CH 60

Chapter 60 :跑商

( Run a business)

The next day was a fine, sunny day, as what Uncle Huang had said, the air temperature had fallen rapidly so wearing autumn clothes was no longer resistant to the cold.

Zhong Ziqi fished out a double layered jacket and put it on before he found another one for Zhao Ning to wear.

Although the rain had cleared, the country roads were still muddy and difficult to walk on. They were so deep that they were covered in mud.

When these several people entered the town, Huang Amu and Uncle Huang had already opened the shop door and were busy inside.

“You’ve come? The road is not good, right?” Huang Amu looked red-faced as he greeted Zhong Ziqi, Zhao Amu and the others.

“Yeah, if not for the purpose of earning money, otherwise, I wouldn’t come out.” Zhao Amu flicked his clothes in disgust (Tl :because of the muddy road).

As they chatted, they started to work on their own affairs.

It was still early, but some customers were starting to come in one by one. Zhong Ziqi found out that Uncle Huang’s son had arrived too at some point. He was standing not far from him, sensing his line of sight, he immediately turned his gaze towards then stepped towards him.

“Do you…need anything?” Zhong Ziqi asked.

Huang Jin Lei shot him a look and said, “I’m older than you, just call me Lei Ge.”

“Er…Brother Lei (Lei Ge) .” Zhong Ziqi called out smoothly.

Huang Jin Lei gave a ‘Hn’ and said with a serious expression, “Thanks to you and your husband for taking care of my parents. Otherwise the two of them wouldn’t be in their current state now.” Every day was fulfilling (and prosperous).

Zhong Ziqi hurriedly said after he had heard what he said: “No need to thank me, you’re too polite Lei Ge! When my Fu Jun (husband) and I first came to town to do business, it was Huang Amu and Uncle Huang who kept helping me.The one that needed to say thank you, it should be us.”

Huang Jin Lei shook his head and did not argue with him, the reason for this matter he had heard from his Amu, although they had done some small help, but Zhong Ziqi had also given them money. So no one owes anyone anything.

“Let’s not talk about that! I see you guys are quite busy, why don’t I help you out?”

Although Huang Jin Lei’s appearance was a bit fierce, his personality was gentle and polite.

“It’s not much to do, just serve the customers’ orders and collect the money.” Zhong Ziqi told him the prices. Huang Jin Lei nodded his head to express that he had remembered.

The work in Zhao Ning’s hands was done by Huang Jin Lei, so Zhao Ning who was able to rest, leaned next to Zhong Ziqi and said curiously: “It’s done pretty well.”

Zhong Ziqi was unconcerned: “It’s not like it’s a difficult task?”

“The main thing is that he doesn’t look like a man who does this kind of work.”

“Do I look like one to you?” Zhong Ziqi asked Zhao Ning.

“Er …” Zhao Ning rubbed his nose and stopped talking.

Noon was the busiest time for them, and there were times when they couldn’t even get a bite of rice. So the crowd had developed a habit of eating on their own so whoever was hungry,they could eat whatever they liked and they could also eat whatever they wanted inside the shop.

The few people in the shop were either too old or weak, so how could they have so much appetite? Only Zhao Sheng had a bigger appetite, and Zhao Zheng’an, who was still considered as a sick person when he was around, also had a pretty big appetite.The crowd was teasing the two for a long time because of this, but when they saw the amount of food Huang Jin Lei had, the crowd suddenly thought in their hearts that they had really misjudged Zhao Sheng and Zhao Zheng’an before. (Tl: laugh)

So the real ‘rice bucket’ was here!

[Rice bucket here mean ‘big eater’]

Huang Jin Lei knew how much he could eat, so he took several mahua with yao tiao (chinese breadsticks) from Zhong Ziqi, but he paid for all of them. At first Zhong Ziqi thought they were from the customers, but then he realised it was Huang Jin Lei himself who gave it to him.

Although Zhong Ziqi was surprised that he took so many, he did not intend to take his money. Instead, Huang Jin Lei waved his hand and did not accept the money he handed over.

