Overnight Hit: Vicious Stepmother and Genius Son
Chapter 203 Xinqiao Village

Chapter 203: Chapter 203 Xinqiao Village

Seeing the dollar bill Han Jiangxue had pulled out, coupled with her recent words...

If Ye Zhenzhen didn’t know Han Jiangxue, she might have been convinced that she was actually a gentle and empathetic good person.

Ye Zhenzhen’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze full of smiles toward Han Jiangxue, "Thank you for the reminder..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Xiao Jie’s Grandpa, carrying his burden, came up to Ye Zhenzhen with a smile;

"Miss, you really don’t need to mind too much, it’s just a hen, it’s no big deal for us."

Ye Zhenzhen explained, "Grandpa, we have a task today, we need to buy ingredients with money to cook lunch..."

She wanted to find an excuse to dismiss the enthusiastic old man.

But the old man interrupted her, "Miss, the old man’s chickens are also for sale. You can come to my house and buy one, give any amount of money you like, count it as the old man giving you a discount.

This is also a small request from the old man, otherwise, we don’t want the clothes you gave to Xiao Jie. Unless you take the money."

Ye Zhenzhen: ...

[It’s hard to decline such kindness, this grandpa and grandson are just too sincere!]

[These country folks are like this, they never take things from others for granted.]

In the end, Ye Zhenzhen gave An Xi the leftover five yuan and fifty cents to buy some oyster mushrooms and a small bunch of green onions at the vegetable stall nearby.

The green onions were a bonus from the stall owner.

With that, An Xi’s ingredients for the day were all purchased.

Xiao Jie’s Grandpa said they came by their own donkey cart, and he needed to go fetch it, so he asked Xiao Jie to lead Ye Zhenzhen and the group to wait at the entrance of the market.

...

At the entrance of the market.

Lin Qianqian and her daughter Xu Wanjia had already been waiting at the spot they’d agreed on earlier.

When they saw Ye Zhenzhen approaching with three pairs of mothers and sons, Xu Wanjia came forward to ask Ye Zhenzhen, "Zhenzhen, have you bought your ingredients?"

Ye Zhenzhen was going to stew chicken soup, and with 30 yuan, it indeed wasn’t easy to buy; hence, Xu Wanjia started worrying about Ye Zhenzhen after she finished buying her fish just now.

She even went to check at the chicken stall. The people here sell whole chickens, not halves, with one chicken weighing at least 3 pounds, and even the cheap ones cost several tens of yuan.

That was just the price for feed-fed chickens, which are better for roasting, but the soup requires free-range native chickens, which are even pricier than the feed-fed chickens.

Ye Zhenzhen spread her hands, "I haven’t bought any yet, how about you?"

Lin Qianqian shook the bag in her hand in front of Ye Zhenzhen, "I bought beef brisket, not much, 25 yuan worth, and with the remaining five yuan, I bought three tomatoes. I don’t know if I can make it work later."

After all, there was too little meat.

Xu Wanjia’s grass carp was easy to buy; it was inexpensive here—6.5 yuan per pound. She just happened to buy a small carp weighing just under 3 pounds for 18 yuan.

She briefly shared with Ye Zhenzhen the information she’d gathered while buying fish and from inquiring afterwards. Ye Zhenzhen smiled and asked, "With 30 yuan, I should be able to buy two chicken legs, right?"

Lin Qianqian: "Then you can only buy frozen chicken legs, and those aren’t suitable for stewing."

Xiao Jie looked up with his little head and chimed in, "Pretty sister, don’t worry, my grandpa has a lot of chickens, no matter if you want to stew or braise, we have it."

"Thank you, little guy," Ye Zhenzhen patted Xiao Jie’s little head, but didn’t take the child’s words seriously.

Xu Wanjia looked at the child who had suddenly popped up and asked Ye Zhenzhen, "Who’s this little fellow?"

Ye Zhenzhen briefly recounted what had just happened to Xu Wanjia.

