The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 118 - 116: Meeting Xia Lin in Capital City

Chapter 118: Chapter 116: Meeting Xia Lin in Capital City

Wang Xiuya and Lu Jingqiu met and affectionately referred to each other as sisters.

Wang Xiuya was a year older than Lu Jingqiu, so she called her Sister Qiu. She asked Lu Jingqiu to call her Sister Xiuya.

Technically, she was the matchmaking candidate Mrs. Shen had picked for Jiang Nanzhou, and by normal standards, they should have been rivals, each employing all sorts of schemes and facing the scorn of a mother-in-law. But in reality, since her arrival, Mrs. Shen never even mentioned Wang Xiuya and seemed quite satisfied with her; Wang Xiuya herself had no such intentions and actually liked her quite a bit.

The key point was that she knew Wang Xiuya would eventually end up with Shen Mu, and now she was asking her to call her sister. That future image... would be quite peculiar.

However, all that was in the future. For now, the four of them took the tram, traveled a few stops, and arrived directly at West Street.

The Black Market used to be secretive and quiet, but now, surprisingly, it was filled with the lively sounds of street vendors.

Wang Xiuya exclaimed in surprise, "This place is so lively, it’s comparable to a department store."

Shen Ting said, "Exactly, my buddy told me things here don’t require tickets."

Shen Mu hadn’t expected it to be so bustling either: "There’s even a stall selling buns."

Wang Xiuya pulled Lu Jingqiu over to ask, and it turned out chive buns were five yuan each, meat buns were eighty yuan each.

Lu Jingqiu was also surprised but found the prices reasonable.

Shen Ting patted his stomach and said to Shen Mu, "Let’s buy a few."

Shen Mu nodded and ordered four meat buns.

Lu Jingqiu didn’t decline, and the four of them, not minding the crowd, savor the delicious buns.

Lu Jingqiu said, "These are really tasty."

The others nodded in agreement, also finding them good.

Lu Jingqiu then came across a soda seller, thirty yuan a bottle. She bought four bottles to go with the buns, and each person took one. However, the bottles had to be returned, so Lu Jingqiu gave him a deposit of ten yuan to return later.

"I have to go back tomorrow, and I haven’t had the chance to visit the department store for a stroll. I wanted to buy a few ’Capital Eight Treasures,’ but I’m not sure if they sell them here."

Wang Xiuya said, "Let’s look around, and if they don’t have them, we’ll go to the department store later."

As they ate, they strolled along, finding many stalls selling clothes, along with a variety of vegetables, meat, grains, and even eggs for sale.

If it weren’t so difficult to carry, Lu Jingqiu would have wanted to buy some for Grandpa Jiang.

As they were walking along, Shen Mu suddenly spotted Xia Lin setting up her stall and stopped in his tracks; at the same moment, Lu Jingqiu also saw her.

Xia Lin was selling clothes, several styles of blouses, along with some short-sleeved shirts which looked quite attractive, drawing queries from several customers around the stall.

Shen Mu glanced at Lu Jingqiu and said, "I heard from Gao Shu that Xia Lin went to Yangcheng City with her classmates to have fun. How come she’s here? Should we go over and say hello?"

Lu Jingqiu frowned, thought for a moment, then looking at Xia Lin who was greeting customers with a playful smile, said, "Let’s pretend we didn’t see her. Just quietly pass by."

Shen Mu also felt that it would be awkward to approach her now, and perhaps Xia Lin didn’t want to encounter them in this situation either, so he nodded his head.

Wang Xiuya and Shen Ting did not know Xia Lin, but they didn’t say anything either and followed them quietly, passing by Xia Lin’s stall.

There were many people at Xia Lin’s stall, so she didn’t notice them as they passed by.

It wasn’t until they had walked past that Wang Xiuya asked with curiosity, "Did you all know that comrade just now?"

Shen Mu replied, "A person from Ten-miles Village, she married one of my good buddies."

"The one we saw in West City?"

"Right."

"She’s quite bold, coming here to sell clothes."

Now, Lu Jingqiu could be certain that Xia Lin had been reborn. Otherwise, how could she have thought of the policy reforms and started a business so sensitively and quickly, even coming to Capital City to do business? From what Shen Mu had just mentioned, Gao Shu likely didn’t know what Xia Lin had been doing recently.

Gao Shu didn’t like speculative ventures in his previous life either; Xia Lin probably knew this much.

Shen Mu frowned and glanced back at Xia Lin’s stall, wondering if, as a brother, he should tell Gao Shu, even though no one was overseeing these matters. But with a woman bringing so much merchandise here, what would happen if an incident occurred?

Shen Ting, on the other hand, had quickly done the math in his head and was already calculating for Xia Lin, "Third brother, I just heard her selling a dress for ten yuan and a T-shirt for five yuan. Brother Wenhong said that those clothes wholesale for only three to four yuan each. With this roundtrip, she’s made double the profit. Selling ten pieces of clothing a day could earn her fifty yuan, gosh, that’s higher than the monthly salary of our mom and elder brother." Shen Ting was getting anxious about money; he didn’t even want to go to school anymore and was already thinking about how much merchandise his saved-up New Year’s money could buy.

Lu Jingqiu hadn’t expected Younger Brother Shen to be so astute and laughed, "There will be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future, and some businesses can make hundreds or thousands with just one transaction."

Shen Ting asked, "Sister-in-law, really?"

Wang Xiuya chuckled on the side, "Xiao Ting, I didn’t realize you were so fond of money before."

Wang Xiuya’s laughter was quite loud, which inadvertently caught Xia Lin’s attention, and she just happened to see Shen Mu and Lu Jingqiu.

Feeling panicked, and uncertain whether they had seen her, she watched them standing without moving and didn’t know whether they were coming towards her or moving on. Ignoring the customers in front of her, she said to a vendor selling vegetables next to her, "Big brother, could you watch my stall for a moment? I need to use the restroom." After saying that and apologizing to the customers in front of her, she turned and left.

Shen Ting was caught up discussing what they would do with the money, so he didn’t look toward Xia Lin’s stall. When he turned his head again, he noticed she was no longer there.

Shen Mu was just thinking whether Xia Lin had seen them when Wang Xiuya tugged at his sleeve, saying, "Brother Mu, sister-in-law, look, there’s a pastry seller up ahead."

Lu Jingqiu was delighted, and they hurried over. It was an elderly couple selling the pastries, which looked very clean. They asked for the price, which was eighty fen for five pieces.

Lu Jingqiu ordered four servings, spending a little over three yuan. Meanwhile, Shen Mu offered to pay for her, but Lu Jingqiu refused.

Wang Xiuya also bought a serving to take back. Seeing that they had all made purchases, Shen Mu also bought one. Seeing that Xia Lin hadn’t returned to her stall yet, he led them back, returning the soda bottles they had borrowed.

Just before leaving, Wang Xiuya spotted a stall selling silk scarves, leftover stock from a factory last year, for eighty fen each. She thought they were nice and bought two, giving one to Lu Jingqiu.

Lu Jingqiu quickly tried to refuse, but Wang Xiuya pretended to be upset, "Sister Qiu, we are friends, right? It’s not easy for you to come over to our side, and I haven’t even had a chance to treat you to a meal. You hosted us with such an extravagant meal at your home, and you just now treated us to drinks. I give you a silk scarf, and you refuse. Do you not want to be friends with me?"

"Not at all, I naturally like you." Seeing Wang Xiuya say this, Lu Jingqiu accepted the scarf.