Chapter 41: Interpreter He Jing to the Rescue!

After a brief wave of emotion, Jiang Tao’s heart gave another sudden thump.

Oh no, this Ma Dongmei is deaf and mute, which doubles the difficulty of communication!

Jiang Tao didn’t know a single sign of sign language; how was he supposed to communicate with her effectively?

Seeing Jiang Tao standing there without speaking or gesturing, Ma Dongmei appeared very patient.

She just looked at him with a gentle smile, showing not a shred of impatience, nor rushing him.

It was like a benevolent elder looking at a younger member of the family.

"Um, give me one—no, make it four!"

"Give me four roasted sweet potatoes, and make them big ones, the bigger the better!"

Jiang Tao used his own makeshift body language to convey his request to Ma Dongmei.

Realizing a big sale was coming her way, Ma Dongmei’s gentle eyes lit up with a spark of brightness.

It was probably rare for her to encounter such a big customer as Jiang Tao during a whole day of street vending.

Understanding Jiang Tao’s clumsy gestures, Ma Dongmei put on a heat-resistant glove and pulled open a drawer.

Instantly, the unique, sweet aroma of roasted sweet potatoes drifted into Jiang Tao’s nose.

Initially, he had only intended to buy roasted sweet potatoes to support Ma Dongmei’s business.

Now, he wanted to support his own taste buds!

These roasted sweet potatoes actually smelled quite delicious!

Ma Dongmei skillfully selected the best-looking roasted sweet potatoes, placed them into an oil-proof and heat-resistant paper bag, and put them on the electronic scale nearby to weigh them.

The total came to six jin and eight liang.

Ma Dongmei pulled out a calculator and tapped rapidly on it, multiplying 6.8 by 8 to arrive at a total of 54.4 yuan.

"Alright, I'll pay via WeChat!"

If she were a normal person, Jiang Tao would have definitely asked her to waive the odd change.

Selling four roasted sweet potatoes for over fifty yuan meant the profit margin here was quite substantial!

Jiang Tao also came from the countryside and had done plenty of farm work since he was a child.

His old farmer parents planted sweet potatoes almost every year.

Raw sweet potatoes sold for at most 1.5 yuan a jin, sometimes even less.

With roasted sweet potatoes selling for eight yuan a jin, you can just imagine how huge the profit was!

However, everything here was clearly priced, and the size of the sweet potatoes was certain, leaving the selection entirely up to the customer.

It wasn't like buying hand-cut pastry where it didn't look like much, but once sliced, even Brother Ma would shed tears.

Since Aunt Ma Dongmei was deaf and mute, and it wasn't easy for her to come out and do some small business in the dead of winter, Jiang Tao didn't bargain with her.

With a beep, he scanned the QR code on her cart and cheerfully transferred fifty-five yuan!

Ma Dongmei took out her phone, saw the payment received, and smiled as she handed the bag containing the four roasted sweet potatoes to Jiang Tao.

The roasted sweet potatoes were bought, but Jiang Tao remained standing in place. The main business of the day had not been discussed yet, so naturally, he wouldn't leave just like that.

But... how should he bring it up?

"Oh? Brother Jiang! It really is you!"

Suddenly, a voice that sounded both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar rang in his ear.

Jiang Tao turned his head in the direction of the voice.

He saw a tall and slender girl to his front left, smiling and waving at him.

The girl wore a short, light brown puffer jacket on her upper body, layered over a hoodie underneath.

Her lower body was clad in gray yoga pants stretched tightly over her slender, long legs, paired with white stackable socks and light brown snow boots.

The styling rule of "loose on top, tight on the bottom; short on top, long on the bottom" made her long legs appear even slenderer and longer.

Peeking out from the left cuff of her jacket was a lotus-root-white wrist adorned with a women’s wristwatch featuring a red crocodile-leather strap.

Her smile was sweet and warm, like a ray of sunlight in this winter season.

"He Jing, what a coincidence, what brings you over here?"

Jiang Tao quickly recognized the young hometown girl whom he had only met once before.

In all fairness, He Jing was quite pretty; on a scale of ten, she could easily score around an eight.

Her delicate oval face with soft contours was complemented by a pair of meticulously groomed, misty eyebrows.

With slight adjustments at the brow head and tail while maintaining a natural shape, she looked as naturally beautiful as someone without makeup.

Coupled with her great sense of style and spot-on temperament, He Jing was easily the second prettiest girl Jiang Tao knew in reality.

The first, of course, was his beloved wife, Xu Li!

Although Jiang Tao was deeply impressed by He Jing, he had never harbored any other thoughts about her, nor would he in the future.

He simply regarded her as a fellow townsman he happened to encounter in a foreign place, nothing more.

After their watch transaction last time, although they had added each other on WeChat, they had never chatted.

Meeting her here today was truly an unexpected encounter!

"I came to visit my eldest aunt. I've already bought her train ticket to go back tomorrow."

"So, I came over today to spend a little time with her and have dinner together tonight."

He Jing didn't feel any shame in having a deaf-mute aunt, openly acknowledging her familial relationship with Ma Dongmei.

"Such a coincidence! This aunt is your eldest aunt? And she's also our fellow townsman from Ping County?"

Upon hearing He Jing's address to Ma Dongmei, Jiang Tao’s eyes lit up!

Aunt Ma Dongmei turned out to be a fellow townsman from Ping County as well?

With the connection of being fellow townsmen, combined with the connection between Jiang Tao and He Jing, would the matter of playing matchmaker for Ma Dongmei and the elderly landlord become a bit easier?

"Mhm, my biological eldest aunt!"

As she spoke, He Jing affectionately stepped forward to hug Ma Dongmei’s arm, smilingly resting her head against her shoulder.

You know, if you really looked at them side by side, He Jing and Ma Dongmei actually shared quite a few facial similarities!

Jiang Tao felt a wave of amusement in his heart.

Just as he was worrying about how to communicate with Ma Dongmei, He Jing, the translator, had logged online!

She was simply his timely rain!

With a speed that dazzled Jiang Tao slightly, He Jing gestured in front of Ma Dongmei, introducing Jiang Tao to her.

When Ma Dongmei learned that Jiang Tao was a fellow townsman, the look she gave him became even gentler, and the smile on her face grew warmer.

"Um, little He, can we step over there? I want to ask you something in private."

After a brief introduction, Jiang Tao pointed to the side and nodded toward He Jing.

"Oh, sure."

Although puzzled, He Jing followed Jiang Tao a few steps away.

"Well, little He, is your eldest aunt married now?"

Without beating around the bush, Jiang Tao asked very directly.

"Huh? Brother Jiang, you... what do you mean?"

Hearing Jiang Tao’s words, the expression on He Jing’s small face turned bewildered.

Could this Brother Jiang possibly have set his sights on her eldest aunt?

Although her eldest aunt was indeed very pretty, there should be quite an age gap between the two of them!

"Cough cough, little He, don't overthink it. I'm already married and have a wife."

Seeing that He Jing seemed to have misunderstood his intentions, Jiang Tao quickly spoke up to explain.

"Ah, oh..."

Hearing Jiang Tao’s explanation, He Jing let out a long sigh of relief.

Immediately after, the expression on her face turned somewhat sorrowful.

"My eldest aunt has never been married."