Chapter 21: Go to the Market!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There used to be a market held in the countryside every three to four days. It could be considered a commercial street now.
In the market, small vendors gathered in groups of three or five. They took the surplus agricultural and sideline products as well as handicrafts from their homes and sold them in the market.
Some sold meat, whereas some sold vegetables. Various snacks and exquisite small things were sold there as well.
Back then, the children loved going to the market the most. If their parents could buy a few candy bars for them, the children would be happy for the whole day, let alone if their parents bought new clothes for themselves during the New Year.
There was a market today. Old Master Yun ordered his youngest son’s family to go to the market and buy some local specialties for Old Master Zhou. He wanted his letter to be mailed to the Zhou family as well.
!!
Before Old Master Yun left, he gave his youngest daughter-in-law 20 yuan. He carefully packed a basket of homemade eggs and asked her to send them to Old Master Zhou.
It was not a big deal if she was only going to the market. However, Old Master Yun gave her some money and items. His two other daughters-in-law naturally felt uncomfortable when they saw this.
Just as the youngest daughter-in-law was about to set off, the eldest and second daughters-in-law were waiting at the door with their children.
“Third Sister-in-law, these children haven’t gone to the market for a long time. All of them are getting sick of staying at home. You can bring them along to the market.”
Yun Lian was standing behind Liu Fang, while Yun Lang clapped his hands and shouted that he wanted to go to the market to eat candy.
Ma Yan’s two children stood timidly behind her. The forefingers of the two children’s hands were nervously intertwined together. There was some similarity between their eyebrows and Yun Lin’s eyes. They were probably about 70 to 80% similar in personality as they were all very honest and introverted.
“Why don’t both of you personally bring the children over?”
Yun Xi saw through these people at a glance. Evidently, they were here to take advantage of her family again. They saw Old Master Yun giving her family money, so they wanted to use the money to buy some candy for their children.
“Well, Yun Xi, I still have a lot of work to do. I really can’t spare time. Look, these two children can be considered your brothers, so you can bring them along.”
Yun Yang secretly tugged at Yun Xi’s sleeve. With merely a glance, Yun Yang and Yun Xi got on the same wavelength. Yun Yang was afraid that these people would cause more trouble, so he wanted to tell his sister not to agree to their unreasonable request.
Yun Xi was no longer the same as before. Thus, it was impossible for them to take advantage of her anymore.
“What about Eldest Sister-in-law? She doesn’t seem to have anything to do either!”
After becoming an official, Yun Gang was worried that being involved in farming would lower his status, so he rented and sold the few acres of land that the village had allocated to him to the second brother’s family. The second brother’s family gave him and his wife 50 yuan a year for an acre of land. Every year, when the harvest was good, the second brother’s family would give them two bags of grain.
Liu Fang managed the vegetable garden every day. She raised a few hens that laid eggs. She stayed home every day, doing nothing. Sometimes, Second Aunt Qian would ask her over to play mahjong. Liu Fang would give off an aura of the official’s wife.
Liu Fang’s mahjong skills were not good, so she basically lost eight out of ten rounds when she went out to play mahjong. For this matter, Yun Gang was quite angry with her. In the end, Liu Fang could only sponge her two sisters-in-law off to make up for the loss of money.
Now, she probably wanted to play mahjong again. With that, she deliberately got Yun Lian and Yun Lang to play with Chen Li.
This village was a little far from the town’s market, so they had to ride Old Ma’s family’s oxcart. Old Ma’s family relied on the ox to earn money for them. Therefore, the fare was the same for anyone who went to the town regardless of whether it was an adult or a child.
It cost quite a lot for the youngest daughter-in-law to bring so many children to the market at one go. Apparently, the eldest and second daughters-in-law did not intend to fork out money for it. Their greedy faces were really disgusting.
“Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt, it’s not impossible to bring these younger brothers and sisters to the market. It’s just that you have to pay for the oxcart fare for this round trip.”
“We’re a family. It seems that you’re treating me as an outsider. You actually care about this small amount of money!”
“That’s right. Since you already said that this is a small amount of money, I’m sure you don’t mind. I don’t have any savings, so I still care about the money. Since you don’t care, you should pay.”
Ma Yan failed to take advantage of Yun Xi, so she quickly shut her mouth and shot Liu Fang a look.