Holding two skewers of braised meat, I ran up to an old lady selling eggs and sweetly called out, "Grandma, let me show you how delicious our braised meat is."
The old lady happily accepted it: "How could it not be delicious? My husband loves this. Last time I bought two skewers and he loved them so much. It's just that the price is a bit..."
It seemed the old woman knew what was going on. She ran back to Jiang's mother, took two skewers of braised meat, and gave them all to the old woman. Watching the old woman eat with relish, she tentatively asked:
"Grandma, do you know why there's no one at our stall today? We've known each other for a long time, and you know we usually have a lot of people lining up here. Why is there nobody here today?"
"Young lady, since you've given this old woman meat, I'll tell you why they don't come to you anymore. It's because they've already bought from you."
Er Ya was shocked: "What? We already bought it, but we just arrived!"
The old lady whispered mysteriously in Er Ya's ear, "This morning, a mother and daughter-in-law came by selling the same things as you, two skewers for one cent, much cheaper than yours."
People who were originally waiting to buy your stuff all rushed to buy her stuff as soon as they heard that the same thing was half the price.
That can't be right. At this time of year, offal shouldn't be so common. Could someone have made the same braised meat?
"Grandma, did you taste their meat? Is it the same as ours?"
The old lady shook her head: "No, there were too many people. By the time I squeezed to the front, they were all sold out."
"Thank you, Grandma. I won't disturb your business any longer. I'm going to find my mother."
When the situation was explained to Lin Jianguo and Jiang's mother, the two of them immediately wilted like eggplants after a frost.
Jiang's mother asked anxiously, "What should we do? So many have been made! Who is trying to steal our business?!"
Er Ya comforted Jiang's mother: "Mom, don't worry. At worst, we can sell the stuff to Brother Qian Lu, who can use it at his restaurant. Or we can just take it home and eat it."
"There's so much food, how long will it take to eat it all?"
Lin Jianguo persuaded Jiang's mother, "Alright, let's put the things out first and see how much we can sell."
After waiting for quite a while, only two or three people arrived. Er Ya simply told Lin Jianguo to pack up the stall and stop wasting time there, since it looked like they wouldn't be able to sell everything by nightfall.
The three people came excitedly, but left disappointed.
After arriving at the restaurant, Qian Lu finally had a moment to spare. Looking up and seeing their unhappy expressions, he asked in confusion:
"What happened to you? You look like you've been robbed!"
Er Ya said angrily, "It's even more infuriating than being robbed! Our business has been stolen, and they even deliberately lowered their prices. We haven't sold anything today."
"Is that all? Is it worth worrying about? I'll take care of everything you have. We can do a promotion for them tonight. If they spend enough, we'll give them a few skewers of braised meat."
I'm just an ordinary business genius!
"But we've solved the problem of braised meat today, but we won't be able to sell braised meat in the future. Our ingredients are so expensive, if we sell it at a lower price, we won't make any profit."
That's a difficult problem, as it relates to future customer acquisition.
Seeing how anxious and upset Er Ya's family was, Qian Lu didn't know what to do: "How about I ask my dad to find a few people to stop them from selling things in the market?"
“How can that be? Even though they are unkind, I can’t bring myself to retaliate against them. Besides, even if your father hires someone, what reason can he give? He can’t just drive them away while they’re doing their business. That wouldn’t be good for your father’s reputation.”
Qian Lu thought it made sense: "Then what should we do? Why don't you just supply me with the meat? My restaurant can handle that much braised meat."
Er Ya shook her head: "We need to find out who's behind this, otherwise it will happen again. We can't be on guard against villains every day."
Seeing the family looking dejected, Qian Lu wanted to lighten the mood: "Didn't you want to buy bicycles? Why don't we go look at bicycles first?"
Jiang's mother said, "Business is already tough, are you still going to buy a bicycle?"
Lin Jianguo also looked at Er Ya and asked for her opinion.
Er Ya slapped her thigh: "Buy, of course we have to buy! Even if this deal falls through, we can still do other business!"
The government immediately advocated encouraging people to do business, and the iron rice bowl of factory jobs will gradually be phased out. A large number of people will go into business. Haven't you seen how much freer they are now? In the past, they wouldn't even let you set up a stall.
She must seize this opportunity and strive to become the richest person in the world.
Since their daughter had spoken, Lin Jianguo and Jiang's mother also agreed to buy it. After all, listening to their daughter was always the right thing to do.
"Er Ya, wait a moment. I'll have the cashier give you the money for the wild boar meat. That should be enough to buy a second-hand bicycle."
In a short while, the money was returned—two hundred and thirty yuan. Qian Lu handed the money to Er Ya.
"Look, you've got the money for the bicycle now, don't worry. Our restaurant business is getting better and better, and you'll get your share of the profits."
Holding the money in her hand, Er Ya felt comforted; money was the most practical thing to do.
Qian Lu then took them to look at bicycles, chattering on and on: "Er Ya, that shop owner is my relative. When you see one you like, give me a look and I'll negotiate the lowest price for you."
"Okay, I understand. It all depends on you, Brother Qian Lu."
When they arrived at the bicycle shop, Qian Lu went to call for help, while Er Ya's family wandered around the house, observing the bicycles.
Nowadays, bicycles are still divided into brands such as Phoenix, Flying Pigeon, and Forever. The "28-inch" bicycle is actually a bicycle with a 28-inch wheelbase.
With sturdy, durable, and heavy-duty equipment, it can carry a load of over 200 kilograms. Including people and goods, a vehicle can easily carry 700 kilograms.
Er Ya immediately spotted a brand-new Phoenix bicycle: "Mom, how about this? Dad can easily carry me and you. When we get there, we can weld two racks next to the back seat so we can carry a lot of things."
Jiang's mother liked it at first sight. Riding this bicycle back to her parents' home would certainly make her look quite impressive. She just didn't know how much it cost, so she hesitantly asked Er Ya:
"Didn't you say we'd just buy an old one? Why are you eyeing a new one now?"
To be continued!
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