The first place he stopped was Aunty Lui. In front of her stall, was a large bamboo mat filled with chili left out to dry out.
"Ravi! Have they paid a salary? You only co out here when they have paid you your salary." The woman with a large burn mark on her face greeted him, she pushed past so of her custors to stand in front of him.
"I said you were very handso yet nobody believed . So what made you decide to.."She gestured to his face, "Freshen up. Is it a girl? Our young Ravi has finally seen spring."
Ravi’s face reddened against his wish. "What girl?" He whispered.
"Oh! I got it wrong. It is a boy instead. You should not be concerned with that kind of thing with . You see Aunty is open-minded. I am not like all those old won. Oh, what do you have here? So cute." She reached out to pet the cat but the cat leapt away, reaching the old end of the cart.
Ravi wanted to correct her that it was neither a boy nor a girl but since she had jumped to the topic of cats, he did not know how to go back.
"Five.."He looked at the cat. Maybe it likes chili sauce as well, "Ten chili sauce. 3 garlic honey sauce and two sweet chili sauces. Thank you."
"Ten... Aunty understands."
"No..it is..." Before he could make the matter clear, Aunty Liou had already rushed in before coming out with a bag filled with sauces and another small bag, "Here, so dry fish for the cutie. I added so extra for you." She winked.
Don’t wink. Don’t wink. Ravi sighed. He scanned and paid before moving to the next store.
"What do we need?"
"Snacks. Right."
When he said snacks, he did not want to buy all these baked desserts, but maybe the child would like baked desserts, he had grown up in an orphanage and he could rember the small dessert store, not far from school.
He would always pause in the desert store, he would press his nose to the glass, looking at the various baked goods there. He would watch parents go in with their children, holding their hands as they pointed at the cake. He would watch for a long ti before he rushed back so that he would not miss dinner at the orphanage.
He had not thought about the orphanage in a long ti. He stopped at another stall to buy so cashew nuts, so ordinary ones, and so salted ones. He bought so peanuts, so baked twice-flavored almond nuts, and he put in so pistachios.
"Three dollars for one bottle. Are macadamia nuts so expensive now?"
"Of course. We have to import these ones from Babylon."
Liar. But the eyes of the cat were already on the bottle. He should probably put in so extra hours at work or should he begin to sell produce from his farm in the market?
"I will take it." This one bottle is the sa price as three bottles of roasted peanuts. "Is there anyone you would like to buy so more of?" He asked the cat, ignoring the look that the shopkeeper gave him.
The cat shook his head.
He straightened up and asked the shopkeeper, "Do you know where I can get so snacks and so juice boxes?"
The shopkeeper hesitated, but still showed him to the place. After buying enough to feed the cat for a week, he bought so chocolates, the kind that children liked before he headed to the food area.
He lifted himself up, and landed on his toes a few tis as he prepared to enter the main food market. The cat looked at him, 30% worried, and 70% afraid that he was crazy.
Even though it was midday, the market was still bustling. Davenport had rivers so neighboring cities had always crossed over to shop.
"A kilo of Mackerel. 11 Dollars. Impossible. I have 8 dollars. I would give you cash."
"Sir, the taxes have increased and we did not get anything while fishing yesterday. 10 dollars." The man said, his face sad like he was bemoaning the earth.
"I clearly saw you this morning, carrying in your boat filled with fish. I will add 50 cents."
"9.50 Custor, ah. I have to feed my children."
"I also have a family ba. And I am a poor civil servant. Take it, take it." He stuffed 9 dollars in the man’s hand, "Put an extra one for ."
After bargaining, Ravi put the fish in the cart. He felt exhausted. To be honest, he would rather buy things in supermarkets. He did not like bargaining but if he put in extra effort, he could get it at half the price, and it was fresher.
He has an extra mouth to feed so he needs to work hard.
He argued with the pork for close to ten minutes before she reluctantly began to cut the at for him. He bought so chicken and two kilograms of beef.
Leaving the at area, he stopped for a cold ginger, tiger nut, and date drink. Ordering two, he placed one in the cat and put the straw next to the cat’s mouth.
"Ah! Custor, it is too cold for..."
Ravi did not bother to listen and pushed his cart away. It was a good thing there was no animal service in Davenport, or he would be arrested. He looked at that cat that was happily enjoying the drink.
The rest were the nonperishables, he bought 10 kg of rice, so noodles, and so flour. Butter and oil. The brand of the oil that he bought was more expensive than he had imagined so he bought another brand.
"It better be good too." He said after the seller had praised the oil for saving the life of his child and giving hope to his family.
Another set of toiletries, Sugar, milk, rock sugar, soy, vinegar, salt, and spices. One by one, Ravi crossed out each one from his monthly shopping list.
The last thing to be bought was eggs and Ravi placed the cat in his pocket and placed the two crates of eggs.
The cart was seriously heavy, he thought as he pushed it back ho. What should he start from?
What to cook...What to cook. It was as if dinner had endless possibilities.
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