Chapter 17: Stopped Again by the Old Man

A sharp gaze fell on Lu Xunye.

“I’m just afraid that this handsome face of mine will be targeted by some ugly woman who insists on marrying me. If you two hit it off, that’s fine, but I’m afraid she’ll have designs on me. My wife can be unyielding and unvirtuous, but she absolutely must be prettier than me.”

Lu Xunye curled his lips in displeasure.

“…” Fu Yichen.

Fu Bojing twitched the corner of his mouth violently.

Su Luoluo noticed one of the handsome guys glaring at her with a humiliated and vicious expression.

Su Luoluo felt puzzled.

She shouldn’t have done anything to him.

Su Luoluo thought of the treasures in her backpack. Although handsome guys were attractive, compared to money, handsome guys took a backseat.

She didn’t stay there long. She left the mountain, boarded an ox cart, and went to Guang’an Pharmacy in town.

“Comrade Su, what treasures have you picked?”

Seeing Su Luoluo’s joyful expression, Boss Cai greeted her with a smile.

“It’s quite a treasure indeed.”

Su Luoluo put down her backpack and took out the item wrapped in a large taro leaf. She slowly unwrapped the leaf.

“It’s a Ganoderma lucidum, at least sixteen years old.”

Seeing what was inside, Boss Cai’s face lit up, and his voice was filled with excitement.

Ganoderma lucidum over ten years old is extremely rare.

The reddish-brown umbrella-shaped fungus was perfectly preserved, without a single blemish, its stem thick and sturdy, its appearance excellent.

And the unique fragrance it emitted was refreshing and invigorating just to smell.

“Five thousand yuan, firm price.”

Su Luoluo smiled sweetly and held up five fingers.

The smile on Boss Cai’s face disappeared.

Five thousand yuan? She really dared to ask for that.

“Comrade Su, you must be joking.”

Last time, a ginseng root several decades old only sold for five thousand yuan. To ask for the same price for a Ganoderma lucidum that’s only a few decades old is impossible.

Ten or twenty yuan, Boss Cai was willing to give a good price to those with skills, but for thousands of yuan, he couldn’t empty his own coffers for a good deal; that would make him a fool.

“Then how much do you offer?”

Su Luoluo didn’t really expect to get five thousand yuan. She quoted that price simply to create room for bargaining.

Boss Cai stared at Su Luoluo’s face, pondering what price to offer.

But why did he feel like the red rash and blisters on Comrade Su’s face had lessened, and the red birthmark was also fainter? Was it an illusion?

“Boss Cai, have you decided?”

Su Luoluo asked.

Realizing his thoughts had wandered, Boss Cai quickly collected himself, a smile returning to his face. “Three thousand eight hundred, Comrade Su. What do you think?”

“Four thousand two hundred.”

Su Luoluo held up four fingers and wiggled them.

“Four thousand.”

Boss Cai gritted his teeth.

“Deal.”

Su Luoluo quickly agreed, as if afraid that a single second’s delay would make the other party change their mind.

“…” Boss Cai. Was it still possible to back out now?

With the money in hand, Su Luoluo happily left the pharmacy.

She walked towards the vegetable market.

The vegetable market was chaotic, lacking any unified regulations. Many people picked vegetables early in the morning and brought them to sell.

There weren’t many butcher shops, only a few.

Su Luoluo checked a few butcher shops and chose one with the freshest meat. “How much is pork belly per pound?”

“Two yuan.”

The butcher glanced at Su Luoluo.

“Two pounds.”

Su Luoluo pointed to a piece of pork.

The butcher picked up his knife, quickly cut off a piece, and weighed it; exactly two pounds, not a single gram more or less.

“How much are pork ribs per pound?”

She pointed to the ribs.

The butcher said, “Four yuan per pound.”

Su Luoluo chose three ribs.

In this era, there wasn’t much advanced technology or trickery, no injecting of strange things to force pigs to grow quickly and flood the market.

