Chapter 31: Knowing the Enemy and Never Being Defeated in a Hundred Battles

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Few people came to their stall because it was already past the time when the people bought groceries in the morning. The rest of them came to shop or buy novel items. However, wasn’t it almost noon?

The fragrance of the noodle stall at the side became stronger and stronger. Xiaoxiao touched her stomach and decisively took out money to buy a bowl of noodles from the stall owner, who was not busy yet. She also shamelessly asked for two small bowls. “Uncle, when we earn money, we’ll each buy two bowls, eat one bowl, throw… Ah, pack one bowl!”

They had all been through hard times. The stall owner did not mind that they had bought too little and even took the initiative to add half a spoonful of noodles. After the three siblings ate their sour bamboo shoots until they were full, Xiaoxiao temporarily abandoned her second brother with her eldest brother and sold her mother’s embroidery.

Ning Erlang also wanted to walk, but there was still a large jar of sour bamboo shoots and two small jars. He could not bear to part with the copper coins he was about to get, so he tearfully bade farewell to his brothers and sisters and stood alone.

Xiaoxiao looked at him and couldn’t help but complain, “We’re just going to sell embroidery. It’ll take at most an hour. Second Brother, do you have to do this? At most, we’ll play together after selling the sour bamboo shoots.”

Ning Erlang immediately raised his head. “So you have to come back in an hour. Let’s go shopping after selling sour bamboo shoots!”

It seemed a little different from what she said but also similar. Xiaoxiao brushed it off and went to the cloth shop with the embroidery.

Although she didn’t know anything about embroidery, she could tell that Madam Song’s needlework was extremely good. For example, their clothes were all torn and tattered, but no one couldn’t tell from their appearance alone, which was very difficult needlework. Madam Song would embroider a simple pattern on their clothes. Hers were many small flowers, and her father and brothers were bamboo leaves.

She didn’t brag. No one would guess that the embroidery was to block the hole.

After entering the cloth shop, she was not hurrying to ask for the price. Instead, she listened to others sell embroidery with her brother. She said playfully to her brother, “This is called knowing yourself and your enemy. You will never be defeated in a hundred battles.”

Ning Dalang followed her dotingly and stood beside the table with the thin cotton cloth.

There was no hope for his younger brother to study and learn calligraphy. His younger sister still had some talent. It would be even better if she did not randomly piece them together and create sentences.

The woman negotiating with the female shopkeeper was an old woman in her fifties. She had all kinds of embroidery in her bamboo basket. It was obvious that she had bought them from everywhere. She said in a fawning tone, “12 copper coins per piece. Didn’t we agree on this?”

The female shopkeeper casually picked up an item from the basket. “We agreed on twelve copper coins, but it should be the embroidery that was done well. Look at these yourself. The stitches are rough, and the patterns are tacky. How can they be worth twelve copper coins? Ten copper coins for each item. Otherwise, take them all.”

The old woman frowned and calculated secretly. In the end, she still obediently left the basket. If each embroidery piece earned two, it was still a profit. If the transaction failed, it would be a pure loss. Although she had never studied and did not know how to settle accounts, she was still clear about this.

After she left, the female shopkeeper turned her attention to Xiaoxiao and her brother. To put it bluntly, she didn’t think these two children were here to buy things, but she had always been different from those snobs and was still amiable. “What can I do for you?”

This gentle voice instantly won Xiaoxiao’s favor. She said nothing else and said directly, “Hello, Pretty Sister. We’re here to sell embroidery for Mother!”