Chapter 40： fraud

Chapter 40 Liar

Jiang Cheng is just fourteen this year. He has grown so fast recently that he is almost as tall as his third uncle.

Although he had grown taller, he was still a thin boy. He had to carry his little cousin on his back for five or six miles, and he was so tired that he was sweating profusely.

After all, Yingbao now weighs twenty kilograms, which is quite heavy and can catch up with the weight of a little pig.

Finally arriving at the market town, he sat on a stone by the side of the road to rest for a while, then got up and walked in again.

Upon seeing this, Ying Bao took out a cooked water chestnut from his pocket and handed it to his cousin.

Jiang Cheng took three or two bites to eat, and felt a warm current flowing to his whole body. After a while, the fatigue all over his body disappeared without a trace.

The young man was simple-minded and thought he was hungry after walking, so he ate a water chestnut and felt better.

He didn’t know that this water chestnut was Yingbao’s test product soaked in Wudingzhi for one night.

Ying Bao, who was in the basket on his back, was standing on tiptoes, looking around for his second cousin.

There are not many people in the market today, much less than during the Chinese New Year.

However, there are quite a few stalls, most of which sell seasonal vegetables, eggs, goose eggs, chickens and geese.

There are also sellers of baskets, bamboo plaques, chicken coops and straw sandals, as well as fortune tellers.

 Many small vendors set up stalls with bamboo fences and put out colorful silk threads, five-poison embroidery bags, moxa tigers, moxa men, and women's headdresses to ward off evil spirits, such as peach wood hairpins, owl charms, etc.

The so-called mugwort is made from dried mugwort into the shape of a tiger, a human, or a scorpion, centipede, and toad, and hung around the waist to ward off evil spirits.

Of course, these woven amulets are all dyed with red cinnabar and boiled into a bright red color. The more elegant ones have a few tassels hanging from the bottom, which is really beautiful.

The owl talisman is a hairpin made of owl feathers dyed red and inserted in the bun, which means fighting poison with poison and resisting evil spirits and five poisons.

Since the day after tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival, the vendors also want to take advantage of this opportunity to make a lot of money and put out all the festival products.

At a glance, Yingbao saw her second cousin Jiang Quan squatting on the roadside, haggling with a few old ladies carrying baskets.

“Auntie, these are water chestnuts I brought from the county town. I won’t sell them for ten cents per pack, so you can’t give me only seven cents.”

The old lady glared at him and said, "You are so evil-minded. What can be worth ten cents a bag? There are only twenty in a bag. I think these are just water chestnuts in the paddy fields. I give you seven cents which is enough." "

Jiang Quan was not happy: "Look at what you said, how can the little water chestnuts in the paddy field grow so big? I said, aunt, could you please be more reasonable?"

"I only have seven coins left, no more..." The old lady acted like a rogue, picked up the water chestnuts in the cattail bag and left.

Yingbao asked her first cousin to put her down, then ran to her second cousin, put her hands on her hips, and said with a high air: "You liar! You sold me twenty cents a bag just now, and now you're selling it for ten cents, hurry up Give me back the extra money! Huh! I just bought five packs, you can give me back fifty cents now!”

Jiang Cheng and Dani were stunned. Before they could say anything, Ying Bao turned her head and winked at them.

Jiang Chengli immediately shut up and took his sister to another stall, pretending to look at the goods.

Jiang Quan was smarter and reacted immediately, saying pitifully: "Little sister, it's this lady who keeps bargaining. I always sell 20 cents a bag."

As he said that, he turned to the counter-offer lady and said, "Madam, why don't you buy it? I'm still selling it for twenty cents a bag."

"What?" The aunt was not happy when she heard this. "You are so treacherous. You promised ten cents for a bag, but then turned around and gave you twenty cents. No! I insist on buying it for ten cents."

After saying that, he dropped ten coins, picked up a bag of water chestnuts, and left.

Seeing this, two bystanders also bought a pack of water chestnuts for ten cents each, and then left in a hurry, for fear that the salesman would regret it.

In the blink of an eye, two more deals were made. Jiang Quan was grinning from ear to ear. Just as he was about to talk to his little cousin, he saw her nose wrinkled and eyes wide open, looking at him fiercely, "Liar! How dare you run away alone without me?" !”

