Chapter 48: Making Things Difficult

Shao Diandian and Shao Erdan headed to the grain shop near the market.

On the way, Shao Erdan asked his sister excitedly, “Sis, how many more days will we sell?”

“At most three days,” Shao Diandian replied.

As the year’s end approached, fewer and fewer visitors came to town. Their business seemed unaffected because most customers were regulars preparing for the New Year. But once the Little New Year passed, almost no one came out to shop.

“Only three days?” Shao Erdan sounded disappointed.

Shao Diandian smiled at him, “Do you like selling cakes that much?”

“Yeah,” Shao Erdan nodded.

Shao Diandian said, “It’s cold and freezing out there, and people keep criticizing you. Don’t you find it tiring and annoying? Then when summer comes, it’s hot and sunny—you could get heatstroke. Don’t you think lying at home is better?”

Shao Erdan shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum. “But if I lie at home, I’ll be hungry.”

Shao Diandian felt a pang of emotion and reached out to stroke the back of his head. “You won’t have to go hungry anymore.”

With the new products, the ingredients they needed grew more varied. Yesterday she had ordered twenty pounds of glutinous rice flour, thirty pounds of sugar, fifty pounds of wheat flour, and a hundred duck eggs from the shop.

The salted duck egg yolks used in their egg yolk pastries were homemade. She didn’t know if salted duck eggs were sold in the capital, but certainly not in their town.

As soon as the egg yolk pastries came out, they immediately became everyone’s new favorite.

However, due to the high cost, the price was set at twenty-five wen each, and students got a discount to twenty-three wen.

This price was still cheaper than Jin’s Bakery’s pastries, so sales were good.

When they arrived at the grain shop, they unexpectedly ran into their aunt, Mrs. Huang.

Since the last time she was humiliated at the Xiao Shao family’s home, Mrs. Huang had held a grudge against Shao Pangya, constantly plotting how to regain face—and now, that fat fool had come right to her doorstep!

“Oh, look who it is. Isn’t this that ungrateful little white-eyed wolf?”

Hearing Mrs. Huang’s sarcastic tone, Shao Diandian couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” Mrs. Huang said with a stern face.

Shao Diandian said, “I’m just laughing that if you don’t know how to speak properly, it’s better not to say anything, so you won’t embarrass your scholar son.”

Mrs. Huang was furious. “You—”

Shao Diandian spoke bluntly, “What do you mean, what? You didn’t give birth to me or raise me, so how am I the ungrateful white-eyed wolf? If anyone’s the real white-eyed wolf, it’s you—the aunt who lived off the deceased little aunt’s hard-earned money and mistreated her two children.”

Mrs. Huang had already experienced this girl’s sharp tongue before, but even so, it still made her furious.

She pointed at Shao Diandian’s nose. “You, you... insolent little brat! Your cousin is about to study in the prefectural city! When he becomes a successful candidate and a magistrate, you’ll regret this!”

Passing the provincial exam meant no longer having to kowtow to the county magistrate, and passing the metropolitan exam meant even greater prestige.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Huang finally felt somewhat relieved.

She straightened her back and said, “You brat, just wait! The first thing your cousin will do after passing the exams is to kick you out of town!”

Kicking them out of town—what a bold claim!

But it was true that being a successful candidate was very rare and prestigious in this era, especially in a small remote town. It was like a phoenix among sparrows. If Chen Haoyuan really passed, it would be like turning a carp into a dragon.

Shao Diandian’s thoughtful expression caught Mrs. Huang’s eye and surely revealed some nervousness and fear.

Mrs. Huang was overjoyed. “You offended me, now you know what I’m capable of!”

“Brat! It’s too late to regret now! Even if you begged me on your knees, I would never agree to your marriage with Erlang!”

Who would want to be your daughter-in-law?

Was Wei Ting not handsome? Or did Wei Ting have a problem with his waist?

But Mrs. Huang was right about one thing: if Chen Haoyuan passed, the Xiao Shao family’s days would become difficult.

Mrs. Huang said to the shop owner, “You, don’t do business with her. When my son becomes a magistrate, he’ll still come to your store!”

With that, she left triumphantly.

Shao Erdan snorted, “He hasn’t even passed yet and he’s already bossing people around. Shopkeeper, here’s the money!”

He handed the money pouch over.

But the shopkeeper didn’t take it.

“What’s wrong?” Shao Erdan asked.

The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered nervously as he stammered, “Y-You should take your money back. There’s no more flour. It’s sold out.”

“How can there be none?” Shao Diandian asked.

The shopkeeper said, “It was all sold out this morning.”

Shao Diandian said, “I ordered it yesterday. You should sell it to me first.”

“I...” The shopkeeper felt flustered under her gaze. He turned to sort grain bags. “Anyway, you should go buy elsewhere. I really don’t have any!”

Shao Erdan angrily said, “Hey! Business needs honesty! You promised flour but now won’t sell it. How are we supposed to make cakes? You can’t really believe her, right? Her son’s only a scholar, not even halfway through the exams—who knows if he’ll pass?”

The shopkeeper was helpless. “I have no choice. Miss, please buy somewhere else!”

“You—”

“Forget it, Erdan, let’s go.”

Shao Diandian led Shao Erdan out of the shop.

Shao Erdan complained, “Sis, why did you stop me? He’s a grown man. How could he be scared by a woman?”

“It’s not Mrs. Huang,” Shao Diandian said.

Shao Erdan quickly adapted to the change in how she addressed Mrs. Huang and found it quite comfortable.

“If not her, then what happened? Why did the shopkeeper go back on his word and refuse to sell to us?”

Shao Diandian had a suspicion. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Let’s go ask other shops.”

There were quite a few stalls selling flour in the market, all run by villagers. Since it was almost New Year, they had stopped setting up stalls, so Shao Diandian had come to the grain shops.

She remembered there were two more nearby.

But when they went to buy from each, without exception, they all said they were sold out.

“That bag isn’t wheat flour?” Shao Erdan pointed to a bag of flour at the counter.

The owner smiled awkwardly, “That’s... already reserved by someone else. The money’s been paid.”

“What about this one?” Shao Erdan spotted another bag behind the rice bin. “Why are you hiding it?”

The owner’s smile stiffened. “I-I’m keeping it for my own family. It’s almost New Year.”

After leaving the third shop, Shao Erdan couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Sis, what’s going on? Flour was never this hard to get before New Year.”

Exactly. It wasn’t a year of famine or disaster. Grain prices were stable; there shouldn’t be a shortage, especially of wheat flour when rice and wheat were still available.

It was truly suspicious.

“I just remembered, there’s a rice and flour shop on the west side, but it’s far. Sis, wait here. I’ll go buy it!”

He hoisted his basket and was about to leave.

Shao Diandian shook her head. “No need. No one will sell to us.”

“Why not?”

Shao Diandian looked ahead calmly. “Business is so good, it’s making someone jealous.”