Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

A man dressed in official robes appeared behind Xia Lanyue.

"How many days have you been selling here, young lady? What are you selling?" the man asked.

"Rice cake, today is the fifth day," Xia Lanyue answered cautiously.

The man seemed to notice Xia Lanyue's panic and smiled to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, young lady. I am the street supervisor here. My name is Chen Xiang, and I am in charge of managing this street."

After learning the man's identity, Xia Lanyue felt relieved, but then a new concern arose. "Did you need something from me? Did I do something improper?"

Chen Xiang shook his head. "No, that's not it. I just heard from the aunties in the neighborhood that Li Si caused trouble at your stall, so I came to see what he did."

"He cheated me out of three packets of rice cakes," Xia Lanyue said aggrievedly.

"Is there anything else?" Chen Xiang asked.

“No more,” Xia Lanyue shook her head.

How much money was lost?

“Thirty coins,” Xia Lanyue said.

"So what are your demands? Do you want your money back?" Chen Xiang asked.

Xia Lanyue's mouth dropped open in surprise, "You can get it back?"

Chen Xiang nodded, "But you need to have evidence first."

Xia Lanyue thought for a moment, then sighed, "I have no evidence. He said he gave me the money for two servings of rice cakes yesterday, but today he asked for five servings. When I refused, he even vandalized my stall."

"So when he gave you the money yesterday, did you give him a written receipt?"

"No."

Chen Xiang didn't say anything more.

Xia Lanyue knew this was a difficult matter. She didn't care about the money, but she couldn't swallow her anger. "Sir, it's okay if these three bags of rice cakes are gone. It's not a lot of money. It's just that this is infuriating. He smashed someone's stall in broad daylight in your territory. He really doesn't respect you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiang looked at Xia Lanyue with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

Xia Lanyue immediately composed herself and thought for a moment, "Sir, you see, I was planning to go to the village chief to reason with him. Since you're here, can't I talk to you about this as well?"

Hearing her say that, Chen Xiang's attitude immediately softened. "Just tell me, I know about it, I'll find a way to handle it, so you don't need to worry."

"Thank you so much for standing up for me, sir," Xia Lanyue immediately flattered.

Chen Xiang nodded. "Are you still setting up this stall tomorrow?"

"Ah."

"Then I'll come back tomorrow."

"Huh? Oh," Xia Lanyue said. Although she didn't know what else he wanted to do, she couldn't refuse.

Xia Lanyue watched Chen Xiang leave, then took her things and left as well. This time, however, she didn't go directly to the pharmacy, but instead went to a shop selling candied fruit.

There's only one shop in this town that sells candied fruit, called Wangxiang Candied Fruit Shop.

Xia Lanyue walked into the shop, where a dazzling array of candied fruits were neatly arranged on the counter. There were quite a few customers choosing candied fruits, and Xia Lanyue didn't know who to approach.

"Young lady, what would you like to buy? We just received some citrons today, would you like some?" A shop assistant came over and greeted her warmly.

"Ah, I'm here to see Manager Wang," Xia Lanyue said.

"That's unfortunate, Manager Wang isn't here today, he'll be here tomorrow," the waiter said.

"Then you..." Xia Lanyue hesitated whether to ask about the waiter Jiang Di, but she was unsure if it would be appropriate to ask directly. After a moment's hesitation, she decided against it. "Then I'll come again tomorrow. Sorry to bother you."

"It's alright, take care, young lady."

Xia Lanyue took a few steps, then turned back. "Young man, what are those citrons you mentioned? How much do they cost?"

"Come this way, young lady," the shop assistant led Xia Lanyue to the counter and pointed to a box of candied fruit. "This is it, made with citron, just arrived today, only ten coins a pack."

"Then I'll take two packs," Xia Lanyue said, taking out her purse, counting out twenty coins, and handing it to the shopkeeper.

The waiter took the copper coin and handed the candied fruit wrapped in lotus leaves to Xia Lanyue.

"Okay, thank you," Xia Lanyue said as she walked out of the shop with the candied fruit.

On her way back in the evening, Xia Lanyue kept recalling what happened at noon. Her sullen and unhappy mood was reflected on her face without her even realizing it.

Dai You noticed she seemed troubled and asked with concern, "You don't seem too happy today, what's wrong?"

Xia Lanyue didn't want Dai You to worry. Anyway, the matter was over, and she didn't want him to do anything impulsive, so she said something she didn't mean, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

"Is it still about the silver notes? Maybe I should go beat him up," Dai You said.

"No, if we beat him up, what if he locks you up again? I don't have the money to ransom you," Xia Lanyue said listlessly.

"Or, I can steal the banknotes."

"Huh?" Xia Lanyue's eyes lit up, and she quickly looked around. Fortunately, there was no one around in the middle of nowhere. "You have this skill?"

"I've never done this before, but I can learn to do it once."

“Hehehe, this idea…” Xia Lanyue wanted to say it was a good idea, but then she hesitated because she thought that if they lost the silver notes, they would be the first to suspect them. “Let’s wait and see. If Chief Zhao still doesn’t give them to us before we leave, then we’ll do as you said. Let’s give him some more time. What if he finds out we’re good people? What if he has a change of heart? Then we won’t have to take any risks.”

"Heh~" Dai You couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Are you... mocking me?" Xia Lanyue pouted.

"No, you can think of it that way too."

"Did you sleep well last night? Ah Niu... is he still smelly?" Xia Lanyue asked Dai You.

"I don't care."

"However, why is A Niu's family so poor? His grandfather was also Xia Yao's maternal grandfather, and he was a former county magistrate. Logically, they should be better off. How come there's such a big difference?"

“I’ve heard A-Niu mention his father, Xia Yao’s uncle. He’s a gambler who lost all his family’s wealth. Xia Huifang helped them out, but as soon as they had a little money, he squandered it all. A-Cheng and A-Niu had to go out and work to pay off their debts. Xia Huifang felt that working for herself was better than working for someone else, so she let them do farm work during the busy season and find other jobs at other times. Xia Huifang continued to help them out, both openly and secretly. Otherwise, with Xia Huifang’s family’s wealth, they would be in a better position now,” Dai You explained.

“Ah, no wonder. I had a feeling that Xia Huifang cared about her nephew and wouldn’t abandon them,” Xia Lanyue said, tilting her head. “I didn’t expect you to be so close to A Niu. He told you about this.”

"I heard this from Aunt Wang, but Ah Niu's father's situation is not a secret in the village."

Xia Lanyue nodded. It seemed that Aunt Wang was quite adept at collecting gossip and spreading information, which made her feel even more at ease.

Xia Lanyue and Dai You chatted all the way to the Xia family home. Xia Yao was reading in his room, while Xia Huifang was preparing dinner.

Xia Lanyue walked into the kitchen carrying candied fruit. "Aunt Xia, we're back! Guess what I brought you?"

Xia Lanyue raised the candied fruit in her hand high.

"I don't know what?" Xia Huifang asked with a smile.

Citron.

"Oh dear, how did you know I love candied fruit? I've been craving it these past few days. Thank you for spending so much, Yue," Xia Huifang said with a smile as she accepted the gift.

"Aunt Xia, you're too kind. After you finish eating, I'll bring you some more from town," Xia Lanyue said.

That's it, someone outside is calling her.

“Dai Xiyue…”

That familiar voice... it's Jiang Di!

Why is he here? !

Xia Lanyue happily ran towards the door, but after taking only two steps, she returned to the kitchen and said to Xia Huifang, "Aunt Xia, I'm going out for a bit, I have something to do."