Chapter 22 Setting up a small stall to scam you – I'm losing money today

"Boss, is this bracelet made of real flowers?" someone asked.

"Yes, they're all freshly picked from the forest and made right away, they're so fresh and juicy."

Ning Jia casually remarked, then looked up and was suddenly startled: Good heavens, why are there so many people in front of the stall all of a sudden?

With so many eyes fixed on her stall, Ning Jia felt a bit overwhelmed and hesitated, too embarrassed to open her mouth and call out.

She glanced at the stall next door. The man there was dressed in a bamboo hat and a long cloth robe. He didn't look like someone who came to sell things. He looked more like someone who lived in seclusion in the mountains. He had been sitting there for a long time without saying a word.

Her eyes darted around, and suddenly she realized:

In these kinds of markets, is it true that you have to talk less to appear sophisticated and sell your goods? It's like luxury goods; you never see any luxury brand having a big sale. If they all had big sales, what would make them real luxury brands?

So she decided to keep her mouth shut, raise the corners of her mouth slightly, reveal a faint smile, and put on an air of understated luxury.

If I had known, I would have kept the landlady's old jacket. Wearing it now, wouldn't I look a bit like a country girl with a forest vibe?

Ning Jia appears calm and collected on the surface, but her mind is actually like a marketplace. She spent a lot of time putting on an act, but despite the large number of people looking, she didn't buy anything. So she simply stopped pretending and took out her phone to start browsing Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform).

She had just typed "handmade side hustle" into the search bar when several girls dressed in cotton and linen dresses came over and gathered around her stall to look at the items carefully.

These ladies really look like true Mori Girls, so Ning Jia quickly said, "These are all made from real flowers, freshly picked and made on the spot. You can try them on if you like."

One of the girls hesitated for a moment, "This flower wreath is so small, won't it fall apart after wearing it for a while?"

In a flash, Ning Jia suddenly understood why, although some people were clearly interested in her flower wreath jewelry, no one actually bought it.

"Sister, feel free to try it on. It's very sturdy and won't fall apart easily."

Seeing that the other party didn't believe her, Ning Jia picked up a pure white floral wreath ring, put it on her right hand, turned it over and moved her fingers, "See, move it however you like, it won't fall apart."

"How is that possible? Is there glue in it?"

"How could glue be added?"

Ning Jia put on the flower wreath bracelet, the floral bracelet, and the flower wreath necklace all at once, and then took out a flower wreath ring and handed it forward, saying, "Smell it, there's no glue smell, just a faint floral fragrance."

"Wow, it really is! It smells so good."

"Except for the necklace cord, which is ordinary cord, the bracelet and ring are made of a very flexible wild grass stem, strung together with the fibers inside. It's absolutely all-natural; I'd lose money if I lied to you today."

Ning Jia didn't know how to make flower wreaths, but she had seen the little people make them before, so she explained the process in great detail. The girls' eyes lit up, and one of them even exclaimed "Wow!"

"Such meticulous craftsmanship is truly impressive."

The group stopped hesitating and started trying them on one by one.

These pieces of jewelry may look small and unassuming, but once worn, their exquisite beauty becomes apparent.

White is versatile; pink looks ethereal on fair skin, while red looks bright and sophisticated on darker skin tones. Light blue and bright yellow floral wreaths are also very popular.

Several girls tried on the items for a while, looking at them from left to right, and couldn't put down each one. They took away 5 floral wreath rings, 2 floral wreath bracelets, 2 floral bracelets, and 2 floral wreath necklaces. Finally, Ning Jia's stall opened smoothly, and the turnover immediately increased from zero yuan to 320 yuan.

These people acted as "living advertisements," attracting many more people to try them on. One couple bought two floral wreath rings, one pink and one blue, saying they would be their matching rings.

After that initial influx of customers, Ningjia's stall quickly ran out of goods.

She opened the storage box, took out the new product, a rainbow-colored flower wreath, and noted on the cardboard: the rainbow flower wreath series is 10 yuan more expensive each.

Unexpectedly, these new products attracted a lot of people. The first batch of customers just returned, complaining that Ningjia hadn't brought out the good products earlier.

Ning Jia looked completely innocent. "Sisters, it's not that I'm deliberately hiding anything. My business is just this small, I can't fit more in."

The Mori Girls complained, but they actually bought without hesitation, quickly purchasing nearly ten more flower wreaths and jewelry.

Ning Jia couldn't help but remind her, "These are real flowers, and they only last for three or four days. There's no need to buy so many."

"It's okay, there are other people in our club, so if we divide it up, it won't be much."

One of the girls suddenly realized, "Oh right, boss, will you still sell this in the future? Can we add each other on WeChat?"

“Sold, sold,” Ning Jia quickly handed over the QR code hanging nearby, “but these are all handmade, so delivery might not be so timely…”

"I understand," the girl waved her hand, indicating that no explanation was needed, "and I'll feel more comfortable buying it if you say so."

Ning Jia realized that this was a handmade market, not the kind of mass-produced factory goods. She was buying an exclusive style. She scratched her head and said, "Hehe, thanks for your patronage."

This batch of rainbow-themed floral wreath jewelry was quickly snapped up by customers. Before noon, Ning Jia's stock was almost sold out, much to her regret.

I should have brought more.

There's no such thing as knowing things in advance, only taking action early.

Ning Jia glanced at the ever-growing crowd, had an idea, flipped the price board over, quickly wrote a few lines, placed it on the stall, and hurriedly left the market to ride her bicycle towards the park.

