The merchant, Lu, was riding in a carriage when he passed by An Sheng Ji. He glanced at it from afar and became increasingly angry.
'So she's the one who's making all the money.'
Jiang Wei also noticed that someone was quietly observing her shop not far away.
Seeing this, Jiang Wei secretly made a decision: she would find some time in the next couple of days to host a meal for them to discuss the business, and then ask her uncle to mediate.
Jiang Wei has been busy for two days in a row and hasn't had time to make arrangements for this matter yet.
Those who were envious of her business came to cause her trouble.
On this day, as soon as Jiang Wei arrived at An Sheng Ji, the crowd that had been queuing up seriously began to stir.
"Why did you take so long to arrive? You stay in the greenhouse and warm yourself up by the fire every day, while we have to queue up in this freezing cold every day. What are you up to? Do you want us to freeze to death? Can't you sell us more at once?"
"In this freezing weather, you're probably just pretending to sell goods, but you really want us to freeze to death!" A rough voice rang out from the crowd; it was Zhang Laosi from that day.
As Jiang Wei's carriage drove away into the distance, Zhang Laosi looked around to see if Jiang Wei's whip-wielding maid was there. He had been looking for her for several days, and now he finally had a chance.
He accepted the money, and the purpose of those who gave him the money was to get Jiang Wei to sell the goods in the shop quickly so that everyone would buy from their shop.
Several people in the crowd started to echo Zhang Laosi when they saw him start to lash out.
"Yes, can't we sell more? Every time we buy some to burn for a few days, we have to come back and queue up again. Who can stand it? Look at these old ladies, don't they want to keep warm at home? They have no choice but to come."
"That's right. It doesn't matter if you, the boss, are a woman and don't know how to do business. Just sell more to us so that they can rest at home."
Some women, unaware of the situation, thought that the men had genuinely had a change of heart and would consider their feelings, so they nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, please sell us more, boss! We will remember your kindness."
Old Zhang was smug, thinking, "My influence is still pretty good. I only said a few words, and these women are all speaking up for me."
He touched his mustache and grinned slyly. He glanced around and, finding no one watching him, felt relieved.
The old woman who sold wontons that day was not very tall and was hard to spot in the crowd, but she saw the sly smile on Zhang Laosi's face.
The old woman had been selling wontons on this street since she was young, and she knew the people living here very well. She knew exactly what kind of person Zhang Laosi was.
In addition, she still remembered Jiang Wei, the kind-hearted girl who bought all her wontons that day.
That day, not only did he buy her wontons, but he also wouldn't let her give him change for any extra money.
She couldn't let this rogue get away with it, so she raised her voice and said, "Old lady, I think this owner is very kind-hearted. On such a snowy day, we're all free anyway, so it's no big deal for us to come here and chat for a while."
It is a bit cold, but once we buy the charcoal and get home, we can grill it. The owner has three stalls, and with so many of us, the wait is only about 15 minutes.
Old Zhang glared at Granny Hua with hatred. "That old hag ruined my plans," he thought. "You're willing to wait? Go ahead and ask others if they're willing to wait."
He glared at Granny Hua again, as if to say, "You damned wife, shut up!"
Grandma Hua was also a little scared, after all, she and her eleven-year-old grandson were the only people in her family.
Seeing that she had stopped talking, Zhang Laosi said smugly, "Boss, you see no one is willing to suffer in this cold wind, so why don't you sell us the charcoal and grain?"
That way you can go home and rest, and wait for the New Year.
Jiang Wei remained silent and expressionless, simply staring at the crowd.
Seeing her like this, Zhang Laosi thought she was scared. "Quick, quick, quick, go and move all the goods out. I want to buy a thousand catties of charcoal and a thousand catties of grain."
When he bought a thousand catties, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. When did Zhang Laosi become so rich?
If they are all sold to him, what will happen to these people?
Grandma Hua mustered her courage and said, "We'll buy whatever the owner says. We're not afraid of queuing. Don't you all agree?"
If the charcoal and grain are sold out today, she doesn't know where else she can buy them at such a reasonable price.
She understands what others don't; she's not having an easy time earning money these past years, even though she runs a wonton stall.
She was worried that if business was too good, she wouldn't have enough wontons to sell, and she would lose money if she couldn't keep up with the demand. She was also worried that if she made too many, they wouldn't sell and would spoil in the hot weather, wasting the money she had worked so hard to save.
She didn't have much money saved up that winter. From that night when the north wind howled and the snow kept falling, she began to worry about how to buy enough grain and charcoal without spending all the money she had.
The next day, I heard from others that there was a shop here where the prices of goods had increased, but it was quite troublesome to buy them.
She smiled broadly; she wasn't afraid of trouble.
It hasn't been easy for her to raise her grandson alone all these years. Her biggest fear is not having any money. What if something happens in this kind of weather?
She refused to rest even on snowy days, just wanting to save more money for herself.
When she arrived, the owner was indeed kind and honest, treating everyone equally regardless of status or age, and she was overjoyed by the limited-edition purchase.
At this point, is there anything else you don't understand? Zhang Laowu just wants to steal all their grain and charcoal.
They couldn't stand it. "Old Zhang, where did you get so much money, you scoundrel? You didn't steal it, did you?"
“Tell us where your money came from. We don’t believe you became rich overnight. If you don’t tell us, we’ll report you to the authorities.”
The crowd was agitated; they stopped queuing and surrounded Zhang Laosi.
Those who want to take shortcuts quietly stand in the most advantageous positions without making a sound.
They remained silent and unperturbed, simply standing there, waiting for Zhang Laosi to be beaten up by the crowd, and if any silver coins fell from his body, they would quietly pick them up.
No one will know who took it. They need to buy a thousand catties of grain and a thousand catties of charcoal. That would cost a lot of silver notes.
Anyway, Zhang Laosi's money must have come from dubious sources, and in the end, no one took out the banknotes.
People might think he's just bragging, but who would actually believe him?
The angry man kept approaching Zhang Laosi, while the man who tried to take advantage of the situation also moved forward unskillfully.
Zhang Laosi was frightened and shouted, "What do you want? Don't come any closer!" He was the one who always harmed others, but now these people were all surrounding him.
He found a gap and squeezed through the crowd.
After Zhang Laosi's outburst, everyone belatedly realized why Jiang Wei had sold charcoal and grain in this way, and they were all extremely grateful.
They all lined up conscientiously, and their faces showed no impatience.
Jiang Wei didn't expect that Zhang Laosi's commotion would actually make everyone more harmonious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
