Chapter 84 - Glutton (1/2)

At this moment, Xiaocao only had a few individual packets of braised dishes left in her basket, and she had previously promised Foreman Sun that she was going to leave one pack for him. Thus, she only had a portion of pig ear ribbons, a portion of pig lips, and two portions of pig intestines.

“Okay! That will be four copper coins!” Xiaocao swiftly used a piece of oiled paper and packaged all of the braised foods together. Little Shitou stretched out his hand to receive the money.

Shopkeeper Jin was stunned for a moment. Four copper coins? He had invited Great Scholar Yuan to eat food that cost four copper coins? Wasn’t that a little too shameful? This was not showing the proper respect to Great Scholar Yuan! What should he do? Teacher Yuan was still waiting for him over there. Ah, why did he take this upon himself and volunteer to run an errand like this?

“Excuse me, do you still want these braised dishes?” Xiaocao had noticed that when the man was reaching for the money from his purse, he had acted as if someone had paralyzed him and froze. She had inquired quietly as she was a bit confused and perplexed by this change in demeanor.

Little Shitou made an ‘I understand everything’ expression, and he stated sympathetically, “Older sister, do you think this fat older uncle had gotten his money stolen? I heard that the docks have pickpockets around…Second Sister, he’s quite pitiful, how about we give him a portion of braised food free of charge for him to try…”

A few dock workers in their surroundings who had arrived late and hadn’t bought any braised food repeatedly asked the man, “Sir, do you still want it? Xiaocao, if he doesn’t want any, then sell me a portion——here’s the money.”

Shopkeeper Jin clenched his jaw and stamped his foot, “Who said I didn’t want it? Don’t you still have some left in the basket? Give me all that’s left!”

Xiaocao hastily replied, “Please don’t take offense, these couple of portions have already been reserved by other people. I really only do have four portions left, so I’m really sorry about this. I’ll be coming over every day to sell my braised food. The price of one copper coin per portion is my family’s specialty. If you enjoy eating it, sir, then please come back again.”

Shopkeeper Jin was afraid that Teacher Yuan would lose his patience from waiting too long, so he took the packet of braised food and threw a silver piece that was worth about a hundred copper coins to them. He turned and bolted away, as if something had scorched his butt. Xiaocao held the silver piece and pondered what to do since they likely didn’t have enough money from selling food today to give the man his change. When she saw that the fat, glittering man had left, she swiftly called out, “Hey, hey! I haven’t given you your change yet!

“No need to give me change, take the rest as a reward for you!” This type of silver piece was usually used by Shopkeeper Jin to reward lower ranked servants in his residence. In his eyes, this piece was of no more value than a copper coin was in ordinary people’s eyes.

Yuan Sinian and his young grandson had already sat down at a nearby noodle stand that was run by the Wang Family. They had ordered two bowls of plain noodles and were slouching as they waited for Shopkeeper Jin to come over.

“What’s taking him so long? What if it got sold out? You brat, you know how much I, your grandfather, love to eat, yet you didn’t even bother to buy a portion to let me have a taste, hmph! If I’m unable to try this ‘braised food’, then just you wait!”

At this point, Yuan Sinian had completely shed his scholarly persona and was starting to resemble a stubborn old urchin more and more. Yuan Yunxi managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his grandfather and silently sighed inwardly…however, he felt like the little girl who was selling braised food sounded somewhat familiar…

“It’s here! It’s here!!” Yuan Sinian immediately sat up straight and changed his posture. Once again, he resumed the outward demeanor of an elegant and mysterious scholar. The corners of Yuan Yunxi’s mouth twitched as he looked down.

Shopkeeper Jin had a bright smile on his face as he borrowed a bowl from the noodle stall and politely placed the braised food one by one into it. He then asked, “Sir, would you happen to have any sesame oil? Adding a little bit of sesame oil should help make the flavor even better…”

Xiaocao, who had chased after the man to give him the change, overheard their conversation and smiled, “That’s a good idea, if you add a little bit of sesame oil and then put a couple pieces of garlic on top, it will definitely be more delicious! Sir, I have your ninety-six copper coins as change right here…”

Teacher Yuan lightly glanced at the copper coins in her hand and said, “He already said that you can keep the change, so just keep it for yourselves. In any case, this man is so wealthy that even a larger bit of money wouldn’t be of a concern to him.”

Shopkeeper Jin inwardly quivered in fear! How did he manage to offend this imposing old man again? Was there something wrong with having a lot of money? If Teacher Yuan was willing to accept his son again into the academy, he would gladly disperse his family’s wealth and live a poor and impoverished life…

“Ah…Teacher Yuan, they don’t have any sesame oil here, let me go somewhere else to find some…” Shopkeeper Jin took ahold of this opportunity to escape from this awkward situation. He managed to find a stall that sold stir-fries and threw them another silver piece to take the rest of the sesame oil that the stall had left, which was about half a small bottle’s worth.

When Xiaocao noticed that both the brightly clothed fatty and the elegant old scholar were people who lived lives where they didn’t have to do much on their own, she naturally started to crush the garlic heads with a practiced air and seasoned the braised foods with sesame oil. Then she said, “Please eat!”

“Okay!” Yuan Sinian used his entire willpower to restrain his hungry desire and unhurriedly stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a piece of sliced pig ear. He then slowly placed the piece of food into his mouth.

Yuan Yunxi, who was next to the old man, once again stopped himself from rolling his eyes. No one understood his grandfather as well as he did. Had there not been other people present, which made the old man aware of his status, he would have long started wolfing down the food in front of him…however, for some reason, this little girl seemed a bit familiar to him!