"Hey, where's that flower wreath and jewelry vendor from earlier?"

A guest, drawn by the floral wreath and ring on someone else's hand, asked curiously.

The reclusive male boss next door remained silent, but pointed to the cardboard Ning Jia had left behind.

The customer looked at the signboard and saw it read: "The boss is going back to pick up the goods. If you're in a hurry, you can add me on WeChat."

What? It's only a few o'clock, and the goods on this stall are already sold out?

This customer wasn't necessarily going to buy it, but seeing how popular it was, he felt he'd be missing out if he didn't (?), so he immediately added Ning Jia on WeChat.

When Ning Jia rushed back to the market with a new batch of flower wreaths and jewelry, she checked her phone and was surprised to find that more than a dozen people had added her in just a short time.

"Everyone, stop making sachets and start making flower wreaths. Ning Jia said they sell very well."

Under a large tree deep in the park, Chief Canglan saw off Ning Jia, who had come to pick up the goods, and gave instructions to the clansmen.

"Not a single sachets were sold this time?" Bai Su was somewhat incredulous.

She wasn't good at handicrafts and her flower wreaths weren't pretty, so she had long been relegated to making sachets. Suddenly, she had nothing to do.

“Yes,” Cang Lan nodded, “That’s what Ning Jia just said.”

“But,” Bai Su couldn’t understand, “compared to flower wreaths, sachets are clearly more useful and last longer, so why are flower wreaths more popular?”

"The flower wreath is so pretty, how can it be useless!"

Guoguo, the "inventor" of the wreath, jumped out angrily and said.

"Exactly! The flower wreath is so beautiful; just looking at it makes me happy!"

"I think sachets are better. Didn't Ning Jia say that many students rely on them to study hard?"

“Learning and appreciating are not mutually exclusive.”

...

The little people quickly started a big discussion about "practicality versus aesthetics," and Canglan hurriedly reminded them, "We can discuss this topic later. Everyone, hurry up and make the wreaths. Ningjia said she might come to pick up the goods this afternoon."

The more wreaths you sell, the more money you make.

Everyone's expressions immediately turned serious. Neither practicality nor aesthetics mattered as much as money. To prevent Ning Jia from starving, they needed to hurry and make some money.

Bai Su glanced at the tribespeople gathered around making flower wreaths and offered, "I don't know how to make flower wreaths, so I'll go pick some wildflowers."

He Meng followed suit, saying, "I can't make flower wreaths either, so I'll pick wildflowers."

Quartz followed, "Me too!"

Snow Grass followed, "Me too!"

Canglan looked at the others, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "...Then me too?"

It is said that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. None of the most capable fighters in the clan were skillful with their hands. Under Canglan's leadership, they all went to pick wildflowers.

The little people are busy making flower wreaths, and Ning Jia's rainbow series of flower wreath jewelry has sold out again.

She quickly displayed the solid-color and color-blocked floral wreaths that the little ones had just finished making that day, priced the same as the rainbow series, which soon attracted the attention of many people.

"Boss, are these flower wreaths made of real flowers?"

"It's a real flower. If you don't believe me, smell it. It even has a faint fragrance."

"These flowers were all picked fresh today. Look how bright the petals are! The wreath is made of rope twisted from grass stems, which is very flexible and sturdy. And look at this ring on my hand; I've been wearing it all day, and it hasn't come undone at all..."

By this time, Ning Jia was quite confident in her products and was very skilled at promoting them.

A well-dressed young man came in and bought five different colored floral wreath bracelets, easily spending 300 yuan before leaving. A middle-aged woman also took a liking to the floral wreath bracelets, choosing two in the same color scheme, saying she wanted one for herself and one for her daughter.

Ning Jia smiled and pointed to the WeChat QR code next to her:

"Thank you for your patronage. Two solid color bracelets, totaling 100 yuan."

The woman raised her phone to scan the QR code, then suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, boss, why can't I pay with this QR code?"

"No way?" Ning Jia's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly picked up her phone to scan the code. "...Huh, it really is."

"Sorry, it might be due to a limit."

Ning Jia tapped her phone a few times and said apologetically, "Why don't you just pay me directly?"

After the middle-aged woman made the payment, Ning Jia quickly checked her WeChat merchant account and, lo and behold, it really was a spending limit.

According to the basic knowledge about street vending I learned this morning, the daily limit for WeChat merchant QR codes is 10,000 yuan, which means...

Her heart was trembling, her hands were shaking, and it took her a long time to open the business center and see today's sales figures.

Goodness, it really is 10,000 yuan...

Ning Jia silently closed the merchant's mini-program again, gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, and finally calmed down.

Don't blame her for being naive; to have such a haul on her first time setting up a stall is truly... a terrifyingly surprising surprise.

Moreover, what are the actual costs of these goods? Excluding labor, she makes almost as much profit as she sells.

Thank you for the gifts of nature!

Seeing that more guests had arrived, Ning Jia didn't have time to be happy. She quickly removed the WeChat payment code, put the Alipay payment code back on, and continued to greet the guests.

Just then, a girl wearing a flower wreath bracelet came over and was stunned when she saw Ning Jia's stall.

"Hey boss, do you sell flower bracelets too?"

"Huh?" Ning Jia nodded, puzzled. "Yes, I've been selling here since this morning."

"I saw this post on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) where people make flower bracelets, so I came here to buy some—"

As the girl spoke, she noticed the "Little Red Book same style" on Ning Jia's stall and was quite surprised:

"I was wondering why the styles were different. Oh my god, did I buy the wrong one?"