Chapter 173: Chapter 173

Jun Mobai and Yu Xiaolian’s eyes met, and their minds were instantly filled with the image of a young girl, hands covered in blood, crying in panic because of her initial tide.

Jun Mobai and Fu Qing blushed secretly and averted their gaze.

Yu Xiaolian also put on a shy expression and walked away in a fluster.

Looking at Jun Mobai and Fu Qing’s dark circles, it was clear they hadn’t slept all night trying to catch someone.

Yu Xiaolian internally criticized, why come to her place to eat when there are other options?

Not afraid the lady here would poison you.

And judging by the wine bottles on the table, it was clearly the old aged liquor from Taotao Residence, stored in tin containers.

Fifty-five degrees, and Jun Mobai had already drunk two bottles.

Wouldn’t someone have to carry him out later?

Yu Changhe followed behind Yu Xiaolian to Taotao Residence and whispered, "I just heard that princely heir say the court is about to begin a large-scale army enlistment. I’m exempt because of my disability, but what about your uncle?"

Yu Xiaolian casually said, "Can’t we just pay? Paying for my uncle can exempt him, right?"

Yu Changhe frowned, "If paying works, that’s good. I just fear it might be useless. From what those two said, everyone except scholars would be taken."

Yu Xiaolian dismissively waved her hand, "It won’t happen, Dad. Don’t worry, money can make the devil work; I won’t let my uncle go to the battlefield and meet his end. Tell my uncle and grandmother to rest assured, and don’t scare them with this talk; they’re timid and might fall ill from fright."

Yu Changhe dumbfoundedly nodded and then asked, "Those two officials seem drunk; you shouldn’t go next door for nothing. I can handle the money matters."

Yu Xiaolian nodded, then stepped on a high stool to lie on the counter.

Last night, she didn’t sleep well looking after Miao Yingyao, and now her eyelids felt heavy, and she especially wanted to nap again.

At first, Jun Mobai found the wine spicy and fragrant but didn’t expect its potency. When he felt his head becoming dizzy, he realized this wine was much stronger than what he usually drank.

Fu Qing knew that losing the Witch Clan girl had put the master in a very bad mood, so when Jun Mobai drank one cup after another, he didn’t dare to stop him.

Only that, though the master usually had a good tolerance for alcohol, today he got drunk after not even two bottles.

Jun Mobai propped himself up on the table and staggered out. Fu Qing quickly tossed a silver note worth ten taels on the table and told Yu Changhe that no change was needed.

Yu Changhe sneered; my daughter sells this wine for five taels a bottle, and you’re saying no change needed when you’ve given just a note that isn’t enough.

I’ve even thrown in two plates of meat for free.

However, after last night’s house search, Yu Changhe knew this was the princely heir with considerable power—someone he couldn’t afford to offend.

In the spirit of causing less trouble, Yu Changhe didn’t dare to demand meat money from the princely heir and cheerfully sent him out the door.

Zhao Erya helped out in the backyard of the braised meat shop, while Sanya circled her second sister, doing what she could manage.

Granny Sun and the old lady Sun sat in the cool backyard of the braised meat shop doing needlework. The old lady made underwear for the family, and Mrs. Sun made slings for the two little ones in her belly.

Speaking of, in less than two months, Mrs. Sun would give birth, and Granny Sun was genuinely happy for her daughter.

No matter how good others are, they aren’t as good as one’s own flesh and blood.

Yu Xiaolian lay drowsily on the counter but barely closed her eyes when customers gradually arrived to buy things.

During this time, people had been storing grain in large quantities, which made the food in Luocheng scarce—and now the city was sealed.

With the city sealed, no one in or out, it’s unknown how long it will last.

The rice, flour, grains, and oils in town were all accounted for, with no movement in or out, everyone wanted more security.

Throughout the morning, people came to Taotao Residence to buy rice and grain non-stop. Yu Xiaolian heard Zhao Erya say that the Sheng Family’s grain store next door had already run out of brown rice and coarse grains, snatched up entirely.

With brown rice and coarse grains hard to find, the usually hard-to-sell white rice and flour suddenly surged in sales.

Yu Xiaolian weighed so much her arms hurt and eventually had to call Zhao Erya for help.

The two of them worked up a sweat, and finally, during a brief lull, Yu Xiaolian took out two ice creams, squatting beneath the counter with Zhao Erya to eat them secretly.

After finishing, she took out five more, asking Zhao Erya to secretly deliver them next door.

Zhao Erya used her apron to carry the ice creams and quickly ran off.

Yu Xiaolian looked up to see Fu Zihan jumping down from a carriage.

As soon as Fu Zihan entered, she pulled out a silver note worth five hundred taels, grinning, "Today I’m going to clear out all the good stuff in your shop."

With a big client arriving, Yu Xiaolian perked up instantly.

Fu Zihan first took the items she fancied yesterday, then asked Yu Xiaolian to recommend anything else worth buying.

Yu Xiaolian took out the lipstick samples to test the colors on Fu Zihan’s hand.

Bright red, bean paste, milk tea—she chose shades that suited Fu Zihan’s skin tone.

Also, universal colors that would look good on anyone.

In her past life, Yu Xiaolian had a peculiar obsession as a lipstick enthusiast; she owned hundreds of lipsticks and lip glosses. Her mom often scolded her about having just one mouth, so why buy so many lipsticks?

You can’t wear them all before they expire.

But she couldn’t help herself; every time she received her paycheck, she wanted to buy a lipstick to reward herself.

Besides lipstick, she liked buying bags, but her bags were all niche brands and not very expensive.

Unfortunately, all these treasures were in the small outbuilding behind the supermarket, and the outbuilding didn’t follow her here. Follow current novels on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝓷𝓮𝓽

The lipsticks in her family’s supermarket were cheap ones her mom sourced, the most expensive being seventy yuan per piece.

Luckily, in the supermarket’s break room, there were some good lipsticks her mom used; that made up for a bit of the regret.

The lipsticks Yu Xiaolian recommended to Fu Zihan were exactly the ones in the break room; she shaved off the used part to put them in this small round container.

This small round box didn’t look big, but it genuinely contained the volume of three lipsticks.

Fu Zihan delightedly looked at the radiant red on her hand.

Yu Xiaolian nodded, "Isn’t it beautiful? Which color do you like?"

"It’s beautiful." Fu Zihan nodded excitedly.

"But isn’t this very expensive?"

Yu Xiaolian said, "It’s reasonable, not too expensive, less than that small mirror. This box is thirty taels and lasts a year."

Fu Zihan had prepared herself for a hundred taels, and suddenly upon hearing Yu Xiaolian say thirty taels, she joyfully said, "Thirty taels? So cheap? I’ll take two boxes, one in bright red and the other in bean paste color.

Ah, wait, I’ll take three boxes, all of them."

She was spending money given by her aunt and had to buy her aunt one too.

That milk tea color was soft and very suitable for her aunt.