Chapter 162: Let's Go on a Date (Part 1)

Tao Ming took off her qipao and put on a white shirt, deliberately buttoning only the middle two buttons. Leaning against the bedside with her head slightly tilted, she batted her eyelashes playfully at Su Nanxing.

Su Nanxing's breathing quickened. "Men have zero resistance against women wearing their shirts."

With that, Su Nanxing picked up Tao Ming, intending to place her on the bed, but Tao Ming quickly turned serious. "We still need to go out!"

In the end, Tao Ming abandoned the qipao and decided to go out in matching couple outfits with Su Nanxing.

The sleeves of her women's shirt were rolled up to her elbows, her skinny jeans revealed her ankles, she slipped on flat sandals, and her long hair was tied casually into a ponytail.

As the two of them finished tidying up and stepped out of the guest courtyard, Tao Sisi’s eyes lit up at the sight of them. She tugged at Qin Siyu, making a fuss that she wanted to dress the same way. Qin Siyu, pestered by her, could only agree to everything, though heaven knows when he would actually deliver on the promise.

The weather was getting increasingly hot, and Ruanruan and Nuonnuon had long since changed into short sleeves and shorts. Seeing Tao Ming and Su Nanxing, Ruanruan frowned and asked, "Are the two of you going on a date?"

"That's right!" Tao Ming thought to herself that it had been a long time since they went on a date, so she might as well have a romantic one.

Ruanruan looked as if she had made a difficult decision. "Forget it, you guys go on your date. I won't go."

Tao Ming suspiciously touched Ruanruan's forehead. She wasn't running a fever; why the sudden change of heart?

Ruanruan pushed Tao Ming's hand away. "Go on, hurry up! Otherwise, I'm going to change my mind!"

Su Nanxing smiled and left behind a parting remark, "Daddy will bring back delicious treats for you two."

Once Tao Ming and Su Nanxing stepped out of the courtyard, Nuonnuon whispered, "Ruanruan, you've been acting weird today."

Ruanruan pursed her little lips, sighed like an adult, and said, "Those two are constantly bickering all day long. It's really worrying."

...

Without taking a carriage, Tao Ming and Su Nanxing walked hand in hand all the way out of the Qin Estate and onto Great Qin Street.

Since the Qin Estate was the only residence on Great Qin Street, the outfits the two of them wore only gave the maids and servants of the Qin Estate a mild shock.

Seeing that they were about to walk off Great Qin Street, Su Nanxing turned his head and asked softly, "Where do you want to go?"

Tao Ming already had a plan. "Let's go to the vegetable market or something similar first."

"Hmm." Su Nanxing tickled the palm of Tao Ming's hand, feeling a sense of inner peace and contentment at that moment.

Tao Ming lifted her chin and kissed him with a smile. "Let's have a romantic date!"

Su Nanxing chuckled in amusement. "Who goes on a date at a vegetable market?"

"Me!" Tao Ming winked at Su Nanxing.

Stepping off Great Qin Street, the two of them quickly drew the attention of the imperial city's commoners.

At first, the crowd didn't recognize Tao Ming. After all, on the day they entered the city, it was a sea of people, and most citizens had only caught a distant glimpse of her.

However, Su Nanxing's appearance was already deeply etched in everyone's minds; even if you grabbed a random person off the street, they would know what Su Nanxing looked like.

Seeing Su Nanxing walking out of Great Qin Street hand-in-hand with a woman, the two of them occasionally leaning in close to whisper and laugh with each other, the onlookers drew their own conclusions.

Who else could it be besides Tao Ming, the woman who had completely infatuated Su Nanxing?

As for the clothes they were wearing—well, it is best not to look at what is improper; better not to look.

Seeing that the people they passed along the way were casting nervous, furtive glances at her, only to immediately turn their heads away whenever she noticed, and then sneaking another peek as soon as she looked away, Tao Ming found it amusing. She tilted her head slightly and called out, "Hubby."

Su Nanxing was busy observing the reactions of the passersby. Hearing Tao Ming call him, he turned his head and grunted, "Hmm?"

Tao Ming leaned over and planted a kiss on Su Nanxing's cheek. "You're so handsome!"

Su Nanxing immediately beamed with joy, getting a bit cocky. "Did you only just realize your hubby is handsome? Well, I suppose it's not too late."

The two of them flirted and bantered all the way, leaving behind a trail of dropped jaws and countless whispered gossips.

