jdhmnovel Chapter 15 Business is booming, which infuriates the Zhang family.
Chapter 15 Business is booming, which infuriates the Zhang family.
Upon hearing this, the Zhang family was furious. They had clearly met her first, yet they chose to buy from the old woman instead of her.
She even bought them all for a penny more than the market price, and not only that, she gave them away for free. How is she supposed to sell her scallions now?
That old woman actually asked her to go and support the event; she really has no sense of propriety.
The Zhang family was burning with anger, cursing under their breath, convinced that the little harlot was definitely taking revenge on them!
Thinking this, she looked at Lin Chang'er with eyes that were practically spitting fire.
He found the old woman in front of him even more displeasing, and shouted, "What are you buying? Get out!"
The old woman didn't argue with her; she just smiled and walked away with her basket.
Lin Chang'er was unaware of the little incident that had occurred and was busy promoting the sea duck eggs she had brought.
The old woman set a good example, and she was not ashamed to hawk her wares. Most of the passersby were seeing sea duck eggs for the first time, and people would stop to express their curiosity from time to time.
Even if the other party did not express any intention to buy, she remained polite and answered all their questions.
Many people who originally only intended to take a quick look ended up leaving with one or two salted duck eggs in their shopping baskets after asking an extra question.
Lin Chang'er is always good at being flexible. She gives away scallions with every two small duck eggs, and a free scallion with every large one. For medium-sized duck eggs, you can get a discount of one coin if you buy three.
If the other party asks for a little more scallion, she won't say a word, always making the other party feel like they've gotten a good deal and leave satisfied.
Lin Chang'er is beautiful, sweet-talking, and enthusiastic. She always keeps the scallions she gives her neat and tidy, and her whole attitude is very pleasing.
Some older women who weren't in a hurry bought their items and didn't rush to leave; they helped promote the stall by calling out to customers.
In less than half an hour, all the sea duck eggs that Lin Chang'er brought were sold out, except for those that were broken along the way.
She was always good at dealing with people; since the broken sea duck eggs wouldn't affect their quality if eaten promptly, she gave one to each of the three older women who were helping to hawk the eggs.
When they were told to leave, their eyes were almost squinting with smiles, and they offered to introduce her to their relatives and friends when they got back.
Lin Chang'er thanked them again and gave them a little extra scallion.
After seeing off the older women, Lin Chang'er checked the goods. There were three salted duck eggs left in the basket, one large, one medium, and one small, with cracked shells but no broken skins. There was also a bunch of scallions, just enough to stir-fry a plate when she got home.
Lin Chang'er sorted through the trash on the stall, which consisted mostly of onion peels and roots, and put them all into an empty basket. In this era, there was no chemical fertilizer, so taking it back and dumping it into the ground could at least serve as fertilizer.
Just as she was about to leave with her basket on her back, another person came to the stall.
"Are you closing up shop, young lady?"
Lin Chang'er followed the voice and saw that the other person was a shy-smiling woman. She replied, "Is there something you need, elder sister?"
The older woman twisted her fingers nervously, her eyes looking uneasy. "I'd like to make a deal with you, little sister..."
"Please speak," Lin Chang'er replied readily.
The older woman said, "Um..." She stared at the remaining salted duck eggs in Lin Chang'er's basket, hesitant to speak, looking as if she was afraid of being rejected.
Lin Chang'er understood immediately, "Big sister, do you want to buy sea duck eggs? These few were cracked on the way here because we weren't paying attention."
If you don't mind, I can give you a discount.
If you mind, I'll come again tomorrow.
She remembered hearing a popular science video on Douyin (TikTok) explain that sea ducks lay their eggs at two or three in the morning every day.
They went last night, which was still early in the night, so if they go again today, they should be able to pick up another batch.
The woman, looking embarrassed, said, "I sell steamed buns up ahead. I... could I trade you some steamed buns?"
Lin Chang'er hadn't eaten breakfast when she left home, and she was already starving. She was planning to go find something to eat.
Lin Chang'er nodded, "How would you like to exchange them? These sea duck eggs of mine were originally five coins for the large ones, four coins for the medium ones, and three coins for the small ones, totaling 12 coins. Since they're broken, I'll give you 8 coins in total. Is that acceptable?"
