Twenty-One Three People Shopping Record

  Ding Anping took Li Wei to a small eatery outside the high gate, and it was clear that her uncle and aunt had already eaten lunch. Alas, it seemed impossible for Li Wei to treat her uncle to a good meal, so she simply ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup with a small dish of seaweed salad and a small dish of celery mixed with peanuts. Li Wei thought she was eating simply enough, but her aunt didn't seem to think so.

  "A bowl of noodles is not enough for you to eat, what else do you want?" Cheng Fei now finds her niece annoying.

  "Now that I'm growing up, of course, I need to keep up with comprehensive nutrition. Besides, it's not like you're spending your own money, right, Little Uncle?" Li Wei called Ding Anping "Little Uncle", which was a completely normal and natural thing for her to do.

  "Hehe, right, order whatever you want to eat, don't be polite. Hehe." Ding Anping found Li Wei more and more lovely as he looked at her, this kid was so adorable, it was heartwarming.

  Cheng Fei glanced at Li Wei with disdain: "You'd better be more careful, you're getting fatter and your appearance is not good, you're not even growing taller, don't say you can't get married later."

  "I'm telling you, auntie, have some common sense, okay? Besides the staple noodles, which dish I ordered is going to make people gain weight? Kelp is rich in polysaccharides, protein, vitamin C, vitamin B2, carotene and other nutrients, and is also rich in calcium and iodine, which can promote bone and tooth growth, making it a nutritious food for children, pregnant women and the elderly. As for celery, it's even richer in iron, calcium and phosphorus... And don't even get me started on peanuts! Auntie, cursing someone to be ugly and unable to get married is really vicious, please don't say that about me again, I'll be very sad. She herself got married one after another without any effort, but that doesn't mean she can say others are ugly and can't get married, although it was indeed difficult for her to get married back then, but she still has dignity, okay?"

  So Li Wei said a lot and her face turned cold, ignoring her younger aunt.

  Cheng Fei saw Li Wei's expression and roughly knew that she had touched a sore spot, feeling a bit unnatural. However, since Li Wei was her junior, she couldn't lose face at the moment, so she maintained her composure: "Yes, yes, you're very knowledgeable, but what you'll become in the future isn't something you can control, no need for me to say anything."

  At this time, the waiter had already brought the noodles over. Ding Anping helped Li Wei put down the noodles and took chopsticks and paper towels, smiling to mediate: "Okay, okay, let's not talk about it anymore, let's eat noodles, the kids must be starving."

  Li Wei thanked her, stirring the noodles with chopsticks to let out some heat. She looked up at her aunt and said calmly, "Auntie, you watch me, I'll definitely grow into a beauty." After that, she started eating her noodles and ignored Cheng Fei.

  Cheng Fei smiled incredulously, thinking to herself: "You little thing, you dare to say that? Although your mom is my sister and she's not bad-looking, your dad is just my brother-in-law. If you had even a bit of resemblance to him, it would be good enough for you to be considered pretty." Considering Li Wei's previous argument with her because of her comments about someone's father, Cheng Fei chose not to say anything this time.

  Li Wei finished her meal and was thinking that she couldn't treat her aunt well. It seemed that her free trip would end in failure. She coldly watched as Ding Anping called the waiter to pay the bill. Her aunt refused to let him pay. Li Wei got annoyed: "Alright, Auntie, just let Uncle pay. What's the big deal? You're pushing back and forth like this. Uncle, next time I'll treat you."

  Ding Anping was thoroughly confused by the kid's arrogant tone. Smiling: "Alright, haha, next time you're treating."

  Eat your fill. Cheng Fei pinched the small purse, looking at her niece who made her feel suffocated and embarrassed: "You've eaten enough. Shouldn't you go home now? Your mom will deal with you when you get back." This was also something Cheng Fei didn't know. Usually, kids would be scared by this and cry out that they don't want to go home.

  There have been many lessons learned from Ding Anping's bitter experience. However, Li Wei's reaction was beyond his expectation.

  "Well, it's time to go home. Besides seeing your uncle, there's nothing else to gain here. It's not interesting at all." Li Wei emphasized the three words "little uncle". She stood up naturally and tidied up her clothes, looking like she was about to leave.

  Cheng Fei's heart sank as soon as she heard it. Based on her understanding of this kid, this sentence couldn't be taken at face value. Moreover, she and Ding Anping really didn't have anything going on. If the kid went back and started spouting nonsense, his mom would nag her to death. If things got any more serious and they had to find a teacher to get to the bottom of it, her face would be completely lost.

  Cheng Fei endured his temper and tried to be more gentle: "Don't casually call him Little Uncle, it sounds like something when others hear it. Anyway, since you're out now, why don't I take you somewhere to have a stroll?"

