Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 206 Rest Anise

Chapter 206: Chapter 206 Rest Anise

The noodles were served and just as Gu Lang was about to express his gratitude and start eating, he saw the Han girl staring at him.

His hand, already reaching out for his chopsticks, paused. He cautiously asked, "Miss?"

Did the price just go up?

But he only had five wen coins ...

Thinking about this, the young man was somewhat troubled.

He needed to wait for the market to open tomorrow to sell his goods and get some silver, but he didn’t manage to buy a market spot today, so it wasn’t guaranteed he’d have a place to sell tomorrow.

Did it mean he would have to starve until tomorrow?

As he thought of this, the young man suddenly seemed to think of something. He took out a small package from his bosom and placed it in front of Nanzhi.

"I don’t have any extra silver, can I use this to exchange for food?"

Nanzhi was about to ask where he came from, but when she saw the small package, she smelled a stronger version of the same earlier scent.

She had been a waitress at the food stalls for three months and had learned barbecuing for five months. She definitely couldn’t mistake this smell!

Cumin!

"Where are you from?"

Seeing her not accepting his item, Gu Lang felt a bit disappointed. Rubbing his empty belly, he softly said, "The Western Region."

No sooner had the words left his lips than a sound rumbled from his stomach. Nanzhi was taken aback for a moment before quickly saying, "You eat, if that’s not enough, I’ll make you some meatballs, no need for payment."

Gu Lang was utterly baffled. Why was this Central Plains girl offering him meatballs for free?

Remembering some disgusting encounters he’d had in the past, a look of disbelief crossed over Gu Lang’s handsome face.

This Central Plains girl was pretty, could she also belong to those types of people?

Sensing his misunderstanding, Nanzhi finally let her smile fade and took a seat across from Gu Lang.

"Eat first. I just want to do some business with you."

Even though Nanzhi was forcing herself not to laugh, she was truly delighted inside.

Didn’t she not know what she should do?

Doesn’t this equate to the saying, sleep comes just when one gets a pillow?

When she was part-timing at the food stalls, the kebab chef took pity on her as she was only earning eight wen an hour. Since it was a busy period, he allowed her to learn how to make kebabs from him. As an apprentice for half a month, she earned only six wen an hour. But after mastering the skill, her salary was fifteen wen an hour.

The chef wasn’t very old, but when it came to teaching, he was meticulous.

Not only did she learn how to roast kebabs, but she also mastered the art of preparing barbecue sauces.

With cumin, even if she couldn’t open a restaurant, running a barbecue shop was entirely feasible.

Thinking that she could own her own business, Nanzhi could only reminisce about all the sadness she had ever experienced in her life to resist bursting into laughter.

"Business?"

Gu Lang was a bit confused, slightly tilting his head to observe the person in front of him.

This Central Plains girl looked to be about his age. What business could she possibly do with him?

One moment she was laughing, the next she seemed to be on the verge of tears. Observing this, Gu Lang was somewhat flustered.

All he wanted was to eat some noodles...

Nanzhi held back her tears and then, pointing at the bag on the table, she asked, "How much stock of this do you have?"

"One cartload."

"How many pounds?"

"Twenty bags."

Nanzhi was silent.

She found talking to this person somewhat challenging.

"Do you have any other goods?"

"Yes."

Gu Lang honestly nodded.

He lived with his sister in their uncle’s house, helping with herding cows and sheep. Later, when he heard from his brother, Ximu, who had returned from the Central Plains, that selling goods there could earn much silver, he decided to use his income saved from helping his uncle to buy goods.

However, they didn’t have much else at home and being alone, he only managed to collect some teeth and anise. He also brought along two wolf hides and three fox hides that he had hunted himself.

"You eat first, eat. Don’t let the noodles get clumped up." Nanzhi covered her mouth to suppress her laughter before moving off to the side to make the meatballs.

"Mom, what’s happened?"

Zhiyu had been watching her mother behaving oddly, and now that she had come over, Zhiyu went to tug on her tunic.

"Zhiyu baby, mom’s fine."

Nanzhi shook her head. After a moment’s thought, she leaned in to Zhiyu’s ear and whispered, "Mom has made a precious discovery, Zhiyu. Keep it a secret, don’t tell anyone."

Upon hearing the word "precious", Zhiyu’s eyes lit up. She glanced at Gu Lang, who was engrossed in his meal on the table, and hesitated.

Did her mom’s treasure refer to this man?

She remembered her uncle once saying that his wife was a treasure.

Did it mean her mom didn’t like her dad anymore?

Childlike thoughts quickly spiralled, and in no time Zhiyu had thought about what she was supposed to call the child Nanzhi and Gu Lang might have.

Seeing that the child was frowning and avoiding her, Nanzhi patted her on the head and went off to make meatballs.

She remembered that this foreigner liked meatballs. Since she planned to do business with him, she ought to make a sincere gesture.

After the noodles were eaten and the soup bowl was wiped clean, Gu Lang started preparing to go back to the inn.

He was out of silver, and he could only wait until tomorrow to figure out how to sell his goods and fill his belly again.

"Thud —"

The sound of a porcelain bowl falling on the wooden table was loud. Gu Lang instinctively lowered his gaze.

A lean, pale hand had just placed a large bowl on the table. Perhaps due to the heat, the tips of her fingers were slightly red.

He quickly retracted his gaze, locking it once again on the full bowl of meatballs.

Seeing him unmoved, Nanzhi rubbed her burnt hand before taking a seat across from Gu Lang.

"You eat. This bowl is on me."

"Wh-why? I am not going to marry... an undesired... Central Plains woman."

Gu Lang stuttered for quite some time before managing to get the words out. The tips of his ears had already turned red under his disheveled hair.

"What do you mean by taking? I want to buy this from you. How much of these goods do you have left? How much can you sell to me?"

Gu Lang’s voice was very quiet, so quiet that Nanzhi, sitting across from him, couldn’t hear him clearly.

She just pointed to the packet of cumin and asked.

"You want to buy these?"

Gu Lang’s blue-green eyes were intently staring at Nanzhi. Regardless of embarrassment, it will be a relief if he could sell his goods.

"Yes."

Nanzhi nodded, considering the price of this cumin in her mind.

If the price was too high, it would be a waste to use it for barbecue sauce, but it could be used for other dishes.

She couldn’t possibly sell her recipe, but she could indeed resell seasonings.

The question made Gu Lang blink. He didn’t know how much silver he could get for the anise.

When he was buying the goods, the price was twenty wen per pound. His brother Ximu once mentioned that when you buy at twenty wen per pound and sell at twenty wen per tael, the price should translate to two hundred wen per pound.

Thinking about the fact that price for a pound of anise meant forty bowls of Meat Soup Noodle, Gu Lang still hesitated.

He didn’t dare say it was that expensive.

"One hundred and fifty wen per pound..."

Upon hearing his price, Nanzhi sagged a little.

Cumin at one hundred and fifty wen per pound, though she could afford it, using such an expensive spice in barbecue sauce would be like throwing money down the drain.