Chapter 9
Eldest Miss Ming swallowed her bellyful of grievances, finished washing the dishes, and stepped out the door with the grocery basket. She was utterly repulsed by the idea of carrying that basket—it didn't match her grace or status in the slightest.
She ought to be carrying luxury designer bags—at the very least, Chanel or Gucci.
Xiangling Town was quiet and sparse in the early morning. Most storefronts opening up were local specialty shops catering to tourists; only a portion of the native residents woke early to shop at the wet market.
Most of those early risers were elderly folk.
Following her memories from the previous night, Ming Ruixi arrived at the wet market. The stalls were piled high with a bounty of vegetables—fresh and tender, just as Yu Xian had said.
She made her way over to the meat section. Stagnant puddles of murky water pooled across the floor between the stalls, making her deeply uncomfortable, as if she were wading through a damp swamp.
A butcher caught sight of her disgusted expression and the delicate, awkward way she held the basket with both hands—she looked like someone who had never managed household groceries in her life. The butcher sized her up: a prime out-of-town target ripe for price gouging. He immediately greeted her with overflowing warmth.
"Hey, pretty girl! Looking to buy some pork ribs?"
Eldest Miss Ming thought the man was practically psychic. How did he know what she wanted? Seeing the shopkeeper's eager gaze, she decided to make her purchase right here.
"I want two racks of spare ribs."
The butcher pointed to two hanging cuts: "Take a look at these two, how about them? These are top-tier prime ribs."
Eldest Miss Ming looked over them and nodded: "J-Just these two, then."
As the butcher sliced them down, he asked, "Want me to chop them into pieces for you?"
Remembering Yu Xian's warning that if they weren't chopped here she would have to butcher them herself at home, Eldest Miss Ming nodded hastily: "Mm-hmm."
With a few deft thuds of his cleaver, the butcher chopped the ribs, packed them into a plastic bag, and said, "That's 138 yuan total. WeChat or Alipay?"
As he spoke, a crafty glint flashed in his eyes as he gestured toward the QR code on the side.
"WeChat, please." Eldest Miss Ming didn't think twice, raising her phone to scan the code.
Right before confirming the payment, she remembered the need to haggle. Pausing, she looked at the butcher, hesitating on the verge of speaking.
The butcher remained cheerful: "What's wrong? Anything else you need to buy?"
Stammering awkwardly, Eldest Miss Ming struggled to pull down her aristocratic pride: "Um... could you give this lady a bit of a discount?"
The butcher was momentarily taken aback, nearly bursting into laughter at the way she referred to herself: "Alright, I'll shave off the change. Remember to come back and patronize my stall again next time, pretty girl!"
Ming Ruixi's cheeks flushed. She nodded hastily, scanning the code to pay 130 yuan.
After completing the payment, Ming Ruixi opened her grocery basket, letting him drop the ribs inside before moving on to the next item on her list.
After walking a few steps, Ming Ruixi did the math: she only had 70 yuan left, with five more items to go. Still, pork ribs were supposed to be expensive since they tasted good.
The remaining money would surely be enough to cover the rest.
Ming Ruixi arrived at a fishmonger's stall and asked for a crucian carp. The fishmonger warmly descaled and gutted it for her. Although the sight was sickeningly bloody, she felt that having the fish prepped was well worth the 60 yuan.
Only 10 yuan left...
Vegetables, on the other hand, were cheap.
Eldest Miss Ming: "I'd like half a catty of mung beans."
The elderly woman weighed them out: "15 yuan."
Eldest Miss Ming checked her balance. A sudden, glaring sense of wrongness struck her—was this vendor ripping her off? How could half a catty of mung beans cost 15 yuan?
"Auntie, could you make it a bit cheaper?"
The elderly vendor raised an eyebrow: "How much are you offering?"
Seeing this, Eldest Miss Ming assumed she was being invited to name her own price.
She knew it—this vendor was definitely price gouging! If she was letting her name the price, didn't that mean the base cost was practically next to nothing?
With that thought, Ming Ruixi brightened up: "3 yuan." She needed the remaining 7 yuan for the other groceries!
Vendor: "What did you say?"