Guiding Tao Ming through a maze of twists and turns, Su Nanxing led her deeper into an area where the houses grew increasingly dilapidated and the strange odors in the air grew heavier. Finally, they arrived at a mixed neighborhood in the west of the city, and pointing at a courtyard gate ahead, he said, "The vegetable market is right inside."

A few commoners had just been preparing to walk in, but the moment the two of them stood at the entrance—looking utterly out of place with the surrounding environment—everyone came to a halt, wanting to see what on earth these two were up to.

First, Tao Ming glanced at the courtyard walls on either side of the gate. Built from gray bricks, the walls already had numerous missing chunks, giving the impression that a single kick from her would knock them down.

Next, she looked at the wooden courtyard gate, which hung loosely and precariously from the wall, looking as though it didn't even need a kick—a strong puff of breath might cause it to fall off.

Lifting her foot, Tao Ming stepped through the courtyard gate to find an open-air courtyard directly before her, completely lacking even a protective canopy against the rain.

Stalls were set up messily inside the yard, scattered randomly from east to west without even the most basic rows, making it somewhat difficult just to walk through.

Su Nanxing shielded Tao Ming to prevent her from being jostled by the crowd. "What are you looking at?"

Tao Ming walked over to the nearest stall, squatted down, and asked, "Mister, how are you selling these vegetables?"

The vendor, an elderly man with white hair, trembled slightly upon hearing Tao Ming's question and replied, "Just give me whatever you think is fair."

Tao Ming was dumbfounded. *Whatever I think is fair?*

How could there not even be a fixed price?

Su Nanxing glanced at the greens in front of the old man, fished out ten white crystal coins, and handed them over. "I'll take them all. Is this enough?"

"Enough, enough, enough." The old man swiftly collected the money, grabbed his stool, and bolted like a mad dog was nipping at his heels.

Tao Ming was dumbfounded all over again. *Why is he running?*

The vendor at the adjacent stall spoke up, "Young Master Su, do you still need greens?"

Only then did Tao Ming realize why the old man had fled. Su Nanxing, a person of his status, had actually stepped foot into a vegetable market—turns out he had simply scared the seller away.

Su Nanxing looked utterly helpless. *Is it my fault that I was born handsome and got recognized?*

Tao Ming's original plan to scout the imperial city's market prices had suffered a disastrous opening.

The excursion ultimately concluded with Su Nanxing buying out the entire vegetable market.

Once all the vendors had cleared out, the two of them stood facing each other in the middle of a vegetable market littered with garbage.

Tao Ming shook her head, paced along the base of the wall to measure the market's area, and calculated it to be around one thousand square meters—more than enough space to build a small supermarket.

Sharing her thoughts aloud, Su Nanxing replied, "Not to burst your bubble, but the people who come here to buy groceries are generally in poor financial straits. Anyone in the imperial city with even a shred of wealth has servants specially assigned to deliver food right to their door."

Having witnessed the scene just moments ago, Tao Ming already knew that these people survived entirely on luck when trying to sell their goods. Hearing Su Nanxing's words, she wasn't too discouraged. "I can roughly guess what you mean. Does anyone manage this place?"

"This plot of land probably belongs to the Qin family. Whether anyone manages it is something you'll have to ask back home."

Linking her arm through Su Nanxing's, Tao Ming headed outward. "Let's walk around the neighborhood."

The two of them circled the outer walls of the vegetable market, and Tao Ming found the living conditions of the local residents frankly indescribable.

For water, a massive area shared only a single public well.

Dirty water was casually splashed right outside doorways or inside the courtyards.

Garbage was tossed wherever people walked, insects swarmed unchecked, and nobody cared.

In some places, dirty water had pooled into puddles, prompting Su Nanxing to scoop Tao Ming up directly to prevent her from stepping into them.

Once they had walked out of the area, Tao Ming snuggled into Su Nanxing's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. "This place definitely needs to be redeveloped and rebuilt!"

Looking at Tao Ming's furrowed brow, Su Nanxing smiled. "Your hubby can't make the final call on this matter, you know."

Tao Ming dropped back down to the ground and took Su Nanxing's hand. "Let's go. Take me to the places you usually hang out."

"Are you hungry? Do you want to grab something to eat first?"

Tao Ming rubbed her belly. "Now that you mention it, I really am hungry. You lead the way."

Chatting and laughing, the two of them walked back to the busiest district of the imperial city. Just as they rounded a corner, they found the streets packed with a sea of people—it turned out that Heshou, the closest province, had just sent its selected beauties into the imperial city.