Xu Wanjia nodded, "It has to be you, Zhenzhen. Kind-hearted people have good fortune wherever they go."

As Xu Wanjia said this, she deliberately glanced at Han Jiangxue.

Han Jiangxue frowned slightly, looked away, and pretended she hadn’t heard anything.

Xu Wanjia couldn’t be entirely sure whether or not her words were meant to carry a deeper meaning against her, but she certainly couldn’t agree with them.

Agreeing with such words would not only bring her no benefits, but it would also implicitly praise Ye Zhenzhen.

[So, you’re saying that if Ye Zhenzhen hadn’t happened to meet the old man selling eggs, she wouldn’t have been able to buy any ingredients?]

[Why don’t you say that if Ye Zhenzhen hadn’t given clothes to Xiao Jie, he would have none to wear!]

[There’s a cause and effect in everything. One could only say Ye Zhenzhen deserves it!]

[Some people clearly have a script to follow, yet they insist on establishing a persona of being beautiful and kind-hearted here.]

[Exactly, it’s not even disgusting.]

Xu Wanjia and Lin Qianqian, hearing that Xinqiao Village was right next to Yangping Village, decided to go and take a look.

If there was any way they could help, they would also like to contribute their part.

Xiao Jie’s Grandpa arrived with the donkey cart quite quickly. The cart wasn’t big, at most it could seat around five or six people.

The kids were extremely excited to see the donkey cart. Shen Yibo exclaimed in surprise, "Is this a donkey?"

Xiao Jie’s Grandpa: "Yes, it is a donkey!"

"I want to ride the donkey cart!" Gu Xiaoran said as she climbed onto it.

Shen Yibo hopped around on his little short legs, "I want to ride too, I want to ride too!"

Behind them, Xiao Jie was supporting his brothers. "Be careful."

Yang Yike followed Song Yuchen, her babyish voice soft and cute, "Brother, can you help me get on?"

After Song Yuchen agilely climbed up, he turned and held out his hand to help Yang Yike onto the cart. "Come on, take it slow."

Xiao Jie was pulling Fang Xiaoyu. "Little sister, be careful."

Fang Xiaoyu smiled softly, "Thank you, I’ll be careful."

[Ah, every time I see Xiao Chen and Xiao Yiyi interact these past two days, I think it’s so cute.]

[Song Yuchen is such a warm-hearted kid. He took great care of Fang Xiaoyu last episode, and this episode, he’s giving extra care to Yi Yi...]

[Upstairs, what are you trying to say?]

[Let’s be rational as we watch. The kids are all very innocent, don’t overthink things.]

The children were giggling and squeezing into the donkey cart, looking very happy, while the mothers walked alongside it.

Fang Xiaoyu, looking at the little donkey, suddenly started singing;

[I have a little donkey, I never ride it, but one day on a whim I rode it to the market...]

As she began to sing the beginning, the other kids joined in too.

The donkey cart moved slowly and steadily, the children’s faces were filled with pure joy, laughing and talking along the way made the trip feel quicker than when going to the market.

It wasn’t even 10 am yet, and the group had arrived at Xinqiao Village.

Xiao Jie and his grandpa led everyone to their house first.

Standing in front of his courtyard, Xiao Jie’s Grandpa gestured grandly and said to Ye Zhenzhen, "Miss, don’t be shy with me. All these chickens wandering around on the ground, they’re all mine."

Ye Zhenzhen: ...

After all that, it turns out this old gentleman is a professional chicken breeder!

Xu Wanjia: Ye Zhenzhen said she was here to bring clothes to the impoverished children of this village, but Xiao Jie’s family doesn’t look like they’re short on money at all!

Han Jiangxue was even more dumbfounded. Back at the market, she had mentioned to Ye Zhenzhen that the grandfather and grandson seemed quite pitiable, yet who would have thought they not only lived in a little western-style house but also had a farm...