The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 60 Bargaining

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As soon as it was light, Yang Ming got up and went to the backyard to prepare the donkey cart. He used a tractor to pull the donkey cart, put straw bags on it, and laid a thin quilt on it.

After tidying up, when they returned to the room, Wei Qingqing was wrapped in a quilt, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed). Aunt Liu was measuring Wei Qingqing's fair little feet with a ruler. "I forgot to measure her feet the other day. Let me tell you, you'll need to find some jade pendants to weigh down your skirts." Aunt Liu noted down the measurements and left in a hurry without even saying goodbye to Yang Ming.

"Sister Liu is quite energetic; you can tell she's got a lot of drive..." Yang Ming said.

"Who says otherwise?" Wei Qingqing collapsed onto the kang again. "She scared me half to death just now. I was asleep when she came into the room and secretly measured my feet. It terrified me..."

"Seeing how much she cares, let's put in a good effort too. Speaking of which, among all the ethnic groups in the world, only China doesn't have ethnic costumes. If we do it well, it will be a good thing for the country and the people..." Yang Ming said.

"Hmm..." Wei Qingqing was half asleep, and it was unclear whether she heard anything. She hummed twice and then fell asleep again.

"Still sleeping? Be careful you're too lazy and your belly will grow into a swimming ring..." Yang Ming reached his hand under the covers and scratched her belly.

"Giggle..." Wei Qingqing felt a tingling sensation, giggled, and sat up abruptly, glaring at Yang Ming. "You stinky Yang Ming, if you bully me again, I'll get mad at you..."

"Get up, let's go to the market after breakfast..." Yang Ming said with a smile.

"What should we eat for breakfast? Let's go to the market and buy something. I'm craving donkey meat sandwiches, with a bowl of fragrant egg drop soup, and preferably sprinkled with some coriander..." Wei Qingqing was drooling over the delicious food. She stretched lazily and took her clothes from the end of the kang (a heated brick bed) to put on.

Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window, and dust motes danced in the light.

Watching Wei Qingqing lazily get dressed on the kang (heated brick bed), watching her curvaceous figure gradually disappear into her clothes, Yang Ming suddenly had a flash of insight. Two mu of land, an ox, a wife and children on a warm kang—this kind of life, wasn't it? Two mu of land? He had one. An ox? He had a tractor. He had a wife, children…

"Mom and Dad... I'm here... When are we leaving?" Just as Yang Ming was thinking about his child, Xiao Bao'er, dressed in a new outfit, skipped and hopped in from outside.

Okay! We're having a baby now...

"Almost done..." As soon as Xiao Bao'er's voice rang out, Wei Qingqing's lazy mood immediately flew to the ends of the earth. She quickly dressed, took out a stack of old people's bills from the closet, stuffed them into her shoulder bag, washed her face in the outer room, and then took Xiao Bao'er's hand and went to the front gate to wait for Yang Ming to drive over.

That said, you can't be lazy in front of children; even if you're pretending, you have to pretend to be diligent...

Yang Ming shook his head, locked the front door of the outer room from the inside, locked the back door, and drove to the front gate of the yard.

Wei Qingqing pulled Xiao Bao'er into the car, and the three of them drove towards Majiagou.

The market was still crowded and noisy. After parking their car, Yang Ming and his wife held their goddaughter's little hand and squeezed into the crowd.

"I'm starving, let's eat here..." Wei Qingqing pulled Xiao Bao'er to a small stall selling fried dough sticks and sat down in an empty seat.

"Boss, three bowls of egg drop soup with coriander, six fried dough sticks, and a fried pancake..." Wei Qingqing said to the stall owner who was frying dough sticks.

"Okay, just a moment..." the stall owner replied cheerfully.

"I'll go buy you some donkey meat sandwiches..." Yang Ming remembered that his wife had said she was craving them that morning.

When Yang Ming returned with four steaming hot donkey meat sandwiches wrapped in black paper, Wei Qingqing and Xiao Bao'er were waiting for him. On the small table were three bowls of steaming egg drop soup and a small shallow dish of steaming fried dough sticks.

