Three bowls of plain noodles cost nine cents. After Su Qingnao paid the money, she asked the noodle seller: “Uncle, how to get to Lu Ji Grocery Store?”

The old man selling noodles took the copper coins, then with a smile, he pointed the way, saying, “Just follow this road straight ahead. When you see the fabric shop, take a right, and you’ll arrive in no time. If you can’t read, just look for the wicker basket hanging on their door; it’s a big one.”

“Okay, thank you, uncle.”

Su Qingyu put her purse back into her arms and wanted to hold the twins’ hands. She found that Xiao Qingyang looked at the copper plate in the noodle seller’s hand with a pained expression and couldn’t help but laugh.

Thinking about the few coins in her wallet, she felt a little uncomfortable. She didn’t know how those two honest parents of hers hid these coins under their step-grandma’s eyes.

The three of them left the snack stall, and Su Qingyu took the twins straight to their destination, “Li Ji Grocery Store”.

It was the first time the twins had come to the town. Even though the morning market had passed, there were still quite a few people in the town, and the shops were open, so it didn’t appear deserted. It was unlike the neighboring town, where they had heard that it was bustling only during the morning market, and afterward, the town was almost empty, like a big fair formed by a few villages.

Fengting Town was a large town with several hundred households, while a county below it had only about one or two thousand households. Therefore, the liveliness of Fengting Town was not at all inferior to Pingchuan County, which was several tens of kilometers away.

On their first visit to the town, the twins were wide-eyed, and their hands were tightly held by their big sister. However, their eyes were glued to the shops on the side. They watched in envy as the passing children bounced and skipped past them, following them with longing expressions on their faces.

It made Su Qingyu feel distressed.

So she slowed down her pace and followed them, explaining something to them from time to time. In Su Qingyu’s memory, she had been to the town several times, but she didn’t take a closer look. She just handed over the embroidery pieces to the embroidery shop and that was it.

So at this time, she also watched with gusto.

She saw that the streets of the town were relatively clean, with shops lined on both sides, the shop flags rustling in the breeze, and the buildings on both sides had an antique feel.

As she approached the cloth shop at the corner, I saw various kinds of cloth stacked on the shelves inside, including plain cloth, floral cloth, silk and satin, and so on. The store also displays a variety of ready-to-wear, including men’s and women’s clothing, and even children’s clothing. The twins couldn’t help but stare straight at them, pinching the corners of their colorfully patched clothes, with longing in their eyes.

They looked down and lowered their head, but couldn’t help but look up again. It made Su Qingnao feel distressed.

Their big house now doesn’t even have enough to eat, so buying new clothes was out of the question. Even if they bought it, they won’t be able to use them. Su Qingyu took them two steps closer and soon turned into another street.

The twins looked up at Su Qingnao as if they had done something wrong. Su Qingnao smiled at them and comforted them: “When your Jie earns money, I will buy it for you. Buy clothes, shoes and socks. Buy a lot. Let you change your clothes every day.”

“Yes.” The two siblings grinned and nodded desperately at Su Qingyu.

They never questioned Su Qingyu’s words.

The three of them walked a few steps and soon arrived in front of the “Lu Ji Grocery Store” with a large wicker basket nailed to the door.

This street was called South Street, not the main street. It was just after the morning market, and only a few pedestrians passed by in a hurry.

There were not many customers in Lu Ji’s grocery store. Su Qingyu stood there for a while and only saw two or three customers entering. After the customers left, they saw that inside the crowded store, only one clerk was moving back and forth in front of the shelves, moving things in and out. Looking inside again, they didn’t see anyone else.

Su Qingyu took the twins around the grocery store and saw that the shelves were full of goods, including oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, rice, noodles, and cereals, as well as bowls, chopsticks, and dustpans.

The little boy greeted her warmly, and Su Qingyu walked around twice without buying anything. She even asked him a few questions. The little boy was not impatient at all and finally sent her off with a smile on his face. At the entrance of the store, he turned around and went into the store to tidy up.

Su Qingyu stood at the door of the store for a while, thought about it, and then took the twins into the pastry shop diagonally opposite the grocery store.

The aroma of the pastry shop filled the air, filled with the sweet smell of pastries. Not only did the twins swallow their saliva, but even Su Qingyu also looked at it with interest.

