Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 75 - 66: The Vegetable Seller Aunty
August 10, 2017
On a summer morning, before the sun became scorching hot, Shen Qingming walked briskly to the vegetable market in East City District, the closest one to Shen Garden.
Although it was just after dawn, the market was already bustling. Residents of QingCyan Cloud City from all directions gathered here, carrying baskets and pushing carts, selecting fruits and vegetables, grains, and oils at various stalls. The vendors’ shouts and the sounds of customers haggling made the place like a giant boiling pot.
Smelling the familiar complex scent in the air, a smile appeared on the girl’s face.
How nostalgic, this affordable vegetable market... In the past few years, she had been relying on the cheap ingredients here to sustain herself. Vegetables directly transported from suburban fields, freshly slaughtered poultry, etc., were priced at just over half of those in the Central District market, making it a favorite of QingCyan Cloud City’s lower class and Shen Qingming’s only choice.
Since a few years ago, her monthly stipend was repeatedly cut by Lu Xin, leaving her, despite being from a big family, struggling financially after accounting for the resources needed for regular cultivation. Forget about luxurious meals; even meat was a luxury that could only be afforded once every ten days or so... Every time she came here, she would buy a bunch of cheap green vegetables and radishes to make soup—a past hardly worth recalling.
Fortunately, an unexpected encounter with that Sword Spirit changed everything. Especially recently, the financial situation at Shen Garden has been continuously improving, and Shen Qingming hasn’t come here to buy groceries for quite a while.
Revisiting this place today isn’t really about buying anything, more about finding a way to relax after a period of intense busyness.
These past few days, as the only artist under the newly established Spirit Cat Idol Company, she had been assigned some work: mainly wearing the full Spirit Cat Suit and striking various pure and cute poses, which were then captured by skilled artists and compiled into albums to be sold at exorbitant prices to enthusiasts. Additionally, she had to sing some upbeat songs, also recorded onto talismans to be sold at high prices to the same audience. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Shen Qingming had her doubts about the market prospects for these items. As a Sword Cultivator, she had been devoted to Sword Dao cultivation from a young age, never seriously learning any singing or dancing skills. While she knew some basic concepts and had a good voice, she was far from the level of other artists who specialized in this field. She couldn’t fathom why anyone would spend so much on such substandard audio-visual talismans.
However, Qian Yu was confident, explaining, "People who spend money on these things don’t care about your professional level. As long as they know the most popular idol in QingCyan Cloud City right now is the Spirit Cat Girl, and that the number of authorized products is limited, exclusive to distinguished individuals, they will buy it no matter the cost."
Besides the albums and audio-visual talismans, the Qian Family also arranged for professional artists to design simplified Spirit Cat logos, which were printed on peripheral products like mugs and wallets. These were priced much lower, supposedly to capture the low-end market and build influence... Shen Qingming didn’t pay much attention to the details, as the whole process was handled by the Qian Family, requiring no effort from her end.
To this day, Shen Qingming had become somewhat indifferent to idol work, as the tangible earnings were undeniable... At the beginning of the collaboration, to show sincerity, Qian Yu had quickly and generously settled her payment: a total of two thousand Spirit Stones, and that was just from the first batch of album and talisman sales.
Lost in thought, Shen Qingming strolled through the vegetable market, when suddenly she spotted a few familiar figures in her view.
Three men dressed as servants, the leading figure towering in size, almost as large as the two behind him combined—it was none other than Li Yuan, Li Li, and their companions.
Seeing these three again, Shen Qingming couldn’t help but smile slightly. She approached from behind them and suddenly called out, "Hey, what are you guys up to?!"
The trio was startled, almost scrambling across the ground in a mess, then turned their heads. Seeing it was Shen Qingming, they gesticulated wildly, making her unable to withhold her laughter.
Li Li, flushed and sweaty, greeted her in a trembling voice, "G-Good morning, Miss."
Shen Qingming chuckled, "Alright, no need to be so nervous."
Li Li nodded like a pecking chick, then said with a distressed face, "Not nervous, not nervous, just... Miss, can I go change my pants first?"
"... Sorry, I didn’t expect you three to react so strongly," Shen Qingming apologized, then curiously asked, "Where’s Li Ping?"
