Chapter 32: This bundle is not for sale, my sister is useful

Sang Yu guessed correctly, there are indeed market days in the market.

Initially, hunters would come here every few days to sell the small prey they caught. Later, it gradually evolved into a market where people would sell their recent catches on the first and fifth day of every month.

On market day, you can find almost anything you can think of at the market.

They happened to come across a market today. Sang Yu even saw someone carrying a straw stick with candied haws on his shoulder.

As soon as Sang Xinghao saw the candied haws, his eyes lit up. When he used to go out to play with his elder brother, this was his favorite food.

I have to buy two every time, one to eat immediately and one to take back for my sister.

But this time he didn't make a fuss about eating. He just swallowed his saliva and sat obediently on the grass leaves that Sang Yu had laid out for him.

He swallowed his saliva loudly. Sang Yu glanced at him and saw that he was covering his eyes to avoid looking, trying to avoid seeing or being annoyed. She couldn't help but laugh.

She touched his head again, thinking that if she could sell all the vegetables today, she would buy some candy.

Hey, sugar...it seems like she doesn't need to buy this stuff, she can make it herself.

There were many stalls on market days and many people buying things at the market. Soon Sangyu opened his shop.

Perhaps because there were not many pieces of cattails today, her business was quite good and people would buy a bunch of cattails from time to time.

The pile of cattails in front of him became less and less, and Sang Yu was smiling from ear to ear.

She brought a total of fifteen bunches of cattails today, and this was all she had except for the ones she kept for herself.

She had just sold eight or nine of them. Once she sold the rest, she would have fifteen cents, which was definitely a huge sum compared to what she earned yesterday.

The small basket placed aside quickly caught someone's eye. Xie Qiujin's craftsmanship was not as exquisite as that of Old Lady Shi, and the basket she wove for the first time was not very good-looking.

But people at the market don’t care whether it looks good or not, practicality is the most important thing.

The person asking the price was a woman in her twenties, with a plump figure. She stood out among the thin crowd and it was obvious that she lived a good life.

She picked up the basket, looked around, and tried it on her wrist. She nodded with satisfaction and asked Sang Yu for the price: "Miss, how much do you sell this little basket for?"

The size is just right, so I don’t have to hold it in my arms every time I go shopping for groceries.

Sang Yu hesitated and quoted a price: "Three cents?"

This thing doesn't have much technical content, and the material cost is almost nothing. There is only labor cost, so you will make money whether you sell more or less.

"Three?"

The woman raised her eyebrows, which scared Sang Yu so much that he thought he had quoted a high price and was about to say something nice.

But then she saw him take out a handful of copper coins from the purse hanging on his waist, count out four and hand them to her: "Give me another handful of vegetables, how do you eat this?"

It turned out that he didn't think it was too expensive but thought it was cheap. Sang Yu secretly regretted it. If she had known that the other party was so rich, she would have quoted a higher price.

In fact, three cents for a small basket is not expensive but not cheap either.

It’s just that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the other party just happened to like the item and the price was within their acceptable range, so the deal was made so quickly.

Knowing that there would be no chance to change the words once they were spoken, Sang Yu's emotions came and went quickly.

She has never been one to wallow in regret and self-pity. Since she feels she has lost money this time, she can make it up next time.

She stuffed a bundle of cattails into a basket and handed it to the woman, smiling as she explained how to cook it: "This dish can be stir-fried or made into soup. It's very delicious. You should try it when you get home."

Fortunately, there was a market today, and Sang Yu's vegetables sold very quickly. When there was only a bundle of water chestnuts left in front of her, she simply stopped selling and got up to start packing up.

Sang Xinghao was holding the bundle of cattails, puzzled: "Sister, why are we leaving before we've sold all the cattails?"

"I won't sell this bundle. My sister will use it."

After packing up the things, Sang Yu took Sang Xinghao's hand and walked to the stall owner selling oil and salt nearby.

Seeing that he was still buried in his studies, she called out softly, "Stall owner."

The other party still didn't look up. She continued, "We're leaving. Thank you for letting us set up a stall nearby today. These are the vegetables that haven't been sold out. If you don't mind, we'll give them to the stall owner. It's our little token of appreciation."

She said this perfectly without making any mistakes. She didn't directly say that the vegetables were saved specially for him, but only said that they were the vegetables that had not been sold out.

The scholar who sells salt is named Shen Yingshu. Just by hearing his name, you can tell that his elders in the family have high expectations for him. "Sun Kang Yingxue" and "Jiang Mi Zhuiyue" are both examples of people who persisted in studying despite poverty.

He did not disappoint his family's expectations. He was studious and hardworking since he was young.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky. Since he passed the boy's examination and became a scholar at the age of ten, he had only taken the provincial examination held every three years twice.

The first time he caught a cold and had a high fever that made it difficult for him to even get up, so he had no choice but to miss it.

The second time he went there in good health, but he ate something that upset his stomach. He kept running to the toilet during the entire provincial examination, so naturally he failed.

On the surface, others politely called him Mr. Shen, but in fact they were laughing at him behind his back.

It was precisely because of his status as a scholar that he was able to obtain a certificate to sell salt from the city.

I have seen many vulgar people in this market, but it is rare to see someone as polite as Sang Yu.

Chen Yingshu finally took his eyes off the book and looked at the person in front of him.

He is a rare local here. He was born here after his ancestors were convicted and exiled to Lingnan.

However, as I meet more people, I naturally develop a better eye.

The outer robes worn by Sang Yu and Sang Xinghao had just been washed two days ago. Both the fabric and the embroidery were of excellent quality, and it was obvious that they were children of prominent families.

No wonder there was so much courtesy. Chen Yingshu stood up and bowed to Sang Yu: "Thank you, young lady."

"We should thank the stall owner."

"My name is Shen Yingshu, and others mistakenly call me Shen Xiucai. I wonder what your name is, young lady?"

What he said was a bit inappropriate. It was not normal to ask a girl's name when meeting her for the first time.

However, Sang Yu is not the kind of person who sticks to the rules. It's just a name. Since the other person said his name first, there is no reason for her not to tell him her own name.

She bowed slightly and saluted: "So it's Mr. Shen in person. My name is Sang Yu, and this is my younger brother Sang Xinghao."

After exchanging names, they became acquaintances. Chen Yingshu saw her selling vegetables two days in a row and said, "Next time Miss Sang comes, please set up a stall next to me. There are never any other people around my stall."

"My coming to sell vegetables depends on whether God is willing. I don't come every day, but I still want to thank Mr. Shen in advance."

Sang Yu had already decided to sell vegetables every three to five days, which would not attract attention and would still make money.

The two chatted for a while, and then Sang Yu remembered something and asked tentatively, "I wonder if Mr. Shen knows anyone?"

"Who is it? Miss Sang, tell me about it. I know a lot of people, so I should recognize him."