Uncle Dog had spent his whole life tilling the yellow soil under the blue sky. What he saw most were the red sweet potatoes at home, and because they were so common, no one took them seriously, merely considering them as food to stave off hunger.
"They can really be sold for money?" Uncle Dog was stunned, then scratched his head, "Then young lady, how much do you want this time?"
"I need a total of six hundred catties. I’ve asked Youqian’s mom to prepare three hundred, and I’ll need another three hundred from you."
"Alright, I’m afraid we don’t have that much at home. I’ll have to go dig some up from the field." It was the peak season for harvesting sweet potatoes, and they were fresh.
Uncle Dog’s sweet potato patch was located right at the entrance of the village, and Xiaofeng went to the field along with the boy and girl twins.
It was the first time the twins had been in the field, and they were having a great time.
On a whim, Xiaofeng made a necklace for each of the siblings out of sweet potato leaves, as well as earrings and whatnot.
Xiaobao liked it a lot, while Dabao found it rather displeasing.
Gu Yecheng watched his wife and children playing happily in the field, his lips constantly curving upwards.
Uncle Dog and his wife worked quickly and soon prepared the three hundred catties of sweet potatoes. He didn’t even ask about the price.
In his view, if the other party wanted them, he was willing to give them for free. As for the price, whatever they were willing to offer was fine - the sweet potatoes weren’t worth much anyway.
When the other villagers learned that someone was buying sweet potatoes from Uncle Dog’s family, they all gathered around, probably finding it unusual.
After all, there had been people who came to buy their sweet potatoes before, but according to hearsay, the business didn’t go well, and the buyer never returned.
When Uncle Dog saw Xiaofeng hand him sixty yuan, he hesitated to take it.
Just a few sweet potatoes – maybe it was too much.
"Young lady, there’s no need for so much. Our sweet potatoes here are cheap; even if you go to the town to buy them, they’re only ten cents per catty, not expensive." Three hundred catties for sixty yuan made it twenty cents per catty, twice the price of the town.
"How about you just give twenty yuan, really, they’re not worth much. You’ve offered too much; I can’t accept it." Twenty cents a catty was a sky-high price for him.
The potatoes really weren’t worth much, and he couldn’t cheat the young lady.
"Uncle Dog, I’m not familiar with the market here, but I’m a businesswoman. I won’t do anything that would cause me to lose money, nor will I let you suffer a loss. Don’t worry, I’m also selling them to someone else." Apart from giving them to Bai Liuniang’s family, she was charging the others.
Uncle Dog, hearing this, nervously accepted the money.
For him, such a high price was unprecedented, and he felt both happy and somewhat guilty.
The neighboring villagers watching Uncle Dog’s family selling sweet potatoes at a high price were extremely envious.
Sixty yuan, that could be exchanged for three hundred catties of flour.
After leaving Uncle Dog’s home, she headed to Zhao Youqian’s place, which was located in the upper part of Shihe Village.
Zhao Youqian’s family was somewhat special.
His mother seemed to be the Zhao Family’s child bride, raised in their home. She had Zhao Youqian with his father without an official marriage certificate. Later, Zhao Youqian’s father became involved with another woman from the town and went on to live as a son-in-law in her family.
So, Zhao Youqian was brought up solely by his mother.
Zhao’s mother, who didn’t talk much, was a typical honest person.
Zhao’s mother had already dug up the sweet potatoes and was waiting at home.
Looking at the sixty yuan in her hand, Zhao’s mother, like Uncle Dog, hesitated to accept it and tried to give it back to Xiaofeng: "Young lady, there’s no need for money, really, no need. You provided Youqian with a proper job, I’m grateful enough, how could I take your money."
Before Zhao’s mother could press it into Xiaofeng’s hand, it swiftly disappeared from her grasp.
Zhao Tiansheng snatched the sixty yuan from Zhao’s mother’s hand and cursed her out loud, "I say you’re foolish, and you truly are. You don’t even want money that’s handed to you."
He was annoyed just looking at such a foolish woman.