"You're finally back! Let's eat..." Wei Qingqing smiled as she took the paper package, opened it, gave one to Xiao Bao'er first, then took one for herself, and gave the rest to Yang Ming, "This is a reward for you. You're the most tired one all day long..."

"Actually, you're not having an easy time either..." Yang Ming smiled mischievously, then sat down to eat.

"Ugh..." Wei Qingqing blushed, glanced at Yang Ming, and without saying anything more, took a bite of the crispy and fragrant sesame seed cake.

Little Bao looked at his godfather and then at his godmother, feeling that adults were really boring and always liked to speak in riddles. His mother and grandmother were like that, and so were his godfather and godmother. Never mind, let the adults handle their own affairs. Let's eat! The little guy opened his mouth wide and took a bite.

After the three finished breakfast, they began to stroll around the market. Although the market in Majia Gou was not large, it was small but complete, selling all kinds of things, and was noisy and bustling.

"Do you think this outfit looks good?" Wei Qingqing held up a light green children's autumn outfit in front of Xiao Bao'er at a clothing stall, gesturing to it.

"She looks great! Our Bao'er is so cute, she looks good in anything!" Yang Ming said.

"Hehe..." Little Bao'er giggled. It is said that little girls love to be praised the most.

"Try it on..." Wei Qingqing started helping Xiao Bao'er try on the clothes. When Xiao Bao'er put them on, she looked so cute and adorable, like a crystal doll. "Okay, this is the outfit..."

"Take another look at this outfit..." Wei Qingqing picked up a pink and white adult autumn outfit and held it up in front of herself, asking, "Does it look good?"

"She looks great! My wife is so beautiful, she looks good in anything!" Yang Ming said.

"Why do I feel like you're just giving me a platitude?" Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes at Yang Ming, then happily put on the autumn clothes. And to be honest, they really looked pretty.

"How much are these two outfits?" Wei Qingqing asked the stall owner after taking off her autumn clothes.

"You look really beautiful, ma'am. How about a hundred?" the stall owner complimented.

"One hundred? That's too expensive, how about fifty..." Wei Qingqing chopped directly down the middle.

The stall owner gave a wry smile. "Ma'am, you're really ruthless with your bargaining! Fifty yuan would have been a huge loss for me. Ninety is the lowest price I could offer!"

"What lowest price? Fifty-five, that's all. I don't want any more. This isn't handmade, and it's not a brand name. It's just selling for the price of one piece of fabric. Your cost is less than thirty yuan," Wei Qingqing said.

"Raise the price again, raise it again..." the stall owner said with a wry smile.

"It won't go up anymore, it'll be fifty-five..." Wei Qingqing shook her head and said.

"Alright, alright, you're really good at bargaining, fifty-five it is..." The stall owner nodded when he saw that the customer's target price had been reached, and took out a plastic bag to wrap up the two sets of clothes.

"Yang Ming, pay the bill..." Wei Qingqing proudly raised her head at Yang Ming.

After paying the bill, the three of them held hands and continued to stroll around the market. Suddenly, Yang Ming felt someone pat his shoulder. He quickly turned around and saw a beautiful young girl looking at him with a smile.

The girl was tall and slender, dressed in a beige casual outfit. A long, smooth, jet-black ponytail hung down to her hips. Her oval face had regular features, and a pair of black-rimmed glasses perched on her straight nose. Behind the glasses, her large eyes sparkled like two shining stars. When she smiled… intrigue was the only word to describe it… yet she always seemed a bit dazed…

"Who are you?" Yang Ming felt that this girl looked very familiar, especially with her distinctive features, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before.

When Wei Qingqing and Xiao Bao'er saw that Yang Ming had stopped talking to someone, they also turned their heads and looked at the girl.

"You stinky farmer, you've even forgotten me? I was the one who set you and Lily up..." The girl smiled, looking Wei Qingqing up and down. "Hmm, no wonder you and Lily didn't end up together. So you not only have a wife, but your daughter is already so big..." Saying this, she squatted down in front of Xiao Bao'er. "Little sister, how old are you this year?"

