Chapter 18: A Kiss

Fifteen minutes later, Shao Diandian found herself holding three taels of silver. This wasn’t because the doctor had reduced the price by two taels—though she had wanted to bargain, a certain little chubby with a black heart wouldn’t allow it. He only carried three taels of silver on him. Shao Diandian said she could go home to fetch more, but he whispered, “If my mother finds out, she’ll beat me.” Shao Diandian was speechless.

In the end, after repeated negotiations, he exchanged a brand-new set of silver needles and some medicinal herbs for the price difference. However, he didn’t have two of the herbs Shao Diandian needed at the moment, so she was told to come to his pharmacy in three days to collect them.

“A thing that should only cost two taels of silver, and Rong En Hall charged me five! Such a rip-off!” Shao Diandian complained.

The doctor was speechless. How could he call someone else a rip-off?

—

This morning, when she went out, Shao Diandian was prepared to use all the silver she had to buy medicine for her father, but unexpectedly, she didn’t spend a single coin and instead earned three taels. Now she had five taels in total.

With the silver in hand, Shao Diandian went to the market and bought ten pounds each of red beans, green beans, brown sugar, and glutinous rice flour; and two pounds each of white sesame and black sesame.

Her family had big appetites. The last batch of meat she bought clearly wasn’t enough, so she returned to the market’s butcher stall and purchased ten pounds of pork ribs, five pounds of pork belly, and five pounds of tenderloin.

“Give me a few pounds of fatty pork too,” she added.

Fatty pork could be rendered into lard, and the crispy, oily bits left after rendering were delicious treats.

“Miss, can you really eat all this meat?” the butcher asked curiously.

“We have a big family. We can finish it,” Shao Diandian replied. Not all of it was for immediate consumption; for example, ribs could be cured into bacon.

Country folk rarely ate meat every meal; even twice a month was a luxury. This chubby girl looked ordinary but was surprisingly generous.

Well, it made sense—if you didn’t eat that much meat, you wouldn’t be so plump.

He wasn’t discriminating against the chubby; on the contrary, he thought being plump was a blessing.

The young butcher, with a lively imagination, wrapped the ribs and meat in bamboo leaves and handed them to Shao Diandian.

“Ribs are twenty wen per pound, meat thirteen wen per pound, fatty pork eight wen per pound. That’s a total of 420 wen, but I’ll only charge you 400 wen, and I’ll throw in some pork skin.”

What he called pork skin was actually meat with skin attached, weighing a full one and a half pounds.

“There are also two kidneys. Miss, want them? They’re free too.”

“Sure.” Shao Diandian thought to give them to Wei Ting to strengthen his kidneys.

Running a small business with slim profit margins, the butcher was already giving her a good deal. In return, Shao Diandian took a bowl of her homemade braised dishes from her basket and placed it on the stall.

The butcher turned around, saw the extra bowl of braised large intestines, and hurriedly said, “Miss! Your intestines!”

Shao Diandian flicked her head nonchalantly, “No, these are yours.”

—

Shao Diandian continued wandering the market with Little Bean.

“Oh? They even have preserved mustard greens,” she said.

It was a dry goods stall, almost sold out except for a basket of withered preserved mustard greens that no one seemed interested in.

“How much for this?” Shao Diandian asked.

The old lady selling vegetables gave her a tired glance and said, “Fifty wen. All for you!”

“Alright,” Shao Diandian agreed readily.

The old lady regretted not bargaining.

Shao Diandian then bought some spices, finishing her shopping for the day.

At the market entrance, she found Old Li still there. The goods on the ox cart were sold out, and Little Mrs. Wu sat atop it.

Shao Diandian smiled as she approached. “Old Li, still not heading home so late? You’re not waiting here just for me, are you?”

Old Li choked and said seriously, “I-I just wanted to take a few more passengers. Can’t make the trip for nothing.”

Little Mrs. Wu said nothing.

Earlier, three people from the neighboring village wanted to ride the ox cart but were refused by Old Li.

Shao Diandian lifted the children onto the cart. “I’ll pay for four people’s ride!”

She counted herself as two, the three little ones as one, and the goods as one.

Old Li muttered in response, but when she got off, he only charged her for one person.

—

Back home, Shao Diandian found everyone had gone out.

She went into Wei Ting’s room and asked, “Where are Dad and my brother?”

Wei Ting, with his back to her, replied calmly, “They just went out.”

“Did they say where?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Shao Diandian turned to the kitchen to cook.

Wei Ting called after her, “What about my medicine? There’s only one bottle left. Where’s the other one?”

“I sold it,” Shao Diandian said.

Wei Ting frowned. “Who told you to sell my medicine?”

That was precious wound medicine! Money couldn’t buy it!

Shao Diandian chuckled, “Please understand your own situation. You eat my food, drink my water, live under my roof, and almost used up my emergency kit. What’s wrong with me selling you one bottle of wound medicine?”

Wei Ting coldly suppressed his anger.

Shao Diandian pondered thoughtfully. “By the way, aside from those two bottles of medicine, you don’t have anything valuable on you. Don’t you carry silver when you go out?”

Wei Ting ignored her.

Shao Diandian squinted. “You definitely have silver, don’t you? Where do you hide it?”

Wei Ting said coldly, “Didn’t you all already search me? If I hid silver, would you miss it?”

Shao Diandian stroked her chin. “So you hide it somewhere else?”

Wei Ting still faced away. “Stop trying to trick me!”

He was so alert.

Shao Diandian wasn’t annoyed. Looking at his broad shoulders and strong back, she said with authority, “I’ve been keeping track of all your expenses—food, clothes, and medicine. If you can’t pay me back someday, you’ll have to pay me with your body!”

Wei Ting: “…”

Until nightfall, Dad and Erdan still hadn’t returned. Shao Diandian had no choice but to cook dinner for the three little ones and the big patient Wei Ting.

After dinner, she bathed the three children.

When she returned to her room with water, the three little ones were there, each clutching a small pillow.

Shao Diandian cautiously asked, “What’s this... for?”

“To sleep with Mom,” Da Hu said.

Er Hu pointed to the next room, “Niu Dan sleeps with Mom.”

Little Hu immediately clung to Shao Diandian’s leg, raising his adorable little head and said in a baby voice, “Xiao Fu wants to sleep with Mom.”

They made their request, cited actual cases, and launched a cuteness offensive—

You three are conducting an organized, coordinated sleepover operation!

Shao Diandian crossed her arms seriously.

The three little ones’ eyes rolled around.

“Blackmail,” Da Hu said, pointing at Shao Erdan’s room.

“Scary,” Er Hu added.

“Yeah!” Little Hu nodded seriously.

Shao Diandian was speechless.

“Just this once,” she said sternly, “Tomorrow you all go back to sleeping in the west room.”

The three little ones obediently nodded.

Shao Diandian laid out the quilts, undressed the three little ones, and tucked them into bed.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” she asked, looking at them under the covers.

The three little ones blinked their big, black eyes.

—They wanted a goodnight kiss before they could sleep.