Chapter 32: Quarrel in the Street

“Sixty coins? Old granny, what era are you living in? Look around, you know how times are. Hey, I’ve got fat hens here—one string of coins for each. Want one?”

The man curled his lip in a sneer and jabbed his finger at the hens in the cage.

“What nonsense? A string of cash? You call this doing business? Forget it, I’m not buying from you.”

Zhang Jinlan flared up.

Did he take her for a fool?

A hen selling for a whole string of coins? Might as well be gold!

She tugged her granddaughter along to leave.

【Cluck, cluck, cluck! I’ve got so many eggs inside me, and this stinking human wants to sell me? Idiot—doesn’t even know how to check for eggs.】

【Me too, cluck, cluck. I’ll lay tomorrow!】

【Cock-a-doodle-doo, I wanna crow!】

【Chirp, chirp, mama, I’m dizzy… am I dying?】

【That stinking human fed us moldy grain this morning. My stomach hurts…】

【I’m gonna die. I really feel like I’m dying.】

Jiang Fubao, holding Grandma’s hand, quietly switched off her mental “mute.” Instantly, the voices of the chickens in the cages poured into her ears.

There were three cages total:

One held fluffy, pale-yellow chicks.

One held two big roosters.

And one held six hens.

From what she heard, the hens were full of eggs—lots of them. But this man hadn’t realized.

He probably thought they were old hens that no longer laid.

If Grandma bought them home…

Not only would they actually lay eggs, Fubao could also sneak eggs out of her space, put them in the coop, and pretend they’d come from the hens.

After all, nobody sold good laying hens.

Chicks would take too long to raise.

If she only relied on her own eggs in the space, she’d waste so many refresh chances.

Fine—so a string of coins per hen it was.

Compared to steady egg production, that wasn’t much at all.

Six hens meant six eggs a day.

At two coins per egg, that was twelve coins net each day.

In a month—three hundred sixty coins.

Buy in bulk, and they could even haggle.

Plus, with her adding space-eggs into the mix, the “return on investment” would be made back in half a month at most.

But those poor chicks were dying.

That wretched man—selling sick chickens, wasn’t he afraid of karmic retribution?

Fubao quickly grabbed Zhang Jinlan’s hand and said softly:

“Grandma, let’s buy a few hens for eggs.”

“Shoo, shoo! Get lost, brat. You think you can buy hens? You can’t even afford chicks, let alone hens. My hens are expensive—filthy country bumpkins like you couldn’t dream of affording them. Don’t loiter in front of my stall!”

The chicken-seller saw Fubao lingering and lost his patience, roaring curses at her.

Luckily, Fubao wasn’t really three years old.

If the original child had been here, she would’ve burst into tears long ago.

But being stuck in a three-year-old body, she couldn’t talk back.

Her little cheeks puffed up in anger.

“You bastard! Did you eat shit this morning, for your mouth to stink so bad? Why are you cursing at my granddaughter for no reason? Did we provoke you? Selling at such a high price—these must be sick, plague-ridden hens. You just want to cheat one-time buyers and run!

If they’re so precious, why don’t you take them home, tuck them into your quilt, and sleep with them every night—treat them as your wives! Why bother bringing them out to sell? And what kind of man are you, bullying a three-year-old girl in broad daylight—don’t you feel any shame?”

Ah, being defended felt so good.

Fubao’s heart swelled with delight as she watched her grandmother plant her hands on her hips and scold the man furiously.

“You ugly old hag!” the man bellowed, his face red. “Reeking of poverty—you probably don’t even have five coppers in your pocket, and you want to buy chickens? You’re asking for a beating!”

He raised his fist, ready to strike.

But Zhang Jinlan didn’t back down.

She lifted her head high and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“Help! Murder! Broad daylight and this chicken-selling bandit wants to kill me! Somebody save this poor old woman—help!”

Her shrieks of “murder” and “bandit” instantly drew the attention of everyone nearby.

Crowds gathered in seconds.

The chicken-seller panicked.

He hadn’t expected the old woman to be so hard to handle.

If people really took him for a bandit, he’d be dragged off and executed!

He broke into a cold sweat, stammering:

“I’m no bandit! I didn’t kill anyone! This unreasonable old woman was blocking my stall—I only wanted to shoo her away!”

“Bandit, that’s what you are! Just look at you—you don’t look like an honest man. My granddaughter and I only asked a price, and you screamed abuse at us, even threatened to kill us. Look—she’s nearly in tears from fright! And then you tried to sell us a hen for a whole string of coins. If that’s not banditry, what is? Who sells chickens at that price? Even those worthless chicks—you wanted twenty coins for each!”

Zhang Jinlan plopped down on the ground, wailing and slapping her thighs.

She wept and ranted about her suffering, turning the crowd against him.

Her words roused sympathy, and soon the onlookers spoke up too:

“You there! Bullying old folks and children? And calling yourself a man? A string of coins for one hen? Absurd! Why, my wife just bought two hens three years old, still laying, for only seventy-five coins each! This fellow must be a bandit. Otherwise, how could he sell like this? Are these even his chickens?”

“That’s right! Maybe he stole them. Otherwise why doesn’t he even know the going price?”

“Either a bandit, or raised without parents—no one taught him how to behave, that’s why he talks like a dog!”

“Shameless! You bully elders and children, you’ll get divine retribution!”

“The granny’s right—he doesn’t look decent at all. Who knows, he might even have a murder on his back! Somebody run to the city gate and fetch the constables—this man must be questioned properly!”

“No need for constables. Just call the street warden. I’ll go!”

“…”

The chicken-seller went stiff with terror.

He’d only mouthed off at a poor old woman—how had things escalated this far?

“No, no, don’t! Don’t call anyone! It’s all my fault! My wife’s been cheating on me, I’ve been short-tempered these days. Granny, don’t hold it against me. It’s all a misunderstanding. These chickens are mine—I swear, I’m no bandit. Please, don’t call the warden. Look—never mind, I won’t sell. I’ll leave now, right away!”

He scrambled to load the three cages onto his cart and fled without another word.