"I do have quite a few." Seeing Zhang Erlai’s interest in the mushrooms, Su Qing asked, "Are you looking for mushrooms?"
"I do," Zhang Erlai said with a quick smile. "Aunt Feng, I’ll take every mushroom you’ve got. What do you say?"
"Alright." Su Qing nodded and asked, "What’s the price? I have no trouble selling these mushrooms, you know."
The implication was that if the price was too low, she wouldn’t sell.
"Heh, of course." Zhang Erlai asked, "Aunt Feng, what else do you have besides the mushrooms?"
"Three wild boars, and dozens of wild chickens and rabbits."
"Let’s do this," Zhang Erlai said hurriedly. "For the wild boars, we’ll stick to the sa standard as last ti—eighty cents a jin, hide and all. I’ll give you three yuan for each rabbit and one-eighty for each chicken. How’s that? And for the mushrooms, thirty-five cents a jin."
"Deal." Su Qing knew Zhang Erlai’s offer was fair, so she nodded. "How about seven p.m. tonight, in the sa woods where we t last ti?"
"Deal, no problem," Zhang Erlai said with a smile, then quickly added, "By the way, Aunt Feng, are all your mushrooms this high-quality?"
"Rest assured, I won’t be mixing in any low-quality ones."
"Haha, great." Zhang Erlai grinned. "Well then, Aunt Feng, I’ll see you tonight."
"Alright."
After Su Qing left, A Cheng ca out of the room and said to Zhang Erlai, "Handle the wild ga we’re collecting tonight as usual. As for the mushrooms, have them sent to this address."
With that, A Cheng handed Zhang Erlai an address.
Zhang Erlai quickly smiled. "Brother Cheng, rest assured, I’ll deliver them myself tonight."
"Good. Thanks for your trouble." A Cheng patted Zhang Erlai’s shoulder, sighing in relief. ’Thank goodness, we’ve got more mushrooms. The young master’s poor appetite these past few days has been driving us crazy.’
Since Zhang Erlai’s group bought out everything she brought, Su Qing stopped by the supply and marketing co-op. She bought two jin of pastries and a jin of brown sugar, then took five jin of wild boar, two pheasants, and a rabbit from her dinsional space before heading to Fu Yuzhen’s house. She figured it was a rest day, so the Fu family should all be ho.
"Well now, you’re that Su Qing, aren’t you?" As luck would have it, just as Su Qing reached the building, she ran into Granny Sun from last ti. Seeing Su Qing with a large bamboo basket on her back, Granny Sun knew she was visiting the Fu Family again. "Here to see your Aunt Fu? My, my, what a big basket! You must’ve brought lots of things for her. Let see, what have you got in there?"
As she spoke, Granny Sun reached out to pull aside the straw mat covering the top of the basket. Su Qing sidestepped with a smile. "It’s nothing, just a few common items. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. I’m going up to see Aunt Fu now."
With that, Su Qing turned and disappeared into the building’s entryway.
Granny Sun pouted, annoyed she couldn’t see what was in the basket. One of the other aunties chatting nearby chuckled. "What’s wrong? Unhappy you didn’t get a freebie?"
"Shoo, shoo! Who’s trying to get a freebie?" Granny Sun shot them a glare and waved her hand dismissively. "I just wanted to take a peek, so what? Don’t tell you weren’t curious too!"
"Tch. It wouldn’t be yours even if you looked. No point getting envious over nothing. Better not to look at all."
"I’m telling you, that girl definitely has at in her basket. I could sll it," Granny Sun said, lifting her chin smugly. "I’ve got the best nose around."
"Hahaha! What good is a sharp nose if the at’s not for you?"
"Oh, get out of here."
"But seriously," one of the gossipy aunties said, her eyes gleaming, "Fu Yuzhen is so fond of that Su Qing. You don’t think she wants the girl to be her daughter-in-law, do you?"
Thanks to Granny Sun’s big mouth, ever since Su Qing’s last visit, everyone in the building knew she was the daughter of Li Wan, Fu Yuzhen’s best friend. They all knew about what happened with Su Shengjun and Li Wan, too; it had been a hot topic of gossip for a long ti.
"No way," another auntie chid in. "Have you seen the scar on that girl’s face? Even if Fu Yuzhen agrees, would her son?"
"Ah, that’s true," another auntie chid in. "But that Su Qing girl is pretty much an orphan. A daughter-in-law like that would be much easier to manage than one who has her own family to back her up."
"Good point."
Completely unaware she was the main topic of conversation for the aunties downstairs, Su Qing carried her basket upstairs and went straight to Fu Yuzhen’s apartnt.
"Ah, Xiao Qing, you’re here!" Fu Yuzhen was delighted to see her. She pulled Su Qing into the room and looked her over carefully before sighing. "The farm work must be tiring you out. Look, you’ve lost weight! You have to stay for dinner tonight. Aunt Fu will make you sothing delicious."
Su Qing couldn’t help but laugh. "Aunt Fu, I haven’t lost any weight. I’ve been eating really well. In fact, I think I’ve gotten fatter."
"Fatter? Nonsense! You’re a growing girl; you should have so at on your bones," Fu Yuzhen said with a smile. Then she saw all the things Su Qing had brought and quickly added, "You silly girl, didn’t I tell you last ti? You don’t need to bring anything when you visit. You should keep these things for yourself."
"That’s right," Pan Runqing added. "Xiao Qing, it’s not easy for you to get by on your own. Your Aunt Fu and I both have salaries, and we live comfortably. You don’t have to always be thinking of bringing us food."
Su Qing smiled. "Aunt Fu, Uncle Pan, what you have is your own. This is from my heart. As long as you don’t mind, that’s all that matters."
"Why would we ever mind?" Fu Yuzhen said quickly.
"I’m glad you don’t mind," Su Qing said with a grin. "And if you don’t mind, you can’t say no."
"Alright, alright, we’ll take them," Fu Yuzhen chuckled. She had Pan Runqing put the items away and pulled Su Qing down to sit. "Your timing is perfect. I was in the middle of making you a new cotton-padded jacket. It’s about halfway done, so you can try it on for size. If it doesn’t fit, there’s still ti to make adjustnts."
With that, she hurried to retrieve the half-finished padded jacket and pants. After holding them up against Su Qing, she smiled. "There we go. The size is perfect."
Su Qing looked at the brand-new padded jacket and pants and smiled, "Thank you, Aunt Fu."
"Don’t thank ," Fu Yuzhen said. "There’s no need to be so formal with your Aunt Fu."
Su Qing smiled, pursing her lips. Just as she was about to speak, a frantic POUNDING erupted at the door. An anxious voice called out, "Pan! Yu Zhen! Are you ho?"
Fu Yuzhen jumped at the sound of the pounding and hurried to open the door. The visitor saw her and said urgently, "Yu Zhen, get to the hospital, quick! Your Youming and You Shan were attacked and slashed! They’re in the ergency room fighting for their lives!"
"What!" Fu Yuzhen’s legs went weak. "What... what did you just say?"
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