Chapter 71 Shame (Xiao Xiu) Zhou Ye was holding her embroidered shoes...
After Lin Shu took two bites of the glutinous rice cake, she seemed to remember something and asked Zhang Qiaohua, "Aunt San, do you want to try one?"
Zhang Qiaohua sighed, "My dear niece, this is something Aye bought just for you. Keep it for yourself!"
Lin Shu's face flushed slightly after hearing what she said.
This glutinous rice cake was not only fried but also filled with sugar and sesame seeds. It was obvious that it was not cheap, and she naturally didn't want to share it with others. So she asked because she knew Third Aunt would refuse. If she were the thick-skinned person who would just agree to this, she wouldn't even ask.
Lin Shu couldn't help but glance at Zhou Ye, but saw that his expression was normal, without a trace of discomfort.
Everyone else would feel embarrassed after hearing what Aunt San said, right?
Zhou Ye didn't think there was anything to be ashamed of.
In his heart, Ah Shu is different from others, and he thinks she should eat good food.
Lin Shu nibbled the glutinous rice cake in her hand, while Zhou Ye took big bites of the steamed bun in his hand. He took big bites but moved slowly. After a few bites and a sip of the refreshing mung bean soup, his hungry stomach gradually felt relieved.
If it wasn't mealtime, he wouldn't let anyone know how hungry he was.
While Lin Shu was slowly chewing two pieces of glutinous rice cake, Zhou Ye had already finished five steamed buns.
Seeing that she had finished eating, Zhou Ye handed her the last steamed bun skewered on the bamboo chopsticks.
Lin Shu touched her stomach and said, "I have a small stomach and I'm already full. I can't eat this steamed bun."
"Then eat half and you share the other half."
Lin Shu could indeed still eat a little more, but her hands were sweaty after walking around all day, and they must be dirty from touching everything. How could she separate the steamed buns with her hands?
Zhou Ye noticed her hesitation and said, "Just eat it. Give me the leftovers."
Lin Shu's eyes suddenly became subtle.
Although the villagers were not so particular and it was normal to drink a bowl of water and eat a piece of cake together, but who was it that deliberately poured the mung bean soup from her bamboo cup to his own bamboo cup?
Why are you not so particular now?
The only difference between the two is that Zhou Ye drank directly from her bamboo tube, not sure whether her owner would dislike it, but she gave Zhou Ye the leftover steamed buns, and Zhou Ye was sure that she would not dislike it.
Lin Shu wanted to laugh as she thought about it.
Since Zhou Ye didn't mind that it was her leftovers, she had nothing to say. She picked up the bamboo chopsticks and started to nibble on the steamed bun.
After eating half of it, she couldn't eat anymore. Zhou Ye then took it over and ate the rest of the steamed bun in a few bites. He didn't look disgusted at all.
Lin Yushu did not eat alone. He gave one of the steamed buns given by Zhou Ye to Zhang Qiaohua. After finishing it, he ate some of the flatbread he brought from home.
The pancake was exactly the same as the one made by He Guixiang. It was obvious that she learned it from the old woman in the Lin family.
After quickly eating something to fill her stomach, Zhang Qiaohua said to Lin Shu and Zhou Ye, "The sun isn't so strong anymore, so it's a good time for you to go back to the village. I'll go back too after I sell these straw sandals."
Zhou Ye replied, "No rush. Ah Shu will take Old Man Liao's ox cart back. It's still early."
Although Old Man Liao's ox cart was waiting at the city gate early, it would usually not set out until the end of the Shen hour or the beginning of the You hour. At this time, the villagers who had gone to the market had already returned one after another, so it was indeed still early.
Lin Shu also said, "Aunt San, Aye and I will help you sell straw sandals for a while."
Zhang Qiaohua agreed, of course. "If you're not in a hurry to reply, Third Aunt will be happy to have someone to accompany her."
With someone to keep me company, time passed quickly while I sold shoes and chatted.
In fact, what Lin Shu had said to the proprietress in the handkerchief shop was not wrong. It was only after she lost her job embroidering handkerchiefs that she figured out the idea of selling straw sandals as a legitimate business.
Many villagers knew how to make things like straw sandals and cattail leaf fans, so few would buy them at the market. However, her straw sandals were particularly delicate, so a few villagers who couldn't weave them offered her copper coins to help make a couple of pairs. So, in her spare time, she would make some straw sandals and collect them to sell in town. However, like most people, her straw sandals were barely manageable.
Later, she stopped embroidering handkerchiefs and was really short of money, so she had an idea and went to the shoe store in the market.
The shoe shop has all kinds of shoes, even straw sandals are more expensive than those sold outside, but the straw sandals in the shop are more sturdy and more exquisitely woven.