"Ten years old..." Xiao Bao'er shrank back to Wei Qingqing.

"Ten years old? When you were sixteen? That was beastly..." The girl shook her head, staring at Yang Ming with an extremely contemptuous look.

"Zhang Fenghuang, you brat, she's my goddaughter, okay?" Yang Ming finally remembered who this girl was. She was Liu Lili and Zhang Yue's roommate, and she had once been very enthusiastic in trying to match him up with Liu Lili.

"Huh? Do you like... mature types???" Zhang Fenghuang pointed at Wei Qingqing and Xiao Bao'er in surprise. Clearly, she mistook Wei Qingqing and Xiao Bao'er for mother and daughter.

"Who is this person? He seems mentally unstable." Wei Qingqing whispered in Yang Ming's ear.

"He's a classmate of mine from college. He has a really rich imagination and is also an online novelist. He likes to write about palace intrigue, but eight out of ten of his novels are flops..." Yang Ming whispered.

"Hmm! No wonder..." Wei Qingqing nodded, walked up to Zhang Fenghuang, and extended her hand. "Ma'am, you must be Yang Ming's classmate, right? I'm his wife, my name is Wei Qingqing, it's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Ah! My name is Zhang Fenghuang," Zhang Fenghuang quickly shook hands with her. "It's not easy for a woman to raise a child alone. Finding a good man who cares about you and knows how to cherish you is the right thing to do. Don't pay attention to the gossip. Rumors will eventually pass. Your own happiness is the key."

This person has such a vivid imagination! Wei Qingqing's forehead creased with exasperation. She said, "I heard from Yang Ming that you're involved in online literature? Aren't online writers supposed to be all couch potatoes in front of their computers?"

"My inspiration has dried up, so I've come here to gather inspiration..." Zhang Fenghuang said somewhat ashamedly.

"Yes! Sister Phoenix, let me tell you, this little girl is Yang Ming and my goddaughter. Although she's not our biological daughter, we've always treated her like one..." Wei Qingqing said.

"Ah?" Zhang Fenghuang chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, is that how it is? And where's your daughter?"

"Who told you I have a daughter?"

"That's your son?"

"We don't have children yet!"

"Hey Zhang Fenghuang, are you done yet? I know what you're thinking, and I appreciate your concern, but Liu Lili and I really don't click. I'm not lying to you, and I have no reason to lie to you. Why are you two so concerned about our relationship? Is this going to go on forever? If you have that kind of energy, go find a man and get married yourself..." Yang Ming finally lost his patience as the two continued their argument.

Zhang Fenghuang's face darkened, and she glared at Yang Ming. "You stinking men are all the same! Our Lily thinks about you all day long, unable to eat or sleep, while you're enjoying family bliss here! Humph..." She snorted coldly and turned to leave.

"Writing too many palace intrigue novels makes people go crazy..." Yang Ming sighed, shaking his head as he watched Zhang Fenghuang's retreating figure. Back then, because of his affair with Liu Lili, his roommates and Liu Lili's roommates were all acting like they were possessed.

"I think she's pretty good. She even became a bad guy for her sister. Being able to do that shows she's a loyal friend..." Wei Qingqing praised.

"That auntie is so scary, even scarier than Red Wolf..." Xiao Bao'er whispered.

After this little incident, the three continued strolling through the market. Their chance encounter with Zhang Fenghuang didn't affect their mood at all; on the contrary, it made Yang Ming even more smug. What did this little incident show? It showed that he was still quite popular. Wei Qingqing gritted her teeth at his smug look.

"Look, this jacket suits you perfectly..." Wei Qingqing held up a beige jacket in front of Yang Ming, holding it up. "Try it on..."

Yang Ming looked quite good in the jacket, and the young man seemed very energetic. Wei Qingqing nodded in approval. "This will do... Boss, how much?"

"This man is a natural clothes hanger, and you have excellent taste, ma'am..." The stall owner, a woman in her forties, was quite eloquent. It was unclear whether she was praising Wei Qingqing's taste in men or clothes. "This jacket, our cost price is seventy, but you can give it to us for seventy-five..."