There is a flag in each basket, recording the name and price of the cake. Cloud cake, Poria cake, plum blossom cake, bean yellow, mung bean cake, red bean cake, sesame pancake, peach blossom cake, cold cake, grass cake, walnut cake, almond cake… the three siblings stared straight at them.

There was no one in the store at the moment. The fat female shopkeeper was very fond of the twins who looked alike. She teased them a little and enthusiastically took the sample cakes on the plate for the twins to eat.

The two children entered the town for the first time, with curiosity and timidity in their eyes. When they saw the enthusiastic shopkeeper, they did not dare to reach out even if the other party had no ill intentions. Seeing the plate being handed to them, they took two steps back, grabbed the corner of Su Qingyu’s clothes, timidly looked up at the fat shopkeeper, and then looked up at Su Qingyu.

“Take it and eat it, they are all for tasting.” The fat aunt said with enthusiasm on her face.

Su Qingyu saw that she really didn’t care about the two or three pieces of cake, so she gently pushed the twins: “Eat it, try it, and see which one is delicious. We will also buy some for our parents to take back later.”

When the twins heard that they needed to taste and choose delicious items to bring back for their parents, their eyes lit up, and they eagerly reached out to accept the samples.

“Thank you, aunt.”

“Thank you, aunt.”

“Hey, you are so good. How old are you?”

“Six years old.”

“Six years old? I thought you were only four or five years old. You look really alike, are you twins?”

Su Qingyu smiled and watched the two little things eating small bites while talking to the fat aunt.

Suddenly a piece of cake was handed to her mouth: “Jie, you eat it.”

Another piece of cake was also handed over: “Jie, eat it.”

“Jie won’t eat it, you guys eat it.” Su Qingyu pushed the cakes that the twins handed to her mouth.

“These two children are really sensible.” The fat aunt said to Su Qingyu.

Su Qingyu nodded in agreement and looked at them with a smile.

Seeing them chatting happily with the fat aunt, they no longer felt timid at the beginning, which comforted her. Su Qingnao saw that the fat aunt was shrewd and yet enthusiastic, and she had some ideas in her mind.

Seeing her turn around and pour tea for the three of them, she took it and took a sip, then asked her about Lu Ji.

It was a rare occasion for the fat aunt to have someone chat with her, so she started talking non-stop.

“The things you want to buy, Lu Ji Store has them all. It’s right across the street. They’ve been in business for over ten years, and their beer here in town is not bad, with reasonable prices. You’ve come at a good time; the lady of the house at their place is away, so you might avoid some haggling. She’s quite shrewd, you know. When the local farmers bring their goods, she evaluates them as if they’re worth next to nothing. She looks at a single cent as if it is as big as a wicker basket, just like the one hanging at their door.”

The fat aunt curled her lips and sneered, her words full of disdain for Lu Ji’s wife.

She didn’t know if she had some disagreements with the host’s wife, and so said some unpleasant things about her.

Su Qingyu listened for a long time, and after synthesizing the information she had learned before, she had some understanding of the Lu family.

The three of them sat in the pastry shop for a while, selected a few types of pastries, weighed a few ounces of each, made up a pound, and prepared to leave.

Su Qingyu felt a bit embarrassed. After sitting for a while, she had only bought a pound of pastries, and the two little ones had eaten quite a bit. The three of them had also drunk a pot of tea provided by the shop.

Su Qingyu felt somewhat uncomfortable.

The fat aunt was quite generous and didn’t seem to mind at all. She even weighed the pastries generously, giving them an extra two or three ounces. As they were leaving, she warmly patted and rubbed the twins, inviting them to come back again next time.

Xiao Qingxing hugged the cakes in her arms tightly and turned around to wave goodbye to the fat aunt as she walked out, causing her to pull her, touch, and rub her, wishing she could just keep her in the store.

After leaving the pastry shop, Su Qingyu took the twins and stood in the shadows, looking at Lu Ji opposite. After such a long time, except for a few guests coming in and out sporadically, there was still only the little guy.

Su Qingyu felt that she couldn’t wait for that person today.

She was a little regretful.

She took the twins for a stroll, thinking that it was a rare trip to the town, so they walked around some main streets.

As they were walking by a wine shop on North Street, she saw a table of young men having a drink and joking.

Su Qingyu was about to pull the twins away quickly when she heard a man shout loudly: “Lu Bocheng, you drink so little, are you planning to save the wine for the wedding day?”

Su Qingyu stopped and looked up.

(End of chapter)