The only cloth shop in the town has a wooden door with mottled red paint and a faded plaque with "Zhang's Cloth Shop" hanging on the lintel, which gives it a sense of desolation.
Shen Qiqi walked briskly, as if stepping on colorful auspicious clouds, followed by a group of chattering women, like a group of warriors about to go on an expedition.
They are full of hope for the future, as if they see a new life beckoning to them, and the air is filled with excitement.
Pushing open the creaking wooden door, the smell of old fabric mixed with a faint musty smell hit me in the face.
In the dim shop, there was only a hunched figure sitting behind the counter, fiddling with the abacus beads.
Hearing the noise, the man slowly raised his head, revealing a shrewd face full of commercialism. It was Zhang, the owner of the cloth shop.
"Oh, isn't this the third daughter-in-law of the Lu family? What a rare guest! What brings you here today?" Boss Zhang greeted her with a forced smile, his eyes scanning the women behind her, as if he was assessing something.
Shen Qiqi got straight to the point: "Boss Zhang, I want to buy some cotton thread and cloth for hand-weaving."
"How much?" Boss Zhang
Shen Qiqi reported the quantity, and when Boss Zhang heard it, his eyes almost popped out. This number was enough for his sales for half a year!
He rubbed his hands, and the smile on his face became even more fake, "You need so much? This... the raw materials are in short supply recently, and the price..." He deliberately prolonged the ending tone, his eyes full of cunning.
As expected, the price Boss Zhang quoted was twice as high as usual!
When Shen Qiqi heard this, her eyebrows slightly frowned. This was clearly raising the price and taking advantage of the situation!
"Boss Zhang, your price is too outrageous, isn't it? It's not usually this price!" Shen Qiqi argued.
"Hey, daughter-in-law of the Lu family, you can't say that. In this world, what doesn't increase in price? This is my cost price. If you don't believe me, go ask other stores." Boss Zhang looked like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and it was obvious that he wanted to make a killing from them.
There was a tense atmosphere in the air, and the women began to whisper and talk to each other.
Aunt Wang couldn't help but mutter, "This is too expensive. How about... let's just forget it?"
When Uncle Lu's daughter heard this, she panicked, "No! We finally have this opportunity to make money, how can we give it up?"
Shen Qiqi took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in her heart. Her eyes rolled, and a plan came to her mind, "Boss Zhang, we really can't accept this price, but..." She paused deliberately, and a mysterious smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, "I heard..."
Shen Qiqi had a mysterious smile on her lips and lowered her voice to say, "I heard that a new textile factory has opened in the next county. The raw materials there are not only of good quality, but also half the price of yours!" When Boss Zhang heard this, his face suddenly changed, as if he had swallowed a fly.
He had also heard about the newly opened factory in the next county. If Shen Qiqi really purchased goods from there, then his business would be ruined!
He rolled his eyes, a calculating look flashing across his eyes. "Lu's wife, who told you that? Those are all rumors! The factory in the next county is still under construction and hasn't even started production!"
Shen Qiqi covered her mouth in feigned surprise, "Oh, no way! My friend saw it with his own eyes, and he said the cotton thread there is white and fine, much better than yours!"
Boss Zhang was anxious. "Don't listen to their nonsense! This is an authentic, established cloth shop. The quality is guaranteed! How about this? I'll give you a 10% discount. What do you think?"
Shen Qiqi remained unmoved. "10% off? Boss Zhang, are you treating beggars like this? The next county has a 50% discount! The gap is too big!" As she spoke, she shook her head and made a gesture to leave.
The women behind her also followed her out, deliberately talking loudly about how great the textile factory in the next county was, which made Boss Zhang so angry that his face turned green.
Boss Zhang saw that the cooked duck was about to fly away, so he made up his mind and said through gritted teeth: "80% discount! It can't be lower!"
Shen Qiqi stopped, turned around, and looked at him with a half-smile, "Boss Zhang, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
Boss Zhang's face was in pain, but in order to keep the business, he could only reluctantly agree, "Okay, okay, 20% off is 20% off! Mrs. Lu, you have to keep your word and buy from me from now on!"
Shen Qiqi smiled secretly in her heart, but remained expressionless, "That depends on your performance."
After leaving the cloth shop, Shen Qiqi did not take the women to the next county, but took them around in circles until they arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the town.
The warehouse door was rusty and surrounded by weeds, looking desolate and dilapidated.
The women looked at each other, confused and puzzled.
"Qiqi, what are we doing here?" Aunt Wang couldn't help but ask.
Shen Qiqi smiled mysteriously, pointed at the warehouse door and said, "There are treasures hidden in here!"
When I pushed open the heavy warehouse door, a smell of dust hit me in the face.
In the dim warehouse, there were some dusty sacks piled up, and you could vaguely see that they were cotton and some textile raw materials.
Shen Qiqi's eyes lit up and she ran over excitedly to check it out. The women around her also felt a glimmer of hope.
The warehouse owner was a gray-haired old man. After learning about Shen Qiqi's purpose, he shook his head helplessly, "Girl, these raw materials have already been reserved. I can only sell you a small portion."
A dejected atmosphere instantly enveloped everyone. Shen Qiqi bit her lip and said, "Master, can you think of a solution? We really need these raw materials."
The old man sighed, "There's nothing I can do. They've already paid the deposit..." He paused and pointed to a pile of messy sacks in the corner of the warehouse, "There are some leftover scraps over there. If you want them, I'll sell them to you at a discount."
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