Chapter 403 - Chapter 403: Chapter 399: Wuchun Yard_1 (1/2)

Chapter 403: Chapter 399: Wuchun Yard_1

Yingbao was attentively listening when she heard someone calling out to her: “Hey! You, the pastry seller! Come over here!”

She walked over, only to hear the man saying: “Give me two of your pastries.”

Yingbao handed him two pastries and said, “That will be twenty coins.”

“Twenty coins?” The man slammed the table and blew his mustache, his eyes wide open, “In the past, they were no more than three coins each. How are you charging ten per piece?”

Yingbao took back her pastries, turned around and walked away, paying no heed to the man’s curses and grumbles, not even looking back.

Standing by the side of the street, Yingbao considered the situation for a moment and decided to visit the County Government.

As she passed by her shop, she saw that the two storefronts facing the street were burned to the ground, but the back building was still standing.

Even the big two-story house she had recently built was still intact.

However, it seemed there were people living in the new house.

After inquiring with the nearby vendors, she learnt that the house had been occupied by Cao Can’s close confidants who had moved their entire family in.

Yingbao let out a cold laugh and headed briskly towards the County Government.

She hadn’t even approached the government’s quarters when she saw a group of soldiers on the path. They had swords hanging from their waists and guarded every three to five steps. Whenever they spotted any of the townsfolk, they would loudly harangue them, preventing anyone from getting too close.

Yingbao retreated and made her way to the brothel.

She bought a good amount of sweets and candied fruits from a vendor and put it all in her basket.

The dancers at Wuchun Yard loved these snacks, and she planned to attract some business there.

“Selling candied fruits! The delicious and tangy apricot and peach. Eat a lot and you won’t gain weight!”

The dance masters at Wuchun Yard forbade the dancers from eating too much rice to prevent them from getting fat, so the dancers loved to buy snacks and fruit paste to eat when they were hungry.

Soon enough, a few heads peeked out from the pavilions of the Wuchun Yard. They waved at Yingbao and called, “Hey! What’s in your basket?”

Yingbao smilingly looked up at them “I have apricot and peach paste, as well as candied sweets and milk cakes.”

When the dancers heard about milk cakes, their faces bloomed into peony-like smiles: “Then come upstairs, let us take a look.”

“Alright, tell the doorman so I can enter.” Yingbao replied.

She had spent several years in Wuchun Yard in her past life, and seeing these familiar faces today made her feel nostalgic.

Entering through the back door of Wuchun Yard, there was a large courtyard with several little girls around the age of ten practicing a whirlwind dance.

If a mistake was made, the dance teacher would whip the little girl’s legs with a bamboo stick, causing the girl to burst into tears.

Yingbao felt like she was reliving her past life—she certainly hadn’t escaped these beatings.

A girl about ten years old came down from the building and beckoned Yingbao from the stair’s entrance.

Yingbao quickly walked over and followed her upstairs.

Three young dancers were sitting upstairs, all about thirteen or fourteen years old. A seventeen or eighteen-year-old dancer was doing makeup for one girl.

Two of the dancers took Yingbao’s basket and started picking out the candied fruits and milk cakes, chucking them in their mouths as they selected.

Yingbao watched them quietly, a smile bemused on her face.

The cheap behavior of dancers Tao Tao and Ying Ying was exactly like in her past life.

Once they were done picking the candied fruits and milk cakes and had paid, they noticed Yingbao hadn’t left, they laughed and said, “If you want to keep watching, you will need to pay us.”

Yingbao grinned at Tao Tao: “Actually, I can do the whirlwind dance too.”

Tao Tao scrutinized the vendor in front of her and giggled: “Really? Show us a bit.”

“All right, play the drums for me.” Yingbao put down her basket, straightened her clothes, and stood on a circular dance mat.

Seeing that the vendor was serious, Tao Tao’s curiosity was piqued. She picked up a drum and began to play.

The drum beats accelerated faster and faster.

Yingbao’s spinning also got faster and faster, like a spinning butterfly.