Chapter 32.3

After an unknown amount of time, a group of young girls suddenly appeared at the market entrance, clearly heading straight for the stalls. Their eyes quickly scanned the merchandise before finally landing on Zhou Yao and the others.

“Over here!”

“Wow, so many styles. They’re all so pretty!!”

“Oh my god, I want every single one, but my mom only gave me five yuan…”

In an instant, Ren Yeliang felt overwhelmed as their stall was surrounded by these youthful and beautiful girls, chattering excitedly while their eyes lingered on the accessories on display.

Looking at these girls, Ren Yeliang felt like he had become several years younger. He cheerfully asked, “Which ones do you like, beauties? Feel free to try them on! As long as you don’t break them, you can try as many as you want!”

“Can we really try them on?” A girl looked over with bright eyes.

“Of course!” Ren Yeliang smiled.

So, the indecisive girls began to take turns trying on the accessories, helping each other choose their favorites while staying within their limited budgets, paying for their selections, and leaving happily with their new treasures.

The three of them instantly became busy.

Ren Yeliang was in charge of communicating with the customers, while Zhou Yao and Fang Shitao managed the stall and collected money, working efficiently.

“Wow, girls really love beauty,” Ren Yeliang muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead after finally getting through that rush of customers.

But he couldn’t help but feel a sense of amazement again. The girls paid with such decisiveness, without any hesitation!

“Is this it? We brought two backpacks today. If we don’t sell everything, won’t my sister-in-law be anxious?” Ren Yeliang turned to Zhou Yao, staring at the accessories that hadn’t moved much.

Zhou Yao frowned again at this possibility, his voice low as he said, “It’s not a market day today, so there are fewer people. The county has fewer spenders than the city. We’ll definitely sell faster when we go to the city tomorrow.”

Ren Yeliang replied, “We should’ve gone to the city to sell today…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a large group of young women poured into the market entrance. Unlike the students from before, this time it was the female workers from the factories in the county, all still wearing their matching uniforms.

Instantly, the stall was surrounded again.

It turned out to be the end of the workday for the factories. After the students bought their accessories, they passed by several factories. A large group of vibrant young women gathered together, making quite a sight, especially since each of them was wearing accessories.

Most girls find it hard to resist beautiful things!

Furthermore, these female workers were more economically independent than the students and were much more willing to spend money. As long as they liked something, they would buy it without a second thought!

When Wen Yue and Li Nianqiu arrived at the South Street market, they happened to catch Ren Yeliang and the others packing up.

“How did it go?” Wen Yue asked before she even reached them, eagerly looking at Zhou Yao and softly asking, “How much did you sell?”

Zhou Yao, who had been serious all morning, finally softened his expression upon seeing Wen Yue, his lips curling up into a slight smile. He didn’t answer, just sighed lightly.

“?”

Why was he sighing? Did they not sell anything?

That shouldn’t be the case. She had seen how excited those girls were to buy earlier, or was it that the prices were too high for them to buy?

Wen Yue’s face scrunched up, her smile fading.

“It’s selling so well. We should’ve brought more,” Zhou Yao said slowly.

Wen Yue walked to the stall and saw that the once-full backpacks were now almost empty. Realizing this, she tilted her chin up and widened her eyes, exclaiming, “… Are you kidding me?!”

She clenched her fist and hit Zhou Yao’s arm.

However, his arm was too muscular, and she ended up hurting herself.

“Did that hurt?” Zhou Yao held her wrist and brought it close to inspect, noticing it was slightly red. He gently rubbed it with his fingers, a hint of amusement in his dark, deep eyes as he said softly, “Look at you getting so nervous. Don’t you believe in yourself?”

Wen Yue huffed, “This isn’t about believing in myself! I thought I was going to lose money!”

“What’s there to be afraid of? If we lose money, I’ll cover it for you,” Zhou Yao replied casually.

They seemed oblivious to the world around them during their conversation.

“Brother, sister-in-law, can you consider our well-being for a moment?” Ren Yeliang protested, “Can we go eat something first before showing off? I’m starving.”

