Chapter 11: Going to the Market
The Jiaoxian Fair is held on the third and eighth day of every month in the county town.
Jiaoxian Market is located in the south of Jiaoxian City, closer to Wutong Village, about eight or nine miles away.
All the surrounding villages will come to this big fair, and it will be as lively as the New Year with people coming and going.
The market in Jiaoxian Fair is full of fixed stalls, half-person-high cement platforms, where the goods are displayed neatly and beautifully. The vendors selling goods in the market pay stall fees and management fees once a year, which amount to 800 yuan a year.
Small vendors who do not have fixed stalls set up stalls on both sides of the road at the market entrance and also have to pay stall fees.
The market manager will charge a fee based on the size of the stall, ranging from 50 cents to 2 yuan.
Su Jiaojiao didn't have a bicycle, so she had to walk.
Two days ago, she rode her bicycle to the morning market, but was so busy that she didn't have time to appreciate the scenery along the road. Today, she deliberately walked a little earlier to enjoy the scenery along the way. Just after leaving the village, there were vast corn fields, lush and green.
There are almost no cars on the dirt road. People mostly travel by bicycle, and some people drive ox carts and walk leisurely on the roadside.
As we approached the city, the roadside scene changed from cornfields to rows of houses, and the dirt road to concrete roads. The closer we got to the market, the more crowded the roads became. Groups of old men and women weaved carelessly among the bicycle traffic, raising dust and making a lot of noise.
Su Jiaojiao walked and stopped, and it took more than an hour before she arrived at the market.
She didn't rush to set up her stall. She first went for a walk around the market and learned about the prices of hair ornaments there. Then she found a roadside stall near the market entrance, set up her stall, spread a piece of black cloth on the ground, and piled the finished hair ornaments on the cloth.
Last night, she and Chen Guilan worked until midnight to finish making the hair ornaments. They counted more than 260 of them in total. The cost was not much, so they just made some money for their work.
Chen Guilan had to work in the fields during the day and couldn't come with her to sell goods, so she had to do it alone.
For Chen Guilan, going to the market is a luxury.
The wholesale price of this kind of hair flower in Hualian Department Store is 20 cents each, and the retail price in the big market is 50 cents each, or two for one dollar. She wants to sell it as soon as possible, so she has to sell it cheaper than others. Only by recovering the funds quickly can she raise enough money for tuition.
To this end, she even wrote a price tag on a cardboard shell, fifty cents for one, one dollar for three, to attract the attention of young girls and wives passing by.
Her hair ornaments are impeccable from fabric to workmanship.
It is real value for money.
If she could sell them all, she could probably get more than 80 yuan, and after deducting the 15 yuan cost, she could still make more than 60 yuan.
Su Jiaojiao is still very confident about this.
There is nothing special about her hair ornaments, it is just a very common style, but the fabric and quality are remarkable, plus it is cheap, young girls and wives only spend one dollar each to buy it.
In less than two hours, half of them were sold.
The old lady selling radishes next to her was stunned and kept praising her for her business skills. Su Jiaojiao was also very happy. When she saw that the old lady's two baskets of radishes were not yet sold, she had to say modestly: "My capital is expensive, but I sell them cheaply. I make a small profit but quick turnover!"
"You're so young, yet you're already thinking about doing business. You're really sensible." The old lady, wearing a blue headscarf and a simple smile on her face, took a green radish from the basket, peeled it, and handed it to her. "You look so hot. Eat a radish to quench your thirst."
"No, you're selling it." Su Jiaojiao was very touched and took out a dollar, "I'll buy yours!"
The old lady is about the same age as Xu Yuxiang.
He is a very simple old man, thin and dark, with a hunched back and a kind look in his eyes.
"What are you talking about!" The old woman seemed angry and pushed the money she handed over away, scolding her, "These are radishes I grow myself. I even share some with my neighbors when I meet them on the road. I'm giving them to you without asking for money. I'm telling you, I have no trouble selling these radishes. People who come to the market only come to buy them when they're leaving."
"Thank you, Auntie." Su Jiaojiao had no choice but to take it. The radish was delicious, spicy with a hint of sweetness, crispy and very thirst-quenching. After eating the radish, she helped the old lady to shout: "Fresh radish, crispy and sweet, everyone come and try it."
