A Young Woman's Heart

Many people buy some mugwort on this day, not for any particular commemorative significance, but at least to repel mosquitoes.

"Making sachets," Yang Xiaoyu replied while sewing.

What did you put in it?

"Some Chinese herbal medicines that can calm the nerves and repel mosquitoes, smell them, don't they smell good?"

"What's so good about the smell of Chinese medicine? It stinks."

"What do you mean by 'stinky'? ​​This smells like medicine, do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, you know, you know."

"Dragon Boat Festival is the time to wear sachets and drink realgar wine."

"This custom didn't exist when I was a child."

"Of course, back then your family hadn't fully adapted to Chinese customs yet, but I was different; I'm a native-born Chinese."

"It's as if I wasn't born on this land." Mo Wenli took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"Oh right, I'll go buy some realgar wine later."

"Realgar wine? I remember there were wine shops on another street, all of them handmade wine."

"Across from the farmers market?"

"Seems to be."

"I'll take a look when I go grocery shopping later," Yang Xiaoyu thought to herself, then lowered her head and carefully began sewing the sachet again.

……

Chapter 317 Are all merchants unscrupulous?

"Mom!" Back at the fruit shop entrance, Mo Xueyao greeted her mother, who was preparing dinner, then rushed to her father's side and patted him on the shoulder, "Dad!"

"What's wrong? Why are you so excited?"

"No, it's like this every day when I come back."

"Then you can just say 'I'm back'."

"I'm back," Li Wanyan said softly, winking playfully at Mo Xueyao, but quickly reverting to her usual serious demeanor.

"Xiao Yao, see you after dinner~" Lu Chengyuan waved to Mo Xueyao. It had become a habit for the three of them to get together to do their homework after dinner.

When it was just Mo Xueyao and Li Wanyan, homework time was very quiet. But when Lu Chengyuan joined, it became much more lively, and sometimes it could even be described as a bit noisy.

However, Mo Xueyao didn't dislike her.

The street downstairs from her home has always been noisy, and she grew up in that noisy environment. So no matter how noisy it is, when she needs to be serious, she can quickly eliminate distractions and get into the zone.

Sometimes, when it's too quiet around her, she doesn't feel quite right!

"Do you know what day it is today?" The father took out a cigarette with one hand, lit it, and exhaled a cloud of white smoke.

Mo Xueyao fanned herself with a look of disdain: "I know, it's the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Your mom made two sachets for you both. They're on the table in the small room. You can put them by your bedside when you sleep, and you can wear them to school tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is not the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Does this mean you can't wear a sachet if it's not Dragon Boat Festival? If you think it doesn't look good hanging around your neck, you can tie it to the zipper of your backpack."

"Okay, okay..." Mo Xueyao fanned herself impatiently. "Dad, when are you going to quit smoking? The smell of cigarettes is really awful!"

"Quit smoking? Just like eating, how could I possibly quit? It's impossible in this lifetime."

"Tch, you're really getting the nerve. If you didn't smoke, how much money could you save in a year?"

“The cigarettes I smoke aren’t expensive, tsk, what does a little brat know?” The father waved his hand as if shooing away a mosquito, and said, “Go, go, go help your mother with the chores.”

“Yaoyao is right, you should smoke less, it’s not good for your health.” The mother looked up. “You’re smoking a pack a day now.”

"It's not that exaggerated, at most half a pack!" After saying that, the father noticed that Mo Xueyao's mother was still looking at him, and he immediately gave an embarrassed smile. "More than half a pack!"

"Isn't that about one pack?"

"There are still differences!"

Mo Xueyao was already used to her mother and father bickering.

She walked straight into the room, threw her schoolbag on the desk, and then casually picked up Sutang, who was curled up in a cardboard box and sleeping soundly.

“You sleep all day long, you lazy cat…” Mo Xueyao sat on the stool, flipped it over, and gently rubbed its soft belly.

"Meow—" Su Tang stretched out her two forearms, with some sharp claws sticking out from her front paws, but after Mo Xueyao poked the little paw pads in her palms a few times, she immediately retracted them.

It yawned like a human, then rolled over and sprawled out like a 'cat pancake' in Mo Xueyao's arms.

Li Wanyan then entered the room and placed her schoolbag on the desk, but a 'thud' sound came out.

It looked like some glass bottle had fallen to the ground.

Sitting at the door of the small room, Mo Xueyao subconsciously glanced inside and saw a small bottle, about the thickness of three fingers, roll a few times on the ground before hitting a chair leg and stopping.

