A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 71

Hearing her voice, Old Man Zhang practically bounced up from his lounge chair.

“It’s you, little girl…” He came forward to greet her personally, his attitude a complete 180-degree turn from their previous meeting.

Shen Sisi had expected him to change his tune, but she hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic reaction. “Elder, you’re looking very energetic today!” She didn’t rush into business; she started with small talk.

Old Man Zhang’s stern, wrinkled face bloomed into a smile. “Used your medicinal oil—how could I not be energetic?” He showered her with praise. “That oil is truly something. After I applied it last night, the pain in my arm dulled significantly. When I woke up this morning, the swelling was down. It’s excellent stuff.”

With the internal bruising subsiding, he was now wearing a splint, waiting for the bone to knit.

Hearing that her oil had helped someone made Shen Sisi genuinely happy. It strengthened her resolve to expand her medicinal oil career and benefit more people.

“I’m glad it helped. If you like it, I’ll give you a few more bottles…”

Old Man Zhang waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly…”

Shen Sisi laughed heartily. “Of course, I’m not giving them away for nothing.”

As soon as he heard there were conditions, his face dropped. Did this girl think she could buy me off with two bottles of oil? he thought. He had briefly felt she was different from the others, but it seemed he’d misjudged her.

As his mind raced with disappointment, a silvery, bell-like laugh rang in his ears.

“Elder, look how tense you’ve become… My meaning is, I’d like to ask you to be my living billboard. If my Jinfeng Brand medicinal oil works well, I’ll trouble you to tell ten people. If it doesn’t work, then please tell a hundred people. How about that?”

Old Man Zhang was stunned. It was his first time hearing of a “living billboard” like that. Good news travels to ten, bad news to a hundred.

Did she have that much confidence in her product?

Shen Sisi was, of course, confident. She had tested it herself, and even the workers at the docks swore by it. Even if she were a liar, the eyes of the public were sharp; results couldn’t be faked.

“Good, good! You’ve got spirit. You’re a natural-born merchant.” The smile returned to Old Man Zhang’s face, and his gaze toward her carried a hint of admiration.

“Then… do I count as having passed the first test?” Shen Sisi asked tentatively. Yesterday, she had made the bold claim that once he used her oil, he would see her “conscience.”

Old Man Zhang narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Consider it passed. Someone who can make oil this good likely isn’t a person without a conscience.”

She let out a long sigh of relief. A good start was half the battle won.

But before she could celebrate for more than a few seconds, Old Man Zhang turned his head and jerked his chin toward the middle-aged man standing behind him. “Little girl, don’t be happy too soon. My oil mill is a hot commodity. Whether it ends up in your hands is still up in the air!”

Shen Sisi caught his meaning and glanced at her competitor. If the old man really intended to sell to that person, would he even be wasting his breath on her? From the moment she entered, the old man hadn’t given that buyer a single pleasant look or spoken more than a few words to him. He clearly looked down on the man but didn’t know how to refuse, so he was using her as a shield.

Shen Sisi saw through it but didn’t say it. Elderly people were very big on “saving face.” Since the old man wanted to play, she would play along to keep him happy, making the final negotiations easier.

She feigned panic, twisting her fingers together with exaggerated drama. “Elder, business has a first-come, first-served rule! I made an appointment with you yesterday. You can’t go selling it to someone else!”

Old Man Zhang said smugly, “I gave you both the same conditions. Whoever can do it—and whoever does it first—gets the mill.”

“Fine, it’s a deal!” Shen Sisi agreed briskly and called out behind her, “Xiaojiang, bring the cart in.”

“Coming!~”

Dong Xiaojiang used all his strength to push the cart into the courtyard, instantly attracting everyone’s gaze.

“What kind of cart is that…” “It looks weird as hell…”

Old Man Zhang and the group of men crowded around the small wooden cart, pointing and whispering. No one had ever seen such a design; it was quite a novelty. Not even Dong Xiaojiang knew where Sister Sisi had gotten such a strange contraption. People had been staring at him like he was a monkey in a circus the whole way there.

Shen Sisi didn’t explain. She simply said to Old Man Zhang, “Elder, you said yesterday that if I could lift that rammer by myself, you’d agree to sell the mill to me. Correct?”

Before Old Man Zhang could even respond, the middle-aged man burst out laughing.

“Little girl, are you joking? Without help, how could you possibly lift that rammer alone? That thing weighs several hundred catties!”

The group erupted in laughter, mocking her for overestimating herself.

“Go back home, get married, and have babies! Stop trying to show off here, aren’t you afraid of embarrassing yourself…”

These were rough men with crude tongues. In their eyes, a slender, delicate girl like Shen Sisi shouldn’t even be out in public, let alone trying to hoist hundreds of catties like a man.

Shen Sisi’s lips pressed into a thin line, the anger building in her eyes finally snapping.

“How many years has it been since the feudal society collapsed? And you’re still pulling this act? A bunch of grown men—don’t you feel ashamed?” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried immense authority. “What era is this, that you’re still thinking women should just go home and have kids? Nowadays, women hold up half the sky! Who are you to look down on women?”

She had zero patience for trash who disrespected women.

Dong Xiaojiang’s brow furrowed, his hands gripping the cart handles. He was fired up by her words. “Well said! You lot should bring your brains when you leave the house next time. Without a brain, all you know how to do is stick your tail in the air and fart.”

He might be young, but his tongue was sharp.

“You…” The middle-aged leader’s face darkened instantly. His subordinates behind him also took offense, rolling up their sleeves. In an instant, the atmosphere was thick with the scent of gunpowder.

“What, you want to fight?” Dong Xiaojiang shoved the cart aside and stood defiantly in front of Shen Sisi. “I suggest you go to the docks and ask around whose man I, Grandpa Jiang, am. If you dare touch me, my brothers at the docks aren’t vegetarians…”

At the mention of the docks, a clear look of hesitation appeared in the opponent’s eyes.

Just then, someone recognized Dong Xiaojiang and whispered a few words into the middle-aged man’s ear. The man swallowed his rage. “So you’re Cao Hua’s guy. Fine. I, Cheng彪 (Cheng Biao), will give him face and won’t settle scores with you for now.”

Dong Xiaojiang froze when he heard the name “Cheng Biao.” He quickly shot a look at Shen Sisi and whispered that this man was the local “big shot” of this area.

Shen Sisi’s heart skipped a beat. She finally understood why Old Man Zhang didn’t dare refuse him directly. He couldn’t afford to offend him.

Old Man Zhang, being a wily old fox, saw that Shen Sisi also had a background to lean on. He immediately started passing the buck. “Well… Boss Cheng, it’s not that I don’t want to sell to you. It’s just that this little girl came first. Why don’t you two… discuss it?