The old lady also shouted: "Come and see the flowers, they are beautiful and cheap."
The old man and the young man looked at each other and laughed so hard that they bent over.
Su Jiaojiao was very happy to have such a neighbor. When no one was buying hair ornaments, she would chat with the old lady. The old lady recommended that Su Jiaojiao work in a garment factory: "Garment factories are hiring now, and there is a lot of work. If you want to go, go to Jiali Garment Factory. My son works there. The factory is very profitable and pays a salary every month!"
"Auntie, I still have school to go to, so I can't go!" Su Jiaojiao replied with a smile. The Jiali Garment Factory was where she worked in her previous life. Her master, Qin Shuang, was the sales manager and treated her very well. Later, they went to the imperial capital together...
"You want to go to school and still do business?" The old lady was a little surprised, then patted her hand and praised her without asking any more questions, "My dear girl, you are such a sensible and good child."
Su Jiaojiao looked at the old lady's amiable face, and an idea popped up in her mind: it would be great if her grandmother Xu Yuxiang had the same personality. She longed for family affection and didn't want to have such a quarrel with her family. Unfortunately, she didn't have such a grandmother.
Around ten o'clock in the morning, more and more people came to the market, and the old lady's radishes began to sell one after another. Many old customers came to buy the old lady's radishes. Su Jiaojiao then learned that the old lady's surname was Liu, and she was a long-time owner of the market and had several acres of vegetable garden at home.
By noon, Su Jiaojiao had more than 30 hair ornaments left. After deducting the cost, she had earned more than 50 yuan in total. Now she had 100 yuan in cash. There was still a week before school started, so she could go to the market again. Then she could make some other ornaments and sell them on weekends. Her tuition would be no problem at all.
Aunt Liu had only half of her two baskets of radishes left. She weighed them and told Su Jiaojiao with experience, "Xiao Su, let's wait a little longer. Those people who went to work will be off soon. Once they come, we can sell all our goods."
Su Jiaojiao believes in Aunt Liu's experience.
She didn't feel hungry when she was busy just now, but when she was free, she remembered that she hadn't eaten breakfast. Chen Guilan had prepared the meal, but she left without having time to eat.
Thinking that she still had to walk for more than an hour before she could get home, she asked Aunt Liu to look after the stall for her and ran to the stall selling buns. The vegetarian buns were stuffed with water chestnuts and carrots. Four big buns cost one yuan, which was very cheap.
She bought four and forced two on Aunt Liu when she got home. Aunt Liu refused for a while, but finally accepted them. She took a bite of the bun, picked four or five radishes from the basket, put them in a plastic bag and gave it to Su Jiaojiao: "Go back and ask your mother to make some radish buns for you. They're definitely better than the ones sold at the market."
Su Jiaojiao couldn't refuse, so she accepted it.
The two of them sat on the ground, eating buns with relish.
Around noon, men and women pushing bicycles entered the market from time to time. Aunt Liu said with a smile, "What did I say? With people coming home from get off work, your hair ornaments will definitely sell out."
"Thank you for your good wishes, Auntie." Su Jiaojiao took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. The buns tasted very good and she was very full. "Auntie, we will sell goods together in the next episode."
"Okay, you can find me here. I rarely move." Aunt Liu pointed inside the market, a smile on her wrinkled face. "The stall fees inside are too expensive, so I just sell some seasonal vegetables. It's not worth buying a stall inside, so it's the same here."
"Xiumei, help me pick out a radish. I want to go back and stew some shrimp."
"Okay, I'll help you choose."
Su Jiaojiao looked up and saw two women in blue work clothes coming in front of her. One of them was her aunt Su Xiumei. Haha, it's true that enemies meet in a narrow road.
Su Xiumei just squatted down to pick radishes when she saw Su Jiaojiao. She pretended not to see her and quickly took a radish out of the basket: "Li Li, this one is very good."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Li Li asked Aunt Liu to weigh the radishes, paid the money, and put the radishes in the bicycle basket. Su Xiumei pushed her bicycle away quickly. Li Li lagged behind and stopped in front of Su Jiaojiao's stall. "What beautiful hair ornaments, Xiumei, buy some!"
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