Dinner was ready quickly, and it was especially plentiful tonight, with braised fish chunks and tofu stewed with fish.
In addition, I also stir-fried two vegetarian dishes, including radish stew with wild boar.
Several large bowls were brought to the table, and everyone ate with gusto, their mouths glistening with oil. After finishing their meal, the group left satisfied.
But seeing that there was still a whole live fish, it was difficult to turn it over.
They caught a total of five fish. Originally, Su Laosan planned to share the five fish equally with everyone, but everyone refused.
The final result was that the four strips were divided equally, and Su Laosan took the other strip back with him.
These people actually feel they've already gotten a great deal.
They only used a little fish for this meal, leaving more than ten kilograms of fish, which they planned to keep for themselves.
But there is still this big, fresh creature.
Finally, Old Man Su slammed his fist on the table and decided, "Let's take this fish to the market and sell it first thing tomorrow morning."
Su Laosan asked, "Then how much should we sell it for?"
Grandma Su looked at the rain and thought for a moment: "We don't need to sell it too expensively, just a little more expensive than ordinary fish will do."
Let's sell it for six coins a pound.
Su Sanlang felt his lips twitch: "My goodness, six coins a pound isn't expensive! These ordinary big fish only sell for four coins."
"You little brat, what do you know? A fish this big is a once-in-a-lifetime find, and we're already offering it for six coins a pound at a very cheap price."
Old Su agreed, "Listen to your mother, we'll sell this big fish for six coins. It's rare, and the meat is so good. People always say that things are valued for their rarity, right? We'll definitely sell out."
With the head of the family already decided, what else could Su Sanlang say?
Nothing happened that night.
The next morning, the three brothers went to the village chief's house to borrow a cart and took the big fish to the town.
It was still dark when we set off, but by the time we arrived in town, it was already broad daylight.
A number of people had already arrived at the market and found a suitable place to park their carts.
Su Sanlang quickly started shouting.
"Come, come, everyone who's passing by, come and take a look! This is a once-in-a-century giant fish, with tender, smooth flesh and a delicious flavor."
"Selling cheap! Selling cheap! Six coins a pound! Come late or it'll be gone!"
Su Dalang watched as his second and third brothers enthusiastically shouted their sales pitches.
Su Dalang was rather shy, and he absolutely refused to open his mouth.
Su Sanlang looked at his elder brother's petty attitude and nudged him with his elbow. "Brother, you have to shout to sell things. If you don't shout, no one will know what you're selling. Look, people are coming over!"
Su Dalang looked up and saw that sure enough, someone was watching their cart as it approached.
"Wow, this fish is so big! How much is it?"
The person asking the question was a slightly overweight man in his thirties.
Judging from the thick cotton robe he was wearing and the leather boots on his feet, he was clearly from a wealthy family.
Nine coins per pound
Good heavens! Su Dalang and Su Erlang's eyes widened in surprise.
At home, I told him it was six coins a pound, and he complained it was too expensive. But now that he's out here, when someone asks, it's nine coins.
One brother pretended not to recognize his third brother, while the other wished he could bury his head in his feet.
Seeing that the person in front of him had not spoken after asking the price, Su Sanlang continued, "Sir, look how big this fish is, how long must it have taken to grow?"
Fish that grow this big must be incredibly auspicious. Eating them, even if it doesn't guarantee you'll live for hundreds of years, will surely have the effect of increasing your lifespan year after year!
The slightly overweight man looked at the fish, saw that it was indeed fresh, and thought it would taste good, so he nodded.
"Then weigh me ten jin."
Su Sanlang swiftly grabbed the knife and was about to make the cut when the slightly overweight man quickly stopped him.
"I want this part, cut another piece of fin and cut a little deeper down."
"Alright, sir, you clearly know how to eat fish."
The meat under the fins is the most delicious, especially the fin meat of large fish, which is very tasty when stewed.
With a swift motion, Su Sanlang cut off the part the customer wanted, gently tied it with hemp rope, and hooked it onto the scale.
Upon weighing him, we discovered he was a little over two pounds too much. "12 pounds and four ounces minus the hemp rope is about 12 pounds and three ounces. I'll calculate it as 12 pounds for you, is that alright?"
The man nodded, took out two strings of coins from the money pouch at his waist, counted out another eight coins, and handed them to Su Sanlang.
Su Sanlang took it, counted the string of 50 coins, and added eight coins, making a total of 108 coins.
"Please take care, sir."
Su Sanlang handed over the fish and meat, and saw off his first customer with a smile.
After everyone left, Su Dalang quietly asked his third brother.
"Third brother, didn't you say six coins was too high? Why are you selling it to others for nine coins?"
Su Sanlang looked at his simple-minded older brother and said, "Brother, look at the way he's dressed. He's a rich man. Rich people don't care about money; they care about quality, so of course the price will be higher."
You see, this fish is nowhere else to be found on this whole street. For just a few extra coins, they can get a different flavor. Do you think these rich people wouldn't want it?
Seeing that Su Sanlang's words made perfect sense, the two of them didn't say anything more.
As the market grew more crowded, the three Su brothers sold a considerable amount of fish and meat from their cart, and it was almost sold out.
At this moment, several men who were collecting taxes surrounded them.
The group looked at the cart and asked for 20 coins. Su Dalang, though honest, was not one to suffer a loss, and immediately refused to argue with them.
Su Sanlang quickly pulled his brother aside, counted out 20 coins from his pocket, and respectfully handed them over.
He then cut another piece of fish and handed it over.
"Brother, I'm sorry, this is my first time setting up a stall in town. He doesn't know the rules, so please don't take it to heart. This is just a small token of my appreciation, please don't think it's too little."
The leader, seeing how cooperative the young man was, looked him up and down before taking the fish.
"Not bad, not bad. Which village are you from? Will you come again next time?"
Su Sanlang quickly and respectfully replied, "From Taoliu Village. If you have anything else to sell next time, please come back."
"Alright, next time you come, just set up your stall here again. I'll calculate the long-term stall fee for you then, and you'll only need to pay eight coins each time."
Su Sanlang thanked them repeatedly, and after they left.
Su Dalang asked indignantly, "Third brother, I saw that other vegetable vendors selling vegetables with baskets only charged one or two coins per household, so why do they charge us 20 coins? Why did you give them the money so easily?"
“Brother, they must have asked for 20 coins because they saw we sold a lot. If we don’t pay them, we might not even have any money left in our pockets today.”
Su Lao Er also chimed in:
"Brother, look at them, they outnumber us and there are only three of us. We might get hurt by them."
"Yes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Our village is far away, and we don't know anyone here, so this is the only way."
Su Dalang nodded, and then two more people arrived and bought up all the remaining fish. They packed up their things and prepared to go home.
Only then did Su Laoda remember, "Third brother, what do you say? Will you come back to sell other things in the future?"
"Brother, with the energy our Fu Bao has, he'll probably be selling things quite often in the future."
That magical bait was given to me by my precious daughter.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com