Uncle, Are You All Right?

For some reason, Xiaoguo had not seen Li Zhaodi over the past two days. This made her feel even more uneasy. She had always thought that Li Zhaodi was pretending to be crazy and that her target was Qin Anming. Although she seemed to be very quiet these two days hanging at the county gates, Xiaoguo still felt inexplicably uneasy.

“Sister Xiaoguo, do you know that the three shops you gave me are all managed by one person? Su Changsheng.”

Ruyi threw out a big bomb, which almost made Xiaoguo faint.

“One person?!”

“That’s right!” Ruyi took out a letter and handed it to Xiaoguo. “When he heard that I was just conveying the message, he asked me to bring you this letter. He didn’t say anything else.”

“He didn’t say anything?”

Xiaoguo took the letter but she was in no hurry to open it. She then looked at Ruyi in amusement. “If he didn’t say anything. How do you know that it is a done deal?”

To think that she was getting excited over nothing. So the boss had not said anything.

“I made him popcorn according to the recipe you gave me. He only wrote the letter after eating it.” Ruyi scratched her head, but her tone was very certain. “He must have had such intentions. Otherwise, why would he write you a letter?”

Xiaoguo felt that her words made sense, so she started to open the letter.

Ruyi was also curious about what was in the letter. However, just as she was going to lean over, she heard dogs barking in the courtyard. She looked up and saw Qin Anming who just came back.

“Brother Anming!”

Like a little bird, Ruyi ran to Qin Anming’s side with her arms open. She naturally ignored Zhuang Zhuang and Yang Jia.

“Ruyi!”

Qin Anming was curious about who was at home. When he saw the familiar carriage, he guessed that it was her. As expected, he saw Ruyi as soon as he entered.

When Yang Jia saw that it was a stranger, and a female at that, he subconsciously took a few steps back and lowered his head.

“Hey, Sister Ruyi.”

Zhuang Zhuang greeted her happily. Ruyi rubbed his head as a form of greeting.

The few of them returned to the house and sat down. Zhuang Zhuang and Yang Jia went to the back room to read.

The three adults were seated around the table. Ruyi leaned against Qin Anming and looked at him from head to toe. Her heart couldn’t help but ache for him. Why had he become so thin…

She had only just found out that he was ill. Prior to this, she was still wondering why Brother Anming had not returned after so long. Now she knows that he has gotten ill.

Xiaoguo sipped her water and watched the two of them and their little interactions. Wasn’t this more interesting than watching television?

Ruyi moved closer to Qin Anming and touched him lovingly.

Qin Anming looked uncomfortable and moved to the side to avoid her. Seeing that the two of them were about to fall to the ground, Xiaoguo spoke to get their attention.

“Ahem, the manager of Su Family’s Goods Store asked to meet me for a chat.”

“Really?!”

Ruyi and Qin Anming were very happy, but Ruyi had an exceptionally big reaction.

“Ruyi, didn’t you already know that this would happen? Why are you getting all excited now?”

Xiaoguo looked at the happy Ruyi speechlessly.

“No, Sister Xiaoguo, Brother Anming, do you know? Shopkeeper Su’s face is too beautiful!” Ruyi gave a thumbs up. She still remembered what that person looked like. How could there be such a beautiful man?

Xiaoguo and Qin Anming looked at each other. Seeing that Ruyi was completely immersed in her memories, they didn’t say anything but in the end, they still disrupted her fantasy.

“Calm down, Ruyi.”

“Sister Xiaoguo, it’s true. Shopkeeper Su is too beautiful. To think that a man could look so exquisite. After I saw his face, I didn’t dare to look up. I really feel inferior standing beside him.”

Ruyi touched her face and felt a little disappointed at herself. If she could own such a face for a day, she would definitely use it to seduce Qin Anming and stop him from avoiding her!

As she thought about it, she couldn’t help but glare at Qin Anming.

Qin Anming was dumbfounded. What had he done? Why was he being despised for doing nothing?

“Alright, alright, let’s get back to the main topic.” Seeing that she was digressing, Xiaoguo quickly pulled her back to the main topic. “How should I set the price?”

