"I’ve had it before," Gu Yao nodded, but it had been a long time since he last had any.
"Is it good?" Yang Ruxin asked with a somewhat forced smile.
Gu Yao nodded, but quickly changed the subject, "But, even if you want to eat shrimp, you don’t need to be so frugal, right? How can you eat these tiny dried shrimps? It’s all shell..."
"That’s because nobody knows how to cook them," Yang Ruxin raised an eyebrow proudly, "Just wait until I cook them for you, and you’ll know what a delicacy they are, they’ll be so delicious they’ll ’blow your tongue away’..."
"And how do you know how to cook them?" Gu Yao looked at Yang Ruxin skeptically.
"Me?" Yang Ruxin smiled proudly, "I’m a self-taught genius."
Gu Yao frowned.
"If I say just by looking at these ingredients, I can figure out how to make it, would you believe that?" Yang Ruxin raised an eyebrow at Gu Yao. After all, she had thousands of years of knowledge, and in the future, she’d reveal things unknown to this era. How was she supposed to explain that? Since she couldn’t explain, she might as well give a shameless explanation, whether he believed it or not was his problem.
"Keep boasting," Gu Yao said with a dismissive smirk.
Yang Ruxin didn’t get angry, but instead chuckled, "Well, when I cook it, you better not eat it."
Gu Yao wanted to say he wouldn’t eat it, but he didn’t, feeling that this girl wasn’t one to talk big. If it really was delicious, wouldn’t he be missing out?
Yang Ruxin smiled triumphantly and didn’t point out his little scheme.
Leaving the dock, they first had to head back to town and then west to their village. Yang Ruxin also needed to buy a small stone mill, so she made another trip to Zhou’s Grocery Store.
The young shop assistant saw Yang Ruxin had bought so many items, and this time, he even rounded down the price, knocking off five coins’ worth of change.
She had barely walked far from the grocery store when a little boy ran up behind her, bumped into Yang Ruxin, and then ran off.
Yang Ruxin instantly felt something was amiss, reached down to check, and sure enough, the money pouch that had hung from her waist was gone. She couldn’t help but shout, "Thief!" and took off after the boy.
In this era, clothes have no pockets, so silver is carried in a money pouch tied around the waist, which truly does attract thieves. But she didn’t have a choice – even if she wanted to make some changes, she lacked the fabric. But once she got back home, she could make new clothes and add some hidden pockets. She could also sew a few backpacks, which would make traveling more convenient.
Only, just as she had made plans, a thief struck.
Gu Yao also didn’t waste time, quickly pushing his cart to follow the chase.
There were people on the street, but they remained indifferent, not the kind to stand up for justice. Therefore, Yang Ruxin had to chase the thief on her own. Though there were only two taels of silver in the pouch, it was still money, right?
The boy might have been quick, but being small, he was caught by Yang Ruxin as soon as he ducked into a nearby alley.
The boy was clever, too. Seeing he couldn’t escape, he threw the money pouch to the ground, sat on his butt, and started crying. Then quickly, four or five men rushed from both ends of the alley, surrounding Yang Ruxin in the middle. The alley wasn’t a real alley – there were no houses, just a gap between two walls.
Yang Ruxin’s eyebrows lifted slightly, knowing this was the work of a gang.
"Are you bullying a kid?" one tall man looked at Yang Ruxin with a face filled with righteous indignation, "Have you no shame?"