Chapter 38.1

Before leaving, Jiang Rou planned to invite Chang Yong and Fu Fei over for a meal at home.

Regardless of the circumstances, Li Xiao had indeed received considerable care from them. During Li Xiao’s hospitalization, Chang Yong came to visit every day.

Li Xiao saving him was one thing, but Chang Yong’s good attitude was another. 

They couldn’t just ignore that.

In matters of social etiquette, Jiang Rou was more adept than Li Xiao. This might have been related to her family environment. Although Jiang Rou had never dealt with such matters before, she had some understanding from observing her brother and sister-in-law. 

Besides, it was just a matter of cooking a few dishes.

When Fu Fei came over yesterday, Jiang Rou had Li Xiao mention this plan. According to Li Xiao, it wasn’t necessary to go into such trouble. If necessary, it could simply wait until his injury healed and then invite the two to a restaurant for a meal.

Jiang Rou disagreed, insisting that inviting them to their home would be more sincere and that eating out was more expensive.

Eventually, Li Xiao was persuaded.

So, early in the morning, they set off to the market with An An.

To buy vegetables at the market, one had to go early; otherwise, fresh produce would be sold out. Some elderly people went out before dawn. Besides vegetables, there was also seafood caught by night fishermen. If they arrived late, they could only pick from what was left.

Jiang Rou pushed An An in front, while Li Xiao followed a step behind with a cane.

The cane in his hand was a bit short, making it inconvenient for him to use, but it was manageable.

It was An An’s first time going out so early. As she looked curiously at the nearly empty streets, she leaned forward, turning her head to take in the sights.

When they arrived at the vegetable market, Jiang Rou handed An An to Li Xiao to push and walked ahead to buy the ingredients. She bought sea bass, mantis shrimp, crabs, beef, and some vegetables.

There were many things to buy, and some of them were too heavy to carry. 

Li Xiao took a few of the heavier bags and hung them directly on the handle of the cart.

An An, who was sitting in the front, tilted upward due to the imbalance of weight, but she wasn’t scared. Maybe it was because she found the swinging fun, so she giggled as she wobbled.

Jiang Rou quickly stepped on the stroller’s front wheels to stabilize it. “Let me carry some of the bags.”

But Li Xiao didn’t listen. 

He leaned on his cane with one hand and held the horizontal bar in the middle of the cart’s armrest with the other. He pushed the cart forward a few steps and said, “It’s fine.”

Jiang Rou didn’t argue further. Noticing that there were clothes and jewelry for sale at the back entrance of the vegetable market, she couldn’t help but take a look.

She wanted to buy some gifts for Li Xin and Aunt Wang.

The area was lined with small shops. Each was a tiny single-room space, with clothes and accessories piled up on counters at the entrance and more hanging on the walls and ceiling inside.

Perhaps due to the early hour, there weren’t many customers. Jiang Rou casually approached a stall where the owner, a middle-aged aunt, came over yawning and boasted that the merchandise was from Port City, high-quality brand-name clothes.

Jiang Rou selected a blue-and-white naval dress and asked for the price. It was twenty yuan, which Jiang Rou thought was a bit expensive. Sticking to her principle of not being overcharged, she asked if she could get a discount of 2 yuan.

Li Xiao, watching from the side, felt a bit speechless and directly said to the seller, “5 yuan.”

The owner, still sleepy, immediately disagreed, “5 yuan? Why don’t you just go and rob it?”

“Then forget it,” Li Xiao replied indifferently, pushing the cart away.

Seeing him about to leave, Jiang Rou didn’t insist on buying; he simply put down the items and turned to catch up with him.

Realizing that the family really didn’t intend to buy anything, the owner quickly said, “15 yuan, 15 yuan, just take it.”

Li Xiao paused, frowned, and turned back, “7 yuan.”

“7 yuan is too low. How about 12 yuan? Look at the quality.”

“Not enough money.”

“…11 yuan, that’s the lowest I can go.”

“8 yuan and I’ll buy another one.”

In the end, Jiang Rou bought the blue-and-white naval dress for 8 yuan. After receiving it, she still found it somewhat unbelievable. Li Xiao asked her to pick out something for her as well.

The blue-and-white dress was clearly intended for a girl with a smaller build, and it was obvious that Jiang Rou was buying it for her sister.

