Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 28.2

Carrying these two items on her way home, Mu Jinyu felt light on her feet. The wind was gentle and the sun was warm. She couldn’t help but look forward to seeing Rong Heng’s expression when they went out.

Just as she returned home, Rong Heng, who was waiting by the courtyard gate, rushed over and grabbed her wrist.

“You went out secretly and didn’t take me,” Rong Heng accused.

She had woken up and couldn’t find Mu Jinyu at home. They had clearly agreed to go out today, yet the other had left her behind and gone alone.

Rong Heng had sat by the gate waiting for her quite angrily for a long time before she finally arrived.

“No, no, I specifically went to buy things.” Mu Jinyu immediately took the items out to explain. “Look, this is a veil. Once you put it on, you can come out with me. This is pearl powder; we need to cover those two red moles of yours.”

Speaking of which, Rong Heng touched the corner of her eye with her finger and asked, “Why?”

“To cover them so they aren’t so noticeable.” Mu Jinyu naturally couldn’t tell Rong Heng the real reason, only saying, “Come here.”

She pulled her hand from Rong Heng’s grip and instead took Rong Heng’s wrist, leading her to sit by the stone table.

She took out the small box containing the pearl powder. It was an octagonal ceramic powder box with a bluish-white lid molded with a chrysanthemum petal pattern.

There were many categories of cosmetic boxes.

From high-end ones inlaid with enamel, gold threads, or red lacquer, to ordinary ceramic, jade, or wooden ones; there were all kinds of styles and craftsmanship.

Mu Jinyu had searched the cosmetic shop for a long time before picking this ceramic box with the chrysanthemum pattern.

It suited Rong Heng well; it matched her scent. The bluish-white color was cold and clear, which also matched her temperament.

She opened the box lid and used her fingertip to circle and dab at the pearl powder inside. She looked at Rong Heng, who was sitting upright in front of her.

For some reason, her fingers were trembling slightly.

The two red moles under Rong Heng’s right eye were a bit alluring.

One was under the inner corner of the eye, and the other was under the outer corner. The two moles, one in front and one behind, traced the shape of Rong Heng’s entire eye.

Usually, one wouldn’t notice, but once you did, it looked as if the area under her eyes was flushed red, as if she were telling an endless tale of affection.

Yet, Rong Heng’s gaze was the most pure and clean.

This combination made Mu Jinyu feel embarrassed.

She took a deep breath, a second deep breath… she took several deep breaths before managing to calm her inner self.

With her fingertip trembling slightly, she pressed it against the outer corner of Rong Heng’s eye.

Slender lashes brushed against her fingertip, making her heart feel a bit itchy.

Mu Jinyu froze.

What should she do?

Why was she applying pearl powder for Rong Heng?

Her finger was shaking too much. If she went forward, she was afraid of poking Rong Heng’s eye. If she went backward, the pearl powder on her finger wouldn’t get onto the skin under Rong Heng’s eye.

It would expose her thought of wanting to touch those red moles.

Mu Jinyu’s face flushed red, and her heart was in a panic; she was in a dilemma.

The red mole under her touch felt like a burning piece of cinnabar, its heat traveling through her fingertip and searing into her heart.

Because she was being touched under the eye, Rong Heng instinctively closed her right eye, her head tilted slightly, watching her with her left eye.

She didn’t struggle, trusting Mu Jinyu completely not to hurt her.

A gentle breeze blew, carrying a hint of sweetness from the persimmon tree.

Mu Jinyu’s face was tense. She gritted her teeth, forcing her hand to stop shaking—she had to apply the pearl powder to Rong Heng properly.

Her fingertip rubbed slightly over that red mole. Rong Heng felt a bit of an itch, and her black feather-like lashes trembled like butterfly wings.

Physiological tears welled up in her eyes.

A crystal tear hung at the tip of her lash before suddenly falling onto Mu Jinyu’s finger.

It sent ripple after ripple through Mu Jinyu’s mind.

Pulling her finger away, the snow-white pearl powder had already left a mark under Rong Heng’s eye.

It looked like the last bit of spring snow on a flower petal.

Mu Jinyu stuffed the pearl powder box into Rong Heng’s hand. Her voice was strained as she tried to suppress her panic. “I’ll go get the bronze mirror for you. Cover the moles yourself.”

After saying that, she ran toward the house in a flurry.

The doors and windows in the house were all open, so she couldn’t suspiciously close them. She could only lean against the wall between the door and window, carefully calming her emotions.

Rong Heng’s skin was too tender. Even with the snow-white pearl powder applied, the red mark she had pressed into the skin still wouldn’t fade.

She had made the corner of Rong Heng’s eye turn red.

It looked as if she had suffered some great grievance.

Mu Jinyu didn’t know why she was so panicked; that reddened eye corner kept flashing through her mind.

She didn’t dare stay in the room for too long, afraid Rong Heng would see her odd behavior. After taking a few breaths, she grabbed the bronze mirror and rushed back into the courtyard.