Huang Jin Lei sat down on a chair and ate the rice porridge that his Amu had made.

Huang Amu had seen how much his son could eat last night, so he poked Uncle Huang: “Father, go get him a bowl of beancurd jelly.”

Uncle Huang nodded and brought his son another bowl of jellied tofu, as everyone looked on in amazement, Huang Jin Lei swept away the pile of food similar to locusts that passed through a country’s territory , leaving nothing behind.

[片甲不留 piàn jiǎ bù liú : have not even a fragment of armour remaining]

“This is something that an ordinary family can’t afford to feed ah! One person can eat as much as three people.” Zhao Ning said with an 囧囧 (double shock)look.

(Tl: Cute Zhao Ning)

[囧 since c. 2005— (slang) emoticon signifying embarrassment, shock, helplessness etc]

Zhao Amu shook his head and touched briefly at his youngest son’s forehead: “Those who have been in the army are all very good eaters, remember when I took you to an uncle’s house for a banquet when you were little, you met one with a very big appetite. You were so scared that you cried in my arms. That man was a soldier.”

“Oh, I don’t remember.”

Zhao Ning spat out his tongue, how could he remember so clearly what had happened when he was small?

“Although this boy can eat a bit, he seems to be quite a nice person.” Zhao Amu thought ‘thoughtfully’.

Zhao Ning shrugged, not really caring, and ran to the back to wash the dishes.

“These.”

Huang Jin Lei came over and put the used dishes next to Zhao Ning.

Zhao Ning gave him a nervous look and said, “Put them here!”

“Take these to the front!” Zhao Ning pointed to the ones that he had washed and cleaned.

“Hn.”

The man answered, but didn’t move.

Zhao Ning looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he was still standing here.

“Give me your hand!” The man glanced at the ‘very unconscious’ man.

Zhao Ning raised his right hand in uncertainty, only to see Huang Jin Lei raise his hand and roll up his sleeve, which had fallen off somehow and was already wet, bit by bit.

“The other one!”

Zhao Ning foolishly handed his other hand over, after he reacted, the man had already left.

Zhao Ning suddenly blushed, looked down at his two sleeves, bit his lip, and absentmindedly continued to wash the dishes.

Little did he know that this scene happened to be watched by Zhao Amu who had been observing Huang Jin Lei. Zhao Amu’s eyes flickered as he looked at the two people with unknown expressions. He shook his head and nodded his head again for a long time not knowing what he was thinking.

After they went back that day Zhong Ziqi felt that Zhao Ning was a bit off. He did not know what he was thinking about, doing everything absent-mindedly, sometimes even blushing a little.

Zhong Ziqi was curious and put his face to face with him: “Xiao Ning, are you ‘in heat’?”

Zhao Ning snapped back after he returned to his senses, “You’re the one who’s in heat!”

This person, how can he say such a thing?

[The original one is 这人怎么什么都能说出口? This person,how can he open his mouth and able to say anything’]

Zhong Ziqi sat down uprightly, ” If you’re not in heat, why do you look so lustful? What are you thinking about? Which wild man are you thinking about?”

[ the original word for ‘lustful’ here is 淫荡 ( 淫蕩 )yín dàng : loose in morals / lascivious / licentious / lewd]

Zhao Ning was choked by Zhong Ziqi’s ‘explicit words’ and blushed again: “What are you talking about? What wild man? Go and make dinner, I’m hungry!”

Zhao Ning was annoyed and pushed his arm towards the kitchen.

Zhong Ziqi said with a teasing smile, “Yo, you’re quite thin-skinned!”

It was a rare day when Zhao Ning didn’t ‘chatter’ around him like she did in the past. There must be something, but since the person was so embarrassed, then he would not ask it first. Sooner or later, he would talk about it.

The only thing going through Zhao Ning’s mind was the scene that happened today. The main reason was that as an unmarried ger, although he usually helped out in the shop, he had never been this close to and interacted with an unfamiliar man before, so how could he not let his thoughts wander?