Jiang Rou wanted to explain that she didn’t need it. She wasn’t someone who treated herself poorly. 

Back in her hometown, she had already made two or three cotton silk dresses for herself, which were very comfortable to wear.

However, when she saw Li Xiao pick up a purple, outdated half-length skirt, she quickly chose a sleeveless black-and-white plaid dress for herself and said decisively, “I want this one.”

Li Xiao glanced at it and thought it wasn’t very good-looking. “Do you want to choose a different one? ”

He thought the dress he was holding was better.

Jiang Rou shook her head, clearly set on this one.

Jiang Rou’s dress was a bit more expensive, but Li Xiao managed to bargain it down to 12 yuan.

As they were leaving, they could still hear the shopkeeper complaining behind them about being at a disadvantage.

Jiang Rou couldn’t help but ask, “Who did you learn this from? You’re even better at bargaining than my mother, and you directly cut the price in half!”

Li Xiao raised his eyebrows, “Do I need to learn this from someone? These people are more cunning than anyone else. If you speak the local dialect, they’ll rip you off. How much do you think these clothes are worth? The cost of purchasing them is barely one or two yuan.”

He had been hanging out with a group of gangsters since he was a child, so there wasn’t much he didn’t know about the shady dealings in the county town. For small businesses like this, clothes were purchased per kilogram.

“There are many foreign companies setting up factories here. The defective items get destroyed, but some factories secretly sell these inferior goods and discarded fabrics. Some small factories use these to make imitation brand-name products, which they sell cheaply at markets. The prices are generally very cheap.”

As Jiang Rou listened, she grew more and more amazed. It wasn’t that she was shocked by how much Li Xiao knew, but rather because his description sounded a lot like those last-minute bargain stores on Taobao.

-o-o-o-

The two continued shopping for a while longer. Jiang Rou bought a silk scarf for Aunt Wang, and a belt for Uncle Wang, and also got some items for Zhou Jian’s family.

Li Xiao thought it was unnecessary to buy so much, as it would be hard to carry everything back. Jiang Rou ignored him, insisting that some things couldn’t be skimped on.

—o—o—o—

After taking a nap in the afternoon, Jiang Rou started preparing for dinner. Li Xiao couldn’t help much and stood by washing vegetables.

As he washed, he said, “I’m thinking of going into the food industry. I have some experience in this field. People here love to eat, and there’s a lot of delicious food around. But the thing is, most of it is made and sold on the spot. I’ve been to supermarkets several times, and the shelves are full of foreign snacks. The packaging is beautiful, but the taste is not good, and they’re expensive. Some snacks are so too sweet, it’s not really good for the health. There are also locally produced snacks, but they’re cheap and placed on the lowest shelves in the supermarket.”

“I thought that if I could create snacks with attractive packaging and good taste, maybe I could sell them abroad as well.”

In fact, since the day he was injured, he had been contemplating this. In the construction industry, he couldn’t see a clear path forward. The market was already divided, and many people were still fighting over the leftovers.

This injury seemed like a warning, making him realize that without connections and strength, it would be difficult to gain a foothold in this industry. He couldn’t rely entirely on Chang Yong’s generosity.

When Chang Yong offered him the project, Li Xiao wasn’t as eager or happy as he had imagined. 

Jiang Rou’s words later on also left a deep impression on him.

Jiang Rou didn’t oppose whatever he wanted to do, as long as he stayed healthy, upright, and honorable.

Indeed, he couldn’t afford to get into trouble now. When he was single, if anything happened to him, it was only his own concern. But now things were different. Their daughter is still young, and if something happened to him, all the burdens would fall on Jiang Rou.

He couldn’t bear that.

-o-o-

Jiang Rou’s eyes lit up when she heard this. It sounded just like the snack shops in the future. Especially after platforms like Taobao emerged, the sales coming from a snack shop were truly astonishing.

“This is a good idea. In the future, you could establish your own brand, start a company, and set up a factory to sell snacks nationwide. But you must ensure hygiene and quality. Aside from taste, the most important aspect of food is health—otherwise, problems are bound to arise.”

Food safety had always been a major concern in the future, and before she traveled back in time, there had even been a trending incident involving ice cream.

Li Xiao knew she would support him without hesitation, so he smiled lightly and simply said, “Hmm.”

—o—o—o—