Gu Yundong put down the candy in his hand, wiped his hands, and left.
He Ye was standing in the courtyard with a basket in her hand. She looked very uneasy.
When she saw Gu Yundong come out, Dong Xiulan hurriedly went forward and asked, "Sister-in-law Shi said that she would give you oranges."
"I know. I saw her in the city before and told her. Aunt, please pour me a glass of water."
Dong Xiulan nodded. "Alright, there's still ginger tea that I made for the homestead. I'll bring it over."
Gu Yundong thanked him and led He Ye to the central room.
"Aunt, have you sold out the basket of oranges?"
He Ye quickly nodded. "Sigh, I sold them all. I met a teahouse buyer and saw that the oranges were fresh, so I bought them all. My boss specially picked these and brought them back. Can you take a look?"
She placed the basket on the table and opened the cloth, revealing more than ten round and refreshing oranges.
Gu Yundong liked it at a glance. He Ye felt a little uncomfortable when she asked him to sit, so he sat on half of her butt.
"Auntie, calculate how much it is. I'll pay."
He Ye was silent for a moment before saying softly, "One, one copper coin each."
Gu Yundong frowned. The pears he bought last time were also one copper coin each, but the quality of the pears was not good and they were not very fresh. They could not compare to this orange at all. The price was obviously lower.
"Auntie, let's go with the market price. If you give me such a cheap price, others will say that I bullied an honest person."
At this moment, Dong Xiulan came over with ginger tea. She handed it to He Ye and said with a smile, "The Shi family planted oranges well. Last time, a foreign merchant passed by the village and saw it. He bought it for ten copper coins a catty."
Ten copper coins per catty? In this era, a catty was sixteen taels. The Shi family's oranges were big and watery. Almost four of them would be a catty.
This was only what she had bought in the village. It might be more than that if she sold the orange at the market.
Gu Yundong knew what to do and took out 60 copper coins.
When He Ye saw this, she quickly refused. "That's too much, that's too much."
"Yes, 50 copper coins is the money I paid for the 20 oranges. The other 10 copper coins are compensation for knocking over your basket."
When He Ye heard this, she did not dare to take the money anymore. "It's not damaged. Why would I want compensation?"
Gu Yundong had a headache. It was not good to be too polite.
Dong Xiulan had been with her for a while and more or less understood her personality, so she pulled He Ye aside to persuade her.
Gu Yundong heaved a sigh of relief.
In the end, He Ye accepted the 60 copper coins and thanked Gu Yundong again and again before leaving the Zeng family.
"Her son is a hooligan. I didn't expect the parents to be so honest." Gu Yundong shook his head and turned to look at the oranges on the table. He said to Dong Xiulan, "The Shi family's oranges are indeed planted well. They are fragrant, sweet, and big."
"Of course. Shi Dashan and his wife are really good at farming, especially those fruit trees. They're just too cowardly." Dong Xiulan admitted that she wasn't bold, but compared to Shi Dashan and his wife, she could be considered valiant.
Gu Yundong thought about it and felt that she should go to the village chief's house. "Aunt, I'll have to trouble you to cook dinner with my mother. I have something to do and have to go out."
"Hey, it's so late. Why are you still going out?"
"I'll be right back." With that, Gu Yundong walked out of the Zeng family's door.
It was only when Gu Yundong reached Chen Liang's house that he realized that it was impolite to come to his house during dinner.