"Mom, should we sell these dried radishes first or the eggs first?" Dashan asked.
Zhou and Fang discussed it and decided that it was a bit early to go to Fuqiu Lane, so they decided to go to the market and find a place to set up their stall and sell eggs for a while. The two of them would share a stall, and when they went to Fuqiu Lane to sell eggs, they would ask Dashan to help watch over the stall.
They found the market manager at a stall at the intersection. The stall cost 3 cents for half a day and 5 cents for a full day. Zhou said he couldn't set up the stall for half a day and asked if 2 cents would be ok. He was decisively rejected. They had no choice but to pay three copper coins, find an empty space, put the frames there and start selling.
"Your mother has to bargain with people every time she comes here. This has always been the rule of this market, but she just likes to go against people." Fang seemed a little helpless.
"Who said that? One time, I only charged two cents." Zhou snorted, "I think it depends on the person. If the person is good, you can get two cents. Unfortunately, there are not many good people."
Chunxiao laughed at the side, "Mom, Aunt Fang is right, we all follow the rules, it has nothing to do with whether the person is nice or not."
"I see you guys are used to being good people. So a copper coin is not a copper coin? You should save as much as you can," she said, looking at the scattered stalls around. Most of them were selling vegetables, and some were selling chickens and ducks.
"Chunxiao, I'll take you to the blacksmith shop first. I'll let your brother look after the stall." She moved her things forward and looked at Fang. "Sister Fang, you help Dashan keep an eye on it. I'll be back soon. When I come back, we'll go to Fuqiu Lane together."
Fang agreed readily.
"Mom, these eggs are one cent each, and how much are these dried radishes?" Dashan doesn't come to the market often, so he's not very clear about the prices.
"It depends on the situation. If you meet a wealthy steward, he'll charge 3 cents per pound. If you meet a haggard one, he'll charge 2 cents. If you can't make up your mind, ask your Aunt Fang. Mother is gone."
Zhou took Chunxiao out of the market area. They were almost hit by a bullock cart on the road, which scared Chunxiao.
“This market is really messy.”
"How can you buy anything if you don't mix it up? Didn't you often come to the market when you were at your in-laws' house?"
"I don't come here often. Most of the time it's my mother-in-law who comes. The Zhou family's place is far away and requires a bullock cart. It costs two cents per person per trip. It's not cost-effective if there are too many people coming."
Zhou snorted coldly, "I think they'll get away with kicking you out! From now on, every penny will be spent carefully. They'll suffer."
"Mom, why are you bringing them up again? How far is the blacksmith shop from here?"
"It's not far, just a few alleys. Just follow me." Before they reached the blacksmith shop, they passed a cotton workshop. Zhou stopped and walked in with Chunxiao.
"Good morning, both of you." A middle-aged woman hurried over upon seeing them enter. "Would you like to see the mattress?"
Zhou walked around inside. A worker was playing with a quilt nearby, the sound of bowstrings twanging. "How much are your mattresses?"
Chunxiao thought the sound of beating cotton was quite pleasant, like string music.
"How many kilograms do you want for your mattress? We have thin mattresses of 4 and 5 kilograms, and the thickest is 8 kilograms. We are very fair in our business here. Cotton is 45 wen per kilogram, and handmade is 8 wen per kilogram. If you calculate based on a 5-jin mattress, that would be 265 wen per quid. It all depends on how heavy you want it, sister-in-law."
"You want 45 wen per jin of cotton? Didn't cotton used to be 40 wen per jin? Your cotton is too expensive."
The woman was not annoyed when she heard this. "Sister-in-law, if you think our cotton is too expensive, you can buy your own cotton here. We still charge 8 cents per pound for manual labor. It's up to you what you choose."
Zhou frowned and looked at Chunxiao, "Let's go to the blacksmith shop first. Once we've settled things there, we can come back and buy a mattress."
Chunxiao nodded wisely.
The two men said goodbye to the woman and left the cotton workshop.
"This boss is such a rip-off! She's charging 45 wen for cotton that costs 40 wen, which is 5 wen more per pound. I'd be stupid to buy from her. Let's go to a few cotton shops in town and ask around. We can pick the cheaper ones and buy a few more pounds."
The fact is that they were soon slapped in the face. After visiting several shops in the town, they found that the cheapest cotton was 45 wen per jin, and some were 50 wen per jin. "Mom, now that the weather is cold, there are more people demanding cotton, so the price will naturally go up. Maybe you can buy it for 40 wen in hot weather."
Zhou sighed, "The less money you have, the less you spend it. Well, it seems that shop is quite reasonable. We'll buy it there later." They walked around a few alleys, and Chunxiao finally saw the blacksmith shop her mother mentioned.
Zhou asked the shop owner about the price of iron pots. Iron pots come in different sizes. The cheapest medium-sized pot they use for cooking costs one tael of silver, and it takes six days to get the goods. If you want a ready-made one, it will cost one tael and two cents of silver.
The family usually uses two pots for cooking and boiling water, but in Chunxiao's case, she would definitely only need one pot for the time being. After discussing with Chunxiao, Zhou decided it would be more cost-effective to pre-order it, since they would be eating at home these days anyway. After asking about the pot, Zhou also asked about the price of the kitchen knife. The knife would cost 600 wen, and it also needed to be pre-ordered, and it would be delivered in about 4 days.
Money had to be paid in advance. Zhou gave the owner one tael and six qian of silver and agreed to pick up the goods six days later. The iron shop owner gave them a receipt, and the deal was done. After ordering the pot, the two returned the same way and went to the cotton workshop again.
The woman had expected them to come again. "Well, sister-in-law, do you want to make the mattress?"
"Do you have it in stock? Is the price the same?" I need to use this mattress right away and can't wait.
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