Upon seeing the guests arrive, Qiao Qiqi immediately lifted a corner of the cloth and said enthusiastically, "These are apples and pears, all imported. Look how big and red these apples are, and how big and juicy these pears are. Would you like some?"
The buyers were also amazed by Qiao Qiqi's fruit.
Although it looks really good, I'm a little hesitant. This apple is so good, it looks very expensive...
She clutched her small purse tightly, gave an awkward smile, and said, "Never mind, never mind."
He turned to leave as he spoke.
Qiao Qiqi suddenly pulled out a small knife from her pocket and said generously, "How about this, I'll cut you a slice to try first. If you like it, you can buy it; if you don't, you don't have to."
The commotion spread, and when people saw that Qiao Qiqi was offering free apple samples, everyone, whether they wanted to buy them or not, immediately gathered around.
"Give me a piece."
"Let me try some too."
Soon, the big apple in Qiao Qiqi's hand was completely devoured.
Everyone who has tasted this apple exclaimed in amazement: "This apple is so delicious! I've never eaten such a sweet apple before."
A sly glint flashed in Qiao Qiqi's eyes. Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, the corners of her lips curled up.
"I didn't lie to you, did I? In business, I believe in honest operation. If it's not sweet, you don't pay!"
Finally, someone asked, "How much are your apples?"
Qiao Qiqi raised one hand: "Five cents a pound."
Immediately after these words were spoken, someone said, "You're selling this for more than the supply and marketing cooperative, which only charges 45 cents."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qiqi immediately became displeased and held up a large red apple, saying, "Sister, you can't just listen to the price without looking at the quality, can you? Look at the quality of mine, and think about the quality of the supply and marketing cooperative. Mine is imported, brought back from a big city. You can't usually buy this even if you have money."
With so many people, Qiao Qiqi refused to believe that not a single one was willing to spend money.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a man and a woman squatted down.
The woman said, "I want two jin."
The man said, "Give me four jin."
And those who were reluctant to spend the money hesitated for a moment and said, "Can I have a pound?"
"Sure! Why not? You can buy with confidence. I guarantee you won't lose out or be cheated. You'll definitely want more after you try it, and you'll even dream about my fruit."
Qiao Qiqi sold the apples and couldn't stop smiling, spouting off a string of platitudes.
The customer was amused, but then noticed that the other end of the basket wasn't filled with apples. "Your basket doesn't seem to be all apples. What are those yellow things?"
Qiao Qiqi almost forgot!
He immediately grabbed a pear, cut it open with a knife, and shared it with everyone to try. "These pears are imported. They're juicy and sweet. Of course, my opinion doesn't count. You'll know once you try them."
It was rare to see such a generous seller, so everyone took the pears and tried them.
The result, naturally, was the same as with Apple, receiving unanimous praise.
"How much are these pears? Fifty cents too?"
Qiao Qiqi nodded, "Yes, it's all 50 cents. If you like both apples and pears, you can buy them together. The apples are a bit bigger, so they'll definitely weigh more than half a pound. The pears are a bit smaller, but they'll still weigh at least half a pound. I'll charge you one pound for one apple and one pear."
Seeing is believing, Qiao Qiqi borrowed a scale from the aunt next to her and weighed several items to prove it.
"I want four apples and four pears."
"I want two apples and two pears."
"I want one too..."
When everyone saw how generous Qiao Qiqi was, they immediately took out their money to buy.
In less than half an hour, Qiao Qiqi's basket was empty.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Qiao Qiqi gave the aunt next to her an apple and a pear, saying, "Auntie, thank you for lending me the scale earlier."
"Oh dear, this is too much!" Auntie was flattered and declined the gift from Qiao Qiqi, who was giving her such a valuable item.
Qiao Qiqi simply put the apples and pears into her basket, saying, "They're worthless, you can keep them."
The aunt looked at her gratefully and suddenly took two goose eggs out of her basket.
"I only have two goose eggs left. Here, take them. Consider it an exchange."
Qiao Qiqi didn't expect that the aunt was not greedy for small gains. Moreover, after selling her fruit, she was originally going to buy eggs, but when she saw that her aunt had some, she simply bought all of her aunt's eggs.
"Oh, how can I thank you enough? Well... the eggs were originally five cents each, and there were 22 in total, which would be one dollar and ten cents. You can just give me one dollar."
Qiao Qiqi didn't covet a single penny from her aunt, after all, it wasn't easy for her aunt to save up eggs to sell.
"One dollar is one dollar, and you even gave me two big goose eggs. I guess I got a good deal."
Qiao Qiqi handed the money to her aunt, but suddenly thought that instead of selling them, she could raise a few in the yard herself.
According to the book, although the system of large-scale collectives was in place during that era, villagers were also encouraged to raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, and other animals to develop the economy.
However, the number cannot be too large. It seems that each household can raise a maximum of five chickens.
Qiao Qiqi couldn't remember clearly, but she decided to go back and ask her mother, who would surely remember.
"Young man, do you still have any pears?" A woman suddenly appeared in front of the stall.
Qiao Qiqi looked up and saw the woman's anxious face. She immediately lifted the cloth on the basket. "There are only two pears left. How many do you want?"
The woman frowned. "My little girl has been coughing a lot lately, and no amount of medicine seems to help. She just ate half a pear that our neighbor bought, and suddenly her cough stopped. I asked her where she bought the pears and came here specifically to find them, but... these two pears are a bit few. Do you have any more?"
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