Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 698 - 426 Reasoning

River Dam, dusk.

After the temperature dropped, people stepped out of their homes to enjoy the cool of the summer.

The vegetable seller pointed at the digital scale, "Exactly one and a half pounds, that’ll be 13 yuan and 50 cents."

Jiang Ning, with her Divine Sense, judged the real weight was only one pound and two ounces, and the digital scale was cheating by eight ounces.

The price of 13 yuan and 50 cents was far beyond Xue Yuantong’s budget; firstly, she found it expensive, and secondly, it was too much.

She had intended to buy just a small amount of ginger, but the vegetable seller deliberately grabbed a few extra pieces, a common occurrence where vendors tend to make you buy more. Those who are shy often feel embarrassed to ask for less.

"Sir, please take off these few pieces," Xue Yuantong said.

The vegetable seller was reluctant, and under Xue Yuantong’s urging, he slowly removed about two-thirds of the ginger, leaving one-third on the scale.

The old man said, "This will be nine yuan."

Xue Yuantong inwardly complained: ’That’s too much!’

The remaining one-third was priced even higher than the other two-thirds!

Clearly something was off!

As she was about to inquire, a bulky Uncle Zhang, walking his Black Back Wolf Dog, strolled by; residents of the River Dam Bungalow often came to the river dam for walks.

Uncle Zhang, the pig killer, was a tough and talkative man who never bothered with a leash.

The adults and children passing by, seeing the large wolf dog trailing behind him, were all intimidated—his dog could kill someone if it went crazy!

Uncle Zhang had a way with his dog which obediently followed him without sniffing around erratically.

"Xiao Jiang, did you really catch loaches?" he approached, noticing a bucket full of densely packed loaches, and exclaimed, "Good gracious, where did you catch these loaches?"

There were so many loaches; they must have weighed about two pounds, and wild loaches were at least 16 yuan a pound now.

The wolf dog poked its head to sniff, and Jiang Ning glanced over as the dog tucked its tail and shrank away.

"Yep, just in that ditch over there," Xue Yuantong gestured towards a puddle below the river dam.

Hearing this made Uncle Zhang want to try catching some; it had been hot lately, he didn’t have much to do, plenty of free time.

After a brief conversation, the old man interrupted, "I’ve weighed it for you, hurry up and pay, I need to do business."

Uncle Zhang glanced at the old man, then suddenly pointed at his nose, "Last time I bought two pounds of cucumbers from you, got home and weighed them, and the amount was off, you swindled me!"

Uncle Zhang got angry, truly embodying a menacing spirit, astonishing in his ferocity.

The old man’s demeanor shrank, and he retorted, "I run an honest business!"

As he spoke, one hand casually stroked the digital scale.

Jiang Ning judged that there was a reset button nearby; the old man could press it, and the digital scale would return to normal, making the deceit difficult to detect, unlike with manual scale weights that could be caught red-handed.

"Your grandmother, you dare talk back to me!" Uncle Zhang looked ready to hit someone.

Xue Yuantong still needed to buy vegetables to go home and cook the loaches. She didn’t want to waste time there; she was just about to ask the old man to reweigh the ginger.

Suddenly, Xue Chuchu gently spoke up, "Sir, it was 13 yuan and 50 cents for one and a half pounds before, wasn’t it?"

The vegetable seller replied, "Right, would I cheat you?"

Xue Chuchu looked at the one-third of the ginger on the scale, "And these are nine yuan, right?"

The vegetable seller nodded, "The young lady remembers quite clearly."

Then, Xue Chuchu pulled out a five-yuan note and crisply said, "Sir, just pack up the half you took off before for us, no need for change."

The old man’s face changed, he wanted to backtrack, then he looked up and saw the stern-faced Uncle Zhang.

The old man grimaced, painfully wrapped up the ginger.

...

On the way home, Xue Yuantong walked on the twilight-suffused country path, chuckling,

"Chuchu, you’re so good at buying vegetables!"

Xue Chuchu modestly replied, "It’s not my merit. It’s because Uncle Zhang was there. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have sold to us."

Jiang Ning commented, "Thinking of it was impressive too."

After being praised by him, Xue Chuchu finally felt she had contributed to the group, the guilt she harbored in her heart eased slightly.

She often felt ashamed for consuming what Jiang Ning provided.

Jiang Ning was in charge of procuring ingredients, Tongtong was responsible for cooking, and what about her, Chuchu?

Primarily in charge of eating; on the surface, Tongtong was the food lover, but in reality, she was.

Growing up, Chuchu found it hard to sincerely accept kindness. In school, she borrowed ten cents from Tongtong, and not returning it a day later made her unbearably uncomfortable.

In fact, at school, many classmates wanted to treat Chuchu well, offering her breakfast, snacks, gifts, helping her clean, and doing homework, nearly indulging in everything, with someone always taking care of her.

However, Chuchu knew that those kind gestures already had their prices secretly marked, and she never accepted them.

She couldn’t refuse what Tongtong and Jiang Ning provided, but she always intended to repay them.

Xue Yuantong shook the bucket; the loaches wriggled wildly, and she asked, "Jiang Ning, how many loaches can you eat?"

Jiang Ning casually threw out a number, "Five."

Xue Yuantong replied, "I can eat six."

Jiang Ning corrected, "I lied earlier, I can eat seven."

"I lied too, I can eat ten," Xue Yuantong declared seriously.

Jiang Ning admitted, "I apologize, I misspoke earlier, I can actually eat 17."

The two continued their playful banter as they approached home, with Xue Yuantong eventually resorting to exponential figures, yet still failing to conclude who could eat more.

Xue Yuantong declared, "Anyway, I can always eat more than you!"

Jiang Ning teased her, "Did you see the whiskers on the loach?"

Xue Yuantong naturally had seen them; her vision was excellent, the loach’s five pairs of whiskers were quite apparent.

"I’ll tell you a secret. Loaches have a special effect, after eating them, you’ll grow whiskers," he alarmed her.

Xue Yuantong’s expression turned particularly vivid, imagining herself with whiskers as she looked in the mirror, and she quickly shook her little head, unable to bear the sight.