After agreeing on a time with the village chief, on the day of selling charcoal, before dawn, villagers began to lead their oxcarts to the charcoal storage facility.
After Lu Dahai got dressed, he took an oil lamp and went to unlock the factory building so that the villagers could load baskets of charcoal onto oxcarts to be transported to Luzhou County for sale.
Luzhou County is not close to the veterans' village, so they need to go to the market early to get a good spot.
Lu Qiqi, thinking about the village chief's task of leading the villagers to sell charcoal, also got up very early.
Before dawn, it was pitch black inside and outside the house. She reached for the tinderbox on the low cabinet in front of her bed, lit the oil lamp, and took it to wash up.
After Lu Qiqi finished washing up, she went to the kitchen, where Li handed her a piece of cake wrapped in a cabbage leaf.
Li told her to eat on the way and not to go hungry.
So, in the howling wind, Lu Qiqi sat on the oxcart, munching on a flatbread.
Her nose was almost numb from the cold when the sky began to lighten.
Led by Lu Dahai, the group passed through the random checks by the soldiers and entered Luzhou County.
Once inside the city gates, the villagers split into two groups: one group followed Lu Qiqi to the East Market to sell silver frost charcoal, while the other group followed Lu Dahai to the West Market to sell black charcoal.
On her first time selling charcoal, Lu Qiqi brought three carts of silver frost charcoal and seven carts of black charcoal to Luzhou County to sell.
Lu Qiqi's main purpose this time was to check the market situation. If someone wanted a large quantity, they could deliver it to their door; if they wanted a small quantity, they could sell it directly.
Before Lu Dahai led a group of villagers toward the West Market, Lu Qiqi pulled Lu Dahai aside and said, "Third Uncle, others sell for two coins a pound, but you sell for four coins a pound. Our charcoal is good, so don't worry about not being able to sell it."
"If someone thinks it's too expensive, just use a brazier to burn charcoal, and those who know what they're doing will naturally come to us to buy it."
"You don't need to worry about wasting charcoal. We'll sell it at a higher price, and we'll definitely make more money than the charcoal we burn."
Lu Dahai kept Lu Qiqi's words in mind and then led a group of people to the West Market.
Lu Qiqi then led Li Changlong, Li Dalang, and their group to the East Market.
The East Market is mostly comprised of high-end shops, so people like them who travel by oxcart to the East Market have to go early.
Otherwise they wouldn't let us in, because the government felt it was an eyesore.
Before entering the city, Lu Qiqi asked a shopkeeper where she could buy charcoal in the East Market.
The shopkeeper told her the location, and Lu Qiqi generously gave the shopkeeper three catties of silver frost charcoal.
The shopkeeper, having acquired such fine silver frost charcoal, gave Lu Qiqi even more detailed directions, wishing he could take Lu Qiqi and the others there himself.
Arriving at the alley in the East Market that specializes in selling charcoal, Lu Qiqi found a spot and paid the tax for setting up a stall.
They also sent ten catties of charcoal to the steward in charge of collecting taxes, hoping he could do them a favor in the next few days.
The reason Lu Qiqi didn't send the silver frost charcoal was because she was afraid the steward who collected the money would have his eye on it. That wouldn't be doing her a favor, but rather causing trouble for herself.
Lu Qiqi wouldn't do something so foolish.
After Lu Qiqi paid, several charcoal vendors gradually arrived in the alley.
It is said that competitors are enemies. They had been selling their charcoal in the alley of the East Market for many years. When they saw Lu Qiqi and her group of strangers selling charcoal, their eyes became somewhat hostile.
Lu Qiqi ignored her rivals, moved a small stool to sit down, and ate the remaining half of the pancake by herself.
The pancakes had cooled down and hardened. After eating them, Lu Qiqi felt a slight soreness in her cheeks.
Just as Lu Qiqi finished eating her pancake, a servant dressed in a gray short-sleeved shirt, who looked like a servant from a wealthy family, walked into the alley.
Only those who come here can buy charcoal. As Lu Qiqi watched the servant approach step by step, she felt that he was a walking money bag.
Lu Qiqi patted the crumbs off her hands, stood up, and prepared to greet the servant with a smile and call him over to buy charcoal.
"Young man, come and see my charcoal, top-quality silver frost charcoal, first grade." A tall, middle-aged man dressed in black was the first to greet the customer.
Lu Qiqi didn't want to steal business, so she awkwardly sat back down on the small stool.
The servant walked up to the tall, middle-aged man, fiddled with the charcoal in the bamboo basket, and asked, "How much is this charcoal?"
The middle-aged man said, "Two hundred coins for a basket, fifty catties for a basket."
The servant didn't intend to make a decision immediately and inquired at a few other places.
Finally, he asked Lu Qiqi, "How much does a basket of charcoal cost at your house?"
Li Dalang finally saw the person arrive and said, "Four hundred coins for a basket, that's fifty catties."
The servant was startled by Li Dalang's price and said with displeasure, "Are you robbing me? Selling it for so high a price!"
Li Dalang didn't care. He was extremely confident in the charcoal he burned. He had been burning charcoal for many years and knew the price of charcoal well.
Even if a first-grade silver frost charcoal sells for five hundred coins, it's not considered expensive!
The servant flicked his sleeves and cursed, "You're sick."
Then he returned to the middle-aged man who sold charcoal at the first shop, gestured a number with his fingers, and the middle-aged man nodded. The servant immediately ordered three hundred catties of charcoal and had the middle-aged man deliver it to his residence.
Li Dalang was bewildered when he was insulted for no apparent reason. He said to Lu Qiqi, "They're selling their charcoal so cheaply, at half the price we pay. This Silver Frost Charcoal is rare, why are they selling it so cheaply?"
When Lu Qiqi saw the middle-aged man driving an oxcart loaded with six baskets of charcoal, she followed the servant away.
He then said, "That servant asked around but didn't seem to care about the quality of the charcoal itself. In the end, he chose the cheapest charcoal to buy. Can you guess why?"
Li Dalang recalled how the servant had compared prices at three different shops, not comparing quality, and suddenly realized, "That servant wanted to embezzle the money his master was supposed to use to buy charcoal!"
That's right! Those two gestures the servant made just now really pushed the price down even further. To think that one hundred coins could buy a basket of fifty catties of first-grade silver frost charcoal was simply a pipe dream!
Lu Qiqi stared at the middle-aged man and the remaining baskets of charcoal that he had ordered to be guarded. She whispered, "Look at that charcoal. The outer layer is indeed silver frost charcoal. It's not top-grade, but it's acceptable. If you look closely, you'll find that the inside is all black charcoal!"
Following Lu Qiqi's words, Li Dalang observed carefully and indeed, as Lu Qiqi said, the middle-aged man was selling inferior charcoal as silver frost charcoal!
Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold it so cheaply, and they wouldn't have had the opportunity to negotiate with the servant, giving the servant a chance to line his own pocket!
Li Dalang said angrily, "Aren't they afraid of being discovered by their master for doing this?!"
Lu Qiqi shook her head, thinking that Li Dalang was still so naive at such a young age.
On second thought, Lu Qiqi felt a little envious of Li Dalang, who was so well protected by Aunt Fang.
Lu Qiqi said, "This servant is very skilled at doing this; it must not be the first time for him."
"This is not something you or I can interfere with. Let's just focus on selling our charcoal."
Hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Li Dalang gave up and went back to guard his charcoal, hoping that someone who knew its value would come to buy it.
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