Chapter 52: You’re Not a Rabbit—What Do You Know, Anyway?

As soon as that bold yet gentle voice rang out, not only Mrs. Zhao, but everyone else turned to look. In front of the stall crouched a girl, fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a pale blue gown of exceptional quality. She squatted there, holding a pastry from the Ruyi Restaurant in one hand and munching beans with the other.

When Mrs. Zhao didn’t respond, Bai Yan tilted her head up and hooked Mrs. Zhao’s skirt with her little finger. “Mother, buy this!”

The shopkeeper, hearing Bai Yan’s desire to buy all those ugly beans, burst out laughing. “Little lady, don’t urge your mother to buy them. If she’s dissatisfied again, next time she might curse my ancestors back eighteen generations. These ugly beans are mostly sold to street vendors for making bean paste. If you want beans for milling, you should go to the grain shop.” He wore a mocking expression.

“Mother, buy it! They’re delicious,” Bai Yan kept urging Mrs. Zhao.

Father Jiang stood by, already wavering. “Girl, let’s buy ten pounds first. When I get home for money, we’ll buy the rest, all right?”

They had come mainly to clear things up today and hadn’t brought much money.

“Father, wait a moment.” Bai Yan broke the untouched pastry in half, handing pieces to Mrs. Zhao and Father Jiang, then dashed into the restaurant.

Jiang Chengyan was at the table, calculating accounts. Hearing her panting, he looked up, his face expressionless. “What is it?”

“Money. I need money to buy beans for Father and Mother.” Bai Yan held out her hand without hesitation.

Jiang Chengyan’s right hand was still moving across the abacus. Hearing this, he didn’t look up. “Don’t you have money yourself?”

He had previously given her a fair amount of pocket money, all bright pieces of silver.

“That’s mine,” Bai Yan said, as if it were only natural.

Jiang Chengyan couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. He placed his hand over the abacus and looked at her. “So, how much do you need?”

“Three big bags of beans.” Bai Yan stretched her arms wide, drawing a huge circle in the air.

Jiang Chengyan glanced out the window. There were three or four bags of ugly beans, each weighing a hundred or two pounds.

He dug two pieces of silver from his pouch and tossed them to Bai Yan. Before he could say anything more, she had already rushed out like the wind.

Father Jiang instinctively looked at Mrs. Zhao. “San Niang, should we buy them?”

Mrs. Zhao glanced at the half-pastry in their hands, lowered her eyes, and said quietly, “If the money runs out, we’ll earn more. When we get home, we’ll return the silver to the debt collector.”

As the couple spoke, Bai Yan had already brought the silver, her eyes blinking brightly at Mrs. Zhao. “Mother! Buy them! These ugly beans are delicious!”

“Silly girl, you’re not a rabbit. Dry beans aren’t something you can find delicious.” Mrs. Zhao said this, but still bought all three bags of ugly beans, handing over the silver under the shopkeeper’s astonished gaze.

The shopkeeper repeatedly emphasized, “Ma’am, you’re buying these voluntarily this time. Don’t come back another day and curse me again.”

Mrs. Zhao waved him off and said to Father Jiang, “Bring the cart over.”

Father Jiang hurried to fetch the cart. Meanwhile, Bai Yan, brimming with excitement, had already moved toward the two-hundred-pound bag of beans.

Just as she was about to lift it, a cold glare swept over her.

Meeting Jiang Chengyan’s gaze by the window, Bai Yan suddenly remembered she mustn’t let others know about her extraordinary strength. She quickly jumped away.

As Father Jiang and Mrs. Zhao pushed the cart loaded with hundreds of pounds of beans home, among the crowd watching, a chubby little child pointed at Bai Yan’s retreating figure as she dashed into the restaurant and exclaimed, “Mother, that sister is so strong! She lifted that huge bag all by herself!”

The child’s mother laughed, stroking his head. “Sweetheart, you mustn’t lie just because you think she’s pretty.”

The child grew anxious. He truly wasn’t lying—he really had seen that enormous bag of beans lifted off the ground…