"Huh, paper stars? Wanyan, did you fold them yourself?" Mo Xueyao asked curiously. "Hmm... why do they look so familiar?"

"Hmm..." Li Wanyan bent down to pick up the bottle, remained silent for a full ten seconds, and then answered in a very calm manner, "Susu gave it to me."

Susu is An Ruosu's nickname. All the classmates teased him about it because he wore women's clothing that time.

Because this nickname sounds more feminine.

Over time, the true meaning is forgotten, and it becomes like a label attached to a person.

"Oh, did Susu give this to you? I was wondering why it looked so familiar. It seems like he always keeps these little bottles in his drawer. He folds paper stars or origami cranes and stuffs them in when he has nothing to do. I think he's already filled several bottles. I wonder what he's going to do with them. Is it just for decoration?"

"It's probably just a hobby," Li Wanyan replied casually, stuffing the bottle full of paper stars back into her schoolbag.

"He must have quite a few full, right? I'll ask him for one next time." Mo Xueyao muttered, stroking her chin. "It seems like it would be nice to hang it on the zipper of a backpack as a decoration. What do you think, Wanyan? Do you want to try it? There seems to be a small hole on that bottle for threading a rope through it."

"Ah."

"Check the drawer for any rope. Mom often sews and mends things, so she should have plenty of thread."

"My godmother's sewing box isn't here."

"Oh, let me ask." Mo Xueyao turned around, clutching the sugar candy, and shouted, "Mom—where did you put the sewing box?"

Su Tang twitched her ears at Mo Xueyao's suddenly raised voice, and looked up at her with her slightly chubby cheeks.

What are you going to do?

"I need a rope!"

"The rope is on the shelf where they sell health supplements, in that jar."

"Using a candy jar to hold rope is really disappointing..." Mo Xueyao grumbled as she handed the jar to Li Wanyan. "Wanyan, you do it yourself."

"Ah."

The two girls were chatting when the customer arrived.

He had just walked in, but instead of looking at the fruit, he looked up at the health products on the back shelf.

"Boss, are all the health supplements here genuine?"

"Absolutely genuine, all authentic products. Go to other fruit shops or health product stores and compare them, they're all the same."

"Oh... how much does a box of Brain Gold cost?"

"Three hundred and eighty."

"So expensive."

"You get what you pay for, brother." The father took a deep drag on his cigarette, then held it between his fingers and let it burn. "This is absolutely genuine. Counterfeits can't compare to us. If you want a cheaper price, you can buy other brands, but to be honest, some smaller, less well-known health supplement brands might not even be as 'real' as the fakes."

The well-dressed middle-aged man touched his cheek, seemingly somewhat persuaded by his father.

He arrived in a black Xiali, and parked the car in front of the fruit shop.

"It's a bit expensive, can you make it cheaper? It's okay to earn a little less."

"It's really not expensive. This price is already very cheap. If you don't believe me, you can go to that fruit shop upstairs and ask." The father said calmly, as if he really wasn't afraid to compare prices.

This confidence also infected the middle-aged man, after all, only those things that are cheap and of good quality are not afraid of comparison.

Moreover, running around is really troublesome.

"I also want to buy a fruit basket and a box of Brain Gold supplements. Can you give me a discount?"

“Okay, then I’ll take a little less profit.” The father nodded readily. “In business, you have to build repeat customers. Do you want this fruit basket custom-made, or buy it ready-made?”

"Can you make it cheaper if it's readily available?"

"Yes, ready-made flowers are definitely cheaper. After all, ready-made flowers are arranged in the morning, and some may even be from yesterday. If they are not sold, they will rot, so of course they have to be cheaper."

"Haha, you're really honest in business."

"When doing business, you have to be honest. Do you want yesterday's or today's? Yesterday's is cheaper."

"Let's go with today's."

"Okay, pick any of these, they're all the same price, one hundred and sixty."

"That's so expensive!"

"Yes, if you order it fresh, it might cost more than 160 yuan. But it's evening now, so I'll give you a discount. One box of Brain Gold plus a fruit basket, that'll be 500 yuan in total."

"It's only forty yuan cheaper?"

"A discount of forty yuan is not bad. To be honest, I only made thirty yuan profit on the health products here. This fruit basket is sold to you at cost price. Opening a shop also requires rent and costs, right?"

"Five hundred sounds too expensive, how about four hundred and eighty?"

"Well, then I'll just keep ten yuan."

“If you do ten of these kinds of deals a day, you’ll have a hundred. You won’t lose money.”

"Haha, never mind, business is good tonight, I'll give you a discount, I'll make less profit, okay, it'll be four hundred and eighty."