Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity
Chapter 68 - 64 Farewell

Chapter 68: Chapter 64 Farewell

"If you don’t give me a discount, I won’t buy it. It’s so expensive; I might as well take a look at the silver building ahead!" Gu Chengyu pretended to pull Mr. Gu away.

"Hey~ don’t leave! I’ll give you a discount of two hundred copper coins. Will that be okay?" Seeing the buyer about to leave, the stall owner aunt certainly couldn’t let go of such a good opportunity.

"No, I want a discount of two taels of Silver." Gu Chengyu thought to himself, you set the price ridiculously high, so I should bargain it down drastically. Turning away to leave has never failed me.

"You little kid, who bargains like that? Taking off two taels—I’d be losing money! Oh well, I’ll give you a discount of five hundred copper coins. That’s really the lowest I can go."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chengyu knew there was still room to negotiate. "Alright! Let’s meet halfway. You lower the price a bit more and throw in four pearl flowers. What do you say? If not, we’ll really leave; my dad and I haven’t eaten yet, and we still have to find my big brother!" Gu Chengyu mentioned his big brother and others on purpose since he noticed someone in the crowd seemed to be watching them intently. Probably because he was spending so many taels of Silver, they were being targeted. As for the stall owners, these people are local toughs and aren’t afraid of these small-time thieves or hooligans. Otherwise, their stalls couldn’t last long here.

"Okay! Okay! I really lost big today; you’re such a sharp bargainer! I only gave you these pearl flowers because you looked good!" The aunt, seeing the deal done, started joking with a hint of playfulness.

Gu Chengyu picked through the heap of pearl flowers, choosing four with small pearl-like beads. These were the best among them.

"Old brother, your son is really clever! Bargaining like a little adult. Look at these pearl flowers he picked; they’re the best I have and usually sell for over sixty copper coins each!" The stall owner was quite pained. However, remembering the hairpin she sold earlier made her happy again as she could at least earn over a tael of Silver, which was better than selling countless pearl flowers or rouge.

Gu Chengyu wasn’t going to be polite with the stall owner. Since she made money, she had to compensate somehow! The four pearl flowers were for his four nieces at home. He noticed some red hair ribbons beside them and remembered that Da Yatou and the others didn’t even have a single red hair ribbon, so he bought some as well.

With a smile, Gu Chengyu said to the aunt, "I knew you were a good person. Your prices are the fairest! I’ll come back here to buy stuff next time. Can you give me a few of those red hair ribbons?"

Perhaps the aunt was mesmerized by Gu Chengyu’s smile, or maybe the red ribbons weren’t worth much; she agreed without thinking. "Take them! I’m really losing out! But you can only take three, no more. Each red ribbon costs two copper coins!"

"Aunt, I have four nieces and a second sister at home! Who should I give the red ribbons to? Please give me two more!"

In the end, Gu Chengyu handed over the Silver and pulled Mr. Gu away amid the stall owner aunt’s cries of losing money. He even put all the packaged accessories into his bag halfway through.

"Xiao Bao, let’s go back! Your big brother must be waiting anxiously." Mr. Gu urged as soon as they left the stall. If they continued shopping, who knew if Xiao Bao might want to buy something for his mother? Only now did he realize that although Xiao Bao could earn Silver, he could spend it even more! Mr. Gu’s heart was breaking.

Gu Chengyu glanced twice secretly at his right rear, then winked at his father, raising his voice, "Dad, of course, we’re going back. We’re out of money—Mom gave us, and we spent it all. If not to go back, what else can we do? If we don’t go back, we’ll definitely get scolded. Let’s go! What’s the point of shopping without any money?"

This time, Mr. Gu was sharp and quickly understood, "You kid! I told you not to buy, but you insisted. Now look, won’t your mother skin you alive when we get back?" As he spoke, Gu Chengyu pulled Mr. Gu towards Huichun Hall after walking a few steps. Gu Chengyu felt the person following them from the right had disappeared. Obviously, they realized these country folk dressed like this couldn’t possibly have more than ten taels. Robbing them for some worthless jewelry? That would be a huge loss! Gu Chengyu said all this to avoid unnecessary trouble. His inner strength training could only kill a few wild chickens now, and he hadn’t trained in space these past two days. After this incident, he resolved to build a house when they got back, with one room for everyone—so he could train well.

They arrived at the entrance of Huichun Hall and peeked inside. After a short while, he spotted Dongzi seeing off a guest. Gu Chengyu approached and shouted a couple of times, waving his hand. Dongzi hurried out of the medical hall.

"Uncle, Xiao Bao, why haven’t you left yet? I didn’t see you earlier, so I thought you had gone back! I was wondering why you left without saying goodbye? Eh? Where’s Brother Gu?"

"My big brother went to wait for us at the city gate. We’re heading there now. Brother Dongzi, let’s not say anything else; it’s a fate worth remarking on. Take this, it’s not something valuable, just a little token. Don’t disdain it. My dad and I have to go now; it’s really getting late. If I come to the county again next time, I’ll find you if there’s a chance." Gu Chengyu shoved one of the packages of pig trotters into Dongzi’s hands, pulling Mr. Gu along and not caring if Dongzi wanted it or not.

"Oh~ you shouldn’t! Take it back. If I take it, what kind of person does that make me? I don’t want it." Dongzi, having suddenly received a package from Gu Chengyu, caught a whiff of the fragrance coming from it. He knew immediately they were Blind Wang’s pig trotters. Though he hadn’t tasted them, he heard from those who had that they were really delicious, and not cheap either. Such a big package must weigh over two pounds, which would cost over thirty copper coins at thirteen per pound. He couldn’t take advantage of that. Even though wintergreen was expensive, it was something the Gu family gathered from the mountains, not to mention they only had thirty-seven pounds. For families like theirs, each copper coin is hard to come by.

"Dongzi, those words are too formal. You call me uncle, making you the junior. If you don’t take it, you’d be looking down on your uncle. Just take it! It’s really late; we have to go." Mr. Gu saw Dongzi refusing to accept, feeling a bit anxious as they were eager to go back.

"How about staying for a meal then? It’s already so late; you haven’t eaten since you came, have you?" Dongzi, feeling awkward about accepting the pig trotters from the Gu family, wanted to treat them to a meal to return the favor.

Mr. Gu saw that Dongzi wasn’t keen on taking advantage of people and appreciated the young man. "No, the ox cart is still waiting! We really must leave now." Mr. Gu and Gu Chengyu hurriedly rushed back.

Watching the Gu father and son leave, Dongzi was filled with emotion. The Gu family were truly good people. Although he hadn’t helped them much, and almost let their wintergreen sell at a low price, he felt guilty holding their pig trotters. Then he thought about his ailing mother at home. Actually, they hadn’t had meat for a few months. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to take them home for her to try. The doctors at the clinic had said his mother needed to eat well to recover, but he couldn’t afford it, not even a piece of pork. His monthly salary barely covered the medical expenses. Bringing that into the clinic would be inconvenient, so he thought he’d take a leave of absence and bring it to his mother first.