Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Juhua looked up at him and saw him smiling gently at her, his hand gripping hers tightly. A trace of heartache flickered in his eyes, and she suddenly understood. He had seen Mei and the others picking out accessories that girls adored, while she alone seemed completely uninterested. ’He probably thinks I’m avoiding them because I’m upset about my ugly face.’

Now that she understood, she smiled at him. "I’m going to pick out a comb and a wooden hairpin. Later, I’ll have Yan teach me a simple way to put my braids up. It’ll be cooler when the weather gets hot."

Zhang Huai was pleasantly surprised to hear this and quickly beamed. "Alright!"

So, he took her hand, and the two of them went over to browse. They picked out a fine-toothed poplar comb and a wooden hairpin. Though the hairpin’s design was simple, it had a rustic, gentle quality that Juhua found very pleasing.

The two items came to a total of eight cents. Zhang Huai pulled out his money pouch and counted out the coins for the Xiao Er. Juhua said nothing, simply smiling as she watched him pay. ’Such a low-maintenance girlfriend,’ she thought. ’You’re really getting a bargain.’

Huai Zi was delighted to see Juhua waiting quietly for him to pay, looking just like a little newlywed wife. He asked her softly, "You don’t want to pick out anything else?"

Juhua whispered to him, "This stuff is all pretty shoddy. Not good at all. Look at those decorative flowers—they’re so ugly. You’d be better off picking fresh flowers from the fields every morning. And those hairpins and rings aren’t real silver. That makeup is terrible, too. If you put it on, you’d look just like one of those garishly painted matchmakers..." As she went on, critiquing everything one by one, Huai Zi couldn’t help but suppress a laugh.

Xiu, Cui, and Liu Xiaomei browsed for a long time but, surprisingly, didn’t find anything they liked. Or perhaps they just couldn’t bear to spend the money. In any case, they ended up buying nothing at all, so they all went into a fabric store instead.

The shop was long and deep, with a wide, lengthy wooden counter. Dozens of rolls of patterned cloth were stacked at one end, while the shelves behind the counter displayed all sorts of other fabrics, including plenty of silks and satins.

The Shopkeeper was, surprisingly, a beautiful young wife. Dressed in red, she welcomed them with a faint smile, her eyes full of charm. Her gaze swept over the group of six before landing on the four young women. She then enthusiastically asked Juhua what kind of fabric she was looking to buy—because even though Juhua was dressed like a country girl, she was remarkably calm and composed, and her veil gave her an air of mystery.

This time, Juhua bought a good amount of cotton cloth. She was planning to make a few summer garments for her parents and her brother, as well as a few for herself. ’Hm, and I’ll make a couple for Huai Zi, too.’ She ended up with a large bundle, which she had Huai Zi carry. Liu Xiaomei and Xiu also bought some cloth, which, of course, Zhou Xiaoman ended up carrying.

The young Shopkeeper was beaming. She had assumed Juhua was a person of some standing, so she enthusiastically recommended the silks and satins to her.

Juhua simply smiled, shook her head, and offered no explanation. ’Do you think I’m some high-born lady in disguise?’ she thought. ’I’m a bona fide country girl.’

After leaving the fabric store, they strolled a bit further until they reached the end of the street. Around the corner was an open-air market where there were many more stalls set up on the ground. Juhua’s spirits lifted at once, her eyes scanning all around. She was hoping to find something new and interesting, though she herself couldn’t say exactly what.

There was an old woman selling eggs, a burly man selling fish, and even someone selling sweet potato seedlings. Juhua asked, puzzled, "Why is everyone planting sweet potatoes so early?"

"It’s a different variety," Liu Xiaomei explained.

Suddenly, Juhua spotted a woman with a basket in front of her. Inside were two small, yellow puppies, WHIMPERING softly as they spun in circles. "They sell puppies, too?" she asked Huai Zi, surprised.

Huai Zi smiled. "Of course. It’s good to make even a few cents off them."

Juhua saw how spirited the little puppies were, but her family already had two dogs, so buying another was out of the question. She smiled and asked Huai Zi, "Why don’t you get a puppy to raise?"

Huai Zi laughed. "I don’t need to buy one. Yangzi already got a puppy from Gou Dan’s house. He originally wanted to get two, but my dad said, ’We’re not raising them to sell, so what’s the point in getting so many?’ That’s why he only ended up with one."

Next to the puppy seller was a stall with two wide, flat baskets filled with fluffy yellow chicks, all PEEPING loudly. Their delicate sounds drew a crowd of young wives, who gathered around to look and ask the price. Meanwhile, no one stopped in front of the puppy basket, and the woman selling them watched the old man with his chicks in envy.

There was a wide variety of goods at these stalls: pre-made bamboo brooms, woven bamboo household items, and straw hats. They asked about the prices and found everything was cheaper than in Laixi’s shop, though the quality was a bit lower. There were also many stalls selling snacks and small toys, but surprisingly few selling green vegetables. They probably didn’t sell well, since out in the country, even the well-off families grew their own.