On the way back, they happened to pass through East Street’s commercial district. Neither was in a hurry to return home, so Xiliya led Ximo around for a casual stroll.
“Oh, there’s a candied hawthorn stall over there,” Xiliya pointed to a small stall not far away selling candied hawthorns. “Want me to buy you the strawberry ones?”
Ximo hadn’t expected Xiliya to remember that she liked strawberry candied hawthorns. It was something she’d casually mentioned last time to complete a System task, but Xiliya had remembered it even now.
“As long as it’s something Miss buys for me, I’ll take anything…”
The candied hawthorn stall was crowded, though, and Xiliya didn’t want Ximo squeezing through the crowd with her. She had the little maid sit on a nearby bench to rest and wait.
The afternoon sun shone warmly on the street-side bench. The cute maid in her maid outfit sitting there naturally drew the attention of many passersby, but Ximo simply swung her legs as she watched in Xiliya’s direction.
Strange… Why did it feel like the crowd in front of the stall got even bigger after Xiliya went over? Didn’t anyone like waiting in line?
Ximo’s thoughts wandered until a figure rounding the street corner caught her eye.
It was a young child who looked a bit grubby—Ximo noticed him at first glance because of his tattered clothes. The little boy stood out starkly from his surroundings.
Ximo knew that West Street in Camberlan City had plenty of poor folk, but this child’s outfit was excessively ragged. Even the homeless on West Street didn’t seem as poorly dressed as this.
Ximo hadn’t thought much of it at first, but after the child nervously scanned the bustling street, his gaze locked onto her. He trotted over.
Eh? Ximo glanced around and, seeing no one else nearby, confirmed that the child was indeed heading straight for her.
Sure enough, the grubby little boy stopped in front of Ximo and timidly spoke up.
“Sis, um… would you like to buy a bouquet?”
Only then did Ximo notice the large bundle of fresh flowers the boy carried. She spotted a few stalks of Blue Jasmine in the bunch at a glance.
He must be doing this out of necessity. Such a young child out selling flowers to make a living… With that thought, Ximo’s heart softened.
“Alright, I’ll take that bunch of Blue Jasmine. How much?”
The little boy quickly pulled out the bunch of Blue Jasmine. “One silver coin, thank you, sis!”
“One silver coin?”
Ximo’s hand paused as she reached for her coin purse. Did this kid mean the whole bunch cost one silver coin?
Ximo was no longer the naive newcomer who’d just transmigrated to this world. She knew full well what the purchasing power of one silver coin meant.
Are the petals made of gold? That price is outrageous.
Some unpleasant memories surfaced, but Ximo still smiled and said, “Kid, did you get the price wrong? One silver coin for a bunch of flowers is a bit steep, don’t you mean one copper coin?”
Ximo assumed the boy had misspoken out of nerves. One copper coin for a bunch was still a luxury, but far more reasonable than one silver coin.
“No, no mistake. It’s one silver coin per bunch.”
The little boy seemed nervous, but his hands didn’t stop. He trimmed and wrapped it in one smooth motion. The next second, the bouquet wrapped in kraft paper was thrust toward Ximo.
Ximo: “?”
“Then never mind, kid. Sis doesn’t want it. Why don’t you go home and ask the adults if you got the price wrong?”
Ximo tried to politely refuse, but the boy stood there stubbornly, refusing to leave. Not only that, he deliberately raised his voice.
“But… I’ve already wrapped it up… Didn’t you say you’d buy it, sis?”
Huh? Ximo was stunned. Was she running into a hard sell? From such a young kid?
The little boy strained on tiptoe, practically shoving the flowers in Ximo’s face. Ximo instinctively reached out to push the bouquet away from her face a bit.
“No, no, I think you got the price wrong, kid…”
However, Ximo’s words didn’t finish. The little boy suddenly let out a cry of surprise and tumbled to the ground.
“Sis,” the little boy said in a aggrieved voice, “if you don’t want to buy my flowers, fine, but why push me?”
Ximo: “???”
No way—this wasn’t just a hard sell; it was a scam too?
The little boy sat sprawled on the ground, the bunch of Blue Jasmine “accidentally” crushed beneath him. His voice was loud, instantly drawing a crowd to this little drama.
“I didn’t even touch you!”
Ximo jumped up from the bench. She truly hadn’t expected to encounter a scammer in this otherworld after transmigrating.
“Ximo, what’s going on?”
The gathering crowd and commotion naturally caught Xiliya’s attention. She abandoned her spot in the candied hawthorn line and pushed back through.
“This kid’s selling flowers for one silver coin. I just said it was pricey, and he suddenly fell over…”
“I didn’t!” Before Ximo could finish explaining, the little boy interrupted with a sob. “I clearly said one copper coin per bunch, but this sis not only refused to buy, she pushed me!”
“Hey, you little…”
Ximo paused, realizing then that the boy’s timid pricing earlier hadn’t been from fear—it was so quiet no one else would hear!
“That’s too much—bullying such a young child?”
“Yeah, who sells flowers for one silver coin? Couldn’t even make up a better excuse…”
The crowd grew, with some “whispering” just loud enough for those involved to hear.
“No, I didn’t…”
Ximo tried to explain that she’d only had one bowl of noodles, but the boy on the ground began sobbing in earnest.
Xiliya coldly eyed the boy on the ground and pulled Ximo behind her.
“So young and already out selling flowers—you’ve got it rough.”
Xiliya’s voice was icy as she scanned the crowd. The instigating murmurs quieted at once.
“And,” Xiliya bent down, her pale blue eyes fixed on the boy’s face, “it’s not Blue Jasmine season right now. Finding this many must’ve been tough for you.”
The little boy kept sniffling, but his gaze darted away, unable to meet Xiliya’s. She didn’t call him out, just continued along his lines.
“You’re selling flowers, right? I’ll buy all of them. How about it? At the price you just quoted—one copper coin per bunch.”