The pigs here were traditionally raised, fed with pig grass, vegetable leaves, and bran. Some were raised outdoors, where the pigs ran around; therefore, the pork was chewy, fragrant, and delicious, without that watery, bland taste.

This kind of healthily raised pork was quite expensive in her time, with the price of a pound of pork comparable to a pound of beef.

Putting the meat into her backpack, she had already decided what to cook tonight.

Braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, delicious and not greasy.

Red-braised pork ribs, not bad; she hadn’t eaten them since coming to this world.

Just thinking about it made Su Luoluo swallow her saliva, and her pace involuntarily quickened.

Suddenly, an old man blocked her path.

Oh, no—

This scammer, here again.

Su Luoluo took a large step backward.

“My young friend, what a coincidence, we meet again.”

The old man stared at Su Luoluo with bright eyes, speaking with a smile.

“This coincidence is best avoided.”

Su Luoluo forced a smile.

Couldn’t this old man find someone else to swindle?

“Not so, not so. Fate and luck are different; it’s an insoluble mystery, a destined encounter. Among countless people, only a very deep fate can lead to walking the same road again and again, going to the same place again and again, and meeting the same person again and again. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I have met some uncle or grandma today…”

The old man stroked his beard.

“Stop, just say what you want to say.”

This old man was practically speaking in riddles; Su Luoluo had a headache and quickly interrupted him.

“What I told you last time, how have you considered it?”

The old man grabbed Su Luoluo’s arm tightly, as if afraid she would run away again.

“What’s that?”

Su Luoluo wanted to shake off the old man’s hand, but worried that he would fall and then extort her until she was penniless, so she could only endure it and casually asked back.

This single sentence almost gave the old man a heart attack.

She hadn’t listened to a word he’d said before!

He glared angrily at Su Luoluo. “About becoming my apprentice, whether you become my apprentice or I become yours, choose one.”

“…” Su Luoluo. She didn’t want to choose either.

She glanced at her arm gripped by the old man. Leaving wasn’t possible; if she refused, the old man wouldn’t let her go.

“Such an important matter as apprenticeship, I need to ask my family first. Give me some time.”

Su Luoluo looked sincere, spouting nonsense.

She thought that next time she would definitely be observant and cautious, preventing this old man from catching her again.

The old man pondered for a moment. Apprenticeship was indeed something that needed to be discussed with the family.

“I’ll give you three days to consider. Then tell me your decision.”

The old man released Su Luoluo’s arm.

“Certainly, certainly.”

Su Luoluo readily agreed.

From now on, she would definitely stay far away.

After parting with the old man, Su Luoluo took an ox cart back to the village.

She now had a large sum of money and didn’t dare to wander around outside; pickpockets and thieves were quite common in this era.

Back home.

Su Luoluo took the meat and ribs from her backpack to the kitchen.

Zhu Yanhua saw that Su Luoluo had bought pork belly and ribs, and her face showed pain. This younger sister-in-law was too extravagant and wasteful, unable to manage her finances!

Having meat, why buy ribs too?

No matter how much money there was, it couldn’t withstand such squandering!

“Wow… meat!”

Niuniu clapped her hands happily.

Jingjing followed behind Niuniu, also smiling happily.

“Tonight, we’ll have braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens and red-braised pork ribs, okay?”

Su Luoluo squatted down and touched Niuniu and Jingjing’s little heads.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

The two little girls responded crisply.

“This… this won’t do, younger sister-in-law. This meat and ribs aren’t cheap. Keep it for yourself, Jingjing and I don’t need it.”

Zhu Yanhua was a straightforward person; she didn’t want to take advantage of Su Luoluo.

Jingjing, seeing that she couldn’t eat the meat, had red eyes, pursing her lips, trying to hold back her tears.

Niuniu wanted her aunt to eat together, but she was afraid her mother wouldn’t agree, so she could only look at Su Luoluo pleadingly.

Xiao Fan ran to hold Zhu Yanhua’s hand, shaking her head, meaning to let her aunt eat with them.

Xiao Lei wanted to say something, but the meat was bought by the bad woman, so he didn’t have the right to speak.