Chapter 51 Zhao Ergou miscalculated the accounts
"Only ten free samples are available, first come, first served!"
Ten bowls of ice jelly were laid out in a line on the table, their pink porcelain flowers and pale yellow jelly crystal clear in the sunlight.
One man, who was already unbearably hot, picked up a bowl and gulped it down, only to be immediately stunned.
"Damn it, what is this stuff? It tastes like ice, but sweeter!" The man wiped his mouth. "Give me a bowl!"
Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "This is ice jelly, three coins a bowl."
Hearing that it would cost three coins, the man hesitated for a moment, then thought that in some post stations a bowl of plain water would cost one coin. This thing must have brown sugar in it, and it was ice-cold, so it tasted especially refreshing. Three coins wasn't too expensive.
The man pulled three sweaty copper coins from his pouch and threw them on the table: "Hurry up and give me a bowl, this awful weather is unbearably hot."
Cheng Wanwan accepted the copper coin without any hesitation and called out, "San Niu, bring me a bowl of ice jelly!"
Zhao Sanniu quickly washed the tasting bowls, then ladled out a bowl of cool ice jelly and handed it to the man.
The man didn't even use a spoon; he just grabbed the bowl and gulped it down, saying with relish, "This stuff is even more refreshing than ice. If it were cheaper, I'd really like another bowl."
The man seemed to be enjoying himself, which attracted the attention of other men, and soon the stall was surrounded by a crowd.
Cheng Wanwan took the money, instructed Zhao Sanniu to serve the ice jelly, and then said to the eldest and second eldest brothers, "Just follow the same procedure as before, do you two remember?"
Zhao Dashan nodded: "Mother, I know everything."
Zhao Ergou picked up a bucket of ice jelly and said impatiently, "Mom, let's go first."
The two brothers set off for the West Wharf, afraid that arriving late would delay their business.
Zhao Sidan obediently helped add brown sugar or hawthorn to the ice jelly, though he was a bit flustered.
Zhao Sanniu kept serving ice jelly until his hands felt like they weren't his own, until a boat stopped on the river.
The drought has been prolonged, and the riverbed has sunk, so fewer and fewer boats are coming to Hekou Town. As soon as one boat stops, all the men rush over like lightning.
Only a thin layer of shaved ice remained in the bucket, yet in just half an hour, more than a hundred bowls were sold, earning over three hundred coins.
"Pack your things, let's go find Da Shan and Er Gou."
Cheng Wanwan dismantled the temporary table, planning to take it to the entrance of Nanfu Academy later and set it up again for continued use.
Zhao Sanniu asked, puzzled, "There were a lot of people who wanted to buy ice jelly just now. They should have come over after they finished unloading their goods. Why are they leaving so early?"
As Cheng Wanwan packed up the items, she said, "This is called scarcity marketing. When something is always in supply, they don't think much of it. But when it's about to run out of stock, they'll rush over as fast as they can when we come back, and we can finish up in the shortest amount of time."
Zhao Sanniu seemed to understand but not quite, and silently went to clear the table.
Zhao Sidan blinked and said, "Mom, someone just bought seven bowls of ice jelly in one go, how did you know so quickly that it would cost twenty-one coins?"
He was still counting on his fingers, but he didn't have enough fingers, so he was quietly looking for his toes to help him. His mother had already silently put the twenty-one coins into her pocket.
Cheng Wanwan discovered that this boy was very observant; even in the midst of his frantic activity, he could still notice such details. She smiled and said, "This is arithmetic. My maternal grandmother used to run a small business and learned how to do arithmetic quickly. I've also learned a little bit. Do you want to learn?"
Zhao Sidan nodded vigorously: "I want to learn!"
Cheng Wanwan looked at Zhao Sanniu, who was working diligently, and said, "You should learn from him too."
Zhao Sanniu: "..."
He didn't want to learn arithmetic at all; it gave him a headache just thinking about it.
The mother and her two children walked to the west pier, which was a little smaller than the east pier, but it was still very crowded.
As soon as a boat left, a group of men surrounded the stall, and Zhao Dashan and Zhao Ergou were so busy they barely had time to breathe.
Zhao Sanniu quickly said, "I'll go help my eldest and second brothers!"
Cheng Wanwan stopped him: "Let's see how they do business first."
Zhao Ergou was in charge of greeting customers and collecting money, while Zhao Dashan was in charge of serving ice jelly and cleaning up the tableware. The two worked together quite well.
A burly man led a group of his men over: "Give me nine bowls of ice jelly!"
Zhao Ergou was immediately stumped. He knew by heart that the maximum amount a person could order was three bowls, which cost nine coins. But how was he supposed to calculate nine bowls of ice jelly? The customer was waiting to pay, and Zhao Dashan was waiting to serve the ice jelly. Several pairs of eyes were staring at him. He was extremely anxious and blurted out, "Twenty-three coins in total, brother, nine bowls of ice jelly!"
"Okay!"
Zhao Dashan has already started working.
A man behind him burst out laughing: "Young man, how did you calculate that? Nine bowls of ice jelly is twenty-seven, how come you shortchanged me by four coins?"
The man who ordered nine bowls of ice jelly snorted, "He said it was twenty-three, so it's twenty-three coins. I'll leave it here!"
He threw down twenty-three copper coins with a clatter.
Zhao Ergou was filled with regret. He had miscalculated and earned four coins less. How could he be so stupid!
He stared blankly at the copper coins on the table, momentarily unsure whether he should ask for the four coins back. If he couldn't, it wouldn't matter; he could simply not sell it...
Just as he was struggling with this dilemma, a clear voice rang in his ears.
Cheng Wanwan walked over with a warm smile: "My son is illiterate and can't do arithmetic. I'm sorry for making you laugh. He made a mistake, so he should take responsibility for it. I can't let you pay any more money. Dashan, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring out nine bowls of ice jelly."
Zhao Dashan immediately got to work, and Zhao Ergou, looking ashamed, went to help.
"This lady is a very open and honest person."
With that kind of attitude, how could you possibly fail to make a business?
"..."
The surrounding praise attracted another group of people to buy ice jelly, and the bucket of ice jelly was quickly sold out.
Zhao Ergou looked uneasy: "Mother, I shortchanged you by four coins. Will you punish me by not letting me eat?"
“You’re my own son, how could I let you go hungry?” Cheng Wanwan laughed. “As for the accounting, let Dashan or Sanniu handle it. They could probably save you forty coins. You’ve already done a great job. Don’t blame yourself. Think about what you want to eat later, meat buns, noodles, or wontons?”
Zhao Ergou was so ashamed that he forgot about his food and asked, "Mother, are you really not angry with me?"
“If you had studied arithmetic and still made such a mistake, you would definitely be punished. But you’ve never been exposed to it before, so it’s normal to make mistakes,” Cheng Wanwan comforted her. “Don’t worry, Mother will teach you. Don’t think about it. Let’s pack up and go to Nanfu Academy. After we sell everything, we’ll go eat. We made quite a bit today, so eat whatever you want!”
The atmosphere finally livened up.
Zhao Dashan carried the last bucket of ice jelly, Zhao Ergou carried the wooden planks, Zhao Sanniu carried the water buckets and tableware, and Zhao Sidan held a bag of pastries in his hand... This was the reward that Cheng Wanwan had promised him yesterday.
The mother and her five children soon arrived at the Nanfu Academy.
It was right after morning classes ended, and the students were coming out for some fresh air.
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