I Became a Medical Genius in the 80s
Chapter 19: Strolling Around

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Strolling Around

The person wasn’t someone else, it was Zhang Lianqiao herself. Beside her stood a plump, dark-skinned woman carrying a vegetable basket, laughing and chatting happily with Zhang Lianqiao.

In the original’s memory, that woman is Zhang Lianqiao’s mother; if not for this impression, she couldn’t believe it.

Zhang Lianqiao is fair and petite, with pretty apricot eyes; her cherry lips are vibrant red, and her lips curl into a smile, adding an extra charm.

Her mother, however, is burly, probably too plump to show any good looks.

The Zhang Family does have some thin property; earlier, Beisitian saw them come by donkey cart.

Zhang Lianqiao must have seen her, glanced over but pretended not to, linking arms with her mother as they walked away. The mother-daughter duo and Zhang’s third son gradually walked farther, and Beisitian withdrew her gaze.

This is a road directly connecting the town and countryside, elevated a lot compared to the villages on both sides, known as the Dayan.

Mrs. Qin came through from the village, climbing the Dayan with Beisitian and Luo Anping, surveyed around, pointing to a person straddling a bicycle not far away.

"Is that the one collecting braids?"

Beisitian looked over and saw many braids hanging from the bicycle’s handlebars, she nodded, "Yes."

Mrs. Qin led them over, stepping unevenly as the main road was dirt and very uneven; an occasional tractor threw up dust, adding noise; the environment couldn’t be considered good.

Upon reaching the braid collector, Mrs. Qin took out the braids from her basket and handed them over without asking the price.

The person took the braids, checking them, and said, "Three cents for each of these, and two and a half for this one."

The two and a half cents one is the one Beisitian first practiced with.

Mrs. Qin found the price acceptable, nodded, and took the money.

Although braids aren’t very heavy, they take up space; selling them emptied the basket immediately.

The sky had just brightened, and the three descended the Dayan; the surroundings instantly became noisy, with tractors passing by loudly.

Apart from the dust troubling Beisitian, everything else was new to her, especially the tractor-powered vehicle, so different from horse and donkey carts, her eyes couldn’t look away.

Zhang Lianqiao saw her like this from afar and internally cursed her as ignorant, thinking she looked too rustic just for attending a market. If she entered the city, wouldn’t she be like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden?

She tugged on her mother and brother, diverting to another area. If not for the prior incident, she would definitely go over to stealthily mock.

Beisitian wanted to act alone, intending to sell the handkerchief.

"Mom, I haven’t been to the market for a while, I want to check out that side." Beisitian said.

Mrs. Qin planned to sell shoes as she had no money to purchase anything, everyone around being villagers didn’t require special attention. Hearing this, she nodded, "If you can’t find us, wait by nine-thirty or so at the Dayan top, where we just sold the braids."

Beisitian agreed.

Luo Anping stared at Beisitian, clearly wanting to go along, but couldn’t leave Mrs. Qin without a guide, so he stayed.

Despite her poor eyesight, Mrs. Qin worked swiftly, not like other blind women fumbling about weakly; if not for the white haze over her eyes, no one would guess she’s blind.

The market here opens twice a month, Mrs. Qin expertly found a shoe dealer’s stall, located on the village’s main road; though randomly placed, the village committee charged a fee, so casual sellers like Mrs. Qin often sell where they can for cheaper.

Mrs. Qin hurried to sell and buy items, but Beisitian leisurely wandered as temporary markets were familiar to her; the purchasing power wasn’t high, often prompting temporary setups.

But this market wasn’t very inclusive; probably no one understood Double-sided Embroidery crafts; selling high was unlikely.

Beisitian wasn’t disappointed, this marked her first step in truly engaging with the world around her since arriving.

The market appeared chaotic, yet is organized by category; groceries and clothing alongside, fresh fruit and meat in another group, plus toy sellers for both children and adults, variety was abundant if not high quality.

Beisitian browsed the groceries section, finding peach crisps, walnut crisps, some caramel treats, and flat round cakes usually occupying the market beside them, little else in pastries.

Oh, she called them pastries, but here they refer to them as "snacks."

To attract customers, the vendor sister broke off a piece for her; not particularly tasty, seemingly the sweetness wasn’t from cane sugar, lacking that sugar sweetness.

The snacks weren’t nearly as delicious as her pastries, recalling traveling with her master, learning various regional snacks and pastries, and even her critical master praised her creations.

Not appetizing, Beisitian had no money to purchase; after a casual browse, she headed towards the clothing, shoes, and socks area.

Beisitian knew this place was relatively open, especially offering women much freedom from moral constraints. Here, women could bear arms and legs, unimaginable to her before.

Checking the temporary bamboo stands with colorful dresses, some even sleeveless!

Plus, some undergarments and shorts displayed for sale, including men’s underwear; Beisitian glanced briefly before hastily averting her eyes, briskly walking past.

Arriving at the shoe and sock stall, she saw Mrs. Qin’s continuously crafted cloth shoes; the tightly stitched ones commanded higher prices, around three yuan, while rougher ones sold for one yuan or more.

Comparing them, Beisitian estimated Mrs. Qin’s craftsmanship matched the one-yuan scale if sold, maybe at best; not owing to her skill but her poor eyesight.

Beisitian planned to inspect Mrs. Qin’s eyes when she recuperated her spirit, then start crafting Xuan Talismans.

Whether Mrs. Qin allows it remains uncertain.

This section not only sells clothing, shoes, and socks; she notices some pots, jars, pans, and bowls, towels, pillow covers nearby.

Walking along, she sees next to the towel stall a handkerchief vendor.

She approached, discovering apart from handkerchiefs, there were door curtains adorned with large peonies; unfortunately, the embroidery was very ordinary, coarse from afar, worse up close.