When she asked about the price again, she found out that a pair of straw sandals could be sold for thirty cents, and some were as expensive as forty or fifty cents!
So she spent some money and went to the shoe store to buy two styles of straw sandals for men and women. After returning home, she took the straw sandals apart and tried to figure out how to weave them herself. In the end, she actually figured it out.
Now, the solid and tight straw woven men's shoes and the closed-toe straw woven women's shoes were all woven by her by imitating the straw shoes she bought, and their quality was no worse than those in the straw shoe shop.
From then on, her straw sandal stall was finally set up, and she gradually became more and more skilled in selling her goods, from being not very good at it at the beginning.
Just then, seeing two young women carrying baskets passing by, Zhang Qiaohua immediately called out, "Straw sandals for sale! Straw sandals for sale! Ladies, come and take a look at my straw sandals! They're just as good as the ones in the straw sandal shop!"
The two women did look over at the shoe stall, but they weren't very interested. They just glanced and left.
After shouting like this for a long time, some people didn't even look at the items. Some did ask for the price, but when they heard that Zhang Qiaohua didn't want to pay a penny, they immediately turned around and left.
The sun was no longer so strong, and more and more people were strolling around. The market had entered its second peak period. But among all the people, not a single one came to buy straw sandals.
Zhang Qiaohua's mouth was dry from shouting, so she quickly drank some water and sighed, "I won't make straw sandals next time. They're too hard to sell! I thought the weather was getting hotter, so they'd sell better than before, so I made a few more pairs, but I didn't expect all of them to be left over. But at forty cents a pair, I can't bear to buy them."
Lin Shu thought for a moment and asked, "Aunt San, are these straw sandals really worth a single copper coin?"
Zhang Qiaohua explained with a bitter face, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare. One time, I wanted to go back early, so I sold my last pair of straw sandals for thirty wen. The person who was buying the shoes before me somehow found out that I had sold them to someone else for thirty wen, so she came to me with the shoes and insisted that I give her ten wen less. When I didn't give her less, she scolded me for being a black-hearted scum who was trying to cheat people out of their money. After that, I never dared to give her less money again. Even if I sold a few pairs less, it was better than having that happen again."
Lin Shu smiled immediately. "No one in business is as honest as Third Aunt. I bought a lot of things today, and almost everything was a few cents short. Why is that? Because I bought a lot! Third Aunt, you can do the same. We don't charge a cent for one pair, so the price is still the same. But if someone buys two pairs at once, you can give him a 10% discount and sell it to him at 90% of the price. For more than three pairs, you can give him a 20% discount."
At this point, Lin Shu suddenly looked at Lin Yushu and asked, "Come, cousin Yushu, calculate how much each of these is."
Lin Yushu scratched his head and replied, "If you buy two pairs of men's shoes, the original price is 60 wen, and the 10% discount is 54 wen. If you buy two pairs of women's shoes, the original price is 80 wen, and the 10% discount is 72 wen. If you buy one pair each for men and women, the original price is 70 wen, and the discount is 63 wen. If you buy three pairs..."
Lin Shu praised her, then said to Zhang Qiaohua, "If it's less money, would Third Aunt be willing? Sell it back as soon as possible. You'll save money but save time. You can use the saved time to rest or weave new straw sandals. I think it's quite worthwhile."
Zhang Qiaohua nodded repeatedly after hearing this. "Good idea, Ah Shu. I'll do as you say!"
After thinking for a moment, Lin Shu said, "Aunt San, please lend me a pair of straw sandals so I can try them on as a sample."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiaohua immediately offered to give a pair to Lin Shu.
Lin Shu refused, but she couldn't outdo her Third Aunt. Thinking that her own worn shoes were indeed hard to sell, she accepted them.
After getting a pair of straw sandals for free, she became even more interested and said to Zhang Qiaohua with a smile, "Third Aunt, there are some tricks to hawking too. Look at me."
After she finished speaking, she raised her voice and said, "Come on, come on, uncles, aunts, sisters, come and have a look! My family's ancestral craftsmanship weaves these straw sandals. They're comfortable and cool, not stuffy at all. They're made of solid materials and are of top quality. They can be worn for a year or two! If you buy two pairs, you can get 90% of the price. If you buy three or more, it's 80%! The more you buy, the cheaper it is! There are only a few left, and if you wait, they'll be gone!"
As expected, this call attracted many people who came to ask for prices.
"Only women's shoes with closed toes are left. Business is good at the stall. I'll have to hurry up next time to buy men's shoes."
"A pair is forty cents, not a cent less, but if you buy two pairs, you can save eight cents!"
