However, his prediction was wrong. The slap in the face came too fast. There were repeat customers the next day!
My god, the repeat customers.
“The bananas you grow at home are so delicious.” Plus, they were cheap too, and children loved to eat them. Children would smack their lips when they ate and wouldn’t make a fuss about eating tanghulu.
“…Then would you like more today?”
“Yes,” the man replied loudly. He had a mouth full of white teeth.
Fortunately, there were very few repeat customers like him. Lin Lixuan also received feedback that it was “so sour. So sour that it made their teeth hurt,” and other similar feedback.
He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This was what was normal.
The number of repeat customers for bananas kept increasing. Except for the first people who bought them mangoes, most weren’t interested in them until a few days later. When someone suddenly said:
“A few days ago, I came here to buy this small yellow fruit. I was curious and went home and tasted it. It’s so sour and bitter and cannot be eaten. Who knew that yesterday, my child saw it and secretly ate it and said it was very sweet…when I tried, it really turned sweet. So I came to buy some more.”
“Boss, what kind of fruit is this? You even have to leave it at home for a few days before you can eat it. If you hadn’t told me when I bought it, I would have misunderstood you.”
“This yellow fruit is too small. The skin is thick too. When you peel the skin, the flesh isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth.”
“Yes, yes. The skin can’t be eaten. My child is so lazy, so he tried to gnaw on it, but it was so bitter…:
“Hahaha, it’s as you imagine. I accidentally ate the skin before and it was unpalatable.”
Lin Lixuan listened to their discussion, stiff. He stiffly helped them weigh the fruit, collected the money, and sent them away, all with stiff movements.
“…”
He had a hunch that he would lose his net with Ger Yan. He was willing to bow down to the people of All Water County.
If he lost, then he lost. In fact, it wasn’t much. Lin Lixuan took a look at the sky outside and decided to close the shop and head home. He packed up the things at the store and led the listless little donkey over. He loaded up everything onto the cart, then headed back to the village.
These days, he was in charge of everything at the store. Ger Qiu had asked for leave. He and Du Feibai, or Young Master Du, had been discovered by the Du family. Duji Cloth Shop bosses didn’t want their baby son to be with an ugly Ger, who was as strong as a cow.
The proprietress was so angry that she prevented her son from dating Ger Qiu and was busy setting up blind dates these days.
Ger Qiu avoided Du Feibai for a while when he found out that he liked him. A woman who protected their honor would die with their husband, but even a fierce Shuang’er like him was afraid of falling in love with a young master. Young Master Du was cultured and refined and had deep affection for him. Ger Qiu was already concerned about him, but he was inferior in his appearance and didn’t dare think about them together.
After Young Master Du’s continuous efforts, the two of them finally got together. But good times didn’t last long. The two of them were blocked by the Du family, and this matter was revealed by Ji Ru.
Lin Lixuan looked up to the sky and sighed. This world really was small.
Ji Ru was Ger Yan’s cousin and the sister of Old Lady Ji’s most precious grandson, Ji Xuan.
At the beginning of the year, the Ji family separated. Old Lady Ji came to live in the county town with her most precious son, using all the savings from the Ji family and the 35 taels of silver from Lin Lixuan. Ji Xuan also successfully married Li Rulan, the daughter of the academy teacher.
Old Lady Ji was really biased. When the family was divided, the three sons of the family divided the land equally. Over the years, all the family’s savings were managed by her, but at this time, she said there wasn’t a penny left.
“There are more than a dozen members in this family. We spend so much money. The family has long ran out of money… After our family separates, you still want to take money from this old lady’s hands?”
When the family separated, they only divided the family’s fields. As for the land. Third Ji’s family occupied an extra share.
“In the future, this old lady will live with the third child, so he should have more of a share…”
Old Lady Ji smiled and put more money into her third baby’s pocket. The other two sons could only sigh silently. What else could they do to the mother who had raised them for decades?
The children of Eldest Ji and Second Ji, although angry and unwilling, were relieved. Separating the family would benefit them. Even if they had less land, the family’s money would be managed by their own families, which was a huge benefit. They no longer had to hand over all the money to Old Lady Ji.
Third Ji happily took the lead, and his two elder brothers, although suffered a big loss, still affected this fate. In general, the three small families were happy in their own way.
Ger Yan’s father, Eldest Ji’s family of four would now include Ji Youcai himself, his wife, Ji Qian and his wife. Life would get better and better. After Old Lady Ji left, Eldest Ji wouldn’t be able to suck up to his mother any longer. Li Yue’e finally experienced the feeling of being a housewife. The daughter-in-law, after 10,000 years, finally became the mother-in-law. Song Qiao’er gave birth to a baby boy for Ji Qian and named him Ji Yuan. Ji Qian’s body was ruined, so he never went out to mess around again. He was also a father, so he became more and more mature. When he was plowing the land, he would steadily follow Eldest Ji around.
