Chapter 38 New Expectations
The next day, Shen Xiaoyue and Hu Qingqing took the prepared goods to the county market to sell.
The market was crowded with people, and they found a conspicuous location to set up their stall.
"Come and have a look. These are beautiful handmade hats with unique colors and plant dyes." Shen Xiaoyue shouted.
After a while, several young girls gathered around. They saw that Shen Xiaoyue was wearing a light yellow flower on her head, which matched with a plain blue dress. She looked very beautiful, and even the things she was selling became very attractive.
"This hat is really nice. How much is it?"
After Shen Xiaoyue quoted the price, a girl readily bought a purple hat and also picked out a red head flower.
With a good start, business gradually improved.
At this time, a well-dressed middle-aged woman came over, picked up a lavender hat with a circle of flowers, looked at it, and said critically: "The workmanship is just so-so, and the color is not very bright."
Shen Xiaoyue patiently explained: "Auntie, these are all carefully made by us, and the colors are also dyed from natural plants. They are not as bright as finished fabrics, but each one is unique."
The middle-aged woman snorted and said, "Young girl, you can't be so dishonest in doing business. With such skills, you still have the nerve to ask for this price."
After hearing what she said, the customers around her became hesitant.
Shen Xiaoyue still had a smile on her face: “Auntie, if you think it’s expensive, you can take a look at other styles. We also have simpler ones, and the price is cheaper.”
The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes at her and threw her hat back onto the stall.
At this time, a gray-haired grandmother stood up and said, "This hat is very finely made, and this plant dyeing method is rare here. I think it's worth the price."
After hearing this, the other customers nodded in agreement. The price was not expensive. Even if they were reluctant to spend money on a hat, they could still afford a headband.
Most of the clothes nowadays are still mainly black, white and gray. At first glance, such bright colors are very popular.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman's face turned red, she snorted coldly and turned away.
Shen Xiaoyue and Hu Qingqing exhaled at the same time.
Both of them were good-looking and had sweet words. Most of the customers who came to buy things were young girls, and they were all very generous. Before they knew it, all the goods were sold out.
In fact, such headbands are also available in department stores, but they don’t look as delicate, the colors are bright but not natural enough, and they are not suitable for daily wear.
The colors of the hair flowers dyed by Shen Xiaoyue with plants are natural and unique, and they are also cheap. Word of mouth spread, and more people bought the hair flowers than expected.
When they were about to close the stall, a little girl asked them when they would open the stall again, and she would definitely come to buy something.
The two of them ordered something, a total of fifteen dollars!
Shen Xiaoyue wanted to split it equally, but Hu Qingqing disagreed. She felt that she had done nothing and contributed very little, and most of the credit was Shen Xiaoyue's. Besides, Xiaoyue usually took good care of her and would always remember her when there was anything delicious. So she only wanted five dollars.
But these five dollars were also the first money she had ever earned, and she felt that something in her heart had changed.
Hu Qingqing had always wanted to go back to the city and find someone to marry, but after hearing from her seniors that the number of places to go back to the city was limited, she gave up on herself and thought that if it really didn't work out, she might as well find someone to marry in the countryside, which was better than wasting time like this without any hope.
But now she sees another possibility and also sees hope.
She was now overwhelmed with emotion and wanted to say something, but she didn't know how to express it.
She hugged Shen Xiaoyue tightly, and wiped away the tears at the end of her eyes with a smile: "Thank you, Xiaoyue."
Shen Xiaoyue was confused, but that didn't stop her from raising her hands and hugging Hu Qingqing.
"Come on, please go to the state-owned restaurant and spend some money."
Ever since Shen Xiaoyue brought her a meat bun from a state-owned restaurant last time, Hu Qingqing has been thinking about it.
This time Hu Qingqing refused to split the money, so Shen Xiaoyue thought about treating her to a meal to celebrate their success in setting up the stall.
The two of them ate so much that their bellies were full, and they walked out supporting each other.
When passing by the supply and marketing cooperative, Hu Qingqing bought two bottles of plum juice and clinked glasses with Shen Xiaoyue.
Plum juice is made from fresh bayberries. It has a sweet and sour taste and is particularly refreshing. It is especially good for cooling down when the temperature is high.
Uncle Zhou was sitting on the ox cart smoking, and Shen Xiaoyue handed him the buns: "Uncle Zhou, you must be hungry."
Uncle Zhou smiled and said, "No, I ate it."
He raised the cornmeal steamed bread in his hand.
"I bought this especially for you. Thank you for sending us here."
"It's no big deal. I was going to come over anyway."
Uncle Zhou felt that they were too polite. They were all from the same village and it was only natural for them to help each other.
Shen Xiaoyue pretended to be serious: “Uncle Zhou, if you don’t accept it, we will be embarrassed to trouble you again next time.”
We send them off because we treat them as our relatives in the same village. However, even among relatives, there must be give-and-take in order for the relationship to last long.
When Uncle Zhou heard this, he sighed that these educated youth were indeed educated people and were different. It seemed that he should also send his second daughter to continue to study and learn as much as she could.
He had no choice but to take the meat bun, but did not touch it. Instead, he stuffed it into his inner clothes and covered it, fearing that the bun would get cold and not taste good.
He had always wanted to bring his wife to the county town to eat something, but his wife felt that he worked hard to earn money and didn't want to waste money, so she refused to come with him.
These were given to him by others. It would be a waste if his wife didn't eat them!
Uncle Zhou grinned, took a puff of his cigarette, and then drove the ox cart back.
…
As soon as they returned to the educated youth point, the two received good news that in just over a week, Dahe Village would hold a harvest festival.
This is a big event in Dahe Village. Every year when the harvest season comes, every household will brew a pot of good wine and prepare some side dishes. Those with better conditions will prepare some meat dishes, and those with less favorable conditions will try their best to bring out their specialties. No one will deliberately take advantage of others.
Everyone gathered together to celebrate a good harvest this year and pray for good weather and good harvest next year.
As a big family, their educated youth center will also cook two dishes. What’s more exciting is that the Harvest Festival is another day to slaughter pigs besides traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival!
This made the educated youth, who had been craving for a long time, join the discussion.
"Zhang Zhiqing, you came here last year. Have you ever participated?"
Zhang Zhiqing was obviously very familiar with this activity. He cleared his throat and kept the audience in suspense before slowly speaking, "Oh, you must have participated in it. You don't know the scene... Let's put it this way, everyone in the village who has time will come."
"The whole village is filled with the aroma of wine, including fruit wine and rice wine, which are fragrant and sweet. Although the wine is not intoxicating, there is a bonfire next to it, and it is so lively that you will get drunk without drinking!"
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