Chapter 54: New Ways of Buying and Selling
Once Shen Zhiyi and Sun Sanni were out of the alley, their pace returned to normal. She said apologetically, "That man was a bit of a scoundrel, but he wasn't a bad person at heart..."
“I know,” Sun Sanni said softly, “He doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“But he doesn’t seem like a good person either,” Sun Sanni added immediately.
“People are complicated; how can you tell good from bad at a glance?” Shen Zhiyi sighed. Seeing that there were more people on the main street, she was worried about Aunt Zhao’s situation, so she said, “Let’s go and meet up with Aunt Zhao and the others first, and then we can eat something. It’s almost noon.”
“Okay,” Sun Sanni replied gently.
The two followed the crowd to a small path next to the cloth shop. Zhao Daya saw them first, jumped up and waved, afraid of being blocked by passersby.
"Zhao Daya is still so lively." Sun Sanni's voice carried a hint of longing.
“If you want, you can do it anytime!” Shen Zhiyi said with a smile, “but you’ve always been very quiet, so it’s probably difficult.”
Sun Sanni felt quite helpless about this. She knew she was being teased, but she didn't know how to get angry. Over time, she kept it to herself and would take it out to think about it late at night or when she was alone...
"Sanni, come here quickly!" Shen Zhiyi called out as she turned around.
"Coming!" Sun Sanni replied hurriedly, and then quickly followed.
"Where have you been? I've been waiting for ages!" Zhao Daya's slightly complaining voice reached Sun Sanni's ears. She looked extremely uneasy and was about to say something to comfort her when Shen Zhiyi said, "Alright, alright, I'll take you to eat wontons!"
"I've been thinking about eating ever since I first came to the county town. Now that I finally have enough money, I definitely have to eat and fulfill this wish!" When Shen Zhiyi said this, she deliberately looked towards Aunt Zhao, afraid that she would hear any objections. Fortunately, Tang Huaya stopped her.
"Let's go! Let's eat wontons!" Shen Zhiyi pulled Aunt Zhao, who seemed hesitant to speak, aside and whispered in her ear, "Auntie, we have important business to attend to when we go to eat wontons."
“We don’t need so many people…” Aunt Zhao stopped speaking when she heard Zhao Daya’s stomach growling again, and then said, “Let’s go, let’s go.”
"Auntie is the best," Shen Zhiyi said in a coquettish tone, showering Aunt Zhao with sweet words that made the woman laugh all the way.
There were two wonton stalls in the county town. Shen Zhi noticed that this one had few customers, and seeing the stall owner sitting and resting nearby, he immediately said, "Six bowls of wontons with chili, please."
The previously enthusiastic stall owner immediately turned cold, flicked the towel in his hand, and said, "No! No!"
"Of course there are! I remember Xu's Noodle Shop has them, and they even sell their chili sauce," Shen Zhiyi said sincerely.
"Hmph, his chili peppers are so expensive, only a fool would buy them," the stall owner scoffed. "My wontons are cheap and affordable, and they sell well even without chili peppers! That other stall is heartless; they charge an extra coin for wontons with chili peppers! That's a whole coin!"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhao felt like two voices were fighting inside her: one saying, "Let's eat here," and the other shouting, "The chili peppers in our village aren't expensive at all." She was caught in a dilemma and couldn't say a word.
“But now that you mention it, that place has more options. I mean, they have both spicy and non-spicy options.” Shen Zhiyi said with a sigh. The stall owner waved his handkerchief, and Shen Zhiyi, as if startled, quickly led her people away.
However, their conversation was overheard by someone with ulterior motives. If you don't know how to be flexible in business, you will be eliminated by the market sooner or later.
Shen Zhiyi didn't try to persuade her any further and could only go to eat wontons at another restaurant.
It's obvious that many people at this wonton stall like it spicy. Even if they don't have enough money for wontons, the stall owner still sells hot and sour soup for two coins, which is also quite popular.
When the wontons she had been longing for finally entered her mouth, Shen Zhiyi felt that the wonton wrappers were rather thick and there was less meat in them.
However, improvements in food quality are all based on affluent or highly competitive environments, and this small county town has clearly not yet met those standards.
Shen Zhiyi turned her head and saw Aunt Zhao's pained expression. She felt a little guilty, since she had ordered six servings of spicy wonton soup.
No matter how much she explained that she didn't want to show favoritism, Aunt Zhao showed a "I won't listen" attitude and insisted that she was the one who could be "better," leaving Shen Zhiyi with no way to back down.
Fortunately, when they returned to the cloth shop, Shen Zhi saw Ge Er Mazi peeking out from the side path and then saw the men with him. She spoke to Aunt Zhao, who was still throwing a tantrum, saying, "Auntie, the people have come. We should talk to them about serious matters now."
"Yes, girl, don't be afraid. Auntie is here to boost your morale," Aunt Zhao said solemnly.
"Okay, with Auntie by my side, I'm so confident!" Shen Zhiyi replied obediently.
At the same time, Zhao Daya became tense and wary. Looking at the man's appearance, she felt that he was shifty-eyed and not as handsome as Brother Xuan. He looked like a good person!
"You all follow behind me," Zhao Daya said in a deep voice to Tang Huaya and the others.
Sun Sanni hesitated, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with the other person on the spot, so she could only nod in agreement.
