Feeling the softness of An Hao’s chest, Qin Jian began to laugh, "Are you trying to seduce me?"
"Gross," An Hao glared at him and let go of his hand, "I won’t warm your hands anymore, you do it yourself!"
Having said that, she lifted the curtain and went out.
The change in her attitude was too abrupt... Qin Jian hadn’t even had time to figure out what had happened before An Hao turned back, playfully stuck out her tongue at him, and left again.
Qin Jian was deeply attracted by his cute little wife, and the smile in his eyes grew even thicker.
It was getting late, and An Hao quickly went to wash her hands and prepare the meal.
Soon they had to go to town to sell vegetables and couldn’t afford to leave too late.
Originally, An Shuchao was worried that if it snowed today, they wouldn’t go, but seeing that the weather was fine in the morning, he and An Ping hurriedly harvested all the vegetables they could, hoping to sell more for some extra money before the last market day of the year.
That’s why they were busy until this moment.
Lunch was very simple, and after eating, An Ping went to get the ox cart ready.
Outside, it was cold enough to freeze the ground, and An Shuchao’s leg, which had been injured before, would start to ache faintly whenever the cold wind blew.
Having been frozen outside for half the morning, his leg had already started to hurt.
Seeing him uncomfortable, An Hao insisted that he not go sell vegetables and instead went with Qin Jian and An Ping.
She was skilled at doing business, and An Ping felt uneasy without her by his side.
Qin Jian then forcefully added two more layers of clothing on her, wrapping her up like a giant cotton ball, before finally agreeing to take her with them.
The market was bustling with lots of people.
When they saw their vegetable cart arriving, everyone crowded around. Tired of just eating cabbages and potatoes all winter, they all wanted to improve their diet with some green vegetables.
Even though the vegetables were a bit pricier, the prices were fair and not excessively so.
Therefore, a crowd swarmed around the ox cart, standing in front eager to buy vegetables.
"Come on, give me two pounds of tomatoes."
"Three pounds of green beans."
"Weigh mine first, I was here first, three pounds of zucchini."
The scene was unprecedentedly lively, with as many people as if they were preparing for battle.
"Don’t push, don’t push!" An Hao raised her voice and shouted, "Uncles, aunties, brothers, and sisters, please don’t hurry! Everyone will get to buy, let’s queue up, and do this one by one. Can we all be orderly?"
"Alright. Miss, quickly start selling."
"Yeah, yeah! Start already! Some of us have come from far away and need to hurry back once we’re done here."
"We will start right away."
An Hao quickly assigned tasks, An Ping would weigh the vegetables, Qin Jian would transport them and help put them into the customers’ baskets, and since she was quick with numbers, she would handle the finances.
After the roles were assigned, the selling began.
"Give me two pounds of tomatoes," the eldest sister at the front of the line said.
"Tomatoes are sixty-five cents a pound," An Ping announced the price.
The sister changed her mind, "Then I’ll take three pounds."
Qin Jian laid out the vegetables while An Ping began to weigh them. The tomatoes were very uniform in size, and it was not easy to get exactly three pounds.
He added one and it was too much, removed one, and it was too little.
After fussing for a while and getting nowhere, he asked, "Sis, would three pounds and three ounces be ok?"
"I just need three pounds. I can’t spend all my money on vegetables; I have other things to buy," the sister said, looking embarrassed.
An Ping began sifting through the pile again, muttering as he went, "This tomato is too big, I have to find one that’s exactly five ounces to make it three pounds."
As he was laboriously searching, he heard the sister speak up, "Why don’t you just charge me for three pounds even if it’s three pounds and three ounces?"
"That won’t do, the cost of these vegetables is quite high..."
Before An Ping could finish his sentence, Qin Jian handed him a tomato, "This one weighs exactly half a pound."