Chapter 152: Big Ox is a Real Man

“Let me think it over,” Gu Xinglang replied. He had grown up in the military and didn’t know anything about his wife besides her love of food.

Once Third Young Master Gu left, the old proprietress had a lot more trouble trying to do business. Yu Xiaoxiao haggled and bargained until she only bought a pound of pine nut candy in the end. When she thought of her grandfather and the Old Madam’s advanced years, Her Royal Highness also bought a pound of cloudflake cake¹ in consideration of their teeth.

The old proprietress only felt her heart ache at missing out on such a big deal, but as a businesswoman she had enough eyes to judge her customers. Yu Xiaoxiao might have been dressed in ordinary, unpretentious clothes with no jewelry, but Gu Xingnuo, Gu Xinglang, and those Gu Clan guards were dressed as the kind of people she couldn’t afford to offend. 

When Yu Xiaoxiao left the shop with her pine nut candy and cloudflake cake, Gu Xinglang and the two shadow guards were still not back. She brought the remaining Gu Clan guards with her to the artisan workshop in the north and saw no sign of them either.

The head guard suggested, “Princess, how about we servants search the streets for them?”

Yu Xiaoxiao stood at the corner of a shop and watched the streets swarming with people. Some were walking, others rode carriages, and still more had horses. It was impossible to spot the Gu Xinglang trio at a glance. “Go have a look,” Yu Xiaoxiao said and gave the head guard some money. “If you see anything you want to eat, just buy it.”

Yes, it was important to treasure money, but she couldn’t allow her pals to simply drool at the sight of food they wanted to eat. Xiao Zhuang was always yelling about how he and Xiao Wei were too poor to even afford a wife, and they worked for the emperor. If they were destitute, then the Gu Clan’s employees had to be even poorer. It’d be too tragic if they couldn’t even afford a meal! (Author: What a beautiful misunderstanding. =_=)

The head guard was both surprised and touched by Yu Xiaoxiao’s money. The Gu Clan had always treated them well, but there was no such thing as a master who gave his guard cash.

“Go on,” Yu Xiaoxiao waved a hand at him. “Eat whatever you like.”

The head guard left two of his men to protect Yu Xiaoxiao while he led the rest away. Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the various stalls selling food and licked her lips. She scratched her fists and palms before declaring to her two companions, “Let’s go eat something.”

The two guards followed Yu Xiaoxiao into the crowds. They spent some time watching a sugar painter work at his stall before realizing they’d lost the princess entirely! Tears!

—

Yu Xiaoxiao walked from the north of the street to its southern end, then turned towards the east. When she finally spotted a stall selling pig heads, she stopped. The pork head boiling in the huge pot smelled absolutely tantalizing!

The owner of the stall was a middle-aged man who was still bare-torsoed in the middle of autumn. He held a butcher knife in one hand, his fingers covered in shining pig fat. His expression was a surly one, but when he saw the beauty staring at his stall, he sucked in his stomach and straightened up. “Young lady, what would you like?”

Yu Xiaoxiao only praised him. “You’re a real man!”

The owner had never heard such a compliment before, but he liked the phrase. Moreover, it was coming from a pretty little girl, so he immediately replied, “Young lady, tell me what you’d like. I’ll give you a discount!”

“I want to eat that!” Yu Xiaoxiao pointed at the pork head boiling in the pot.

“Sure, how much?” the owner asked as he prepared his knife to slice off some meat.

Yu Xiaoxiao hit her mouth to swallow back the drool threatening to overflow. “I want one.”

“All right—wait, what? How much did you want?”

Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes were fixated on the pork head. “One. I want that pork head!”

The owner’s smile stiffened. He didn’t see any family members with this girl, so was she planning to take the head home all by herself?

“How much is it?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked while still staring at the meat. She was so lucky to find this delicious pork before someone else snatched it up!

“Young lady, you want to buy an entire head?” the owner confirmed.

“Mhm,” Yu Xiaoxiao affirmed. “An entire one!”

Since this was what the customer wanted, the owner couldn’t very well refuse. He fished out the head from the pot and did a quick comparison. It was not only bigger than Yu Xiaoxiao’s little face, but wider than her entire waist!

Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes danced with joy at the sight of such a huge head. She could munch on this for an entire day!

“This girl wants o buy an entire pork head?” An auntie here to buy pork heads glanced between the article and Yu Xiaoxiao in disbelief.

Yu Xiaoxiao immediately grew guarded and told the auntie, “I’m taking this one!”

The auntie only felt a chill down her back as she saw Yu Xiaoxiao’s expressionless face. She’s so protective of her food that it’s scary! It’s like she’ll bite me if I come close!

The owner found a large piece of oilpaper to wrap up the head and accepted a discounted payment that only amounted to two-thirds of the total head’s worth. He even gave her two more pieces of meaty pork bones and said, “You can take these back to make soup, it’ll be delicious.”

Yu Xiaoxiao finally smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. “Uncle owner, you’re a good person.”

For a girl who was pretty even when expressionless, she was an absolute treasure in the owner’s eyes when she smiled even when holding a pork head thicker than her own body. The owner felt that she had to be the prettiest girl he’d even seen.

“My name is Big Ox,”² the owner told Yu Xiaoxiao. “If you buy meat here in the future, young lady, I’ll always give you a discount.”

“Okay, okay,” Yu Xiaoxiao nodded quickly. “My name is Yu Xiaoxiao. See you later, Uncle Ox.”

Butcher Big Ox watched as Yu Xiaoxiao carried off the pork head. If not for the fact that he had to look after his stall, he’d offer to send the pork head back to Yu Xiaoxiao’s house himself.

A bystander remarked, “That girl is surnamed Yu?”

“Yes,” Big Ox replied. “She said she was—wait a minute.” How many families in Fengtian had the Yu surname?

“Could she be the child of some Qinwang or Junwang?” someone wondered.³

Everyone looked at him like he was an idiot. Would a noble’s daughter run out by herself to buy a pork head?

Yu Xiaoxiao had no idea what kind of “legend” she’d left behind for the denizens of Nanpu Street this time. She simply hugged her pork head and ran for her life before realizing she wasn’t in her old world anymore. No one here would try to steal her food, so Her Royal Highness simply found an empty alleyway to sit down. The pork was simply too tasty, so she decided to take a few bites first before bringing it home.

“Yo, it’s a pork head!”

Two men stopped in front of Yu Xiaoxiao as soon as she sank her teeth into the meat. She looked up and saw that one of them was younger while the other had a beard, but both were wearing patched clothing. Their eyes gleamed with envy at her prize.

Well dang, Yu Xiaoxiao mused. This world has humans who want to steal meat too?