As soon as Jiang Yuwei and Uncle Ning arrived at the village entrance, they saw Sun Shi and Chen Guixiang acting suspiciously, each carrying a basket on their backs.
Jiang Yuwei frowned. She really didn't want to run into the two of them. But today was strange. Chen Guixiang never went to the market in order to save money on the oxcart. Whenever the family needed to buy something, she would send Sun Shi to the market to buy it. This was the first time she had ever waited for the oxcart at the village entrance.
The two women glared at Jiang Yuwei as soon as they got in the car. Ning Qiu felt disgusted at the sight of them, and a village woman nearby joked:
"Oh, Granny Chen, how much stuff are you buying? And you're carrying two baskets!"
"That's right, that's right, could it be that your second son, Ning, made a fortune gambling?"
Chen Guixiang naturally knew that these old women always liked to say sarcastic things, so she replied irritably:
"I think you two are getting old and blind. Both of my baskets are full of things. What do you know!"
"Hey, what good stuff did you put in there? You even covered it with a cloth. Let me see."
Seeing one of the old women about to reach for the cloth covering her basket, Chen Guixiang swiftly slapped her hand away, shielding the basket in her arms, and glared angrily, saying:
"What are you doing! Don't touch me with your filthy hands!"
Uncle Ning was annoyed by the noise of the old women. Seeing that the oxcart was full, he stopped waiting and drove off.
When they arrived at the market, Jiang Yuwei and Ning Qiu set up their goods at the same stall as before. Just as they were about to call out their wares, they saw Chen Guixiang and Sun Shi also placing their baskets on the ground opposite them and immediately began to call out:
"Fried cakes! Delicious fried cakes, only two coins, cheap and tasty!"
Many people had tried Jiang Yuwei's fried cakes before and were craving them, so they were waiting to go to the market to buy them. Unexpectedly, there were two fried cake vendors at the market today.
The crowd was tempted when they heard Sun's call for two coins each, since Jiang Yuwei had always sold them for three coins each.
Soon a long queue formed at Mrs. Sun's place. While busy packing food for customers, Mrs. Sun spat at Jiang Yuwei and shouted:
"It's just a fried cake, why sell it for three coins? That's really making a dirty profit! Everyone, come and buy mine for two coins each, don't give away your money for no reason!"
Seeing this, Ning Qiu stomped her feet in anger and grabbed Jiang Yuwei's arm, saying:
"Sister Yuwei, what should we do? They're shameless! They've actually come to the market to sell fried cakes, and they're selling them for two coins each!"
Although Jiang Yuwei had long known that fried cakes and gardenia soy milk were easy to imitate, she did not expect that it would be Sun Shi and Chen Guixiang who were imitating her. These two did have some business acumen; she had underestimated them before.
She wouldn't do something like lowering prices, which would hurt both herself and the competitors. It seems she'll have to sell something different at the market next time.
Seeing that Jiang Yuwei remained silent with a sullen face, Ning Qiu hurriedly said:
"Why is everyone queuing up at her place? Sister Yuwei, why don't we lower the price by one cent? Otherwise, it would be a waste to go to waste all these fried cakes."
Jiang Yuwei smiled faintly at Ning Qiu and said:
"If you don't lower the price, go and cut a few more fried cakes so the customers can try them for free."
Jiang Yuwei is confident that her fried cakes have a unique flavor. They can imitate the appearance of fried cakes, but they can never make fried cakes that taste the same as hers.
Hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Ning Qiu quickly took out a plate and cut a few pieces. Ning Qiu was also quite temperamental; after cutting the fried cakes, she went directly to Sun Shi and Chen Guixiang's group and shouted:
"Fried cakes are three coins each, free samples available. Try them, guests, the samples are free."
The already bored customers, upon hearing that the samples were free, couldn't resist taking a bite:
"These fried cakes are really delicious, but they're too expensive."
"That's right, that's right, they only sell them for two coins each."
"Yeah, it's too expensive. Even if it tastes good, I won't buy from you."
