Chapter 18: Mother-in-Law Comes to Buy Vegetables

“Alright!”

The elderly man let out a hearty laugh. After Xi Youyou finished with the paperwork, she pushed the cart back to the market.

In addition to the cart, she had also spent a few coins at the old man’s stall to buy several baskets woven from willow vines.

The baskets could be used to hold vegetables.

Pushing the cart back to the market, she was panting heavily. Standing in place, she sighed with emotion—the Original Owner really had very little strength. It probably had something to do with always being happy to partake but not prepared to do any work.

She would need to train more in the space in the future, and drink more of the spiritual spring water, as it was beneficial to the body.

She also had to help adjust and improve the health of her family, herself, and the two children.

Recently, she had been using spiritual spring water to cook meals and porridge. The taste was better, and it had health benefits. Long-term use would be quite good, especially for the two elderly people in the house.

Xi Youyou shook her head and pushed those thoughts aside. The most important thing right now was to make money!

She found a secluded spot, placed the vegetables under the cart, and filled the baskets on top as well.

The vegetables were packed full. When she gave the cart a push with her hand, it didn’t budge an inch.

She rubbed her temples in frustration. With a helpless sigh, she puffed out her cheeks and gritted her teeth, pushing the cart with all her might, feet digging into the ground behind her. Only then did the cart move—just a little.

Using all her strength, she finally managed to push the cart to the stall she had rented. She really wanted to sit down, but there wasn’t a chair.

She had overlooked that part.

She could only lean on the cart for two minutes.

While resting, she took out a green onion pancake from her pocket and finished it. That gave her back a bit of strength. Then she began tidying up the stall, taking out all the vegetables and arranging them nicely.

After everything was set up, she sat down beside the cart. Now, all she had to do was wait for customers to arrive.

Her vegetables were very fresh, so they should sell a bit better.

As she sat there, Xi Youyou thought again—she should really bring out some things from the space, like a couple of books to read and a small folding stool.

She needed to be properly equipped.

Just as she was thinking about it, a customer appeared before her.

The woman looked to be in her early thirties, carrying a basket on her arm. “Young lady, your vegetables look really fresh. How much are you selling them for?”

That morning, Xi Youyou had tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, leafy greens, and big white radishes.

The radishes were plump and white—impossible to miss at a glance.

“These are three cents per jin.”

“These are two cents.” Xi Youyou replied, giving a rough price list of the vegetables. She had asked around yesterday morning, so her prices were in line with everyone else’s.

Now it all depended on who had better vegetables—customers would buy from them.

Of course, some people only liked buying from familiar sellers.

“Your vegetables look so fresh and tender—they must taste great. Give me a bit of everything. If it’s good, I’ll come back to buy from you again!” the woman said with a beaming smile.

Xi Youyou quickly pulled out a bag and a scale. Although she had forgotten to bring a stool, she had prepared these essentials—there were plenty of such things in her space.

She weighed the vegetables and packed them up nicely for the woman.

Xi Youyou smiled warmly as she handed them over. “Take these home and give them a try, Big Sister. I have a lot of confidence in my veggies. Bring your friends next time too!”

Her voice was pleasant, and she was polite, plus the vegetables looked vibrant and juicy. The woman had a good impression of her.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before at this market. Is this your first day selling vegetables?”

At this hour, many of the shoppers at the market enjoyed gossiping—either chatting with companions they came with or striking up conversations with the vendors.

As long as they felt a connection, they could talk about anything.

It wasn’t like in the modern age, where many people suffered from so-called social anxiety, unable to chat with strangers or even respond to casual questions.

They just couldn’t keep a conversation going.

“Yes!”

“This is my first day here. My family grows a lot of vegetables, so I thought I’d bring some out to sell.”

“Just doing a little business!”

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately started chattering away.

Xi Youyou listened carefully, picking up a few bits of useful information from her words. She nodded inwardly—talking with others was indeed worthwhile.

Not long after the woman left, a few older aunties gathered around.

“Aiyo, these white radishes are so plump and tender! They must taste amazing!”

“Haven’t seen such nice radishes in days. I’ll take two home and cook them with some meat!”

“Me too, me too.”

These older women had come shopping together. When one of them bought vegetables, the others noticed how nice they looked and joined in. They also chatted with Xi Youyou.

Since they all regularly shopped at this market and hadn’t seen her before, they asked a few more questions than usual.

Xi Youyou responded cheerfully, chatting and laughing along.

Her vegetables were fresh, and with so many people gathering to buy them, other shoppers were drawn in by the bustle. Once they came over to look, they couldn’t help but buy something.

By midmorning, Xi Youyou had already sold quite a lot. Once the vegetables in the baskets were gone, she pretended to take more out from the cart—but was actually pulling them from her space.

She weighed them, bagged them, handed them over, and collected the money—all in one smooth motion.

The entire morning passed with her constantly receiving payment, to the point her face almost stiffened from smiling so much.

Business was going really well. From time to time, other vendors and curious people came by to see what the commotion was.

When the other vegetable sellers saw how vibrant and juicy her produce looked, they instantly understood what was going on.

Noticing the time, Xi Youyou figured she’d sell for another hour or so before heading home, to avoid raising any suspicion by staying too long.

Over the course of the morning, she had also become friendly with a woman selling goods at the neighboring stall. The woman even kindly lent her a stool.

Xi Youyou’s legs were finally relieved.

Even though she really wanted to sneak a stool out of her space, she restrained herself to avoid being seen.

After another half an hour, Xi Youyou decided it was time to pack up. Most of the vegetables were sold, and she was eager to go home.

But just as she lowered her head and started tidying up, she heard a very familiar voice.

“Young lady, how much are your vegetables?”

Hm?

Upon hearing that voice, Xi Youyou immediately guessed that the person was her mother-in-law.

She kept her head lowered for another two seconds while arranging the vegetables. Then she looked up and reported the prices—deliberately using a slightly pinched voice.

“They look pretty fresh. Give me a few jins, then!” Xu Xiu and the others had eaten breakfast that morning. After the meal, Xu Xiu noticed the vegetables at home were running low, so she decided to come out and buy more.

After walking around the market, she found that Xi Youyou’s vegetables were the freshest. The children needed to eat fresh produce, after all.

The prices were reasonable too, so she made up her mind to buy some.

Xi Youyou didn’t say much to avoid her mother-in-law recognizing her voice. She immediately pulled out a bag and began packing the vegetables, then weighed them.

After weighing and reporting the price, Xi Youyou added a handful of leafy greens to the bag. “Auntie, this is a little something extra. I’m about to close up for the day.”

“Huh?”