  "Why don't we go to the park and take a stroll, I heard that the zoo recently got an elephant?" Ding Anping suggested, with a sincere desire to please this little friend who was the only one to acknowledge his legitimate status.

  "There's nothing to see in the park, it's too tiring. How about we go to the mall instead?" The woman's thoughts were clearly different, and Cheng Fei's suggestion sounded more like a decisive conclusion.

  Li Wei had already thought of a place to go, and with a wave of her hand, she said: "Alright, I've got it all planned out. Let's go to the free market on Changjiang Road instead. That's where things get really lively. Why bother going to some park or mall? I'm not some kid who's never seen the world."

  Ding Anping and Cheng Fei suddenly turned black: What do you think you are!

  Then, two adults brought a child to the street market on Changjiang Road.

  Ding Anping is a city person, he has followed his grandfather here several times and is no longer surprised. While Cheng Fei has studied in the city for two years, she has never been here to stroll around and is very curious about everything.

  The scene evolved into a young man leading two beautiful women, one big and one small, strolling through the streets.

  Li Wei had been here with her grandfather last time, but she didn't explore as carefully and thoroughly, after all, she had a few drinks and was a bit tipsy. This time she was much more objective, after all, where there's demand, there's market, and existence is reasonable.

  Li Wei went through each stall, thinking about what cheap things she could buy and maybe sell for a profit at the market back in town.

  Antiques, jade articles, coins and the like are out of the question; she has no taste and not enough spare money to invest in goods. Clothes, shoes, hats... forget it too, who knows if they'll be suitable or sell well? Besides, she can't carry many pieces. Candies and pastries... also forget it, on a hot day they might spoil and lose value.

  Li Wei had walked for more than half the way, but hadn't seen anything that moved her heart, and couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. Suddenly, she squatted down beside a stall selling old books, randomly flipping through them... She found a fairly new Grimm's Fairy Tales, priced at three yuan, but when she asked the vendor, it was only one yuan. Li Wei didn't say another word and bought it. However, before she could take out her money, Cheng Fei, who was afraid that Ding Anping would pay again, quickly paid for it herself, with a speed that seemed suspiciously like pickpocketing.

  Li Wei smiled and didn't say anything, but her younger aunt who had just spent money on it muttered: "Grimm's Fairy Tales, do you know who Grimm is? What are fairy tales? Don't buy something just because the cover looks nice."

  Cut! You've only read books for a few days and you dare to look down on your parents and fellow villagers. Li Wei said seriously, "The Brothers Grimm were German fairy tale collectors and language culture researchers. Their main works include 'Cinderella', 'Snow White', 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'The Little Mermaid' and so on."

  Hesitation... Ah yes, this little guy still has some ink left, they both thought at the same time.

  "It's okay, I guess." Cheng Fei said with a pout.

  Li Wei flashed a mischievous smile: "Oh, right, 'The Little Mermaid' is Andersen's fairy tale, I remembered it wrong, hehe..."

  。。。。。。

  Li Wei was arguing with her aunt while following Ding Anping, when suddenly Ding Anping found that the two beauties were motionless. Turning his head, he couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that Cheng Fei and Li Wei were squatting in front of a stall selling various flower fabrics, unable to move their feet.

  This small stall is more like selling fabric scraps than selling fabrics. Only various sizes and colors of fabric scraps are piled up on a dull gray canvas, the owner is a thin middle-aged man in his 40s.

  Li Wei and her younger aunt saw each other for the first time in England, and at the same time, they started to rummage through those fabrics with almost no duplicate colors, patterns and textures.

  There were many varieties, and Li Wei and Cheng Fei almost simultaneously took a liking to a piece of ivory white silk fabric with silver water red peony flowers. Cheng Fei's hands were quick and long, and she pulled it over to find that there wasn't enough to make a short skirt, but it was just enough for a square scarf. She thought about it and decided she wouldn't be using it anytime soon, so she put it down again. Before the fabric even hit the ground, Li Wei picked it up, examining it carefully - not bad, not bad, just enough to make a small backless skirt. She held onto it for now, thinking that maybe she'd see something even prettier later on.

  Cheng Fei glanced at Li Wei and didn't say a word, lowering his head to continue searching.

  Li Wei didn't idle, the dull-colored fabric wasn't even looked at, not pleasing to the eye. This pink fine plush is good, but it's too small, not enough to make a chair cushion...

  This piece of black flannel is quite fluffy and hasn't been washed yet...

  The color and grid of this piece of gauze are quite beautiful, it's just a bit bigger than the pillowcase.

  This piece of wool fabric is pretty good, and the color is quite elegant.

