Fairy Senior knew how to haggle

Early the next morning, Fan Jian bought breakfast for everyone.

Everyone could eat their fill for less than five yuan apiece, on average. Prices like that were unheard of in the city.

Fan Jian owned a home in the city. He had only returned to the village this time to deal with his younger sister's situation. Su Baizhou's aunt, his wife, had stayed in the city to work.

As they sat at the table, the atmosphere was a little awkward.

Luo Ye and Su Baizhou both kept thinking back to what had happened the night before, neither daring to look at the other.

Their relationship seemed to have plunged to freezing point in an instant, yet there was no sense of hostility between them.

Fan Jian couldn't put his finger on it, but Fan Xinya understood immediately.

It wasn't that they weren't getting along. Their relationship had simply reached the brink of a breakthrough.

Once these two young people made it past this stage, their relationship would take another step forward.

Fan Xinya smiled and handed Luo Ye an egg. "Xiao Ye, you look a little run-down. Have some more protein."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Luo Ye thanked her politely.

He stayed up late every night, so he really did look rather listless.

Then Fan Xinya added, "Xiao Ye, you and our Rice Rice go to the same university. Look after her a little, would you? That girl keeps such irregular hours. You may both be young, but you still need to think about your future."

"You're right, Auntie. I'll make sure to remind her often."

Fan Xinya herself was in poor health. When she was younger, she had been a workaholic, a strong career woman who was very popular at her company. That was precisely what had caused her husband's resentment.

Not everyone liked strong career women, nor did everyone like a woman who outshone them.

After breakfast, Fan Jian called Luo Ye and Su Baizhou over and climbed onto his little electric three-wheeler.

Sitting in the back, Luo Ye asked curiously, "Uncle, where are we going?"

Hearing him call her uncle "Uncle," Su Baizhou turned to glance at Luo Ye, but said nothing.

Fan Jian said, "Rice Rice told me yesterday that you didn't have any spare clothes. Your uncle's taking you into town to buy a couple of outfits today."

Hearing Fan Jian refer to himself as his uncle too, Su Baizhou glanced toward the front.

When exactly had these two reached some sort of understanding?

And Fan Jian had been so hard on Luo Ye yesterday. How had they suddenly become so close today?

Soon, the three-wheeler stopped in town.

Today was a special day in town.

Market day!

The market was packed. At a glance, there weren't many people dressed in finery who looked as though they came from wealthy families. Everyone looked plain and unassuming.

The sound of haggling filled the air. Some people had even started trading curses with the vendors over prices.

Su Baizhou watched the scene without any change in her expression.

Su Baizhou was dressed simply today too, in an ordinary white long-sleeved top and plain, loose black trousers.

She wore no makeup, and her hair was tied into a bun at the back of her head, giving her a modest, graceful charm.

Just then, Fan Jian received a phone call.

It was from Fan Xinya.

Whatever she said over the phone made Fan Jian's expression change, and he looked toward Luo Ye and Su Baizhou.

Then he began speaking loudly, as though to himself. "Oh! Something's come up at home? You want me to come back? All right, all right, I'll be right there."

Without giving Luo Ye or Su Baizhou time to react, Fan Jian climbed onto the electric three-wheeler. "Rice Rice, buy Xiao Ye a couple of outfits and show him around. Call me when you're done, and I'll come pick you up."

The moment he finished speaking, the electric three-wheeler seemed to turn into a motorcycle. With a roar, it swung around a full three hundred and sixty degrees and shot away.

Only Luo Ye and Su Baizhou remained, staring blankly as the three-wheeler disappeared...

"Um... Senior?"

Luo Ye glanced at Su Baizhou's profile, and what had happened the night before surfaced in his mind again.

He lowered his head, too embarrassed to keep looking at her.

Su Baizhou turned and said evenly, "Let's go."

Su Baizhou walked ahead, with Luo Ye following behind and looking around curiously.

A middle-aged woman beside him caught hold of Luo Ye and said enthusiastically, "Young man, freshly caught silver carp! Want one?"

"N-no, thank you." Luo Ye declined politely.

But the clamor all around made him feel a little overwhelmed.

"Clearance sale! Everything nine yuan ninety!"

"River snails! Stir-fried river snails!" "Young man, want a serving?"

"Cheap, cheap! Watermelons going cheap! If they aren't sweet, you don't pay!"

Unable to handle everyone's enthusiasm, Luo Ye hunched his shoulders and hurried to Su Baizhou's side, moving a little closer to her.

He felt that if he didn't stay beside her, the enthusiastic vendors would whisk him away.

Looking at Luo Ye beside her, the corners of Su Baizhou's lips lifted slightly, as though she might break into a smile at any moment.

"What color do you like?" she asked softly.

By then, they had reached a street selling clothes.

There were so many different clothes before them that Luo Ye could barely take them all in.

And the marked prices were incredibly cheap. The trousers beside Luo Ye were actually ninety-nine yuan for three pairs.

Wasn't that practically giving them away?

"A-anything's fine. What do you like, Senior?"

At that, Su Baizhou strode toward one of the vendors.

At some point, Luo Ye noticed, Su Baizhou had rolled up her sleeves. She looked as though she was getting ready for a fight.

Su Baizhou pointed to a pink top marked at three hundred yuan. "This one."

"Will you take fifty?"

Luo Ye's eyes widened immediately.

H-how much?

She'd cut it to one-sixth of the price?

Was she really not going to get beaten up?

The vendor's expression changed. Clearly, he had met his match.

He hadn't expected this young-looking girl to haggle so boldly.

"Fifty? Miss, that wouldn't even cover the cost. Tell you what, two hundred and sixty, and it's yours."

"Eighty at most. If that won't work, I'll leave."

Su Baizhou turned and walked away without hesitation.

"Hey, how about a hundred and fifty? A hundred and twenty?? A hundred!!??"

Based on how haggling worked, Luo Ye figured she would turn back now.

Getting the price down from three hundred to a hundred was already a miracle.

But.

Su Baizhou didn't turn back.

The vendor gritted his teeth and shouted, "Fine, eighty it is!"

Luo Ye's mouth fell open in an O. He was utterly stunned.

Fairy Senior... was awesome!

Luo Ye gave her a mental thumbs-up.

Then he followed her around as she haggled from stall to stall.

In the end, Su Baizhou bought him two outfits for less than three hundred yuan altogether.

The clothes weren't particularly stylish, but they all suited Luo Ye well.

Besides, Su Baizhou had bought them for him. They came with her halo built in.

Afterward, they browsed some other parts of the market and bought plenty of food.

Su Baizhou was going to cook herself today.

Seeing how happily Luo Ye had eaten Fan Xinya's cooking yesterday had stirred a competitive streak in Su Baizhou.

So Su Baizhou bought a fish and a chicken.

With the fish in one hand and the chicken in the other, Luo Ye stood outside the market with Fairy Senior, waiting for her uncle to pick them up.

Both the fish and the chicken were still alive.

Luo Ye asked, "Are we killing them when we get back?"

"Mm... I'll personally send them on to their next lives."

At her words, Luo Ye froze for a moment, then laughed.

Things no longer seemed awkward between him and her.

And browsing the market together somehow made them feel like an old married couple.