She held the mirror for Rong Heng.

Rong Heng dabbed at the pearl powder, carefully smearing it under her eyes.

Two emerald leaves fell from the persimmon tree, swirling in the air, bumping into each other before eventually overlapping and landing on the ground.

Pressed tightly together.

To make sure nothing looked out of place, Mu Jinyu had Rong Heng apply a thin layer of scented powder over her entire face.

As she watched from the side, it was hard to say whether Rong Heng was whiter or the powder was whiter.

However, after she finished, Rong Heng looked at her with a beaming smile and shimmering eyes; she was as beautiful as a painting.

Once they were finally ready, Mu Jinyu took Rong Heng’s wrist and led her out the door.

The wind outside gently lifted her veil, revealing a bit of her pointed chin before covering it again.

“We’ll walk around the night market street first. After some time, I’ll take you to the streets outside, okay?”

It was daytime now. The night market street was empty. It was perfect for letting Rong Heng get familiar with the area.

In a few days, when she took her to streets with more people, nothing would go wrong.

Rong Heng had no objections. She nodded her head, though her gaze had already drifted far away.

When she sat in the persimmon tree, she knew this area was arranged in a neat, square grid.

But actually walking in it, she found the path wasn’t very easy to recognize.

Every path looked the same; it was easy to get turned around.

“Go to the stalls.” Rong Heng shook Mu Jinyu’s hand.

The night market area was very large; they were walking where people lived.

But Rong Heng didn’t want to browse these places; she wanted to see the stalls Mu Jinyu had always talked about.

Hearing Rong Heng’s request, Mu Jinyu naturally wouldn’t refuse. She led her toward the main street of the night market.

She didn’t notice that Rong Heng was constantly looking around, trying hard to memorize every direction they took.

Arriving at the main street, it lacked the clamor of the night. Both sides were filled with closed stalls; it was cold and quiet, not very pretty at all.

However, Rong Heng was extremely curious. She stayed in front of every stall for a long time, asking Mu Jinyu one by one what each stall sold.

Seeing Rong Heng’s interest, Mu Jinyu explained everything to her in detail.

Sometimes when talking about snacks she wanted to eat but never managed to, Mu Jinyu would carefully describe how the snack was made and what its texture was like.

As she spoke, both of their stomachs began to growl.

When they reached her two stalls, Mu Jinyu proudly told Rong Heng how good her stalls were, how booming the business was, and how the line every day could stretch from the head of the street to the end of the alley.

Rong Heng’s eyes sparkled. She couldn’t imagine what that scene looked like, but it didn’t stop her from thinking Mu Jinyu was amazing.

When they walked past the stall where her table and stools had been stolen, Rong Heng showed an angry expression. She lifted her foot, wanting to kick the small cart at that stall.

Mu Jinyu quickly pulled her back. “It’s public property, public property! If you break it, you’ll be thrown in jail.”

No one dared to damage public property.

Before long, the two finished walking through the entire night market street hand-in-hand and were lucky enough to see blooming lotus flowers.

Pink or white lotuses were blooming competitively among the emerald green leaves. Their petals swayed, the water rippled, and every now and then, one or two red goldfish would jump up between the leaves.

It was very cute.

Mu Jinyu pointed at the small golden fish swimming in the green ripples and said, “Those are goldfish—golden crucian carp.”

The goldfish in this Great Rong Kingdom were different from the red, white, or yellow koi and the large-eyed goldfish she had seen in ponds in her previous life.

These goldfish had evolved from crucian carp through genetic mutation; they were golden crucian carp.

Later, they were specifically selected and bred, placed in ponds and streams of pavilions and towers for people to appreciate.

Rong Heng had never seen these things and was captivated while leaning over the side of the stone bridge.

Her face, which usually had a faint expression at home, had now opened up. She wore a sunny smile just like Mu Jinyu’s, and her eyes were filled with fine fragments of light.

Seeing how much Rong Heng liked the small fish here, Mu Jinyu regretted not bringing some cakes or biscuits to let Rong Heng experience the joy of feeding the fish.

They stayed by the bridge for quite a while. By the time they returned home, Mu Jinyu didn’t have enough time to make the Red-Braised Lamb.

She could only simply stir-fry two dishes to eat with Rong Heng.

After eating, she had to hurriedly start preparing the fish noodles and fish cakes.

Rong Heng wasn’t idle either; she helped out by providing the strength.

She was in a particularly good mood today after seeing so many interesting things, so she worked even harder than before.

As afternoon approached and Mu Jinyu was preparing to head out to her stall, she asked Rong Heng, “Do you want to come with me to set up the stall?”

“It will be very tiring. You’ll have to be busy for two or three hours straight without a moment’s rest. You won’t be able to drink water or eat anything.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

She explained the hardships of running the stall clearly to Rong Heng, letting her choose for herself.

Rong Heng didn’t think much about it. No matter how hard or tiring, she wanted to follow Mu Jinyu; she wanted to stay by Mu Jinyu’s side all the time.

