Chapter 19

Jiang Wan gathered a handful of leaves, washed them clean in the river, and placed them on the table. By then, her mother had returned with water, and everything was ready except for the arrival of a customer.

But the wind was hard to wait for, and the family had been sitting on the road so long they were nearly falling asleep, with no sign of anyone coming. They did, however, meet a few villagers on their way back from visiting relatives, who stared at them for quite a while.

Yin Huaixi, still thinking about her medicinal herbs and seeing her older brother nearby, decided to head back home. That left the two sisters, who looked rather pitiful, as if abandoned on the roadside like stray kittens.

“Cousin, what if no one buys anything?”

“It doesn’t matter if no one buys,” Jiang Wan said, “we can eat it ourselves. If we can’t finish the two jars of mint water, we can give some to the Zhou family or Aunt Cuifang on our way back. After all, it’s free stuff.”

Jiang Wan had a positive outlook. In business, who ever started by making a fortune right away? Today was just a test run. If they made money, that was great, but if not, she wouldn’t be discouraged.

“Cousin, you can think of it as a little outing for us,” she added. “By the way, I see the table is kind of bare. Why don’t you pick some flowers to decorate it?”

As soon as Yin Ning heard she had a task, she perked up and immediately ran to the riverbank to pick wildflowers. She had always enjoyed tending to plants at home, and most of the flower arrangements in her room were her own doing. Her sense of aesthetics was quite good.

Jiang Wan watched as her cousin carefully arranged the simple table, turning it into a flower stand. The flowers were fresh and delicate, exuding an elegant charm.

“Cousin, your hands are so skillful~”

Yin Ning blushed and smiled. She picked two clusters of pink and white flowers and pinned them into her cousin’s hair. The little girl, still young, had simply tied her hair into a pair of buns, and now with the flowers in her hair, she looked incredibly cute.

“It looks good, it looks good!”

Yin Ning couldn’t help but laugh.

“You can’t even see it on your own head, yet you already know it looks good?” Jiang Wan grinned.

“Who has bad taste when it comes to my cousin? I trust you,” Jiang Wan teased.

Yin Ning, flattered, smiled happily. As the two of them chatted, the sound of hooves suddenly came from the distance.

A carriage was coming!

Jiang Wan immediately stood up in surprise, her eyes fixed on the approaching cart.

The carriage windows were tightly shut, and inside, a well-dressed woman with a pale, yellowish face was gently consoling her daughter, whose complexion was deathly white.

“Yue’er, just hang on a little longer, we’ll be home soon,” the woman said.

“Mother, I’m so hot, I just want to get off the cart, sit by the river and drink some water. Please let me, please,” Qin Yue’s voice was faint, full of exhaustion. Ever since her father became a county official, her mother had been pushing her to become a refined lady, keeping her indoors all the time and forcing her to learn things like playing the zither, chess, and painting.

She, a girl raised in the countryside, was not cut out to be a highborn lady, but her mother insisted on it.

No matter what her father said or how she felt, if she didn’t comply, her mother would get upset and ill. Neither side could reason with the other, so they both endured.

Today, she had finally found an excuse to go outside, but of course, her mother insisted on coming along. As a result, the windows couldn’t be opened because a proper lady couldn’t be seen by others.

Once they left the temple, Qin Yue felt unwell. She was dizzy, thirsty, and had a splitting headache, and her limbs felt weak. She realized she was suffering from heatstroke and needed to find a shady spot to cool down and drink some water.

But her mother refused again.

Even on the hottest days in the past, her mother would work in the fields, so she didn’t think this was a big deal. So, the mother and daughter continued on their way, with the carriage unbearably hot. Qin Yue felt herself growing faint and finally burst into tears.

Her crying made her mother snap out of her daze. She could see that her daughter was in poor condition and quickly pulled out a water bag, but it was almost empty since she had used most of it when wiping her daughter’s face earlier.

Perhaps they could ask the driver to get some water from the river? That way, her daughter wouldn’t be seen by anyone.

“Madam, miss, there seems to be a place selling tea ahead,” the driver said.

Hearing this, Mrs. Qin’s eyes lit up. She cautiously opened the window and parted the curtain slightly. When she saw that it was two young girls selling tea, she felt even more reassured.

“Go ask how much a bowl of tea costs,” she instructed.

The driver responded and stopped the cart near the small table.

“Little girls, are you selling tea here?” the driver asked.

Jiang Wan, delighted, nodded. She felt lucky today since she hadn’t even had to call out to customers, and they had come to her.

“Uncle, would you like a bowl? You’ve been driving all day, you must be hot and tired. My family’s iced tea will cool you down and relieve the heat.”

“How much is it a bowl?” the driver asked.

Yin Ning, curious, turned to look at her cousin. She had forgotten to ask earlier what the price of their goods would be.

Jiang Wan answered confidently, without blinking: “Two wen per bowl. I guarantee it’s well worth the price.”

Yin Ning: !!!

The driver: …

Had he never bought tea before? There were plenty of places that sold it for one wen a bowl.

He felt the need to ask Madam Qin first, so he hurriedly ran back to her.

“Madam, the young girl says the iced tea costs two wen a bowl.”

Qin Yue, hearing this, struggled to sit up. “I want to drink it! Buy two bowls for me!”

Mrs. Qin, though also very thirsty, hesitated when she heard the price. Two wen seemed a bit much, but her daughter’s well-being was more important. She handed the driver four wen and asked him to buy two bowls.

Jiang Wan accepted the money with a bright smile, revealing her little white teeth.

“Wait a moment, I’ll pour it for you.”

The cool mint water poured into the bamboo bowl, its green color so refreshing and beautiful. The driver swallowed his saliva but still couldn’t bring himself to spend the two wen. He quickly took the iced tea back to the lady.

At the moment the carriage door opened, Qin Yue took a deep breath of fresh air, but it didn’t seem to help much. However, as soon as she took a sip of the iced tea, a cool sensation shot straight to the top of her head. The heavy, nauseous feeling in her chest disappeared instantly, and her throat felt soothingly cool.

“How refreshing!”

Qin Yue, under her mother’s ‘death glare,’ sipped the entire bowl of iced tea in small gulps, finally feeling like she was alive again.

“Mother, this iced tea really works. You should have a bowl too.”

Mrs. Qin was stunned.

“Didn’t you say you wanted two bowls?”

Qin Yue didn’t respond, just pouted in silent grievance.

A wave of bitterness hit Mrs. Qin’s heart. Her daughter knew she couldn’t bear to spend money on tea, so she had purposely said she wanted two bowls.

“Mother, go ahead and drink some. This iced tea really helps. After I finished mine, I felt so much better.”

Mrs. Qin nodded and picked up the bowl, imitating the ladies of high society by taking small sips. After a while, she let out a long sigh of relief. The tea really was good.

“Old Qian, take this water pouch and ask them to refill it. Let’s see how many wen it costs.”

Mrs. Qin could tell the tea was of good quality now. She thought that two wen per bowl was worth it and even considered bringing some back for her husband to try.

With this back-and-forth, the small stall earned six more wen, and since the driver couldn’t resist and drank a bowl himself, that brought the total to eight wen.

At this point, Yin Ning was speechless.