However, Zhao Ning is a big-hearted person and it didn’t take him long to stop caring and continue to laugh and joke with Zhong Ziqi.

※※※

Zhao Zheng’an, who was far away in Jiang Nan, was on his first merchant trip with a caravan. The place where they were resting was a small city called Yong Quan City, which was at best, one size larger than a normal town. This town was rich in plants that had great medicinal value and could be said to be almost non-existent in other places.

The leader of the caravan was called Shen Chong, everyone used to call him Master Shen (沈爷= Shen Ye) . He was one of Shen Yu Bei’s trusted subordinates. Shen Chong didn’t express any opinion about this person who was suddenly inserted by the master. He had already heard that this was the son in law of the eldest master. He came from the north and wanted to follow the business trip.

At first, Shen Chong looked at his young age and thought that he might just come to have some fun and follow their vision to make some money. He didn’t really care.

But what he gradually noticed was that the boy’s polite and amiable, also modest and eager to study attitude made him feel good and impressed. Then he thought that the boy was calm enough. They walked through a few small towns a few days ago, so some of the first-time traders in their party would buy some of the things they found strange and unusual, and sell it in the next town to make a living.

But the boy was so calm and collected that he just watched and didn’t buy anything. This made him interested.He wanted to see what the boy was looking for.

Zhao Zheng’an actually didn’t know exactly what he wanted to buy. He didn’t come across anything that he found valuable ahead, so he didn’t buy it either.

The group rested at an inn in Yong Quan Town. Zhao Zheng’an spoke to Shen Chong about having to go out for a walk like he always did.

Shen Chong nodded and called out to Zhao Zheng’an again as he stepped out of the door, “Kid, this place produces many kinds of medicinal herbs in abundance, you can bring some with you. Our merchant team(caravan) also wants to buy it.”

Zhao Zheng’an nodded: “Thank you, Master Shen for informing me,this kid will take note of it.”

Yong Quan City is not a big city, but it is very lively. Zhao Zheng’an was wandering through the bustling streets and soon saw the herb Shen Chong had mentioned, a green cross-shaped toothed leaf with the slightly slender rhizome but well developed dense roots. [Hope I get it right]

The main point is that it also has a lot of small red fruits, which are hard if you touch it but the fruit is said to be more effective than the other parts.

Zhao Zheng’an was interested in acquiring the plant. He remembered the road map Shen Chong had shown him. It recorded the route of their trip and the details of each town. A few more stops away was a large city with four gates and different destinations.The eastern gate, a dozen miles away was an uninhabited zone.

But a little further east is a military camp. He heard that there were many bandits in the area, which is why the military camp was set up there to suppress them. They would buy their food, clothing, accommodation and medical herbs in this town.

The medicinal herbs that Shen Chong and his team bought were sold here. They made a fortune every year. Zhao Zheng’an naturally wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity, so he spent money to buy a batch and had it sent back to the inn.

After that he wandered around the place again.

“Little brother, buy a hairpin! It’s very cheap.” The man selling the goods was a man who looked to be in his forties, bearded and haggard, squatting alone in a corner with a cloth spread in front of him and various styles of wooden hairpins on it.

Zhao Zheng’an went over and squatted down, picked up a wooden hairpin and looked at it. He found that it was particularly exquisitely carved. The patterns on it as if it came to life. At this moment, he remembered that there was an old wooden hairpin at home that Zhong Ziqi had been using. He hadn’t paid any attention to it before.

Now it was just the right time to buy it therefore he thought such a plain hairpin would go just right with him.

“Wrap two for me!” Zhao Zheng’an said towards the man, reaching out and pointing out two that he thought were good.

The man’s eyes lit up: “Please wait a moment!” That man’s price was a bit higher than the usual wooden hairpins, but Zhao Zheng’an thought it was worth it, so he didn’t bargain with him, handed over the money and left.

Huff.. Zhao Ning is so cute

Can’t wait for their sweet interaction

The moment Zhao Zheng an remembered Zhong Ziqi always using the same old wooden hairpin and his sweet attentive attempt to buy the new one for him is really touching.