Hong Qin hastily said, "Winter is already upon us, and you still haven’t prepared all these things? If you continue like this, you will catch a cold."
Ji Xinhe also sighed lightly, "This is inevitable. We are orphans, and my craftsmanship is indeed not good. My embroidery work is not exquisite, my hands are clumsy and slow. My elder brother has to go to the mountains to gather firewood every day, yet I can’t even prepare a decent pair of shoes and socks for him. Alas."
"Xin He, you have to go to the town to sell things to make ends meet every day, you don’t really have much time to do these things." Hong Qin said, "Why don’t I help you with this?"
"You’re busy all the time too, why should you be helping me? I’ll do this myself. It’s just that my elder brother doesn’t have a decent pair of shoes and socks to wear, and it’s making his feet cold." Ji Xinhe said, while giving Zheng Xiaocui a subliminal look.
She saw her bowing her head and furrowing her brows as if she was deep in thought, with a troubled expression on her face.
Ji Xinhe pretended not to see it, and quickly shifted the topic with Hong Qin.
She only suspected that there were few girls in the village who were good at embroidery. If it was given by Zheng Xiaocui, it was not impossible. She deliberately tested her like this, waiting to see if she would quietly send her a pair of cotton socks.
If it was indeed from her, she must have feelings for Ji Dong.
Otherwise, Ji Xinhe couldn’t think of any other reason. Zheng Xiaocui was not close to their family. Why would she send these things? Especially secretly.
Zheng Xiaocui, a girl from an ordinary family in Dashan Village, plus her shy personality barely interacted with the other village girls. However, her family’s living condition was better than most in the village. With twenty acres of land, she was a pretty and modest girl, so naturally, it was easy for her to find a suitor, but she was still unmarried at sixteen.
This alone raised suspicion. Everyone was puzzled. Could she be interested in Ji Dong?
Thinking of this, Ji Xinhe couldn’t help but take another look at Zheng Xiaocui. If all of her conjectures were true, wasn’t she about to have a sister-in-law?
Ji Xinhe was thrilled. A smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Sister, why are you laughing?" Xiao Bei asked in a dazed manner.
Ji Xinhe pinched Xiao Bei’s face: "It’s not your concern, just eat your steamed bun."
Now all she had to do was wait to see if a pair of cotton socks would be delivered to their courtyard next time!
When they finally reached the town, Hong Qin and Zheng Xiaocui got off the bullock cart to attend to their own matters.
Ji Xinhe said with a smile, "We’ll probably be done selling our stuff around noon and ready to return to the village. You can come here to find us then, and take our bullock cart back."
"All right!" Hong Qin immediately agreed, pulling Zheng Xiaocui away with her.
Ji Xinhe also set up her stall with high spirits: "Hurry up and get to work!"
Ji Xinhe didn’t just bring a jar of pickled sour bamboo shoots this time, she also brought a jar of stinky tofu.
After Mu Houchu moved these two large jars down from the bullock cart, Ji Xinhe opened the jar of sour bamboo shoots as usual and began to call out for customers.
Because she had been selling here for a while, many people had bought sour bamboo shoots from her, and she had many regular customers. They came over as soon as they heard her call.
"You’re here quite early today. Give me another pound of sour bamboo shoots. My kid loves it so much that a meal wouldn’t be the same without it," a woman stopped at their stall.
Ji Xinhe quickly packed it for her while saying, "Seems like your little son also likes pickles. Today, I have brought something new. Would you like to take a look?"
The woman seemed taken aback: "What new thing?"
Ji Xinhe put the packed bamboo shoots aside and opened the adjacent jar of fermented tofu. She scooped out a piece and put it into a small bowl.
The woman couldn’t help but frown at the sight, "What is this?"
"This is another one of our family’s secret recipes, called fermented tofu. It’s a type of pickled dish. I think it’s just as delicious as the sour bamboo shoots. Want to give it a try?" Ji Xinhe recommended enthusiastically.
Xiao Bei was now accustomed to Ji Xinhe exaggerating without a change of expression.
The woman tasted a small bit with doubt, only to find that it tasted unexpectedly good.
"This is really tasty. Is this made from tofu?"
"Yes, it’s a pickled dish made from tofu. Doesn’t it taste as good as the sour bamboo shoots? If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t sell it and ruin my reputation!" Ji Xinhe said with confidence."
"How much is this fermented tofu?" the woman asked.
"The fermentation process makes it a bit costly. Tofu is also quite expensive, so it’s two cash more expensive than the sour bamboo shoots. It’s seven cash per pound. It’s a fair price, and we’re not trying to raise the price on purpose." Ji Xinhe spoke sincerely.
She was afraid that the customers would think that she was raising the price, so she explained the reason a little more clearly. Moreover, these reasons were true. The sour bamboo shoots were relatively easy to make, and the bamboo shoots from the mountains were free, but the fermented tofu was different. A whole piece of tofu cost one cash, and the pickling process was more complicated.
The woman didn’t really care about the cost and accepted Ji Xinhe’s explanation. She nodded and said, "Then give me half a pound of this fermented tofu as well."
"Sure!" Ji Xinhe quickly packed half a pound of fermented tofu for her.
As the woman paid, she said, "You’ll still be selling here in the future, right?"
She was afraid that she would come back a few days later and Ji Xinhe would no longer be there.
Ji Xinhe smiled and said, "Don’t worry, this is our family’s livelihood. Rain or shine, I will be here every day!"
She couldn’t afford to miss a single day of making money.
After that, whenever someone came to buy her sour bamboo shoots, Ji Xinhe took the opportunity to promote her fermented tofu. As they were both pickled products, they naturally attracted the attention of the customers. Something that was novel and delicious naturally found its way into the market easily.
By the end of the morning, forty pounds of sour bamboo shoots were sold out, and about ten pounds were left from the thirty pounds of fermented tofu. Ji Xinhe was very satisfied. After all, the market for fermented tofu had not yet opened. Sour bamboo shoots, on the other hand, had been available for many days already, their reputation had spread, and they had many repeat customers, so they naturally sold better.
In business, you should always be patient and take things slowly.
Ji Xinhe packed up her stall and happily counted the money she had made that day. Today, she had earned three dollars and forty cash. If she could earn that much every day, she could easily earn over ten silver in a month!
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