Ming Ruixi repeated with earnest conviction: "3 yuan."
The elderly woman snatched the bag of mung beans right back, barking, "Are you out of your mind? 3 yuan—who on earth would sell to you for that?!"
Ming Ruixi's delicate face hardened: "Why are you cursing at me? This lady is giving you 3 yuan to support your business, why wouldn't that work?!"
The vendor's expression soured: "You must be crazy! Go, go, scram! 3 yuan doesn't even cover my wholesale cost! 13 yuan is the absolute lowest, take it or leave it!"
Ming Ruixi stood completely stunned and intimidated by the vendor's fierce demeanor. Such a firm stance meant 13 yuan was her absolute rock-bottom limit. But she only had 10 yuan left—how was she supposed to buy the rest of the vegetables?
Curse her! Yu Xian hadn't given her enough money at all!
...
Back in her room, Yu Xian was continuing to brainstorm the background design. Just as inspiration finally struck, her phone suddenly rang.
Picking it up, she saw it was an incoming call from Eldest Miss Ming.
A bad feeling stirred in Yu Xian's chest: "What is it?"
On the other end of the line, Eldest Miss Ming huffed furiously: "Not enough money. Send more!"
Yu Xian was somewhat baffled, but decided to ask the shortage first: "How much more do you need?"
Ming Ruixi's breath flared with indignance: "A hundred, probably."
Yu Xian felt her blood pressure spike: "What on earth did you buy that cost so much?"
Hearing that, Ming Ruixi's temper exploded through the roof: "What do you mean by that?! Are you accusing this lady of buying other things?! Yu Xian, you bastard, here I am red in the face haggling with an old lady, and the money is simply short! That vendor nearly chased this lady off the street!"
Yu Xian set down her stylus: "What are you buying right now?"
Ming Ruixi: "Half a catty of mung beans."
Yu Xian: "How much did she ask for?"
Ming Ruixi: "15!"
Yu Xian: "15 yuan for half a catty of mung beans is completely normal. How much did you offer?"
The line fell abruptly silent for a couple of seconds.
Then, Yu Xian heard a number: "3 yuan."
"..."
Yu Xian sighed inwardly: "Do you know why you were scolded?"
"Isn't it because you didn't give me enough money?!" Ming Ruixi's fury flared up in an instant. "If you had given me enough, would this lady be unable to afford a measly half a catty of mung beans? Would I have been yelled at?"
Yu Xian: "What did you buy so far?"
Ming Ruixi angrily checked her grocery basket: "Pork ribs and fish!"
Yu Xian calculated the math in her head—the ribs and fish must have cost at least 180-odd yuan. This was the first time she had ever heard of two racks of ribs and a single fish costing nearly two hundred yuan.
Hearing the elderly vendor and the other stall owners nearby staring at her, laughing and whispering amongst themselves, Eldest Miss Ming felt both frantic and terribly wronged: "Yu Xian, hurry up and send the money! People have been laughing at this lady for ages!"
Yu Xian stood up and headed downstairs, her tone cool and flat: "If you walk a bit further away, you won't hear them laughing at you anymore. Understand?"
"?"
On the verge of tears, Ming Ruixi whimpered in pure grievance: "How can you be so awful? This lady came out to buy groceries for you, and you deliberately withheld enough money just to make me look like a fool here... sob sob sob..."
"What are you crying for?" Back then, when Yu Xian had been humiliated far worse by her, she hadn't shed a single tear.
Eldest Miss Ming sniffled: "Then what do you expect me to do?!"
Yu Xian latched the door and wheeled out a bicycle: "Walk a little further away and you won't hear it. I'm heading over now."
The young lady switched instantly from crying to scolding: "Then why aren't you hurrying up?!"
What was originally a twenty-minute walk took Yu Xian a mere five minutes by bicycle.
Locking the bike in place, she stepped into the wet market and immediately spotted Eldest Miss Ming being lectured by several stall owners.
"So young, if you don't have the money, don't buy it."
"3 yuan for half a catty of mung beans—she wouldn't even cover her wholesale cost. People have to eat too, young lady."
