Ye Cheng tried making a call, but the phone was switched off.
Damn it, that old bastard Mr. Qian, he even turns off his phone when he sleeps. I despise you.
With Mr. Qian's shop closed, Ye Cheng had no other options for the time being, so he could only...
Go sell it yourself.
Ye Cheng wasn't very familiar with Donghai City, but he had bought things at the market when he was here last time, so he recognized the market and planned to try it out there.
Ye Cheng rode his motorcycle to the vegetable market that Li Yong had previously followed him to—Weijiajing Vegetable Market, the largest vegetable market in Donghai City.
Last time I came to buy things, this time I'm here to sell things, the feeling is completely different.
Ye Cheng rode his motorcycle around for a while, but all he saw were people; there wasn't a single stall available.
There's nothing we can do; legitimate vegetable vendors have already secured their spots well in advance. Besides, markets are starting to be more regulated these days, so you can't just set up shop anywhere.
In the end, Ye Cheng had no choice but to find a place outside the market, park his motorcycle, and start selling his goods. He figured that even if it took longer to sell, as long as his products were good, he would still be able to sell them.
However, there is still one problem: there are no scales or plastic bags.
Fortunately, the market had everything. Ye Cheng first bought a scale and then a roll of plastic bags before he officially started his business.
Next to him was an old man selling vegetables from a shoulder pole. He looked at Ye Cheng with some curiosity and asked, "Young man, what are you selling?"
"Oh, sir, I sell seafood. I caught it myself in a trap, it's fresh." Ye Cheng unloaded his things from the motorcycle, opened the water tank, put the snakeskin bag away, and then displayed the orchid crabs to attract customers.
"This crab is huge, young man, you're in luck." An old man next to him, who also had no customers, started chatting with Ye Cheng.
"Hmm, it's alright."
How much do you want to sell this for?
The old man's casual question stumped Ye Cheng. Damn it, he had no idea how much to sell it for.
He recalled that the prices at which Mr. Qian purchased the crabs were 38 yuan per jin and the prices at 40 yuan per jin.
Let's set a high point first and see.
"These crabs are big, 45 yuan per jin."
"How much?" The old man's eyes widened. "So expensive?"
"Sir, this is purely wild, and it came last night. It's absolutely fresh."
"Fresh...it is fresh, but it's a bit expensive. I don't think it will sell well." The old man shook his head.
Ye Cheng glanced at the old man's stall, which sold mostly common vegetables like chives, cabbage, and scallions.
After Ye Cheng had settled everything, the old man was shocked again.
He stood up and looked at the items on Ye Cheng's stall, pointing left and right. "These, did you catch all of these with your traps? So many? You're not a wholesaler, are you?"
These words amused Ye Cheng. "Grandpa, look who does wholesale? The stuff is so mixed. Look, I have tiger prawns, mantis shrimp, and mantis shrimp, as well as blue crabs and baby octopuses. It's obvious you got it yourself."
"That's true," the old man said sheepishly.
"Wow, this is amazing! You're going to strike it rich today!"
As he spoke, the old man pointed to his vegetables, "If I sold all of these, I'd only get a few dozen yuan at most, which probably wouldn't even be worth as much as one of your crabs."
Ye Cheng chuckled dryly. That was possible, but he couldn't say it outright.
"Grandpa, do you have to pay to buy things here?" Ye Cheng changed the subject.
"Yes, someone will come to collect it in a bit. It's a 2 yuan management fee. We haven't done anything and we have to pay 2 yuan. It's outrageous," the old man complained.
Hearing that it was 2 yuan, Ye Cheng felt much more at ease.
As long as it's a normal charge and not a fine, it's fine.
Despite the large number of people at the market, not many actually make it this far.
It took a long time before someone finally asked about the price of orchid crabs. Ye Cheng quoted 50 yuan per catty, and the person stared at Ye Cheng as if he were a fool and left.
An old man next to me happily sold a few bunches of chives. "Young man, you're selling these too expensively. Nobody's buying them. You should lower the price."
Ye Cheng didn't say anything. Lowering the price was impossible. At worst, he would wait for Boss Qian to get up and then sell it to him.
Moreover, good products should have good prices. As the saying goes, low prices hurt farmers, and the same applies to seafood.
Manipulating prices will only disrupt the market, and he'll have to do it for a long time.
After more than a dozen people asked about the price and shook their heads, finally a plump-looking woman became somewhat tempted.
He held the orchid crab, looking at it from left to right, clicking his tongue repeatedly, his eyes saying only two words: he liked it.
"Hey boss, 50 is too expensive, can you make it cheaper?" The woman started to bargain.
"Beautiful lady, it's not expensive at all. This is fresh. It was caught early this morning and hasn't even been out for a few hours. It's incredibly fresh."
The woman had originally intended to haggle, but Ye Cheng's address of her as "beautiful lady" made her a little embarrassed. She unconsciously adjusted her posture, straightened her hair, and softened her voice.
An old man standing nearby secretly gave him a thumbs up. "Young man, you're really something. You can even call someone a beauty with looks like that."
Ye Cheng then realized that beauty wasn't very popular in this era, unlike later generations where men were called handsome guys and women were called beautiful girls regardless of age.
The older woman had already struck a pose, wanting to buy, but then felt it was a bit too expensive, mainly because she hadn't bargained, which made her unhappy.
Ye Cheng understood that all too well.
"Beautiful lady, here's what I'll do: you buy two crabs, and I'll give you a bunch of scallions. You can put them on when you steam them at home." With that, Ye Cheng grabbed a bunch of scallions from the old man next door.
"That's right," the older woman said with a smile. "Oh, okay then. Weigh them for me. I need two, the bigger ones. My son loves them."
"Alright, beautiful lady, here you go. Two scallions weighing one pound and six ounces each, that's 80 yuan in total. Here are your scallions, take them too."
The older sister took the crab, weighed it in her hand, and left satisfied, carrying the scallions and the crab. She was in a very good mood.
I'm a beautiful woman, after all.
The old man next to Ye Cheng looked at him with surprise, "It's sold already?"
"Hey sir, here's your payment for the scallions. Later, if anyone buys seafood, I'll say I'm giving away vegetables. That way, your vegetables will sell faster, okay?"
"Okay, that's great."
The old man was overjoyed. He wanted to sell everything as soon as possible and leave, preferably before the management fee collectors arrived.
We placed our first order, and several more followed, all buying prawns.
Ye Cheng also sold them at 50 yuan per kilogram, and gave each person a bunch of vegetables as a gift, which greatly increased the success rate.
"Hey, these are tiger prawns?" a surprised voice rang out.
Ye Cheng looked up and saw a middle-aged man.
"Yeah, bro, I just got some this morning, wanna have some?"
How much does it cost?
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