Farm Girl's Small Blessings

Chapter 10: The Village Fair

Old Mr. Zhou made the decision to have his daughter study under Master Zhuang, and of course, proper preparations had to be made. The next day, not even the eldest son went out to work.

Old Mr. Zhou directly had him borrow a cart from the village head and brought out two bags of grain from the storage room.

The whole family stood at their respective doorways, seemingly oblivious to the anxiety in the eyes of the daughters-in-law. Old Mr. Zhou instructed the eldest and the third son to tie up the grain securely, and then he instructed Zhou Erlang, "When you get to the market, exchange the grain for money first. Use it to buy your mother's medicine for three days, then buy a piece of meat. It should be pork belly, and if you can find some cured meat, that would be even better."

After a moment of thought, Old Mr. Zhou added, "See if there's anyone selling better quality cotton fabric at the market. If there is, buy it and have a set of clothes made for Master Zhuang. Oh, and don't forget to buy materials for shoes and socks, make sure they are of good quality."

Zhou Erlang noted everything down.

The daughters-in-law felt a pang in their hearts as they listened to the list of items to be purchased, knowing that it meant giving up two bags of grain.

Old Mr. Zhou felt the pain even more, but the sounds of laughter drifting in from outside allowed him to push aside that feeling of heartache. Once all the instructions had been given, Old Mr. Zhou waved his hand, signaling for everyone to go about their tasks.

Mambo woke up early in the morning and then dragged the younger brothers to pick wildflowers together.

By the time the household was ready, they were ready too. They carried baskets woven by Zhou Erlang, filled with wild grass and flowers, joyfully following behind the adults.

Feng Shi, who had joined them, looked at the contents of their baskets and couldn't help but ask, "What are you going to do with all these things?"

Eldest Miss replied, "Little Aunt said we're going to sell them."

Feng Shi widened her eyes slightly, "There are wildflowers everywhere, who would buy them?"

At that moment, Mambo, who was being carried on the back of the fifth brother, exclaimed, "Second Sister-in-law, I will buy them. I'm willing to buy anything that looks nice."

Truly a spendthrift.

Feng Shi couldn't help but ask, "Little Aunt, do you have money?"

Mambo honestly shook her head, "Not now, but I will in the future."

She had great confidence in herself, even Keke said she was very clever, so she must be very capable. Making money should be no problem for her.

Feng Shi didn't stop them, treating it as simply a game for the children, since they were holding onto the items themselves.

Once they arrived at the market, everyone began to find a spot to set up their stalls.

Zhou Erlang brought along many baskets and winnowing baskets to sell. He skillfully secured a piece of land, placed the items down, and instructed his wife to handle the sales. He then reminded the fifth and sixth brothers, "Keep a close eye on Mambo and Dàtóu, and don't let them wander off."

Before the fifth brother could respond, Mambo patted her chest and declared, "Second Brother, rest assured, I will definitely look after the nephews. We won't go anywhere."

Zhou Erlang smiled, reached out and gently pat her head.

He then proceeded to push the cart along with Zhou Dalang to sell the grain.

This market was held every fifth day, where people from nearby villages gathered together in the relatively large village of Dali.

Because there was a mountain in this area, on top of which sat a temple with two monks. Every year on the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, a particularly grand temple fair was held here, attracting people even from the county town to come from far and wide to participate.

This was the grand temple fair, while the smaller temple fairs were held during major festivals and seasonal celebrations, a tradition that had been observed for many years.

According to Mambo, who had heard from the elders at the village entrance, these customs had been passed down since they were children.

For this reason, Keke expressed special regret, calling it a specialized system for collecting biological knowledge. They even had a department in their encyclopedia dedicated to collecting such folk customs. The formation of this temple fair alone could generate countless sub-tasks and surely earn a lot of points.

At that moment, Mambo found Keke a bit disheartened, so she generously offered comforting words, "But I like Keke. I don't like any other systems."

In any case, this was a grand market where villagers exchanged goods and information with one another.

Now, the question arises: Did everyone simply trade goods for money?

Certainly not!

Upon seeing Second Sister-in-law neatly arranging the baskets and winnowing baskets, Mambo and the others immediately placed their baskets filled with wild grass and flowers next to Feng Shi's goods, forming a row. They then squatted down behind them, their small faces propped up, watching the passersby.

Zhou Erlang had been in business at the market for many years and had already made a name for himself. So, shortly after setting up their items, an elderly lady carrying a basket on her back approached and inspected the winnowing baskets, asking, "Can I exchange these for eggs?"

After a brief moment of consideration, Feng Shi agreed, saying, "Eggs are still three for two pennies now, right?"

The old lady confirmed.

Feng Shi began to calculate how many eggs she should give in return, but she felt her calculations were off. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. In the past, her husband had always handled these matters, as calculating money during sales was always his task.

Wiping away the sweat, Mambo saw her sister-in-law struggling and quickly jumped in, "Second Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, I know. Are our winnowing baskets still fifteen pennies each?"

Feng Shi knew her niece was clever and could do sums. They often played games of adding one penny to two pennies to see how many pennies it made. So, she nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, our prices have always remained the same."