"Hmm, I think I'll queue up and buy from this shop. It's a penny cheaper here."
Ning Qiu returned dejectedly after hearing what everyone said.
Jiang Yuwei was also busy packing food for her regular customers. Although there weren't many people, they had made a sale. Seeing Ning Qiu's frustrated look, Jiang Yuwei laughed and said:
"Okay, Qiu Mei, come help me pack it up."
Ning Qiu put down the plate in her hand and dejectedly helped Jiang Yuwei pack the food. In fact, the customers who came to their stall were just a few old customers from before, and they could manage without Ning Qiu's help.
Looking at the food Jiang Yuwei had prepared, Ning Qiu couldn't help but sigh, secretly worried that these fried cakes and soy milk wouldn't sell today. She absolutely couldn't accept Yuwei's wages anymore; just wasting this food would cost a lot of money. Right now, Yuwei was repairing a house, and money was needed everywhere.
Ning Qiu was lost in thought when she heard someone shout:
"What kind of fried cake is this? It's all burnt."
"It tastes terrible, it's not worth two coins at all."
"They actually dare to sell this kind of thing!"
"Give me my money back!"
"Exactly, give me my money back! Your fried cakes are awful, they don't even have any filling, and they can't compare to the ones across the street."
Customers who had previously bought Sun's fried cakes came to Sun and Chen Guixiang to ask for a refund after tasting them.
The people in line behind heard that those who had bought it said it wasn't tasty, so they didn't dare waste their money buying it anymore. What was the point of saving a penny if the food they bought was unpalatable?
As soon as everyone started lining up to buy fried cakes and soy milk from Jiang Yuwei, Ning Qiu was secretly delighted and quickly helped Jiang Yuwei serve the guests with a smile.
Seeing that her guest had been pulled away by Jiang Yuwei, Madam Sun was not about to let it go and immediately stepped forward, hands on her hips, and began to berate her:
"You bastard, how dare you steal my customer!"
Seeing that Madam Sun was being unreasonable, Jiang Yuwei spoke up directly:
“You’re my customer, how could I possibly take you away? Everyone has different tastes. People love my fried cakes, and you can’t imitate them no matter what you try. So, you’re my customer, and you can’t take you away.”
After saying that, he ignored Madam Sun and focused on his own business.
Just as Sun was about to say something, the woman who had just bought ten fried cakes from her grabbed her hair and dragged her away, insisting that Sun and Chen Guixiang return the money.
When Madam Sun first made these fried cakes, Granny Chen was worried that the taste wouldn't be right, but she had never tasted Jiang Yuwei's fried cakes before. That day, Madam Sun shamelessly asked for a fried cake to take home, and Ningxin ate them all.
Even she only sniffed and glanced at it a few more times before forcibly making it to sell at the market today. She thought that if Jiang Yuwei could make it, she could definitely make it too. She never expected to cause such a big trouble.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were pestered by the crowd to return their money, and then threw the leftover fried cakes onto their stall before turning around and queuing up at Jiang Yuwei's stall. Chen Guixiang looked angrily at her good-for-nothing daughter-in-law.
Not only does she not earn a penny for her family on a regular basis, but now all the fried cakes she spent so much money making have gone to waste. She was blinded by her own thoughts and believed her lies, which is why she agreed to let her sell fried cakes at the market. Now, she hasn't sold a single fried cake and has even lost the money she spent on the oxcart ride.
Chen Guixiang grew angrier the more she thought about it, and pinched Sun's arm hard. Although Sun was in pain, she didn't dare to cry out, for fear of angering her mother-in-law and having her beaten and scolded in the street again, which would make things even more difficult to end.
Chen Guixiang said fiercely to Madam Sun:
"Pack your things and carry them back. You've lost so much money, you can forget about riding in an oxcart. You jinx, just wait until we get back and I'll teach you a lesson!"
Helpless, Sun picked up the basket from the ground and glared fiercely at Jiang Yuwei before leaving.
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