Chapter 45: Being Followed
After leaving Chang Shou Pharmacy, Duan Yixin walked to the market carrying an empty bamboo basket on her back. Along the way, she visited several stores and bought daily necessities such as clothes, condiments, vegetables, meat, and grain.
Watching her negotiations with the shopkeepers from those stores, Jian Yi couldn’t help but wonder how an ordinary young woman like her could have such high negotiation skills and be so good at guessing other people’s thoughts. As Jian Yi becomes more and more interested in her, Duan Yixin wins another negotiation.
She smiled at the store owner and paid the money. Putting the vegetables into the bamboo basket, Duan Yixin asked, "Madam, do you know where I can buy seeds?"
The store owner was delighted to be called Madam by her and said, "Young Lady, it’s too late to start sowing now. If you want to start planting, you will need to wait until next spring."
Duan Yixin shook her head and said, "I don’t have any land. I just want to grow some vegetables to save money."
Hearing this, the store owner looked at her patched clothes and said with a hint of pity in her voice, "You can go to the Lin family’s store two streets away from here. They sell high-quality seeds at lower prices. Just tell them that it’s me who tells you about their store."
Knowing that the store owner would get some kind of benefit from the Lin family by telling her about their store, Duan Yixin just nodded and thanked her. Although it is just a matter of opening her mouth, it might bring good benefits to the store owner in the future. Doing this small thing can also be counted as her way of repaying the store owner for giving her this information.
After leaving the vegetable store, Duan Yixin followed the directions the vegetable store owner gave her and walked to the Lin family’s store. On the way, she looked up at the bright sky and realized that it was already past lunchtime.
Feeling hungry, Duan Yixin looked at the wonton stand on the roadside. Seeing that few customers were eating there, she walked to the wonton stall.