Wen Yue quickly retracted her hand.

“…” Zhou Yao turned to Ren Yeliang, shooting him a fierce look.

Ren Yeliang cleverly dodged behind Fang Shitao.

Zhou Yao handed over all the money they earned from selling the accessories to Wen Yue, picking up a backpack as he said, “Let’s go. Let’s eat at a restaurant. It’s my treat.”

“Wuhu~ Yay!”

Classes will officially start tomorrow. Zhou Yao has already found a house near the school, and he also found one for Grandma Fang and Lulu. They are in the same alley, very close to each other, so they can take care of each other.

They rented three rooms in total, so Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao could also come over to stay.

The things were moved in one after another two days ago, including the sewing machine at home, which was also moved by Zhou Yao to the rented house in the county town.

After dinner, the group took several trips with a tricycle back to the village, carrying the remaining accessories to the small courtyard in the county. The elementary school would start a few days later, so Grandma Fang was still home watching the girls.

The wages were settled last time, but the work did not stop.

Li Nianqiu mentioned that as long as the accessories were still selling well, they would have some time to continue making money.

However, due to their school schedule, all the tasks related to selling and buying materials would fall to Zhou Yao, Ren Yeliang, and Fang Shitao.

Wen Yue and Li Nianqiu had agreed that once everything calmed down, they would definitely give the three of them a big red envelope as a thank-you!

“It’s the last trip. Phew, we finally brought everything over,” Ren Yeliang said, straightening up after placing the last basket of accessories into the room. He put his hands on his hips and let out a heavy sigh, glancing at the darkening sky outside. “Looks like we’ll have to stay here tonight. Sister-in-law, will you be cooking tonight?”

At this question, Fang Shitao also couldn’t help but look over.

Zhou Yao clicked his tongue, “You’re thinking about having my wife cook after such a tiring day? You two must be dreaming…”

“Sure!” Wen Yue interrupted Zhou Yao, smiling brightly. “You all did most of the work today; I’m actually fine. But it seems we don’t have much food at home… Is there any food left to buy?”

Ren Yeliang eagerly replied, “Yes, yes! Sister-in-law, I’ll go buy some!”

Wen Yue said, “Then buy a fish, some pork belly, and eggplant. Also, get a block of tofu to make a tofu soup.”

Ren Yeliang nodded quickly, as if afraid she would change her mind, and dashed out in a flash.

“Are you really not tired? We could just cook some noodles,” Zhou Yao frowned. “Don’t mind those two.”

Wen Yue’s eyes were bright as she said, “I’m really not tired. Come help start the fire; let’s get the rice cooking first.”

Zhou Yao clicked his tongue again and sat down by the stove.

The mud stove in the rented courtyard was half outdoors, with just a canopy to shield it from the rain. Zhou Yao moved a small stool and lit a bundle of hay in the stove, watching as Wen Yue happily washed the rice and cooked.

Before long, Ren Yeliang returned with the groceries and, feeling self-aware, joined Fang Shitao to wash and prepare the ingredients, trying to avoid Zhou Yao’s ire.

After dinner, they boiled water for baths. When Wen Yue finished her bath and entered the room, she suddenly realized a serious question.

— She would be sharing a room with Zhou Yao now?

She would have to sleep in the same bed??

Although there was another room available, it was meant for Grandma Fang and Lulu. With Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao here, they would definitely find it strange if they knew that Zhou Yao and Wen Yue had always been sleeping in separate rooms, right?

Wen Yue turned to search for Zhou Yao but saw that he had already taken a water bucket and gone to the adjacent room to take a shower.

“…”

Wen Yue hesitated for a couple of seconds before slowly stepping into the room.

°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°

Ayalee: Hi everyone, I just realized that chapters 29 and 30, which I meant to unlock last week, were still locked because I forgot to untick the “sell content” option. 🙈 I’m really sorry for the mix-up and any inconvenience this caused! Thank you so much for your understanding ❤️ I hope you enjoy the chapters. Wishing you all happy holidays! 🎄✨