The plump woman paused slightly after hearing the vendor's words. Following the direction he pointed, she indeed saw a large ox not far from the corner, with several bamboo pillows placed in front of it.
Hearing the vendor's confident assertions, the woman momentarily thought she had come to the wrong person. Just as she was about to pick up her pillow to find Da Niu, Han Yiyi, not expecting the vendor to be so shameless, hurriedly asked the woman a question.
"Excuse me, how much did you pay for this bamboo pillow...?"
"Fifteen coins, bought two..."
It turned out that the bamboo pillow was bought by the woman's mother-in-law. She was angry when her mother-in-law said that she bought it at the market, so she took her child directly to find the vendor.
I originally thought there was only one vendor selling bamboo pillows, but after the vendor pointed it out, I realized there were actually two vendors.
Han Yiyi watched as the woman picked up the bamboo pillow and headed towards Da Niu, and quickly spoke up again.
“Sister, you must have bought the two for fifteen coins here. The bamboo pillows over there cost ten coins each, and they don’t even charge for them. I just asked about the price over there and thought it was too expensive, so I came here. But I have to say, there’s a reason why the price is high. The bamboo pillows that young man over there makes are very smooth, without any burrs. Sigh, it seems I should buy from that shop instead, otherwise I’ll hurt my hand and that would be a loss…”
Hearing Han Yiyi's words, the woman stopped in her tracks. However, worried that she had mistaken someone for someone else, she picked up a bamboo pillow from the ground, touched it, and pressed it. Sure enough, the bamboo splinters on it pricked her hand again. Remembering that the vendor had told her to find someone else, she pointed at the vendor and started cursing.
"You heartless bastard! You sell these rip-offs and then falsely accuse others. Hurry up and return the goods and pay me back..."
As soon as the woman made a fuss, several people who had already paid began to examine the bamboo pillows in their hands more closely. Sure enough, they all found bamboo splinters in their pillows and started clamoring to ask the vendor for a refund. Two of them even went directly to Da Niu's stall after getting their money back.
The two argued more and more fiercely, but in the end the vendor returned the money and compensated the child for the medical expenses before the woman left. Watching the woman leave, Han Yiyi quickly turned around and left, returning to her own stall.
Just as I arrived at my stall, I heard an old lady who had come over from the vendor earlier speaking, holding a bamboo pillow woven by a large ox.
"That's true, you don't know until you compare. There's a reason why it's expensive..." he said, then took out twenty coins and handed them to Da Niu, took two bamboo pillows and left.
After this little incident, Da Niu did sell a few more bamboo pillows, but he still didn't sell them all.
It was indeed getting late, and there were hardly any people left on the streets. Da Niu had no choice but to pack up and prepare to go home. Fortunately, the two of them had been booking Old Man Wei's oxcart for the past few days, otherwise they wouldn't have waited until this time.
On the way back, Han Yiyi told Da Niu about what happened at the vendor's place. As soon as Han Yiyi finished speaking, Da Niu began to explain.
"Sister Yi, don't worry, every bamboo pillow I make is carefully crafted, and there's absolutely no chance of it piercing someone's hand..."
Seeing that Da Niu didn't understand her meaning, Han Yiyi spoke up directly.
“I know for sure that what you made up is not wrong. I’m worried that if others do something wrong, they will blame it on you. If you encounter someone who is reasonable, that’s fine. But I’m afraid that those who are unreasonable are all the same, and they can directly frame you, leaving you with no way to defend yourself…”
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, Da Niu's already tense expression became even more tense, and he even stammered as he spoke.
"Then, then I... I won't go selling them tomorrow..."
Upon hearing Da Niu's words, Han Yiyi knew that he had misunderstood her again. However, given Da Niu's honest nature, this was probably the only way he could think of to avoid conflict. But this was a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so she directly reminded him.
"This is not a good idea. We can't let such a small thing delay our chance to make money. What I mean is, do you have any ideas on how to make a small mark or label in an inconspicuous place when weaving bamboo pillows? This way, it can be distinguished whether it was made by you or someone else, and you won't have to worry about being blamed by others..."
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, Da Niu was taken aback for a moment, then seemed to have thought of something and replied with a look of surprise.
"Yes, Sister Yi, I... I have a way to mark it..."
Seeing Da Niu grin, revealing a set of bright white teeth, Han Yiyi couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.
Da Niu was genuinely happy, because the money he had earned from selling bamboo pillows in the past few days had added up to more than one tael of silver. He and Er Niu were both grown up and would be getting married in a few years.
With his family's circumstances, no girl would be willing to marry into the family. As a result, his mother's hair turned white from worrying about this. But ever since he started bringing home more than a hundred coins every day, his mother has been smiling more. Da Niu looked down at the various wounds on his hands. Although he was tired every day, he was very happy.
Sure enough, when Han Yiyi picked up the bamboo pillow the next day and examined it closely, she discovered a mark resembling a plum blossom in one corner. She wondered how he had done it; the mark was simply a darker color than the rest of the pillow. Han Yiyi couldn't help but marvel at the incredible craftsmanship.
Not only that, when Da Niu placed the bamboo pillow on the ground, Han Yiyi noticed that there were also several small animals woven from bamboo next to it, such as little rabbits and tigers.
Upon seeing this, Han Yi couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips, thinking to herself, "Not bad, it seems this business is improving..."
Perhaps because of the woman's outburst yesterday, Da Niu's business was significantly better today than before. He also knew that he would give away a doll to anyone who bought a children's bamboo pillow, so soon only three of the dozen or so bamboo pillows he brought were left.
Han Yiyi noticed that Da Niu's mouth had been constantly cracking open all day, and couldn't help but speak up.
"Da Niu is getting better and better at business; he even came up with the idea of giving away small animals..."
Hearing Han Yiyi's words, Da Niu actually raised his hand and scratched his head, speaking somewhat embarrassedly.
"This wasn't my idea; Sanni made me do it this way, saying that children all like this..."
As the two were still talking, they saw a man leading a woman and a child aggressively walking towards their stall. He was carrying a bamboo pillow in his hand. Han Yi frowned slightly upon seeing this.
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