“Xiaowen, brother advises you, you can go and propose, if it doesn’t work out, do you want to consider changing one?”
Chen Xiaowen hesitated for a moment, then finally shook his head slightly, “Let’s try it first then.”
That’s fine, as a man, one must summon the courage to do something one wants to do, so as not to have regrets.
As they spoke, the two entered Qingniu County. Old Wu was overjoyed to see Chen Xiaobei arrive and quickly greeted him, “Brother Xiaobei, it’s been a while since you’ve been here. By the way, a few days ago I heard from the villagers that you went to Jizhou.”
Chen Xiaobei nodded, “Yes, I went to Jizhou to handle some matters. By the way, how has business been recently?”
Old Wu chuckled and pointed to the charcoal on Chen Xiaobei’s cart, “I haven’t sold vegetables recently. Business like yours is very good. Wealthy households in the city are scrambling for it. You need to bring me more.”
Hearing Old Wu’s words, Chen Xiaobei’s mind stirred. He was truly foolish. Old Wu was the one who used to sell vegetables, so he knew how to get them.
“Brother Wu, I need to discuss something with you. Hongyu has set up a few large pots in the village recently to cook for the villagers who are working there.”
“Can you help me get some vegetables? It’s difficult to get vegetables at this time of year.”
Upon hearing Chen Xiaobei’s words, Old Wu was stunned for a moment and then couldn’t help but laugh.
“Sigh, you two really can’t sit still. Why are you bothering to cook again? Winter is coming, where will you get so many green vegetables?”
“Who says not? Hongyu initially wanted to stew lamb, but wouldn’t that be a huge loss?” Chen Xiaobei also seemed helpless.
“Alright, leave this to me. I’ll try my best to get you some cheap vegetables, but you’ll have to use them sparingly.”
Chen Xiaobei smiled.
“Then take me to get some today.”
Old Wu thought for a moment and nodded, leading Chen Xiaobei to another corner of the market. There, a horse-drawn cart was parked, and an old man with white hair and beard was leaning there, basking in the sun leisurely.
Seeing Old Wu arrive, the old man smiled and waved, acknowledging him.
“Old Sun, how many of your winter melons are left today?”
Old Sun lifted the curtain, glanced inside his horse-drawn cart’s canopy, then turned and said, “About twenty left.”
“That’s over two hundred jin,” Old Wu replied with a smile. After receiving Old Sun’s acknowledgment, he looked at Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei didn’t hesitate, quickly stepped forward, and said with a smile, “Uncle Sun, sell them all to me, okay?”
Old Sun shook his head, “No, no, I can’t sell them all to you. I promised Miss Xiaoyue that I would reserve a hundred jin for her.”
“At most, I can give you five.” Saying this, Old Sun held up five fingers.
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei’s mind stirred. Could he be referring to Feng Xiaoyue?
“Uncle Sun, are you talking about Feng Xiaoyue, the one who opened the restaurant in Xiaojia Town?”
Upon hearing his words, Old Sun smiled broadly, “Yes, yes, it’s that Miss Xiaoyue. I didn’t expect you to know her.”
Alright, since it was reserved for Feng Xiaoyue, he naturally couldn’t snatch it. “Fine, then give me five. And please reserve five for me every day, and I’ll send someone to pick them up.”
Hearing his words, Old Sun smiled even more broadly, “Okay, but we have an agreement, if you want to reserve vegetables for tomorrow, you have to pay today.”
Chen Xiaobei was speechless for a moment, but Old Wu was laughing heartily.
“You old Sun, you’re a miser until the end.”
Chen Xiaobei was quite composed. Without hesitation, he directly took out a silver ingot.
“Old Sun, do you think this is enough? If not, I’ll add more.”
Old Sun happily took it, “No problem, no problem. I’ll tell you when you’re running low.”
As they were talking, the sound of horseshoes came from a distance.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Feng Xiaoyue arriving. Old Sun’s face immediately bloomed into a smile, his wrinkles forming like a washboard.
Feng Xiaoyue, however, was the first to see Chen Xiaobei, and waved at him from afar.
Old Sun thought she was greeting him and quickly waved back, but unexpectedly, Feng Xiaoyue called out directly.
“Brother Xiaobei, why are you here too?”
Hearing her call, Old Sun’s expression froze, then he looked at Old Wu and awkwardly lowered his hand.
Seeing his reaction, Old Wu burst into laughter.
Feng Xiaoyue arrived and still smiling, said, “Brother Xiaobei, why are you here? Didn’t you say Sister Hongyu was coming?”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei smiled faintly, “Alas, I feel more at ease when she’s here.”
Hearing this, Feng Xiaoyue was stunned for a moment, then she also smiled. This topic was now over.
Then she turned to Old Sun, “Uncle Sun, have my winter melons been reserved for me?”
“Reserved, reserved, don’t worry, not a single one is missing.”
Saying this, Old Sun jumped off the cart and began to work.
He weighed each winter melon one by one and placed them on Feng Xiaoyue’s cart. The remaining ones were then weighed by Old Sun and given to Chen Xiaobei. Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei smiled. This old man was truly very biased.
As Feng Xiaoyue was arranging the winter melons, she said to Old Sun, “Uncle Sun, I’ll have to leave for a while in a couple of days. By the way, I’ll have my younger brother, Xiaomu, come over then.”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei smiled faintly and called Chen Xiaowen over, “Xiaoyue, you don’t have to go to so much trouble. Since I’ll be coming to town to buy vegetables anyway, why don’t I help you bring them back together? By the way, Xiaowen also knows the way.”
Upon hearing Chen Xiaobei say this, Old Sun was astonished. He clearly hadn’t expected Chen Xiaobei and Feng Xiaoyue to be so familiar with each other.
Chen Xiaowen even patted his chest and repeatedly promised, “Sister Xiaoyue, don’t worry, I’ll definitely handle it for you.”
Thinking that Feng Xiaoyue was going to Wannian City, Chen Xiaobei’s mind stirred, “In a couple of days, Brother Yang Zhi and the others will also be returning to Daguo. I’ve already spoken to him and arranged for them to go back with you.”
Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Feng Xiaoyue’s eyes.
Perhaps “surprise” would be a better word.
“Thank you for worrying about me. Actually, it’s fine. I used to come back from Wannian City myself.”
“Alas, that’s different. The other day, when I returned from Jizhou, there were many remnants of Zhu Meng’s defeated soldiers roaming around. It would be very troublesome for you if you encountered them.”
After buying these winter melons, Old Wu was also relieved, “Brother Xiaobei, these are the only things available at this time of year. If you want to buy cabbage and radishes, you’ll have to wait a few more days. Besides these, there are no other vegetables to eat.”
Chen Xiaobei certainly understood. He thought about how in his previous life, winter was just radishes, cabbage, and winter melons.
“Alright, then we’ll make do for a few days.”
Chen Xiaobei arranged for Chen Xiaowen to drive one of the carts to take the winter melons back.
He himself turned and headed for the county office. Today, he had to find Hu Fan and resign from his position as village head.