Although Ger Yan nominally broke off relationship with the Ji family, in the end, they were still blood related. They were still from the same village. They still had contact with the Eldest Ji’s family. When the little boy, Ji Yuan, was a month old, they went over to celebrate.
Third Ji’s family took Old Lady Ji to the county town to live. Ji Xuan married Li Rulan, too. At the beginning, there was a period of prosperity, but unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long. They needed a lot more money in the county town. A large family needed money to eat and buy vegetables. Ji Xuan also needed money to study. Just by relying on Third Ji’s carpentry work wasn’t enough to support the entire family. Li Rulan was originally from a rich family and was used to spending money lavishly. Ji Ru, a country girl, and her mother disliked poverty and loved acting rich. After arriving in the county town, they spent money like flowing water. Everything had to be bought. Everything had to be compared with other families. Although they got most of the money when they first separated, they now almost spent it all.
The days were getting tighter and tighter. The ones that had it the worst were Old Lady Ji and Li Rulan.
The marriage had been set by her parents. She was forced to marry Ji Xuan in order to dispel the gossip. She didn’t like Ji Xuan at all. She treated the marriage like child’s play, and the marriage also treated her like a child. Before she married, Li Rulan thought Ji Xuan was an okay student. He had a bit of talent and was able to learn. But after marrying, she had a better understanding of Ji Xuan’s nature. He was lazy and stupid, and hung out with a group of rogues everyday. He didn’t like going to school. She hated him.
The flower bloomed beautifully under the moon, but reality turned it all into bubbles.
What hit Li Rulan even more was that the students who had once admired her in front of her, the ones who once regarded her as a talented woman, exposed their true nature after she was married. She originally thought she was discussing poetry and philosophy with them, but in their eyes, they were just teasing a pretty girl.
Now that she was a married woman, how would they still be as interested as before and praising her for being beautiful and talented?
This tragic fact struck a huge blow to Li Rulan.
The Ji family disliked this so-called county town born and raised daughter-in-law. In Liu Li’s opinion, her daughter-in-law was hypocritical and willful. She wasn’t as good as the girls from the village. She wasn’t virtuous either. At home, she didn’t know how to do anything nor did she do anything. It was like marrying a lazy god back.
“It’s better to raise a pig than her. If you raise the pig well, you could exchange it for silver taels.”
It wasn’t until Li Rulan was pregnant that Liu Li’s attitude toward her gradually became better. The Ji family also treated her more like in the beginning. However, Li Rulan, who had been dealt multiple blows, had locked himself in her room and ignored everyone.
As for Old Lady Ji… Speaking of Old Lady Ji, one had to talk about her current position in the Third Ji’s household.
Third Ji and his wife, Liu Li. had two children, Ji Xuan and Ji Ru. These four people were a family, while Old Lady Ji and Li Rulan were outsiders.
It was funny. Li Rulan, the daughter who married in was an outsider, but Old Lady Ji, a mother and grandmother, had also become an outsider.
Before the family separated, Old Lady Ji’s life was very beautiful. She was the highest ranking person in the family. She was the veritable head of the family and everyone had to listen to her.
Nobody dared disobey her.
Now that she was willing with Third Ji’s family, her third son, Third Ji, was the head of the family. She was just a vassal of her son. She no longer had supreme power.
Within the Ji family, Old Lady Ji was most biased toward Third Ji. In Third Ji’s family, Third Ji was most biased toward his wife, his son, and his daughter.
Old Lady Ji finally experienced for herself what being biased was like.
Without the support of her other two sons, she couldn’t control the family’s food and clothing. She was cheated out of all the money in her hand, and she had already become an old lady who freeloaded.
Liu Li’s filial piety that was promised when they first separated, the promised family happiness and days of retirement, as well as her silver taels that were gradually consumed by Third Ji’s family, it all turned into dust.
It was easy to go from poor to rich, but hard to go from rich to poor. Third Ji’s family could barely maintain their image. They couldn’t think of a way to quickly make money, so Liu Li had to put her hopes onto her daughter, hoping that she married a rich son so that she could help her family.
Du Feibai was a classmate of her brother, Ji Xuan. Ji Ru had been infatuated with Du Feibai for a long time. She didn’t want to climb the tree and marry Du Feibai. With the help of her mother and brother, Ji Ru always observed and paid attention to Du Feibai. She couldn’t wait to “meet” him everyday. She created countless coincidences. Nothing worked, but she happened to catch Du Feibai and Ger Qiu together.
Ji Ru, who was so angry, immediately told Du Feibai about the matter.
Ji Ru shrank into her mother’s arms and cried, “Du Feibai actually like that kind of Shuang’er. He doesn’t like me.”
Liu Li stroked her daughter’s head and comforted her, “Young Master Du is being deceived by the ugly Shuang’er. My daughter is a hundred times better than Ger Qiu.”
Ji Ru couldn’t compare to a rich lady from the county town, but in the eyes of others, she was much better than Ger Qiu.
Du Feibai’s mother also thought so. She would rather have her son marry a mediocre-looking peasant girl than the poor and orphaned ugly Shuang’er.