"Exactly. I honestly wonder if there's something wrong with her head."
"There's something wrong with your head! She was the one who told this lady to name whatever price I wanted! Was offering three yuan mistreating her? Isn't it because she failed to explain herself properly?!"
With rimmed, reddened eyes, Ming Ruixi bickered back fiercely. Even though five minutes ago she had blamed Yu Xian for not giving her enough money, one way or another, it was never Eldest Miss Ming's fault.
Spotting Yu Xian approaching, Ming Ruixi's boiling temper found its release valve. She shoved the grocery basket straight into Yu Xian's arms: "Yu Xian, you finally showed up! Take your basket! This lady quits!"
With that, Ming Ruixi moved to brush past her and storm out, but Yu Xian clamped down on her wrist, preventing her from leaving and pulling her firmly back.
"Hold on a second."
"Hold on for what? Every single one of you thinks it's this lady's fault! One tells me to set my own price and curses at me when it's too low, and the other didn't give me enough money, making me look like an absolute fool here!"
Knowing there was no winning against her distorted logic, Yu Xian led her back to the elderly vendor: "Auntie, my younger sister lacks common sense. Please forgive her. That half catty of mung beans was 15 yuan, right? I'll transfer it to you now."
Seeing that a reasonable person had arrived, the vendor bagged up another half catty of mung beans: "13 yuan is fine too. Your sister... this is the first time I've ever seen someone slash a price straight down to 3 yuan. Anyone would get mad, wouldn't they?"
Yu Xian glanced back at the young lady, who had angrily turned her head away, and took the bag of mung beans: "Thank you, Auntie."
After leaving the vegetable stall, Yu Xian hefted the weight of the ribs and fish in the basket, sighing inwardly once more. Around two catties of ribs and a one-catty carp—how on earth had that cost over 180 yuan?
Yu Xian told her to take out her phone and checked the transaction history: 130 yuan for the ribs, 60 yuan for the carp.
"..."
Yu Xian led her toward the meat section, asking, "Where did you buy the ribs?"
Ming Ruixi knit her willow-leaf brows tightly: "Why are you asking that?"
Yu Xian: "Answer me."
Ming Ruixi pointed reluctantly in a direction: "This lady even bargained the price down."
Yu Xian's brows furrowed: "How much did you bargain down?"
Ming Ruixi: "138 yuan down to 130."
Yu Xian: "..."
Abandoning the very last thought of praising her, Yu Xian walked up to the butcher and took out the bag of ribs: "Please weigh this again and give me the exact price."
The butcher recognized Ming Ruixi as the easy mark from earlier and was surprised to see she had brought back up. Still, once money was in his pocket, there was no reason to spit it back out.
He waved his hand dismissively: "Not weighing it."
Yu Xian didn't bother arguing: "These are two catties of ribs bought from your stall for 130 yuan. At market rate, they're worth 60 at most. If you don't refund the difference, I will file a report with the Price Bureau."
The butcher's expression shifted, and he moved to retort. Anticipating what he was about to say, Yu Xian cut in first: "I have the digital payment receipt. When they fine you, it will cost far more than these few dozen yuan. If inspectors from the Price Bureau come down, your business license and stall will both face suspension."
After a few tense seconds of standoff, the butcher yielded in defeat: "Fine, fine. I'll refund you."
Ming Ruixi was in pure disbelief: "You took this lady for a sucker and gouged me?!"
She stepped forward, ready to demand an explanation, but Yu Xian held her back firmly, her head throbbing with a splitting ache: "Eldest Miss, shut your mouth."
Seeing Yu Xian's frost-cold expression, Ming Ruixi turned her head away in a huff.
After retrieving the refunded money, Yu Xian walked over to the seafood section: "Could you tell me why you spent 60 yuan on a single crucian carp?"
Ming Ruixi: "His knife skills were very good."
Yu Xian: "That's a complimentary service."
Ming Ruixi retorted defensively: "Are you saying this lady got ripped off again?"
Yu Xian nearly laughed out of sheer exasperation: "What do you think?"
Where she was supposed to haggle, she didn't; where she had no business haggling, she argued until she was red in the face.
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