Before anyone from the Xiao family could respond to her, she already grabbed another cup and started drinking it.

Zhou Anran furrowed her brows. She now remembered who this middle-aged woman was.

She was the infamous Qiu Cai. Her sister was married into the Sun family from their village while this woman herself lived in another village nearby.

Qiu Cai was somewhat known for her shrewish personality. Zhou Anran had heard some aunties gossiping about her—this middle-aged woman often took advantage of people’s stalls to take food and refused to pay.

Now, this ball of trouble had landed in their stall.

When Qiu Cai was about to grab another cup, Xiao Fenghao grabbed it first as per Zhou Anran’s cue.

Qiu Cai was displeased. Her hand reached over for another cup, and yet she failed again. Xiao Fenghao was much quicker than her.

"You!" She was enraged. "Is this how you are doing business? It’s so rude!"

"Auntie, you need to pay first," Xiao Yuxi stated bluntly. "As you said, we are doing business, not charity."

Qiu Cai’s eyes darted around. She was trying to be fierce but her tone lacked some conviction. "Are you accusing me of not paying?"

"Then, you can pay for the cup you have drunk before first. Let’s count the first one as free," Zhou Anran retorted. Her tone was neutral, yet it was filled with sharpness.

"I am going to pay, of course. Give me another one first," Qiu Cai insisted.

Zhou Anran furrowed her brows. "It’s either you pay or we will report this to the yamen. Did you know we just returned from there a week ago?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Yamen?!" Qiu Cai gasped, clutching her chest, but she soon narrowed her eyes. With her hands on her hips, she shook her head.

"You are bluffing. Going to a yamen just because I drank a cup of drink worth one copper coin will be a loss for you. Do you think I am an idiot?" Qiu Cai’s voice was filled with pride, gradually no longer hiding her intention anymore.

Zhou Anran’s face hardened. "We just returned from yamen a week ago. We might come again if they need us for further investigation."

"We can report you along. Your name is Qiu Cai, right?" Zhou Anran raised her eyebrows.

It was the rare moment where Zhou Anran showed her strict and sharp edge at people. Only then did her children realize that she had been quite gentle with them.

Qiu Cai was taken aback, and she faltered. Her face was flushed when she heard Zhou Anran mentioning her name so accurately.

She recalled the incident a week ago where people from a lot of villages were out looking for their missing child. Could this family be one of them?

With her heart filled with hesitation, she was finally deeply scared. She rummaged through her purse for one copper coin and threw it to Zhou Anran angrily and reluctantly.

After that, she turned around and walked away quickly, acting as if a ghost was chasing after her.

Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi moved at the same time, wanting to catch the coin. Alas, Xiao Yuxi was closer and she snatched the coin first before it could hurt their mother’s face.

Although the process was unpleasant, they did gain their first customer.

The commotion had caught some people’s attention. They had been watching the drama quietly. When they saw that even the gluttonous Qiu Cai coveted the drink, some people began to feel more curious.

"Uncle Du," Xiao Yuyan greeted the person first when she spotted a man walking over to their stall.

They sometimes bought candied haws from his stall, and were already quite familiar with him. He was from another village.

"You came back to sell a drink, Xiao girl?" He soon realized that there was also a woman who appeared several years older than the group. Her features were similar to the twins.

Zhou Anran greeted him, and the person greeted her back. He didn’t expect that she was actually their mother since she looked rather young. Still, his surprise didn’t last long. After exchanging some pleasantries, he asked about their drink.

"It’s made of soybeans? How much is one cup? I will try one," Uncle Du told them.

The entire family was delighted. Xiao Qingya’s worries were also eased a little. Patting her little chest, she heaved a sigh of relief.

However, she became a little tense again when she saw Uncle Du taking a few gulps from his cup. There was still half a cup of soy milk when he stopped drinking.

After a while...

"Only one copper coin, right? I will buy another one." He handed over his empty water pouch to them. "Put the drink inside this water pouch. My children should like this taste."

Uncle Du paid two copper coins and continued to drink the rest. He took the water pouch and bid farewell to the Xiao family.

Seeing some people buying the soy milk, more and more people began to crowd around their small stall.

Xiao Yuxi had to run to an inn and buy clean water from them to wash the cups. They thought it would take a while before they needed water for washing, but in half an hour, they were nearly out of clean cups.

Some people dressed in better clothes compared to the farmers’ rough clothing also came over. It was a travelling merchant.

The person ordered his servant to buy the last jug of soy milk before they left to return to the inn.

By the time the Xiao family finished their first attempt at selling soy milk, it was already dark.

"Anran, are you still selling more soybean drinks tomorrow?" A woman who was around the same age as Zhou Anran asked. They had just become acquaintances.

Zhou Anran thought about it for a moment, and then she felt two people tugging on her hands, Xiao Yuyan and Xiao Qingya.

[Host, your business just started booming. Quick, get your mother to sell the soy milk again tomorrow.] The System urged.