Chapter 10: Only One Coin Left

Chapter 10: Only One Coin Left

Fu Yun took the money and tucked it into his pouch, then looked up at Lin Su with sparkling eyes, adoringly, and his face lit up with eagerness.

"Brother, I got it! Let me do the selling. I'll make money for you!"

Lin Su raised an eyebrow, amused, and let him try: "Alright, let our little Fuyun earn some money."

They sold thirty-odd scoops, and the jar's contents visibly dropped by a layer. Seeing this, others also started shouting orders for three or five scoops. Those with a bit of spare cash would buy ten scoops, since they threw in a free scoop!

Lin Su watched from the side, noticing that Fuyun's mind was clear, his hands steady as he ladled the corresponding amount of persimmon paste into people's containers, counting each coin meticulously, determined to the point of being stubborn.

He felt that Fuyun seemed more like his mind had returned to childhood, becoming a child, rather than being some drooling, simple-minded person. He was even logical and sharp-minded, just with the mentality of a young child.

This was probably because Lin Su had taken him to the clinic in time to get medicine, not letting it worsen to the severe state described in the book. Maybe he could recover to normal even sooner now.

Seeing that Fuyun was managing fine on his own, Lin Su lazily leaned back under the tree, listening to Fuyun's "one, two, three…" as he counted the scoops and coins. Amidst his clear, crisp voice, Lin Su closed his eyes to rest.

Half the pot of jam was sold out quickly. Fuyun's little pouch was stuffed full. He stashed the money and shook Lin Su: "Brother, we've sold out. Let's go home."

"Fuyun, aren't you giving your brother some money to spend?" Lin Su opened his eyes, teasing him.

"Oh yeah, I gotta give brother some money."

Fuyun paused, muttered something under his breath, counted out forty copper coins from the pouch, then thought for a moment, put twenty back, and pulled Lin Su's hand over, placing twenty coins in his palm.

"For brother to spend."

"Heh!" Lin Su laughed at his actions. "So stingy? How much did we earn today, and you only give me twenty coins to spend?"

Fuyun blinked, not even blushing as he said, "Haven't counted yet, I don't know."

Then he kept pushing Lin Su with both hands, signaling him to go spend the money quickly and stop asking.

Lin Su shook his head, and with Fuyun half-pushing, half-supporting him, he went along with it.

Seeing this, Fuyun quietly breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the clay pot, and mumbled to himself as he followed.

"Hehe, I earned a full hundred coins! But can't spend it all at once. Aunt said I have to keep my man's money under control and save it up."

Lin Su felt helpless up ahead.

"Kid, you might wanna mutter a little quieter. He could hear every word clearly. Did this little idiot think he couldn't hear him?"

His broken leg kept hurting incessantly, and Lin Su didn't really want to walk much, but he wanted to buy some things for the house.

The dilapidated home was missing everything.

First, he'd buy a few more clay pots, then a big wooden ladle, so the next time he made persimmon paste, it wouldn't interfere with cooking.

Actually, Lin Su wanted to buy an iron wok even more. He started to miss stir-frying with oil over a roaring fire.

He wondered if little Fuyun had enough money to buy an iron wok.

This shameless guy, clutching his twenty coins, started eyeing the cash in Fuyun's pouch.

Speaking of stir-frying, there wasn't much oil at home. He also needed to buy some oil or fatty meat, and a few other seasonings, just a little. The roof, doors, and windows needed fixing, and the house had no tables, chairs, or benches…

All this spending meant a lot of places required money, and today's earnings were just a drop in the bucket.

He needed to think of a better way to make money.

Lin Su, supporting himself on Fuyun, walked to a pottery stall.

The stall owner was an old man and his grandson. The old man had a thin, gaunt face, and the grandson was about thirteen or fourteen. In front of them were neatly arranged clay pots, bowls, and plates in various sizes.

When the old man saw Lin Su and Fuyun approaching, he greeted them warmly.

"Hey kids, you looking for pottery?"

"Yes, sir. We want to buy a few clay pots and bowls," Lin Su said, doing a one-legged squat like Ip Man, and picking up a pot to inspect it top and bottom.

It felt smooth to the touch, the inside was even, and the craftsmanship was very fine.

"Sir, these pots won't leak, will they?"

The old man's grandson didn't like hearing that. His dark face scrunched up, thick eyebrows rising: "My grandpa's pots never leak. If you don't believe me, try filling one with water and see!"

Lin Su did exactly that—tested three pots—and none leaked. He nodded and asked the price.

The boy replied, "Four coins each, two for eight."

That was quite cheap. Lin Su had seen the same size in town for five coins. He also bought four sets of bowls and chopsticks, paying ten coins in total.

Later, he bought a thin kitchen knife, spending the remaining ten coins he had, and ended up fifteen coins in debt to Fuyun.

Broke now, Lin Su stood in front of the oil stall and started pestering Fuyun.

He asked the stall owner for a couple of ounces of sesame oil, just enough to fill a slender bamboo tube. The owner carefully plugged the gap with oil paper to stop leaks.

Lin Su took the bamboo tube, nudged Fuyun with his elbow, and winked meaningfully. Fuyun blinked, hesitated for a moment, then finally caught on and reached into his pouch to take out money.

Fuyun always counted coins one by one, eyes fixed on his fingers. His jade-white, slender fingers flipped through sixteen ancient bronze coins twice in his palm, as if afraid of miscounting. Despite his movements being quick as a butterfly, there was a clear clumsiness to them.

So silly.

Lin Su didn't hurry him; he waited patiently.

When the little fool handed the money to the stall owner, they moved on to the next stall.

Poor Fuyun had no clue what was coming. He asked innocently, "Brother, are we going home now?"

"Let's look around a bit first. We'll go back later."

Lin Su picked up a piece of pork belly from the meat stall—alternating layers of white fat and lean meat, a full five layers, evenly distributed fat and lean—perfect for grilling.

Grilled pork belly!

Getting it!

With too many things, Fuyun couldn't even free his hands to pay.

Then… let's buy a bamboo basket to carry everything and free up his hands for paying!

Oh, and there was another street of stalls across the river. Let's check it out…

Finally, Lin Su finished his shopping trip and sat down on Xu Lei's boat to rest a bit.

Shopping was quite enjoyable. He somewhat regretted not taking the time to stroll around before the apocalypse hit his past life.

Fu Yun squatted next to Lin Su, squeezing his own empty pouch. He shook it upside down, and a single copper coin fell out.

He stared blankly at that one coin.

"...Big brother, we're out of money." Fu Yun pouted, his eyes red and on the verge of tears.

"..."

Lin Su felt a bit awkward—he'd gotten carried away shopping and only left the poor guy with one coin.

He quickly interrupted Fu Yun's impending meltdown, ruffling his hair and spinning him around. "Don't worry, we'll earn it back tomorrow. Hey, what's that? There's a fish!"

The water shimmered with ripples, one set clearly distinct from those made by the boat.

Obviously, there was a fish in the water.

But it vanished in the blink of an eye.

Lin Su grinned, his eyes gleaming. "I haven't had fish in a long time either. With water this clean, the fish must be delicious."

"Little Fu Yun, watch your big brother catch you a big fish today."

Fu Yun, childlike as he was, immediately had his attention diverted. He leaned over the boat's edge, craning his neck as far as he could. All he saw was the clear green river water—not a trace of fish.

He lifted his head, in disbelief. "Big brother, are there really fish in there?"