Seeing Rong Heng say she wanted to go without any hesitation, Mu Jinyu laughed and rubbed the top of her head.

She asked once more, and after confirming that she truly wanted to go, she took her along to the stall.

At this time, it wasn’t as quiet as it had been in the morning.

Now the night market street was full of stall owners walking back and forth. Everyone was carrying or holding many things, busily preparing.

Some stall owners who recognized Mu Jinyu greeted her friendly, asking who the person beside her was.

Mu Jinyu didn’t explain too much, only saying she was there to help.

When they reached the stall, Mu Jinyu let Rong Heng watch over the items while she took two buckets to fetch water.

Given her task, Rong Heng widened her eyes and stared intently at every single person passing by their stall.

Seeing this, the smile on Mu Jinyu’s face never faded.

Before they got busy, Mu Jinyu specifically taught Rong Heng how to skewer the fish cakes.

Because skewering was fun, Rong Heng learned quickly and got the hang of it in no time.

Mu Jinyu cut all the fish cakes into equal thin slices, and Rong Heng would skewer them and hand them to the customers.

With an extra person helping, she really didn’t have to be as dizzyingly busy as last night, running her feet off.

She even had the leisure to spare some attention to check on Rong Heng’s side.

However, Rong Heng was very capable; she didn’t make a single mistake the entire night.

Mu Jinyu couldn’t help but praise her and even saved a portion of fish noodles and fish cakes as a reward for her.

“Quick! Let’s pack up and go back quickly to count how many copper coins we earned today!”

Mu Jinyu was beaming as she carried bags and bundles of things, rushing back home with Rong Heng. They made several trips until everything was moved.

Then the two of them sat together at the stone table.

She poured all the copper coins earned tonight onto the table with a loud clink-clank, inviting Rong Heng to count with her.

Rong Heng looked at these small, round yellow circles, not knowing why Mu Jinyu was so happy.

But she obediently counted with her.

One, two, three… their voices rose and fell. They counted for a long while, and their fingers were almost cramping before they finished counting.

“Fifteen strings plus twenty-three coins—one thousand five hundred and twenty-three!”

“The two of us are so amazing; we actually earned this much!”

Mu Jinyu cupped a large pile of yellow copper coins in both hands, moving them around so they made the most pleasant and beautiful sound.

Was this the feeling of lying on a pile of money and counting?

She sprawled her whole body over the pile of coins, feeling absolutely wonderful.

Rong Heng didn’t know why Mu Jinyu was so happy, but she followed along and laughed foolishly with her.

Seeing this, Mu Jinyu told her, “These things can buy a lot of food! You can buy whatever you want to eat!”

This time, Rong Heng wasn’t just laughing foolishly; she was smiling with genuine sincerity.

After counting, Mu Jinyu only kept half the money out and hid the other half in the pit under the bed.

She finally understood why mothers would dig a pit under the bed.

For a small business that received only copper coins, they took up a lot of space. Of course, she had to find a specific place to store them.

Once everything was tidied and they had washed up, the two of them lay in bed and sighed in relief together.

Finally, they could rest. After being busy all night, Rong Heng finally realized that lying at home every day and only thinking about playing was so comfortable.

Mu Jinyu was too tired; she fell asleep almost in an instant.

Seeing her fall asleep so quickly, Rong Heng chuckled softly. She didn’t sleep but lay quietly in bed with her eyes closed.

Waiting.

The moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds. The night market street was pitch black; not a speck of light could be seen.

Until the hour of Yin—about five in the morning—when the street outside was as quiet as could be.

Rong Heng on the bed snapped her eyes open. She fished the key to the courtyard gate out of Mu Jinyu’s pouch.

She went into the courtyard, opened the gate, and walked out.

The little calico cat, who had been sleeping beside them, heard the movement and also “shooed” up.

It trotted after Rong Heng.

Rong Heng didn’t want to take it out.

She grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, warned it not to make a sound, put it back inside, and locked the door heartlessly.

She wandered alone through the night market street.

Her long black hair and white clothes drifted in the air. Her pitch-black eyes looked around, making her look quite eerie in the deep night.

She arrived outside a certain house. Her nose twitched slightly as she walked a circle around that house.

Eventually, she stopped at the western wall of the house.

A tree grew inside the wall, its branches extending over to the outside, weighted down by heavy leaves.

Rong Heng tried her best to jump up, grabbing the branch with both hands and hoisting herself up. She sat on the branch and moved herself inside the courtyard wall.

She still didn’t know how to climb down a tree. After thinking for a while, she could only grip the trunk with her hands and feet, imitating the cat’s posture for descending.

She moved downward.

Fortunately, she hadn’t learned the cat’s head-down-butt-up posture, so her descent was relatively smooth.

She carefully opened the gate from the inside and moved all the tables and stools out from within…

The next day, Mu Jinyu woke up feeling refreshed. She stretched her arms and walked into the courtyard.

When she saw what was piled up in the courtyard, her widened eyes were filled with nothing but bewilderment.