Mambo curiously looked at the old lady, "Where are your eggs?"

The old lady couldn't do calculations herself, but her family had prepared the number of eggs she needed before she left. However, she still hoped that the Zhou family might make a mistake in their calculation.

She had hurried over as soon as she saw Zhou Erlang wasn't present.

Setting down her basket, she opened it to show Mambo her eggs, saying, "These are all laid by our family's chickens, they are good quality."

Mambo offered, "Let me count them."

The old lady was not too pleased, "You haven't told me how many eggs you need."

Mambo stared wide-eyed, "If I haven't counted them, how would I know how many eggs you need? I need to count them."

Upon hearing this, the old lady realized Mambo was inexperienced and smiled, not stopping her. She said, "Just be careful, don't c***k any of the eggs."

Mambo assured her, "Don't worry, if any get cracked, it's on me."

She took out the eggs, three in a group, three in a group, there were eight groups like this. The old lady counted the eggs and was about to take them back.

Mambo clapped her hands joyfully, "I've counted them, I've counted them. Second Sister-in-law, look, this is two pennies, this is two pennies, two pennies, two pennies... It's a total of sixteen pennies."

The neighboring stall owner watched the whole process and exclaimed, "This little girl is truly clever."

Feng Shi beamed with pride, "She's my younger sister, the smartest one in our family."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang were also proud, puffing out their chests and saying, "She's our sister!"

The old lady glanced at the two strapping young men, almost saying something but swallowing it back. Instead, she said, "Your winnowing baskets are fifteen pennies each, but I accidentally gave you an extra penny. I'll just take this pile back."

Mambo thought it was fair and voluntarily took out the two smallest eggs from a group, saying, "It should be fifteen pennies, but technically it's one and a half eggs, and we can't split an egg in half. So, we'll take a small loss. You can take these two back."

The old lady was speechless.

Feng Shi also noticed the old lady's actions, smiling warmly in response. Swiftly, she gathered the eggs into their family's basket, and with a smile, she allowed the old lady to choose a winnowing basket to her liking. She added, "Let's not worry about the size of the eggs, let's just make the exchange like this."

Although she hadn't suffered any losses herself, the old lady still felt a bit unhappy. She looked at Mambo and remarked, "This child, chubby and fair-skinned, doesn't seem to come from an ordinary family."

Feng Shi chuckled and said, "Our youngest niece at home is dearly loved by her parents-in-law and her brothers. They all dote on her, so she's been carefully raised. Not to boast, but there's hardly a girl in the surrounding villages as well-nurtured as our niece."

Everyone took a closer look and indeed found it to be true.

This child not only had lovely facial features but was also fair and chubby. Her round, rosy cheeks indicated that she was a fortunate soul.

The old lady's lingering doubt dissipated, and she nodded with a smile, "She is indeed beautiful."

Mambo, feeling flattered, instantly brightened up and enthusiastically introduced her own goods to the old lady, "Grandmother, please take a look at my items as well. Look at my flowers, they are so beautifully grown. If you bring them home and place them on your windowsill, they will surely brighten your mood."

Being addressed as grandmother, the old lady felt a few years younger instinctively and exclaimed happily, "Are you giving them to me? Look at you, still so polite."

She reached out to take them.

Mambo's eyes shimmered as she said, "It's not a gift, it's one penny per bunch, very affordable."

The old lady swiftly retracted her hand with a gasp, her eyes widening in surprise as she asked, "What? You're charging for these wildflowers? Aren't they abundant on the mountain?"

"Yes," Mambo asserted confidently, "but I picked them myself."

Feng Shi quickly interjected, "Grandmother, please don't mind. The children are just playing around. They often clamor at home about wanting to do business, so we brought them out to gain some experience."

The old lady felt a bit better after hearing this explanation, but she refrained from reaching for the flowers again, fearing Mambo would ask her for money.

She quickly chose a winnowing basket and hurriedly departed.

Mambo watched her leave wistfully, sighing to her friends, "Why didn't she buy any? Our flowers are so beautiful."

Her friends replied, "... We knew this would happen, so we're not disappointed at all."

The companions eagerly watched the bustling crowds on the street, finding great joy in being at the market.

People came intermittently to buy baskets and winnowing baskets. Mambo always helped Second Sister-in-law with the calculations, and after tallying up the totals, she would recommend her flowers and plants. Initially, every adult would reach out eagerly, but upon realizing they had to pay, they quickly retracted their hands.

As the market day passed its midpoint, with no sign of their elder brothers returning, none of their flowers and plants had been sold, and some of the flowers were starting to wilt.

Mambo sighed with concern, observing the situation. Seeing that Second Sister-in-law's winnowing baskets were almost sold out while there were still many baskets left, she arranged her flowers and plants into the baskets.

Feng Shi watched with a pounding heart, "Young lady, you're not expecting customers to buy your flowers and plants if they buy the baskets, are you?"

Mambo, who simply felt that it was a waste to leave the unsold flowers and plants behind and had intended to give them away, brightened up at the suggestion, "Oh, Second Sister-in-law, you're truly clever. Why didn't I think of this solution?"

Feng Shi wished she could just sew her own mouth shut.