The jade pendant connects the past and present; the exiled crown prince's wife takes her entire

Jiang Jinning was still clutching more than five hundred yuan in her hand. The bright red "money" was wrinkled from being squeezed. Her gaze was lowered, staring at the crossbow. She was anxious, sad and aggrieved.

The boss wasn't annoyed by her overly "simple" attire; on the contrary, he was at a loss for how to comfort her as she stood sadly in front of him.

"Oh dear, child, no need to cry. It's just a toy. This crossbow isn't fun at all. Hey, I have some of those dolls that you girls love. They're wearing pretty dresses, even ancient-style dresses. They're so pretty."

Jiang Jinning didn't want any dolls; she just wanted to buy the little general a crossbow to play with.

Although the young general seemed fine, she knew he was actually heartbroken. How could a young general who had fought on the battlefield not be saddened by being accused of treason and being bullied by the guards along the way?

She just wanted to buy him a little something to make him happy; she didn't want anything else.

She choked back tears, her voice low, her head bowed.

Jiang Jinning knew that her blocking the way was affecting business, so she sniffed, clutched the money, and tried to leave.

The shopkeeper stopped her, saying, "Young lady, what's the rush? I haven't finished speaking. If I like this crossbow, I can order another one tomorrow. This is a handmade crossbow, so it has to be ordered on a timer. The production time is usually over a month. I'll expedite it for you, and you can come back the day after tomorrow. You won't have to pay the expedited fee. Since you really like it, you'll need to pay a deposit. Is that acceptable?"

Jiang Jinning had thought that she couldn't buy any crossbows anymore, but upon hearing this, she immediately looked up in surprise.

Her eyes were wet, with tears still clinging to them, and an incredulous look lingered at the corners of her mouth.

The shopkeeper was heartbroken: "Look how heartbroken this girl is crying. Alright, alright, this crossbow was originally going to sell for 1,300, but I'll sell it to you for 1,150. You can pay a deposit of 450."

Jiang Jinning was calculating rapidly in her mind.

If it's 1300, she can get another 350 after handing over the spider lily in a few days. Adding that to 450, that's 800, so she's still short 350.

She should be able to get 350 if she tries hard, but the timing is uncertain, and she doesn't know if the boss will reserve the goods for her.

She remembered what Liang Cheng had told her: if you want something, you should go for it boldly. So she took a deep breath and tried to speak: "Boss, I might not have enough money, but I can work hard to earn more. Can you stay a little longer? I can pay the deposit first, and I can pay the rest later, it's just that..."

Jiang Jinning thought the other party would be angry, and her heart was pounding. If this happened in Dali, the shopkeeper would not hold the goods for you. Even if you paid a deposit, the other party had the right to sell to someone who offered a higher price.

Unexpectedly, the boss readily agreed, and even offered to let them buy on credit first.

"You can make up the difference later, it's no big deal, you can take it and play with it first."

The shopkeeper wasn't being generous by extending credit just because Jiang Jinning cried or because he genuinely liked his daughter. He had simply noticed the little girl lingering at his stall a few days ago, apparently selling handmade hairpins at the stall in front.

At first, he thought it was just kids playing some kind of role-playing game, but since they were dressed like this again today, they must be having some kind of trouble.

He didn't think that people with difficulties had no right to buy what they liked. She earned money through her own abilities, and it wasn't shameful for her to buy whatever she wanted.

After paying the deposit, Jiang Jinning bowed deeply in gratitude, clutching the remaining money, her steps light and quick.

She went to the pharmacy and bought typhoid medicine. This time, another clerk sold her a box of Western medicine, which was said to treat colds. The box contained twenty pills and cost only ten yuan.

Jiang Jinning didn't know how effective the pill was. She only knew that in Dali, it cost extra to make pills, with each pill ranging from a few taels to thousands of taels. People usually chose to take bitter herbal soup. She wondered what this pill tasted like.

After leaving the pharmacy, Jiang Jinning went to the food street as usual to prepare some snacks.

Steamed buns are a must; they taste good even when they're cold. This time, she also saw a noodle stall.

These aren't fresh noodles; they come in individual packets. I've seen them before when I bought seasoning; they're called instant noodles.

Those instant noodles don't seem special when they're just sitting on a cold, impersonal shelf, but when you put them in a pot to cook, their aroma travels far and wide.

Jiang Jinning thought this was even tastier than the steamed buns with barbecue seasoning she ate that night. She thought that taking a bite of this would be absolutely delicious.

"Son, would you like a bowl? It'll only cost six yuan with an egg."

She still had some money left, but she needed to buy materials for making embroidery, and also some easily portable food, like noodles...

Jiang Jinning shook her head, swallowed, and quickly ran away.

Not far from the noodle stall, there is a bread shop.

She recognized the bread; it was more appealing than a steamed bun—it was oily and looked delicious.

Jiang Jinning asked the boss, and he said that many breads had to be eaten on the same day, but there was a kind of mini bread that could be kept for two or three days.

She asked the price, it was seven yuan per jin (8g), about eight pieces, so she bought a jin.

Continuing to browse, there was another stall selling some kind of Northeastern-style rice roll. Each rice roll cost eight yuan and looked particularly large. Jiang Jinning watched as the owner mixed various vegetables, sauces, and rice together, making it sticky, and then wrapped it in a large vegetable leaf. It looked delicious.

This giant lunchbox looks so tempting!

But if I bring it back, how can I explain it? Maybe I can fool them with steamed buns and bread, but this is real, high-quality rice, even more precious than Dali rice!

In the end, Jiang Jinning could only swallow her saliva and give up.

There are many delicious foods along this road, including sweet and sour pork, pancakes, and various fried chickens. As she walked along, Jiang Jinning almost couldn't resist buying them all.

She ended up buying more steamed buns, some dried tofu from a braised food stall, and water, filling the two water bags she had brought. She then fled to the next street.

That's terrifying! There's a monster on this street that can kidnap people.

She bought some more materials for wrapping flowers.

Because she wanted to get the crossbow as soon as possible, she bought extra green, blue, yellow, and pink velvet thread. The velvet thread was very cheap, with prices ranging from two to five yuan. There was also rayon available, which would create a shimmering effect when wrapped, but it would be more expensive, costing six yuan for two hundred meters. The measurement here was different from that in Dali, and Jiang Jinning didn't quite understand how long two hundred meters was.

I also bought some paper masks. The paper masks with large flowers like peonies were more expensive, while those with peach blossoms were cheaper. A small bag contained more than a hundred sheets and cost only two yuan.

Jiang Jinning had several hairpin designs in mind, so she bought the necessary materials based on those designs.

Before leaving, she noticed a stall selling dried goods. What caught her attention was a type of wild, fresh, air-shipped matsutake mushroom, priced at 300 yuan per kilogram.

However, she didn't pay much attention and quickly left with her things.