The woman quickly smiled and said, "My meat buns are two coins each, and vegetarian buns are one coin each. Do you want meat or vegetarian buns? I'll give you five meat buns and nine vegetarian buns, okay?"
"I want a meat bun," Lin Chang'er said without hesitation.
When they arrived at the steamed bun stall, Lin Chang'er carefully placed the salted duck eggs and scallions into her older sister's empty basin, where her sister had already prepared the steamed buns.
Lin Chang'er asked her for some water to wash her hands, and immediately ate one. Although the taste was not as good as in later generations, it was still considered quite good in this era.
Lin Chang'er counted out another 11 coins. "Big sister, give me 5 more meat buns and 1 vegetable bun."
The older woman looked surprised. "Young lady, are you eating alone?"
Lin Chang'er smiled and said, "I have a lot of people in my family."
The older woman didn't say anything more. She wrapped up five more meat buns and put them in her basket. Then she turned around, picked up a whole vegetable bun, and gave two of the torn ones to Lin Chang'er.
"Those with broken skin can't be sold, so we eat them on the road."
"That won't do. We have to stick to what we agreed on."
They were all small businesses, and Lin Chang'er wanted to make up the price difference, but the older woman refused to accept it. She just shoved the goods into Lin Chang'er's hands and continued to hawk her wares.
Seeing her like this, Lin Chang'er secretly placed two copper coins at the bottom of the basin containing the sea duck eggs, thanked her again, and then carried her basket to the pork shop.
After asking the price, lean meat was 16 coins per catty, while meat with fat was 18 coins. In this era, most people lacked oil and salt in their diet, and the Gu family was no exception.
Lin Chang'er ordered two catties of pork with fat, just as the shop was closing up shop. The shopkeeper even gave her a bone with the meat removed as a gift.
When they passed by Zhang's stall, Lin Chang'er deliberately greeted the stall owner who had spoken up for her that morning, asking how their business was going, and they chatted and laughed together.
After being angered by the old woman, Zhang's family member finally calmed down. Seeing her chatting and laughing with the other stall owners, and remembering that she hadn't sold a single scallion all morning, Zhang's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red with anger.
He glared at Lin Chang'er and thought to himself: What a shameless bastard! Let's see how long you can be so smug!
Having achieved her goal, Lin Chang'er didn't linger and swaggered away, munching on a vegetable bun.
On her way back, she happened to pass by a rice shop. At the moment, brown rice was 4 coins per catty and polished rice was 8 coins. Lin Chang'er did some calculations. With limited income and the fact that she couldn't carry it all, she only bought 5 catties of polished rice for the time being.
As for seasonings, they were already scarce in this era, and the variety available in the town was even smaller. Lin Chang'er always preferred quality over quantity, so she didn't bother with that.
She set off early, and the sea duck eggs sold well. By the time she returned to Linshui Village, it was just past noon.
Little Goldfish and Gu Xiaolu were already waiting under the big tree at the village entrance. When they saw her, the two children called out "Mom" and ran to greet her, each helping to carry a basket.
Lin Chang'er had no intention of raising them to be pampered young masters and ladies, so she did not refuse.
He simply patted their heads and, without rushing back, led them to rest under a big tree.
He then took out a torn vegetable bun from the oil paper, broke it in half, and gave each of them half, saying, "Eat it all before you leave." There were many people in the village, and quite a few who were easily swayed, so it was better to avoid trouble.
Gu Xiaolu nestled against Lin Chang'er, her cheeks bulging from a big bun, and smiled at her with narrowed eyes, "It's so delicious, thank you, Mom! You've worked so hard, Mom!"
The little girl had a sweet tongue, and Lin Chang'er smiled back at her, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
The little girl's smile became even sweeter upon hearing this.
The little goldfish didn't move, and Lin Chang'er asked in confusion, "Why aren't you eating?"
The little goldfish tilted its head back and said, "Mom, I want to take this back for my little brother Xiaoman to eat."
Lin Chang'er paused, then smiled and said, "I left some for Xiaoman and your fourth uncle, this is yours."
The little goldfish then began to eat heartily, and soon half of the bun was gone. The mother and her two children then headed home.
Upon reaching the end of the village, they could see Gu Silang peering out from the doorway. As they drew closer, they saw that the boy's youthful face was so somber it could drip water...