Wei Xiang Zhai was crowded with customers, and a few people who heard the Chen family shouting were attracted by the cheap prices.
"Is your food really as good as Weixiangzhai's? And cheaper?" an old woman asked.
Elderly people like her are used to being frugal.
When the guests arrived, Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Xiao Chen, and Mrs. Chen's two sons greeted them.
"Auntie, our pickles are absolutely delicious and cheap! Pickled vegetables are only twelve coins a jar, sauerkraut is eight coins, and pickled meat and fish are thirty coins a jar. If you don't want the jar, you can get a two-coin discount."
Wei Xiang Zhai's pickled vegetables cost thirty coins a jar.
"May I try some?" the old woman asked.
"Yes, can we try some?"
The Chen family, mother and sons, knew the nature of their pickled vegetables; if they tasted them, the pickles would definitely not sell. Adhering to the principle of selling them to customers as soon as possible—after all, there were many more customers in Niushan County than just these few—Mrs. Chen said:
"We can't let you taste it, but we can weigh it out for you; we'll sell even half a jar."
They even sell half a jar.
Those who wanted to try it couldn't be asked anymore. Anyway, we bought half a jar, and if it wasn't good, we wouldn't come back next time.
Seeing that some elderly people were illiterate and did not know how to use scales, Chen deliberately shortchanged the half-pound of pickled vegetables by an ounce, a practice known as "playing with the scale."
She even thought herself clever.
Chen's Pickles Shop quickly made a lot of money from its pickles.
Mrs. Chen sat with her two sons and daughters-in-law, counting copper coins.
Niu Andao, the eldest son of the Chen family:
"Mom, this is two hundred and forty-five hundred coins! This is real money!"
Chen said smugly, "That's right! When we finish work tonight, we'll go to the market in town and pick up some old and rotten vegetable leaves. Tomorrow, your wife and I won't come up here. The three of us will stay home and make pickles, while you two brothers sell them here. We'll definitely sell more than here!"
Niu An said, "I understand, Mom."
The pots and jars at Chen's Pickles Shop were not washed, and the next day they continued to use the unwashed pots and jars to store vegetables.
Wei Xiang Zhai is two or three times larger than Chen Ji, and it closes work later. Although the pickled vegetables can be stored for a long time without any problems, in the first ten days or so, they couldn't accurately control the amount of cold dishes and braised dishes.
This resulted in the shop having a small amount of leftover cold dishes and braised dishes for more than ten days in a row. The two young men who were brought in from Niushan Village said:
"Boss, if we take the leftover braised and cold dishes home to eat every day, won't we lose money? It's only a day apart anyway, and the customers won't be able to tell the difference."
"Whether it's being a person or doing business, one should always prioritize honesty. Even if some people can't tell the difference, leftover food should never be sold to customers. There's always a difference between leftover food and fresh food." "I don't care how others do business, but we can't be like them. Besides, we have much less left now than we did in the first few days, don't we?"
"Make less tomorrow. It's better to run out of stock and make less, even if it means losing the money of one or two people, than to sell something that's gone bad, understand?"
Niu Da said.
Little Fu Bao looked at his father with eyes full of admiration. Although his father didn't like doing business, he was a natural businessman.
The number of people who come to buy pickles and braised dishes each day is not very consistent; sometimes there are many, and sometimes there are a few.
Yesterday we had an extra pound of braised pig's trotters and two pounds of cold dishes. We won't have any extra pickled vegetables because they can be stored for a long time.
"I heard that the Chen's Pickles Shop that opened across the street these past two days is owned by Aunt Chen. They collect old and rotten leaves from the market every day to make their own. The old leaves are fine, they're still edible, but can you eat the rotten leaves?"
"Our shop is still the best. All the vegetables are made with fresh, tender leaves. Uncle Niu's family even keeps the vegetables made with the older leaves for their own family."
The two employees discussed this as they tidied up the table.
Chen Yu said:
"I doubt their shop will last long."
A few days later, Chen's Pickles Shop ran into trouble.
Niu Xiaomei, who was also heavily pregnant, was buying pickles from her brother and sister-in-law when she heard a commotion across the street. "Sister-in-law, what's going on at Chen's?"
The fish peeked out and said:
"Something must have happened. Most of their pickles are rotten vegetable leaves picked up from the market and the countryside, some even found in the garbage their family rummaged through." "You're in your period, so definitely don't go there."
Niu Xiaomei said:
"I understand, sister-in-law."
"You and the girls sit in the shop to avoid being bumped into by the crowd and causing trouble. You can also listen to the commotion, but don't go to watch."
"Madam Chen, what's going on across the street?" Many customers who came to buy pickles asked curiously. They heard dozens of people sitting on the ground across the street, their families surrounding Chen's Pickles Shop.
"This is a heartless shop. Everyone who ate there got sick. My child had diarrhea and became completely dehydrated. He's still unconscious. My elderly mother is in the same boat."
"Everyone got sick after eating their pickles."
"I ran into them at the market this morning and found out they were using rotten vegetable leaves from the market, soaking them until they smelled terrible. The rotten vegetable leaves they sell are bitter and astringent, and eating them gives you diarrhea. They're nowhere near as good as Weixiangzhai's." "We've never had any problems buying Weixiangzhai's pickles."
"So that's how it is. Luckily, the pickles I bought from them a few days ago haven't been eaten yet. I only tasted one, and it had a sour and rotten smell. At first, before I tasted it, I thought it was the sour smell on my own body. I threw it away immediately after tasting it!"
Some people throw away the pickled cabbage and preserved vegetables they buy from Chen Ji as soon as they open the package, while others, who can't bear to throw them away, just eat them anyway.
"Pay up! If you don't pay up and get our family members treated, we'll smash up your pickle shop!"
The Niu brothers were so frightened that they hid inside the shop and didn't even dare to open the door.
Fifteen asked, "Brother, what should we do?"
“We’d rather die than open the door. I don’t believe they can actually break in! It’s all Mom’s fault for insisting on running this stupid pickle shop. Do we even have the ability to do that?” Niu An said.
He underestimated the strength of dozens of men; the door broke down in an instant.
Niu An had no choice but to pull Shiwu up, and said with a grin, "Don't be angry, everyone, we'll compensate you, we'll compensate you! We'll go with you to the pharmacy right now to find out the cause of the poisoning."
Niu An took all the money out of the drawer and went to the pharmacy.
When Chen's mother and her two children arrived at the pharmacy, they were still very arrogant. "What makes you so sure that the problem was caused by eating our pickles?"
The leader held up a jar, pointed to the words on it, and said, "Is this your family's Chen's Pickles Shop sign?"
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