Xinyan received quite a few herbal seedlings from Master Gousheng last week. She learned that they had a grapevine in their yard and arranged to meet at the market this week to have him cut a few branches for her and to give her the herbs he found on the mountain.
Last week, she didn’t change her outfit and told Master Gousheng that she dressed scruffily on purpose, for safety reasons when going out.
After finishing her chores in the morning, Xinyan left her house.
She fished a bucketful from the Yuquan River and headed to the market, carrying it along. These fish were ordered by Manager Lu at the state-run restaurant at the market, so she conveniently took them over.
Since there were people along the way and the state-run restaurant wasn’t far from the town’s market entrance, she couldn’t cheat and had to carry it all the way. Fortunately, she was strong, or she wouldn’t have been able to manage.
She first arrived at the state-run restaurant and saw Song Wenjuan cleaning at the front desk: "Sister Wenjuan, busy as usual?"
Song Wenjuan looked up and saw Xinyan carrying the bucket: "Oh wow, Xinyan’s here! Chef Zhang was just talking about you."
Chef Zhang heard the commotion from behind and came over: "Girl, since you’re here, why don’t you bring the fish to the back kitchen, why chat here?"
Since the last time she sold fish here, Xinyan hadn’t come again. Last week, when she came to find things from Master Gousheng, she bumped into Chef Zhang at the market, which led to today’s fish delivery.
Xinyan laughed: "I’m here, I’m here. I just arrived and haven’t chatted with Sister Wenjuan yet."
Saying this, she carried the bucket to the back kitchen, not forgetting to smile at Song Wenjuan.
Last weekend, someone admired Chef Zhang’s cooking skills and, after tasting his dishes, directly reserved three tables for today.
Chef Zhang is a peculiar person, very particular about cooking. He likes to search for ingredients himself, and even Manager Lu dares not offend him. If things don’t go his way, he really will leave you hanging.
Xinyan brought the fish inside: "Master Zhang, are these fish to your liking?"
On the way here, she tried putting a small amount of Space Stream Water, and the fish became very lively. Chef Zhang looked at them and his face brightened: "Not bad."
Then, he shouted to someone nearby: "Come over and weigh these."
Then he looked at Xinyan: "I won’t let you lose out, I’ll still stick to the price Manager Lu stated last time."
Xinyan thanked him and went to the side to weigh them. Since there were more fish than last time, she received more money.
Politely bidding farewell to Chef Zhang, she was about to leave when she heard Chef Zhang say: "If you have good goods in the future, feel free to bring them here. Can the market give you a better price than I can here?"
Xinyan knew Chef Zhang was warm-hearted despite his cold exterior. He was worried about her getting shortchanged at the market, so she chuckled and said to him: "Thank you, I’ll remember."
Although she would leave here after the college entrance exam, she still wanted to respond and respect others’ kindness.
After greeting Song Wenjuan, who was busy cleaning, she left.
Upon arriving at the market, she was surprised to see Master Gousheng had been waiting there. Besides several grapevines, he also brought a small ginseng seedling for her, which thrilled Xinyan.
Seeing her delight, Master Gousheng pulled out two cockscomb flowers from his basket: "Knowing you like flowers and plants, I helped out at another house and got two small ones for you, brought them all together."
Xinyan smiled and nodded: "Thank you."
But she didn’t let Master Gousheng miss out either, directly paying him, as it wasn’t easy for his grandson and him.
Seeing she paid for the cockscomb flowers too, Master Gousheng declined: "Treat these flowers as a gift. They took no effort, just things procured from others, treat them as a bonus."
Xinyan laughed and pushed it back: "Don’t refuse, buy Gousheng some candy."
Master Gousheng heard Xinyan mention Gousheng, and his eyes were full of smiles. He no longer declined: "Always making you spend, so I’ll thank you on his behalf."
Xinyan put the things into her bucket: "Please don’t say that. I’m taking things from you; it’s just mutual need."
After separating, Xinyan wandered around the market for half a day, pulled a few pieces of fabric at Gongqiao Society. Seeing some yarn that needed no coupons, she also bought a few pounds, thinking to prepare clothes for herself for autumn and winter, once she had time.