Beside him, Li Peng answered, "Brother Ping is busy with a myriad of tasks..."
His words were interrupted by a kick to the backside from Li Li.
Li Li explained, "Brother Ping... is being punished by the madam to run circles, currently jogging with weights around Cyan Cloud River."
"... What did he do now?" Shen Qingming frowned slightly, "I feel like I haven’t seen him for a while."
Li Li said, "Brother Ping failed to complete the tasks the madam assigned, so... we all advised him that to get those limited-edition items, he had to queue up at least a day in advance, but he was lazy and went only half a day early, so he’s getting what he deserves."
"Ah, what kind of items require queuing so long to buy? Even the Li Family Mansion can’t get special supplies?"
Li Li opened his mouth but hesitated to answer.
Shen Qingming didn’t press him, "Forget it, go change your pants."
After the trio left, Shen Qingming realized she still hadn’t found out what they came to do. There’s nothing special about this civilian vegetable market. Most of the food and clothing at the Li Family Mansion are specially supplied by the Li Family’s farm outside the city. The few items that need to be bought separately are usually purchased at the high-end market in the Central District, so why come to a civilian vegetable market?
Unable to figure it out, Shen Qingming didn’t dwell on matters unrelated to her. She continued to walk for a while and stopped in front of a familiar stall.
It was a rather peculiar little stall located in the northeast corner of the vegetable market. In stark contrast to the bustling surroundings, this stall always had surprisingly few customers.
Despite selling such good produce, it was truly a pity.
Shen Qingming looked at the fresh, tender fruits and vegetables on the stall, then glanced at the indifferent-looking woman behind the stall, finding it amusing as a smile of familiarity spread across her face.
"Auntie, I’m back again."
The vegetable vendor simply nodded slightly, not even sparing a word of greeting.
With such a customer service attitude, having fewer sales despite selling high-quality produce was only natural.
But the girl didn’t mind at all. Over the past few years, she had been buying vegetables here. The green vegetables and radishes that accompanied her through countless days and nights all came from this vegetable vendor.
They were really delicious.
"Auntie, I’ll have two bunches of bok choy, three pounds of carrots, oh, and two heads of garlic, one bundle of green onions..."
The girl expertly selected the ingredients needed for dinner, then smiled as she spoke while the vendor weighed and calculated the price, "Auntie, haven’t seen me for a while, did you miss me?"
The vegetable vendor paused for a moment, said nothing, and slowly calculated the price for each item.
Shen Qingming didn’t mind. She knew well that the vendor was a person of few words, almost like a mute. But the items she sold were truly reliable. It was said that this vendor was originally a farmer from the suburbs. Later, when the Li Family wanted to build houses in the suburbs, they bought her family’s large area of farmland at a price that would keep ordinary farmers well-fed for ten generations.
With no worries about sustenance, this simple farmer still couldn’t sit idle, continuing to diligently farm and sell produce. Because she now had fewer fields to tend, she did so with added care, ensuring superior quality, and the price... being carefree, she set it at a very reasonable rate.
In a sense, Shen Qingming owed thanks to her family. If the Li Family hadn’t bought the land in the suburbs, there wouldn’t be such a conscientious vendor in the East City Vegetable Market, continuously supplying her with affordable and quality green vegetables and radishes over the years.
"Hey, haven’t been here in a while, and I really miss your radishes. A few days ago, I ordered the signature salad from the VIP Building in the Central District at home. It was outrageously expensive and supposedly sourced from the Lu Family’s premium farm. But its taste didn’t compare to yours."
Shen Qingming chattered on. After the vendor calculated the price, she initially intended to take out a few Spirit Stones as a token of appreciation for the past years. But after thinking it over, she decided to pay the calculated price, handing over Copper Coins instead.
"Thanks, Auntie, I’ll be coming back often."
As she picked up her shopping basket, ready to leave, Shen Qingming noticed the vendor’s money bag looked very familiar...
Two cat ears and a cat tail were embroidered on it.
Shen Qingming nearly tripped over herself.
My goodness, the Qian Family’s marketing capabilities are terrifying—Spirit Cat wallets have even made their way to the vegetable vendor!