Jiang Quan touched his nose guiltily and whispered: "I'm not afraid of losing you. Don't be angry. My second brother will buy you some candied fruits later."

Yingbao snorted and turned around to find his cousin.

She asked her eldest cousin to take her to a saddlery shop so that she could have one custom-made for Youyou so that she wouldn’t have to be carried anywhere else.

Hum, it’s better to ask for help from others than to ask for yourself. From now on, she will definitely be a self-reliant person.

So, Jiang Cheng carried his little cousin on his back and led his eldest sister to the market together.

I saw a food stall selling owl soup, which was also served with steamed glutinous rice dumplings or water chestnut rice dumplings.

The owl soup is made from owl meat, with salt, spices, and cornel powder added to it, and then blended with wheat flour. It is thick, spicy, and very delicious.

Owl soup is also a food often eaten by people in the Poisonous Month, which means using poison to fight poison and ward off evil spirits. Jiang Cheng couldn't help but swallowed when he smelled the fragrance, and asked his little cousin:

“Yingbao, are you hungry? How about we have a bowl of owl soup?”

"good."

Actually, Yingbao didn't want to eat the soup made from owl meat, but her cousin and sister Dani both wanted to eat it, so she had to make do with it.

So the three brothers and sister sat down and ordered three bowls of owl soup and six green dumplings from the stall, which cost a total of eighteen cash.

The stall owner stirred the pot with a large spoon and filled three large bowls with it. The aroma was fragrant.

He took six more green dumplings from the steamer, each wrapped in a mulberry leaf, and placed them in front of the three of them.

Yingbao only ate one green dumpling and took a small sip of the soup, then she said she was full.

Jiang Cheng took over his little cousin's bowl and didn't dislike it. He ate and drank it while snoring, not even letting go of the shredded pork at the bottom of the bowl.

After eating and drinking, the three of them continued wandering around.

Seeing the winter melon candies, Yingbao bought a few packs, keeping one pack for herself and asking her cousin to take the rest back to share with Grandma and her uncle.

"Brother, where can I find a leather saddle maker? I want to order one for Youyou." Yingbao asked in the backpack.

Jiang Cheng knew this, "There is a saddlery shop over there on North Street. However, a saddle costs a lot of money."

"I have money." Ying Bao said proudly while sitting in the basket, "I have a lot of money, enough to order the best saddle."

Jiang Cheng said oh and didn't take it seriously.

The three of them walked and watched, and soon came to the harness shop.

There were many people gathered around the door of the shop, as well as several mules and horses.

Two guys were shoving the mules and nailing iron shoes at the same time.

“Does your family make leather saddles?” Jiang Cheng asked.

One of the waiters straightened up and asked, "Of course. What leather saddle do you want? For a donkey or a mule?"

“Paired with a deer.” Jiang Cheng said.

The guy thought he heard it wrong, "What?"

“To match a deer.” Jiang Cheng said: “I want a deer to be equipped with a leather saddle.”

The waiter was displeased and glared at Jiang Cheng: "You are kidding me. No one here has ever saddled a deer."

"Who are you kidding?" Jiang Cheng was also a little unhappy and said coldly: "Just tell me if your family can do it."

The waiter curled his lips and ran into the shop to ask the shopkeeper.

A few people standing at the door laughed, and one of them said: "Brother, you might as well bring the deer over, and let us see what kind of deer needs a saddle."

Jiang Cheng ignored them and only looked at the shop.

After a while, the waiter came out and said in a loud voice: "The shopkeeper asked you to bring the deer so we can measure it."

Jiang Cheng turned around and asked his little cousin, "Should we bring the deer?" ’

Yingbao nodded, stood up from the basket, and asked the waiter: "How much does a saddle cost?"

The waiter saw that the person asking the question was a two or three-year-old kid. He twitched his eyes and reluctantly replied: "A pair of cowhide saddles is eight."

Ying Bao: "Are you talking about a big saddle for a mule? My deer is smaller than a donkey, and it has to be eight in diameter?"

The clerk wiped his nose and said, "Is that so? The smallest saddle we have here is for donkeys, and it's always two."

“Oh.” Ying Bao nodded to the waiter, “I will bring the deer over tomorrow.”

The guy turned away and snorted secretly.

He wouldn't believe it even if I beat him to death. A two- or three-year-old boy could lead a family, and he even brought a deer. Oh!

(End of this chapter)