Xiaoguo was a little hesitant. There was no popcorn available here yet, and she didn’t know how much to sell it for since there was nothing for her to refer to. She could only gather suggestions from the group.

When Ruyi and Qin Anming heard this, they started to ponder over it. To be honest, this thing was delicious, but a small handful of seeds could produce a large basin of popcorn. It was not appropriate to set the price too high. On the other hand, it would not make economical sense to set the price too low either.

“Are you selling by weight or is there any other way you wish to sell it?”

Qin Anming thought for a moment before speaking.

“Hmm… let’s sell it by weight.”

Xiaoguo wasn’t sure about it either. Maybe she could just set a price now and when they meet later on, the details could be worked out.

The few of them discussed the price together. In the end, they chose a mid-range price and worked out two base prices. At the very least, they had to leave some room for negotiation.

At noon, Ruyi stayed for lunch. After eating, she reluctantly said her goodbyes.

“Brother Anming, rest well.”

To be precise, she was reluctant to part with Qin Anming.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with my body. When Xiaoguo goes to the county, she’ll bring me along.”

Qin Anming assured Ruyi. His body had almost recovered under Xiaoguo’s care. He would have gone back to work with Ruyi if not for the fact that Xiaoguo was not ready to have him go back.

“Okay! I’ll wait for you.”

Ruyi laughed. It was good that he was planning to go back. She would wait for him then.

“Time for me to go!”

Ruyi waved at them and left with the carriage.

When the carriage was out of sight, Xiaoguo and the rest went back.

Xiaoguo was last in line within the group. When she turned around and was about to enter the house, something flashed past behind the tree. Xiaoguo took a closer look and didn’t see anything. She thought that she had seen wrongly, so she didn’t pay further attention to it and closed the door.

_

Two days later, it was time for Xiaoguo to look for Manager Su. According to the letter, Xiaoguo was to meet him in two days, which was today. The location was at the Su Family’s Goods Store. She could meet him at any time in the morning.

Xiaoguo was planning to head over as early as she could. After eating and resting for a while, she got ready to set off.

Qin Anming was well now. He could no longer stay idle. Yesterday, he had chopped up all the firewood in the house and cut down a lot of grass. At least, Xiaoguo would not have to worry about these chores for a while.

On the day of departure, Zhuang Zhuang sat in Qin Anming’s lap while Xiaoguo steered the donkey cart. Once they locked the door, they went on their way.

Beside Qin Anming was a big bag. Inside were the thick boots and the leather coat that Xiaoguo had gotten for him.

“Uncle, are you sure you’re fine?” Zhuang Zhuang looked up at Qin Anming.

“Yes I am fine. Is Zhuang Zhuang concerned about me?”

Qin Anming was quite gratified. Zhuang Zhuang knew how to show care for him. His heart was burning with emotions.

“No.” Zhuang Zhuang shook his head. He didn’t see Qin Anming’s frozen expression. “My mother didn’t sleep last night. She kept wondering if you were feeling well enough and if you could withstand traveling in the carriage.”

When Qin Anming heard this, he looked at Xiaoguo with heartache. “I’m really fine. Don’t worry.”

He was still wondering why the corners of her eyes were so red today. So, in actual fact, she didn’t sleep well last night.

“No, that’s not what happened.” Xiaoguo was a little embarrassed. Afraid that Qin Anming would feel uncomfortable, she immediately said, “I did sleep last night. In fact I had a good sleep.”

“Mother, you…”

“Be good and be quiet.”

Xiaoguo covered Zhuang Zhuang’s mouth with her hand. As she had used too much force, Zhuang Zhuang almost suffocated.

Qin Anming didn’t wish to pursue the matter anymore. He slapped Xiaoguo’s hand away and hugged Zhuang Zhuang lovingly while rubbing his neck.

Xiaoguo felt very awkward too. She had almost forgotten that this was her youngest son.

Zhuang Zhuang lay on Qin Anming’s shoulder aggrievedly. He couldn’t understand why his mother was lying. She had clearly tossed and turned the whole of last night. She had told him herself when he asked.