  Li Wei picked and chose for half a day, but all the fabrics that were good in quality and color were too small, and it was really hard to see what could be made from them. However, when Li Wei saw a piece of light purple fabric that was only an inch or so wide, she suddenly had an idea, gathered up all the fabrics she thought were pretty, and added a large piece of thin woolen fabric with red and yellow checks: "Boss, if I take all these, can you give me a discount? How much will it be?"

  Before the stall owner could even speak, Cheng Fei spoke up: "What do you want these tattered rags for? You can't even use them to make a sandbag. Give me a break, I didn't bring that much money."

  The boss heard someone belittling his goods and was unhappy: "What a broken cloth, this is good stuff, little girl you have an eye for it, that big piece of velvet is really good stuff, enough to make a large adult coat and a short skirt, little girl if you want to buy it I'll sell it to you for 25 yuan, the other small pieces of cloth will be given to you." The thin boss thought that Li Wei, a young girl, had little chance of selling goods, but the big girl seemed possible, however, she didn't seem to appreciate his things much, so he didn't dare ask for a high price and quoted what he thought was a reasonable price.

  Li Wei after all is inflation to a certain extent when wearing back, the price difference still has not turned over, at that time in my heart just feel not expensive, but habitual, still want to kill the price.

  She was in the midst of a heated haggle with the boss, when her aunt, Cheng Fei, couldn't take it anymore. She thought to herself, "This silly kid is always getting into trouble, she can't even walk past anything without making a fuss!" Without saying another word, she grabbed Li Wei's arm and pulled her away, as Li Wei struggled free while still haggling: "Eighteen yuan, eighteen yuan! If it's any more I won't buy it, didn't you see my aunt telling me not to? The pressure is huge!"

  Ding Anping's mouth was curved up in a smile, almost reaching his ears.

  The stall owner had never encountered such a thing, doing business like robbing a civilian girl, and couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Little girl, you'd better leave, the minimum is twenty, I really can't sell at this price."

  Although it was finally sold for 20 yuan, under Li Wei's strong request, a piece of wrapping cloth with small peach flowers printed on it and several pieces of high-quality dark-colored fabric were also given as gifts.

  Twenty bucks isn't a small amount, before her aunt could say anything, Li Wei quickly pulled out two 10-yuan bills from her bag and handed them to the slightly stunned boss, then started neatly folding the fabric and packing it into the complimentary canvas bag. When she finished, it looked just like the bundle that ancient heroes used to carry on their backs when they set out on a journey haha.

  Before Li Wei could gloat, her aunt came over and grabbed the small backpack on Li Wei's back, scaring Li Wei into covering it up hastily. She glared at her aunt: "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be greedy!"

  "Be careful! I don't trust you with that, bring it over here and put it in my place, quickly." Sharp-eyed Cheng Fei saw at the moment Li Wei opened her bag, there were several more inside. Her sister didn't even bother to control her, giving a child so much money, but she had also heard from her old man that this little girl made quite a bit of money selling buns.

  "I'll give it to you once I'm out of the market, but not now. It's inconvenient for me to lend it to you. What if you charge me a handling fee? In serious cases, no one will collect it and I won't be able to call anyone."

  Isn't there a common saying that having parents is not as good as having your own, let alone looking down on your own younger aunt!

  Cheng Fei took a look and saw that they were about to leave the free market, so he didn't bother arguing with Li Wei. After all, this little kid wasn't easy to fool around with.

  But, it was just that short section of road less than twenty meters long, and Li Wei miraculously spent over thirty yuan again with the speed of a swift thunderbolt, look at what kind of useless things she bought: a big bag of hair ties and various elastic ropes, a big bag of colorful beads, a big bag of lace, a big bag of colored cotton thread...

  Cheng Fei tried several times to snatch Li Wei's small bag, but failed. In a crowded place, she, a high school graduate, couldn't muster up the courage to make Li Wei cry and roll on the ground. In the end, she let that little rascal spend all the money like flowing water in spring, leaving only a few bucks behind, which she didn't even bother to keep.

  Nowadays, the ones who are still happy-go-lucky are Ding Anping and Li Wei.

  Originally, from Ding Anping's standpoint, he should have helped Cheng Fei block Li Wei, but seeing Cheng Fei repeatedly getting outsmarted, Ding Anping, who had been outwitted multiple times by a high school flower, suddenly found his mood inexplicably improving. So, although he verbally supported Cheng Fei, in reality, he was helping Li Wei carry things. However, he was also quite curious - this little guy is pretty rich, and his spending habits are more extravagant than his own; it seems that inviting him to dinner wouldn't be a waste of time.

  Li Wei doesn't need to be said, it's not easy to come out and take such a big risk, the two of them finally spent all the money they earned. In this era, making money is not easy, but spending money is even harder, haha. The most important thing is that she found another simple, quick and highly feasible way to make money - head flowers, hahaha.