Chapter 369: (1): Farewells
First and Fifteenth continued to whittle away at the piece of Dragon Slaying Platform, and by the time that had almost "consumed" the entire piece of Dragon Slaying Platform, it was already the twenty-ninth day of the last month of the year.
Pei Qian, Wei Xian, and Sui Youbian had gone out five or six times to purchase a ton of things for the Dust Medicinal Shop in anticipation of the new year. Each time, Pei Qian had begged Sui Youbian to accompany them, and that turned out to be for good reason. All Sui Youbian had to do was stand near the shops that they visited, and the shopkeepers would voluntarily drop their prices without requiring any bartering from Pei Qian and Wei Xian.
They always went out early in the morning and returned late at night, and upon their return, the old man would still be reading under the locust tree at the intersection between the street and the alley. Initially, he was a bit more subdued, but after familiarizing himself with everyone from the medicinal shop, he began to greet them whenever they returned.
For the last two trips, Wei Xian didn't accompany them. Instead, it was just Sui Youbian and Pei Qian, and the latter was carrying Chen Ping'an's bamboo bookcase on her back to store all of their purchases. As they returned to the alley, the old man greeted them again. Pei Qian eagerly responded in a sweet and exuberant manner, while Sui Youbian remained silent.
As they stepped into the medicinal shop, Chen Ping'an was still seated behind the counter as usual, and Pei Qian immdiately began giving him a detailed account of all of the shops that they had visited at what time, as well as the original prices and the final prices of all of the items that they purchased, while Chen Ping'an made calculations on his abacus.
As soon as Pei Qian's account concluded, the sound of the clacking abacus beads also instantly subsided, and Chen Ping'an gave Sui Youbian a thumbs-up as he said, "We've saved roughly a hundred taels of silver on stationery alone."
Pei Qian lifted the bamboo curtain for Sui Youbian, while the latter made her way to the back of the shop to unload their purchases.
Pei Qian snuck back over to the counter, then got up onto the tips of her toes and rested her chin on the table with an expectant smile on her face, clearly asking for a reward.
Chen Ping'an took a glance over at the bamboo curtain, then sneakily handed seven or eight copper coins to Pei Qian as he said, "Make sure to keep this safe, and don't let anyone else see it. If Sui Youbian sees this, both of us will be in trouble."