CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 55: THE VILLAIN’S IMPRESSIVE STAMINA

Lin Qiao glanced down, noticing it was slightly open, but she nonchalantly adjusted it and asked, "Uncle, are there any more fruit trees?"

"Yes." Song Tingfan didn’t dare to look at her, carrying the basket on his back, and quickly walked out with his head down.

They went to several more places and picked a total of ten or so fruits. Lin Qiao’s feet were aching from walking. She secretly shook her feet several times, while Song Tingfan seemed unaffected, occasionally picking some wild herbs.

Really impressive stamina.

Afraid the fruits would spoil, Song Tingfan planned to sell them in town as soon as they got home. Lin Qiao was going to sell her drawings anyway, so she went along. As they were leaving, Song Qin insisted that they have a bowl of rice first.

At this time, the only transport to town was by donkey cart, and when they arrived, it was already quarter past noon.

Many stalls were empty, as it was afternoon. They found a spot under a tree and laid out the fruits.

Lin Qiao was wondering whether to shout out a few sales pitches, but the young man beside her was already loudly calling out, "Wild fruits for sale, crisp and sweet wild fruits."

His voice was a bit magnetic, yet somewhat youthful.

This was a bit different from the boy in front of her usually. At this moment, he seemed more adult-like, with less childishness.

This was a good sign, showing the antagonist was relying on her, only showing his childlike innocence in front of her.

With his call, a few people came over to check it out, though they instinctively looked at Lin Qiao first. Song Tingfan pursed his lips and then stood beside Lin Qiao, "Sir, want to buy some fruits? We just picked them."

Not seeing the beautiful woman anymore, they turned their attention to the fruits. One of them pointed at the fruits and asked, "How much?"

"Twelve..."

Before Song Tingfan could finish, Lin Qiao interrupted him, her voice soft, "Uncle, sixteen each. If you’re sincere about buying, I’ll drop two cents for you, let’s say three cents off to make the first sale."

If we call it twelve cents, these folks would surely bargain. Doing honest business doesn’t pay in this era.

The middle-aged man originally found sixteen cents too expensive and was about to leave, but hearing her proactively lower the price, he hesitated. He looked at her, "Could you drop it a bit more, twelve cents?"

"Uncle, these wild fruits were hard to come by. My uncle and I walked one to two hours to pick them, my feet are blistered, I really can’t lower the price any more." Lin Qiao shook her head, looking a bit reluctant.

"Twelve and I’ll buy, otherwise forget it." The uncle was a savvy buyer, seeing she wouldn’t lower the price, he made as if to leave.

Lin Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly, fine, let’s play along, she bit her lip lightly, appearing to sell at a low price, "Uncle, don’t go, I’ll sell them to you. How many do you want? How about buying a few more, the fruits are fresh and sweet, perfect for your grandkids."

"I’ll take three."

The middle-aged uncle thought for a moment, took out thirty-six cents and handed it to her, then picked three large wild fruits himself.

The surrounding people hesitated for a moment, then some others came to buy at twelve cents each.

Within half an hour, they had only three wild fruits left. Lin Qiao unintentionally met the boy’s dumbfounded gaze. She: "..."

So focused on making money, she forgot the antagonist was still there watching, cough, he won’t be suspicious, right?

Just as she was about to say something, the boy’s bright eyes looked at her sincerely, "Sister-in-law, you’re amazing, selling so much."

Last year when he sold fruits, he only got six cents each.

Lin Qiao: "..."

She swallowed back all the words she wanted to say, seriously looking at the antagonist, finally understanding why he was foolish enough to be sold by his sister-in-law in her past life.

"Cough, Uncle will be as great as Sister-in-law when you grow up."

Song Tingfan believed it, earnestly saying, "When I grow up, I want to be better than Sister-in-law."

"Then I can earn a lot of silver coins to support Grandpa, Grandma, and Sister-in-law."

"Believe in Uncle."

Lin Qiao praised him, then glanced at the sky, "Uncle, I’m going to the fabric store for a bit, you stay here and watch."

Immediately, the boy looked at her eagerly, wanting to go with her but obediently nodded, "Okay."

Maybe it was the antagonist’s looks that melted her heart, Lin Qiao’s heart softened, blurting out, "We won’t sell them, let’s save them for Grandpa and Grandma to eat and go together with Sister-in-law."

"Okay." Song Tingfan nodded repeatedly, unable to hide his smiling face.

Still a child at heart.

Lin Qiao patted his head, blinking, "We sold more than a hundred cents of wild fruits, Uncle, what do you want to eat?"

"Sister-in-law, I don’t want to eat anything." Song Tingfan shook his head sensibly, just being with Sister-in-law made him very happy.

Walking side by side, Lin Qiao noticed his height had shot up a bit. Before, they were about the same height, now she might reach his brow bone, "Uncle is good, what would you like to eat?"

Sister-in-law always treated him like a kid, Song Tingfan was a bit embarrassed but still liked Sister-in-law spoiling him.

He pursed his lips and cautiously said, "Sister-in-law, I want the dish you make."

"Which dish?"

"I like whatever you make, Sister-in-law."

Looking at the boy’s lowered eyebrows, Lin Qiao felt like she was being "wooed" by a child.

She thought for a moment, "How about we buy a fish to cook at home, make pickled fish?"

Fish is much cheaper than pork, only two cents per pound.

"Okay." Song Tingfan nodded.

...

Fabric Shop

The boss looked at the square cloths and for the last two, a typically critical person praised, "These two have very good stitching, who embroidered them?"

"My grandma did. She’s been embroidering for decades, from a family of embroideresses by birth."

"No wonder, these are much better than yours. These two will be fifteen each, the others are still eight cents."

She bluntly expressed her disdain, Lin Qiao: "..."

She gratefully said, "Thank you, Boss."

Then she took out her drawings, "I drew some designs, would you take a look?"

Last time, several outfits made from the designs sold out. Compared to Widow Song’s square cloths, she was more interested in the designs. Taking them, she said, "So many patterns?"

Having tested the market last time, Lin Qiao didn’t dare draw too many before. Now that she had tried, it was time to "go all out."

After all, she had to support both the elderly and the young.

The pressure on her was immense.

After seeing them, the boss was much more straightforward than last time, "Four sheets, 600 cents, plus 110 cents for the square cloths, that’s a total of 710 cents." With that, she handed over the silver coins.

"Thank you, Boss." Lin Qiao’s face showed some happiness.

The boss waved a hand, "Bring more designs next time."

"Sure." Lin Qiao exchanged a few words with her and then left the shop with Song Tingfan. Cough, to prevent the antagonist from being suspicious, she acted very pleased and surprised, proactively explaining, "Uncle, I was just dabbling, didn’t expect to exchange it for so many silver notes."

"Uncle, am I dreaming?"

Song Tingfan had no trace of doubt, eyes full of "Sister-in-law is amazing," "Sister-in-law, it’s real."

"Uncle, pinch me."

Lin Qiao incredulously held out her hand for him to pinch, but Song Tingfan instinctively hid his hand behind his back, foolishly refusing, "Sister-in-law, I won’t pinch."

"Uncle, just a little pinch." Lin Qiao insisted he give her a pinch.

Song Tingfan hesitated for a moment, then gently pinched her arm, "Sis-sis-sister-in-law, did it hurt?"