"Sister-in-law, you have a good eye. The pair I'm wearing are very nice, aren't they? Wearing these straw sandals is the coolest thing to do on a hot day. Sister-in-law, you're obviously from a well-to-do family in town. If you think wearing straw sandals isn't decent enough, you can wear them in your own little courtyard. The most important thing is to feel comfortable..."
Excluding the ones Lin Shu was wearing, two people bought five pairs of straw sandals, two pairs each, and they were sold out in an instant.
Some people who were slow to buy something asked her when she would set up her stall again, but the stall remained in the same place. Lin Shu patiently responded to all of them one by one, and with just her clever words she attracted a group of customers for Zhang Qiaohua in advance.
After the crowd dispersed, Lin Shu put her hands on her hips and asked with a smile, "Third Aunt, look, isn't this sold?"
Zhang Qiaohua was stunned.
Is it still possible to do this?
If she shouts and says the same thing next time, won’t everything be sold out in no time?
Lin Yushu was also surprised, and looked at Lin Shu's expression with even more admiration.
Sister Shu is not only good at studying, but also great at selling things!
Zhang Qiaohua was not in a hurry to leave because the stalls closed much earlier than she expected, and she could still go shopping in the grass market!
After hearing this, Lin Shu said, "Aunt San, please go by yourself. There are still quite a few vendors here right now. If it's any later, most of them will have left. Ask Ah Ye to take your cousin Yu Shu's brush, ink, paper, and inkstone back with you. You can come back to get them when you return to Tianshui Village."
"Okay, okay, thank you very much, Aye boy. You have a lot of stuff, so be careful on the road."
When Zhang Qiaohua and Lin Yushu went to Caoshi, Lin Shu looked back and saw that Zhou Ye was holding the pair of embroidered shoes she had just changed!
When Lin Shu was talking to Zhang Qiaohua just now, Zhou Ye didn't say a word, but his eyes were on Lin Shu the whole time, and he hardly moved away from them from the beginning.
Until Lin Shu suddenly turned around and looked at him, her eyes wide open, brighter than the stars in the night sky. "My shoes are just lying on the ground, why are you holding them? I'm sweaty from walking all day, and you don't mind the smell!"
Zhou Ye's pupils, which had hardly moved, trembled a little, and he explained, "These embroidered shoes don't look cheap, I'm afraid they'll be stolen."
After a pause, he added, "Ah Shu, the shoes don't stink."
Lin Shu's cheeks immediately turned slightly red. As if embarrassed and angry, she snatched the shoes from his hand with great force, turned her back, and quickly changed the straw sandals on her feet.
The straw sandals she had taken off were only worn once and were still clean, so she could hang them on the backpack so that she wouldn't have to hold them in her hands. She also couldn't ostentatiously hang a pair of embroidered women's shoes on Zhou Ye's backpack.
"Aye, please help me think about what I haven't bought yet."
Zhou Ye was wondering why she was suddenly angry, but when he saw her return to normal in an instant, he breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "It should be nothing. Ah Shu, I'll take you to the city gate."
"What are you sending me? Aren't you going back?"
Zhou Ye hesitated and said, "I have to come back later."
Lin Shu suddenly remembered that an aunt in the village had asked Zhou Ye to bring some needles and thread, and guessed that he was going to buy this. He hadn't bought it before, perhaps because he forgot?
When the two of them walked out of the town gate, Old Man Liao was already waiting at the door in a ox cart.
There were a lot more daily necessities on the ox cart than when he came here, and Old Man Liao looked like he had just taken a nap and was stretching.
Zhou Ye said hello to Old Man Liao and lent a hand to help Lin Shu onto the ox cart. "You sit on the ox cart for a while. We can leave once everyone is here."
Old man Liao said with a smile: "Yes, we can leave as soon as everyone is here. We can leave at the latest at 3 p.m."
"Aye, then you go back first. I'll carry the basket."
Zhou Ye returned the basket he had carried all the way to Lin Shu, but he did not leave immediately. Instead, he returned to the town and bought some more things.
When he came out again, he found a huge earthenware water jar on the backpack he was carrying.
The rope tied the water jar firmly to the backpack. The tying method seemed simple but the trick was hard to find. After tying it in this way, the water jar almost became one with the backpack and would never fall off.
Before Lin Shu could ask, Zhou Ye took the initiative to explain: "Uncle Miao's family needs to buy a water jar. If this thing is placed on the ox cart, it will inevitably bump and bang along the way. I told Aunt Miao that I would help her take the water jar back."
Only then did Lin Shu know how Zhou Ye got that "ticket".
She looked at the towering water jar behind Zhou Ye, her brows unconsciously furrowed, and an indescribable emotion surged in her heart.
Suddenly, she jumped down from the oxcart and said cheerfully, "Aye, I don't want to ride anymore. I'll walk back with you."
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