Chapter 51 Strange
When Mrs. Du heard these words, the light that had previously lit up in her eyes dimmed slightly. But thinking about how straightforward Su Mulan was in this purchase, and how sincere and clear-eyed she spoke, unlike those who only knew how to talk nonsense, Mrs. Du smiled again.
“Alright, I understand. We’ll see when the time comes. In business, it’s all about fate. If you want to buy, come find me then.”
“That’s how it is.” Su Mulan smiled faintly.
After Mrs. Du finished selling the corn and collected the money happily, she took her own basket and bid farewell to Su Mulan, then hurried away.
Su Mulan, on the other hand, put the somewhat heavy basket back on her back.
When she arrived, her shoulders were aching from the strain. Now, having to carry back such heavy bundles of corn again, her shoulders felt a fiery pain, making Su Mulan furrowed her brows involuntarily. She took a basket lined with cloth and walked forward slowly.
“Tsk, this person is really something. Despite hearing that these bundles of corn aren’t good, she still wants to buy them. Not only did she buy so many at once, but she also says she’ll buy more later. She must have too much money and too little sense. They say ‘listen to advice and you’ll eat your fill’, but when she gets home and finds these bundles of corn aren’t good, she’ll regret it without anywhere to turn.”
“Don’t even mention it. Every time this woman comes to sell her bundles of corn at the market, she never sells many. Now suddenly, she sold them all at once. It’s suspicious no matter how you look at it. I suspect Mrs. Du might have hired someone to boost sales of her bundles of corn, trying to get others to buy them.”
“It’s just selling bundles of corn, why think so much about it? Maybe we’re reading too much into it. Perhaps people just like these unpleasant bundles of corn…”
Yet buying these bundles of corn has sparked such a heated discussion, indeed…
Listening to these random speculations, Su Mulan sighed inwardly, gently touched her forehead in resignation, and paid no further attention. Carrying her bamboo basket, she proceeded to the shop ahead and bought some granulated sugar.
Today, after attending the market, she earned a total of ninety-three cents. After deducting thirteen cents spent on buying bundles of corn and fifteen cents on sugar…
Counting the remaining money, Su Mulan went straight to the butcher shop and bought one and a half jin of pork belly.
The four radishes were slender and weak, in these times, milk was insufficient, and one must keep up with eggs and meat to avoid malnutrition.
On the way back, the hot weather combined with the weight in the bamboo basket made the journey quite difficult. Su Mulan, reluctant to spend even a penny on a cart, took breaks several times along the road.
By the time Su Mulan arrived home, the sun was already nearing its zenith.
“Mother’s back.” Bai Lixia, washing sweet potatoes in the yard with white bamboo leaves and white soybeans, hurriedly walked a few steps to take the bamboo basket from Su Mulan.
Upon noticing that the bamboo basket was just as heavy as when she had left, Bai Lixia paused for a moment. “Mother… these sweet potatoes… dried?”
“They’re not dried sweet potatoes,” Su Mulan replied.
Seeing Bai Lixia’s concern, Su Mulan explained, “All the dried sweet potatoes were sold out. When I returned, I saw someone selling bundles of corn, so I bought a basket of them.”
It was clear the household food supply was insufficient and wouldn’t last until the autumn harvest. Using the money from selling dried sweet potatoes to buy food was quite normal.
Normally, people would buy corn flour to save the trouble of grinding flour again, but Su Mulan bought bundles of corn instead, which was rather strange.