Ye Wanmian thought angrily. She didn't ask him to step forward and beat someone up. He volunteered to do so.
But then she thought that he had really helped a great deal today, and Uncle Li also said that he had done nothing wrong in this matter. She hadn't even said a word of thanks to him...
Cough, cough, cough. Ye Wanmian touched her purse guiltily.
Well, maybe she should just indulge him?
But how much would a gold bowl cost?
Just thinking about the fifty taels of silver that were about to be spent before she could even warm them in her hands made Ye Wanmian's heart ache.
Seeing the two of them huddled together whispering, the silver bowl vendor said impatiently, "Have you two made up your minds? If you don't return my bowl or are not willing to pay, then let's go to the yamen!"
Under the gazes of many onlookers, although Ye Wanmian knew that she was wearing a yellow charm and others shouldn't remember her appearance, she still felt a bit uncomfortable.
Xiao Jingcheng leaned down again and whispered in her ear, "When I return to the capital one day, I will surely compensate you double. How about three thousand taels?"
Three thousand taels!?
Ye Wanmian's eyes lit up. She said to the silver bowl vendor, "We'll buy it. How much is your bowl?"
The vendor held out his finger and said, "Twenty taels."
Gasps sounded all around.
Such a mere bowl actually cost twenty taels! It was even more expensive than the silver bowl that Dahuang had snatched before! And that silver bowl had cost nothing at all!
What was wrong with Xiao Jingcheng? Since he woke up, he had wanted to snatch the silver bowl from Dahuang. Now, although he didn't snatch it anymore, he had snatched a gold bowl for her in the market!
It had to be said that his actions were really just like Dahuang's back then...
The moment this thought flashed through Ye Wanmian's mind, Xiao Jingcheng's voice came from behind her, "This price is not right, is it?"
Xiao Jingcheng straightened up, looked at the vendor, weighed the bowl in his hand, and tapped it. A humming sound came out:
"Your bowl is not made of pure gold. It's made of copper with just a layer of gold plating on the outside. How dare you sell it at the price of gold? This is extortion, isn't it?"
Hearing this familiar argument, the vendor suddenly had a bad feeling.
Ye Wanmian's eyes lit up. She snatched the bowl from Xiao Jingcheng's hand, tapped it, and listened to it by her ear. Sure enough, it was a copper vessel!
"This bowl weighs one jin and six liang. According to the current price of copper, plus the wages for gold plating and forging, it's at most three taels. You're asking for twenty taels. Are you planning to rob us in broad daylight?"
Xiao Jingcheng added, "There's a layer of dust on this bowl, which shows that it has been on display at your stall for a long time."
"No one has bought it for such a long time. I guess the price is not right. We'll take this bowl for three taels of silver. Otherwise, this bowl will just continue to gather dust on your stall."
The silver bowl vendor's face froze.
Xiao Jingcheng was really right. Since he had sold quite a few silver bowls under the banner of the "Howling Heavenly Divine Dog", he had come up with a brilliant idea and made a few gold bowls to sell at his stall. Who would have thought that no one was interested at all?
After all, in Dongli Town, who would have the spare money to buy a gold bowl to eat with!
When the common people bought the silver bowls, they didn't buy them to eat with either. They bought them to offer as sacrifices and to pass down as family heirlooms.
Cutting the price from twenty taels to three taels was like cutting it to the bone. But for this one bowl, after deducting the cost and labor, there was still a profit to be made at three taels. If he missed this opportunity, there might not be another one.
After some thought, the vendor quickly made a choice: "Fine, three taels it is. Cash on the barrelhead!"
Just thinking about spending three taels of silver on this trip to the market made Ye Wanmian's heart ache.
She reluctantly took out the money and handed it over. The vendor took the money, snorted, and left.
When the crowd saw that they had reached an agreement and there was no more excitement to watch, they waved their hands and dispersed.
Ye Wanmian turned around and met Xiao Jingcheng's gaze. Just as Xiao Jingcheng thought she was going to say something, he felt a sharp pain in his toe. She stepped on his foot hard and then turned around and walked away.
Xiao Jingcheng gasped. Enduring the pain from his foot, he looked at the girl's angry back. Instead of getting angry, he even lifted the corners of his lips.
Ye Wanmian recalled everything that had just happened and got angrier and angrier. Especially when she heard Xiao Jingcheng's familiar footsteps behind her. When she thought of the way he had cowered behind her and acted pitiful, she just couldn't contain her anger. Suddenly, she turned around and glared at him.
"If you wanted to buy a gold bowl, you could have just told me. Why did you have to play tricks on me like this!"
Xiao Jingcheng looked innocent. "Your attitude towards me is so bad. If I had told you I wanted to buy a gold bowl, would you have agreed?"
The answer was... no.
Cough, cough, cough.
"How can you blame me? Who was it that grabbed my neck as soon as they woke up and bossed me around like a maid?" Ye Wanmian said bluntly. "You helped me this morning, but I helped you too."
Xiao Jingcheng said casually, "It's just three taels. Since I've promised to compensate you a hundred times over, I won't go back on my word."
"Humph, without a written contract, I won't believe your nonsense." Ye Wanmian said, "Write it now!"
The two immediately found a shop selling the four treasures of the study. They borrowed a pen and a piece of rice paper and sat down to write the IOU.
Ye Wanmian picked up the pen and wrote, "Today, there is..."
Just as she was about to write Xiao Jingcheng's name, her hand paused and she hesitated.
He was currently hiding his identity and staying in Dongli Town, so she naturally couldn't write his real name. But if she wrote "Jing Xiao", would he deny it in the future?
Ye Wanmian had no doubt that Xiao Jingcheng might really be the kind of person who would turn his back on someone.
Seeing that she hadn't written for a long time and looking at the delicate handwriting on the paper, Xiao Jingcheng knew what she was hesitating about.
He took the pen from Ye Wanmian's hand and snatched the rice paper. Continuing from her two words, he wrote on. When Ye Wanmian came to her senses, she leaned over to look and read softly:
"I, today in Dongli Town, owe Jiang Mian three thousand taels of silver. I will surely pay it back within a year. If there is a delay, for each day of delay, I will pay an additional tael. Shen Jingxiao."
Not only that, he also bit his thumb, squeezed out two drops of blood, and pressed a bright red fingerprint on the three characters "Shen Jingxiao".
After doing all this, he looked at Ye Wanmian and said, "Well, do you believe me now?"
Ye Wanmian looked at his blood - stained finger, coughed twice, and said, "That's better."
After the ink had dried, Ye Wanmian carefully folded the IOU and then carefully hid it in her bosom.
This was the evidence for her to get rich in the future. She had to keep it well.
With this IOU, Ye Wanmian looked at Xiao Jingcheng much more favorably. After the two left the paper and ink shop, they happened to pass by a clothing store.