novelraw Chapter 258 - 99: Your Thinking is Problematic (Part 2)
Chapter 258 - 99: Your Thinking is Problematic (Part 2)
Jie Jingchen’s back stiffened. He smiled, his voice gentle. "I thought you didn’t know how?"
"I want to learn now. You know I get carsick, so a bicycle would make it much more convenient to get around." Qin Mei would have preferred to drive. She used to have permission to use her father-in-law’s car, but ever since Jie Jingchen started making a fuss about splitting from the family, her father-in-law had directed his anger at her. ’My car privileges have probably been revoked,’ she thought.
"I’ll teach you after work tomorrow." Jie Jingchen was willing to teach her.
Qin Mei glanced at Jie Jingchen’s old-fashioned roadster with a look of disdain but said nothing. ’In this day and age, just having a bike like that is already pretty impressive,’ she mused.
Qin Mei led Jie Jingchen into the black market, pulling him directly to the old man who sold medicinal herbs.
"Sir, I’ll take all of these herbs," Qin Mei declared boldly.
The old man’s eyes lit up. He chuckled as he helped Qin Mei pack the herbs into two large urea sacks. "Young lady, these are all good herbs. And there’s something extremely precious at the bottom. If you trust this old man, don’t open it now. Wait until you get home. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed."
"Of course I trust you, sir. This isn’t the first time I’ve bought from you. From now on, I’ll only get my herbs from you. Trust is the most important thing. You can fool anyone else, but you can’t fool me, right, sir?" Qin Mei said with a chuckle before asking, "How much?"
"Five hundred," the old man said in a low voice.
Qin Mei didn’t haggle. She readily took out the money and handed the kraft paper-wrapped bundle to him. The old man accepted it without opening it, skillfully tossed the package into an empty urea sack, and left the black market.
Jie Jingchen was taken aback and whispered, "He’s not even going to check it?"
’Five hundred is no small sum. What if it isn’t money inside? What if the amount is wrong?’
"That’s the trust you build between people," Qin Mei said with a proud smile. ’I didn’t even check the herbs he sold me. If he turned around and checked my money, there’d be no trust at all. How could we do business happily after that?’
’Besides, this is the black market. You can’t just flash your money around. It wouldn’t be worth the risk if the wrong person took notice.’
’Once the money changes hands, the smart thing to do is get out of the black market as fast as possible.’
They didn’t linger, either. They quickly left the black market with the herbs. Qin Mei breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t run into a patrol team.
Back home, Jie Jingchen helped Qin Mei carry the urea sacks into the room next door before heading to the kitchen to heat water for their baths. Qin Mei emptied the herbs and finally saw the precious ingredient the old man had mentioned. It was a Lingzhi mushroom—a wild one, at that! From its size, shape, and luster, it was clearly of the highest quality. ’If this were sold in my time,’ she thought, ’it would definitely fetch an astronomical price.’
’And he only charged me five hundred. What an honest price!’
’He’s a good man, willing to take a small loss. He’s worth partnering with long-term.’
Qin Mei put the Lingzhi away carefully. Of all the herbs she had bought that night, only the Lingzhi was valuable. The rest were common herbs and not worth much.
Qin Mei sorted the herbs. She didn’t feel safe leaving the Lingzhi in the adjacent room, so she moved it to the room she shared with Jie Jingchen and locked it in the cabinet with her other valuable herbs.
"Qin Mei, time for your bath." Jie Jingchen carried a tub of hot water into the bathroom.
"You go first. I’ll wash up in a bit." Qin Mei wasn’t done yet.
Jie Jingchen didn’t listen, instead urging her to go. Annoyed by his nagging, Qin Mei grabbed her pajamas and went to the bathroom.
’I can finish this tomorrow. It’s not like I have to go to work, anyway.’ Qin Mei took a quick bath, deciding to wash her underwear later. Afterward, she pulled out a notebook and quickly jotted something down. Once she was done, she put the notebook away and got ready to go wash her clothes, but Jie Jingchen was now in the bathroom, so she had to wait outside.
She waited and waited, but Jie Jingchen didn’t come out. He was usually very quick with his baths, but tonight he was taking an especially long time. After another long while, the bathroom door opened. Jie Jingchen came out in his pajamas, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"Did you wash the clothes again?" Qin Mei looked at the bucket Jie Jingchen was carrying; it contained his clothes as well as hers. He always let her bathe first, then washed her clothes along with his. ’This is a great habit, one worth encouraging,’ she thought.
"Mhm." Jie Jingchen’s expression was a little strange as he carried the bucket outside to hang the clothes.
"Thanks," Qin Mei said. She didn’t like doing laundry, so if Jie Jingchen was willing to do it, she would let him.
Qin Mei walked into the bathroom, and when she saw her underwear hanging up to dry, she froze. Her face flushed bright red with embarrassment.
’He actually washed my underwear, too! I don’t mind him washing my outer clothes, but my underwear... I really can’t accept that.’