Chapter 10: White Bad Water Eats Flat (Thank you for collecting)
"Alright, you let her come and take a look." Zhang Xiaosuo said somewhat helplessly, stretching out his hand to pull over a basket.
The big girl named Xiuer wiped her hands and walked over, with a tense expression revealing a few hints of expectation.
Zhang Xiaosuo took down several wolf skins from the top of the basket, revealing a yellow and black striped tiger skin underneath. He said stiffly: "Look, this is it."
Xiū ér dèng dà le yǎn jīng, zǐ xǐ kàn zhe.
Translation: Xiuer widened her eyes and looked carefully.
Meng Shitou encouraged from the side: "Don't be afraid, go and touch it, tigers are just like this. Come, I'll open it for you, so you can see clearly." As he spoke, he reached out and pulled out the tiger skin, spreading it out in front of Xiuer.
Xiū ér yóu yù zhe, chí yí zhe, zhōng yú gǔ qǐ yǒng qì, shàng qián shēn shǒu qīng qīng mō le mō, yòu lì kè suō huí le shǒu.
"Tiger skin!" A loud quack suddenly rang out, followed by a shrill and ear-piercing laughter.
A thin man wearing a long gown and holding a folding fan walked in from outside the shed, followed by another man. He was grinning unnaturally, his eyes greedily sizing up the tiger skin as he approached.
Zhang Xiaosuo's face changed, and he snatched the tiger skin from Meng Shitou's hand, hastily stuffing it into the basket and covering it with wolf skin again.
"Gah, who do I think it is? Isn't this the young master of the Zhang family?" The thin man stared at Zhang Xiaosuo with triangular eyes, trying to put on a very amiable appearance, but still couldn't hide his extremely disdainful expression. "Haha, kid, you've struck it rich! Take the tiger skin to the White family's mansion and they won't cheat you out of your price."
Zhang Xiaosuo said coldly: "I'll sell it to whoever I want, why should I send it to the White family?"
The thin man's face changed, and with a sudden movement, he closed his folding fan. In a tone full of menace, he said: "You young punk, I'm giving you face, but if you don't want it, I'll tell you straight out, so don't blame me later for being ruthless."
Zhang Xiaosuo grunted and said stiffly, "If you want to buy it, bring the money to the market. I'll tell you, this tiger skin is at least worth 300 taels of silver. Don't even think about it if you're short one cent."
"Hey, you little stinker, don't know how to behave." A big fellow behind the thin man stepped forward two steps, rolled up his sleeves and was about to take action.
"This tiger skin is mine, what are you going to say to me?" Huang Li suddenly put down his chopsticks and said coldly.
"Yours?" The thin man tapped his palm with a fan and looked up and down at the calendar.
"With your pig-like appearance, you're more suited to be a tiger's feces?" The big man who rolled up his sleeves pointed at Huang Li, as if he saw something extremely amusing.
Huang Li's forehead was lined with a black thread. Everything is relative, and at that time, most people were sallow and thin, with an average height of only around 1.6 meters. Although Huang Li had lost some weight due to his injury, compared to others, his face was still quite plump.
"Your face looks familiar, which village are you from?" The thin man saw that Huang Li was also dressed in a poor manner and again showed his disdainful expression.
"Don't even ask." Huang Li waved his hand in disgust and said, "If you want to buy tiger skin, bring the money. Three hundred big yuan, no haggling. No money, then get out of here, don't waste my breath."
"Hey, fatty, don't you know White Er Ye? That annoying big fellow took a step forward, raised his thumb at the thin man and said: "In these ten villages, who doesn't know the great name of White Er Ye? Let alone one broken tiger skin, even ten or eight, Master White can afford to buy."
"Then take the money!" Huang Li slapped the table, looking at Bai Er Ye with a slanted gaze, "You talk big, don't just deceive people with empty words?"
"As for the money, Second Master's family has plenty. The thin man suddenly opened his fan and fanned himself with a pretentious air, saying: 'You carry Second Master back home, 300 big silver coins not one less, and I'll add another 10 as a reward.'"
"No time." Huang Li thoughtlessly refused, he stood up and beckoned to Xiao Suo, "Let's go, we'll try our luck at the market, maybe we can sell it for 400 or 500 yuan!"
"Damn it, don't give me that look——" The big man stepped forward and swung his hand, slapping Huang Li's face.
“Fuck you!” Huang Li couldn't help but blurt out a curse, his left fist drawing an arc as it shot out, almost a reflexive reaction, very fast, with a tricky angle. Not only did he block the incoming slap with his left arm, but his fist also heavily struck the big man's right cheek. Combining defense and counterattack into one, both happening simultaneously, in one breath, a beautiful intercepting punch technique.
The Great Han was punched into a somersault, seeing stars, dizzy and disoriented, and couldn't get up for a long time.
"You, you... Ah! Let go, let go!" White Second Master pointed at the calendar with his fan, his hand shaking straight. He didn't think this poor kid really wouldn't put him in his eyes, and he dared to fight back, even daring to be rough with himself.
Huang Li's hand gesture grasped Bai Er Ye's hand, which was holding a fan, with a pincer-like grip. Before he even used any force, Bai Er Ye was already crying out in pain.
"Hmph!" Huang Li disdainfully flicked his sleeve, and Bai Er Ye stumbled backward, almost falling over, clutching his hand in pain.
"Let's go!" Huang Li called out to Zhang Xiaosuo, and gave Bai Er Ye a fierce glare, his cold gaze blocking the words that were about to burst out of Bai Er Ye's mouth.
………
Due to the long-standing tradition, various goods are sold in fixed sections of the market. This area sells all kinds of miscellaneous goods: cigarette holders, scissors, thimbles, awls, and other daily small household items.
Further ahead, on the left are stalls selling native cloth, second-hand clothes, flowers, cosmetics and combs; on the right are those selling earthenware, pottery jars, wooden buckets, wooden stools and bamboo baskets.
In the market, there were still many street performers, dog skin plaster sellers, fortune tellers, and monkey trainers. On one side, an old man selling herbal medicine was also treating patients by giving them injections and pulling out their teeth, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers; on the other side, a storyteller named Old Wu was half-naked, holding a clapper board in his right hand, with his clothes tied around his waist, striking a pose, and speaking with great passion, telling the story of the heroic Wu Erlang's drunken fight against Jiang Meng, which drew cheers from the crowd.
Meng Shitou followed behind Huang Li and Zhang Xiaosuo, seemingly thinking that he had caused them trouble. With a guilty look on his face, he muttered: "It's all my fault, I've brought you guys trouble."
Zhang Xiaosuo rolled his eyes and didn't say a word.
Huang Li smiled and comforted him, "It has nothing to do with you. When we go to the market, it's just selling tiger skin, can't hide or conceal it. Besides, this White Second Master is not a formidable guy."
"But he is the steward of the Bai family, offending him might not be good." Meng Shitou said worriedly: "Bai Huashui, Bai Huashui, he has a heart full of evil intentions, if he goes to that white-eyed wolf and reports us, I'm afraid... otherwise, let's just go back today and come again another day to sell."
"That won't do." Zhang Xiaosuo shook his head and said, "Huang Dage is still waiting for the road expenses! Look at your rabbit courage, we're not afraid, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of the Bai family dealing with you guys." Meng Shitou's face turned slightly red as he forced himself to explain.
"This is good." Huang Li said: "Xiao Suo, give me the tiger skin, I'll sell it, you all stay away from me."
"Huang, what do you take me for?" Zhang Xiaosuo glared with wide eyes, looking very displeased.
