my own sister.
Jiang Mianmian lay in the wooden basin and saw the Ant poke its head out; it seemed unhappy that the red bubbles had just been taken away by her sister.
Jiang Mianmian tentatively touched the Ant’s head with her finger: “Do you want to go out and play together? But you cannot crawl on me; I am scared.”
She felt that the string of words she expressed was a bit long and did not know if Little Black could understand. When her sister came to pick her up, she saw Little Black jump onto her sister’s new embroidered shoes.
Jiang Mianmian was tied to her sister’s back.
Her bottom was wrapped, and her little legs were kicking.
Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, it was exceptionally lively today.
Jiang Mianmian followed her sister into the crowd and saw the Little Peddler surrounded by everyone.
She had thought that “Little Peddler” referred to a young peddler, but after squeezing in, she discovered that the Little Peddler was actually a dwarf.
A dwarf with a very short stature, a large head, very long arms, and a very strong build.
Beside him was a tall cabinet and a basket; he kept reaching out to take items from the basket and place them on the cabinet.
Among them, the silk flowers placed on top were the most popular with The Eldest Miss and young wives.
Jiang Mianmian looked at the silk flowers; they looked a bit like cheap plastic flowers. Considering there was no plastic now, making them and having them be brightly colored was quite difficult.
A silk flower cost ten copper coins. Jiang Mianmian heard others asking, and it was clear that her sister did not have enough copper coins.
She had just seen her sister counting them over and over, and there were only eight.
“Little Peddler, make it cheaper. Eight copper coins? We will all buy together; can we take a few more?” a young wife asked, blushing.
The Little Peddler shook his head vigorously, “No, no, the cost alone is eight copper coins. The remaining two copper coins are just my travel expenses; I have to eat and drink along the way. If you take more than ten, the lowest is nine copper coins.”
Jiang Mianmian joined in watching the excitement.
Her sister reached out to touch the silk flower, then put it down.
She turned to touch other things.
At this time, A-Cui also arrived.
A-Cui had taken time off to come out; clearly, she was doing well at Landlord Liu’s house.
A-Cui squeezed in and said loudly, “Little Peddler, did you bring the hairpin I asked you to get for me last time?”
The Little Peddler looked up at A-Cui and smiled, “Miss A-Cui, I certainly remember what you ordered. It is just that the hairpin is valuable, and I was worried about losing it, so I left it at the inn in the county town. After I finish selling, you can come with me to get it, or you can have someone follow me to get it, either way is fine.”
“A-Cui, buying another hairpin? Your family is definitely living the best life in the whole village.”
“A-Cui, when will we get to eat your wedding candy?”
“A-Cui, Wu Hua’s Mother was famous for her frugality back then; she would eat a single vegetable leaf over three meals. How can she let you spend like this!”
Jiang Mianmian was lying on her sister’s back when she was suddenly sprayed by someone else’s spit…
Spittle could spray someone to death… not an adjective.
When these people spoke, saliva was truly flying everywhere.
She was so scared that she quickly buried her head.
Even the thick-skinned A-Cui could not stand so much saliva. She pulled on Jiang Yu and asked, “What are you buying? Are you done buying?”
Jiang Yu looked around and asked embarrassedly, “Uncle Little Peddler, do you have that white candy, the kind you brought last time?”
The Little Peddler looked up at Jiang Yu, his smile widening even more. He patted his large head with his large hand and said, “Unfortunate, that bag of candy was also left at the inn. There are too many things, and I really cannot carry them all. You can come with Miss A-Cui to get it in a while; this time I brought peach-flavored ones.”
After the Little Peddler finished speaking, he earnestly greeted other young wives and elderly women to buy things.
From time to time, he would tell a piece of fresh news from outside, making everyone burst into laughter and exclamations. Even if they did not buy anything, they crowded here to watch the excitement.
The purchasing power in the village was limited after all; it was mostly poor families coming to see something new and exciting, and not many were spending money. The truly wealthy Landlord Liu’s family would not come to buy things either; they went directly to the county town or the Prefecture City to buy goods.
Soon, the Little Peddler packed up his wooden cabinet and basket and was about to leave.
A-Cui was pulling on Jiang Yu on the side, whispering, “Accompany me to get the hairpin, and after I get it, I will lend it to you to wear for half a day.”
Jiang Yu shook her head, “I am not going; I have to take care of my sister.”
“Don’t you also want to buy candy?”
Jiang Yu swallowed her saliva and shook her head, “I only have four copper coins, and I cannot buy many pieces.”
Actually, she had eight copper coins, hehe.
A-Cui watched as the Little Peddler had already shouldered his load and stood up. She stamped her foot, “I will treat you to a meat bun from the county town; we will split it half and half.”
Jiang Yu wiped the corner of her mouth and said, “Let’s go. It is not that I want to eat a meat bun, I mainly want to keep you company.”
A-Cui rolled her eyes at her.
The two of them tagged along, pulling and tugging at each other.
Jiang Mianmian felt that something was a bit off, but the villagers seemed to think it was all very normal. Others had followed to get things before, and everyone seemed very familiar with the Little Peddler.
Perhaps she was overthinking it.
After leaving the village, the road became narrower, but it was not particularly narrow; a cart could pass, and three people could walk side by side, though it was a bit crowded.
Jiang Mianmian looked around curiously.
On both sides were dense forests, which were a little scary.
Suddenly, in the forest, a mountain owl was startled, its wings flapping as it flew over their heads, like a dark cloud passing by.
The mountain owl’s cry was sharp and urgent…
“Kwa! Kwa!”
“Hai-la, hai-la!”