Shen Zhiyi and Aunt Zhao walked ahead, but they could clearly feel Ge Ermazi's gaze deliberately falling on them. His frivolous manner made Aunt Zhao frown, and she wished she could turn around and leave.
"Ahem." Shen Zhiyi reminded him with a light cough.
Ge Ermazi, who was good at reading people, also came to his senses. He glanced at his brothers who were still squinting and laughing beside him, then put on a serious face and tried to make it look like they were there to talk business. He said, "The people you told me to call have all been called. What kind of deal do you want to talk about?"
Aunt Zhao, carrying a basket on her back, immediately stepped forward, lifted the coarse cloth covering the basket, and showed them the small items made from scraps of cloth inside, saying, "This is it."
Ge Ermazi's men gathered around to look, but surprisingly, they didn't reach out. However, their expressions varied, and one of them asked uncertainly, "What's the use of these little things?"
Shen Zhiyi took out a plump little bird from her pocket, placed it in her hair, and then displayed it on her shoulder and sleeves. She then said, "Young girls and wives with spare money would like it, and it doesn't take up much space or weight in your carrying pole. Why not give it a try? If it sells, it'll be a new item. For peddlers selling goods on the street, they need to always have something new to offer in order to attract customers, right?"
“They’re not heavy or take up much space, but we can’t just buy one type, can we? How many of each type should we buy, and which ones aren’t selling right now? We have to weigh all that, and just figuring out the ins and outs is exhausting!” said the slightly overweight man, his gaze falling on Ge Er Mazi, subtly conveying something. “I’m not getting involved in this. I’m leaving now.”
With this person taking the lead, those who were still hesitant also left one after another. In the end, only the man standing next to Ge Er Mazi remained, and there seemed to be some kind of eye contact between them.
"What's the purchase price?" the man asked slowly.
Shen Zhiyi had discussed the price with Aunt Zhao beforehand. Although they were all made from scraps of fabric bought from the cloth shop for ten coins each, it would take a lot of effort to match the colors and create the shapes. Originally, she wanted to sell them for one coin each, but Aunt Zhao set the price at two coins.
"Two coins," Shen Zhiyi said slowly, knowing that they had no advantage in terms of price, so they could only work on marketing methods. "However, we can ship the goods first and pay later."
“When purchasing goods, both parties agree on the quantity and keep accounts for each other. Payment is made at the purchase price after the goods are sold.” Shen Zhiyi had noticed the subtle tension between Ge Er Mazi and that person and thought she could do him a favor. “There’s no need for a deposit or anything. After all, we all know Ge Er Mazi as the middleman and trust his character.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Ge Ermazi straightened his back, looking incredibly smug, and continued, "Don't worry, if he dares to renege on his debt, just go tell Auntie, and she'll definitely..."
"Ge Er, you!" The man looked at Ge Er Mazi with displeasure, but seeing the other's pleading gestures, and thinking of his life's important matter, he decided to hold back for now.
The man turned to Shen Zhiyi and said, "Ge Er and I have been friends since childhood. He is naturally reliable and would be the perfect middleman for both parties! Since you are offering such an honest deal, I won't hesitate. I'll take this and try it out first."
“Okay!” Shen Zhiyi replied.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhao stepped forward and said, "The shape of the 'round sparrow' is..."
After verifying all the quantities, the transaction, which involved no money, came to an end. As for what price the peddler would charge, that was something the other party had to consider.
Meanwhile, Ge Ermazi kept giving Chen Zhiyi meaningful glances along the way. Chen Zhiyi thought he wanted to say something privately, but instead, she heard him ask, "Hey, what's that girl's name?"
Following the direction Ge Ermazi subtly pointed, they indeed saw Sun Sanni standing silently to the side. Shen Zhiyi calmly said, "Go ask her yourself."
“I’m not afraid of being too forward with the lady,” Ge Ermazi stammered, emphasizing his words, then muttered under his breath, “Otherwise I would have gone long ago.”
"Since that's the case, then I can't tell you either, lest it ruin your polite behavior." Shen Zhiyi changed the subject and led the people out of the alley. She didn't know what had gotten into her before, thinking that the other party wanted to talk about serious matters in private.
After finishing this matter in the county town, Shen Zhiyi wanted to take them sightseeing and enjoy the pleasures of making money, but that was immediately shattered by Aunt Zhao's slap—
Aren't you going to renovate your house?
"The yard is so dilapidated that half a corner of the wall is missing. If we don't repair it, are we just waiting for thieves to break in?"
Shen Zhiyi has always felt that as long as she has a home to go back to, a bed to sleep in, and food to eat, she can get by. If she wants to pursue anything else, it would be to make new progress in her research!
But now, hearing Aunt Zhao's questions, he realized that the house needed to be properly renovated, the vegetable garden needed to be planned, and if there was enough money, a greenhouse should be built to facilitate seedling cultivation and temperature control research.
On second thought, he realized that a dozen taels of silver was definitely not enough, and suddenly decided to spend it first.
She glanced cautiously towards Aunt Zhao's side. They were waiting for Tang Huaya to buy sesame cakes to take back to Tang Erleng to satisfy his craving. After a while, she heard a gurgling sound and almost instinctively looked over there.
"I'm hungry." Zhao Daya carefully took the money pouch out of her bosom and said to the pancake stall owner, "Give me five pancakes, and I'll take two for my dad too."
Everyone else had witnessed Zhao Daya's appetite, so they weren't surprised at this moment. Instead, it attracted the attention of those who were secretly watching.
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