"Seventy-five? Big sister, you're joking. Do you know how much these two outfits cost? They only cost thirty-five." Wei Qingqing took out the two autumn outfits she had just bought.

"Your clothes are autumn wear, but this is a jacket, isn't it?" the stall owner said with a smile.

"What's the difference? They're all made by machines, it doesn't take much effort. Thirty, I'll take it for thirty..." Wei Qingqing said.

"You must be joking, I'd lose a fortune if I paid thirty!" The stall owner wouldn't budge an inch.

"Thirty-five, that's the price. We won't take anything more..." Wei Qingqing raised the price appropriately.

"It really won't work..." the stall owner laughed.

"Godmother, I want to eat candied hawthorns..." Xiao Bao tugged at Wei Qingqing's sleeve and pointed to a candied hawthorn vendor.

"Is it really not going to work?" Wei Qingqing asked again.

"It really won't work..." The stall owner held onto Qingshan tightly, refusing to let go.

"I want to eat candied hawthorn, I want to eat candied hawthorn..." At this moment, Xiao Bao'er started to make a fuss, tugging at Wei Qingqing's clothes and twisting her body uncontrollably, quite clingy.

"Look how much the child is making a fuss, if it doesn't work, then just give up..." Yang Ming said.

"Alright then!" Wei Qingqing was annoyed by Xiao Bao'er's tugging, so she could only smile at the stall owner. "Big sister, let's go check out other stalls..." She pulled the little guy to buy candied hawthorns.

"Alright, alright, give me another five yuan, forty yuan, take it..." The stall owner called out as soon as he saw the mother and daughter leave.

"Yang Ming, give me the money..." Wei Qingqing smiled smugly.

Yang Ming quickly paid the bill.

"You three are really funny..." The stall owner rolled his eyes at the three of them, took the money, wrapped up the clothes, and couldn't help but laugh when he thought about the little tricks the three of them had played.

"Big sister, we're leaving now..." Wei Qingqing waved triumphantly to the stall owner.

The stall owner smiled and shook his head.

The three of them strolled around while eating candied hawthorns, and soon they arrived at the livestock market. Here, the crowds thinned out, giving them a feeling of finally seeing the light of day.

"Huh? Grandpa Niu isn't here?" Yang Ming scanned the pigeon market but didn't see Grandpa Niu.

"Hey buddy, you're here again? Are you looking for Grandpa Niu? Don't bother looking, Grandpa Niu's wife passed away a few days ago, and he's holding a funeral at home right now. You know, it was just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the old lady was gone..." The pigeon vendor recognized Yang Ming and came up to him.

"Huh?" Wei Qingqing exclaimed in surprise, "How did it disappear?"

"Who knows? He woke up on the morning of August 16th and couldn't be woken up. They took him to the hospital, but they couldn't find out how he died..." the vendor said.

"Truly...the weather is unpredictable..." Yang Ming shook his head and sighed. To be honest, he had a pretty good impression of Grandpa Niu; he found the old man quite humorous.

"Actually, it's nothing. Don't be fooled by the fact that Grandpa Niu is only seventy years old. His wife is more than ten years older than him. Grandpa Niu's family used to be landlords. He got married when he was six years old. His wife must be over eighty years old this year..." the vendor said.

"This should be considered a peaceful death, right?" Wei Qingqing nodded and looked at the vendor. "Brother, have you received any good pigeons? If you have any, let us know, money is no object."

"Look at what you're saying, come here, come here... I actually got a pair of good pigeons today..." The vendor laughed and led them to his pigeon coop.

"See this pair?" The vendor pointed to a pair of round, plump pigeons in the cage. "These are Red Balls, but they're a bit old and don't incubate pigeons as often anymore. If you want them, fifty yuan to take them."

"Brother, you're really joking. You're so old, and you still dare to ask for fifty? Thirty, I'll take it for thirty," Yang Ming laughed.

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(End of this chapter)