eurekapd Chapter 47 Going Against the Grain: Seafood Sells Like Hotcakes
Chapter 47 Going Against the Grain: Seafood Sells Like Hotcakes
We have a lot of goods today; the clams alone filled two full buckets.
One bucket of sea fish, one bucket of stream fish, and although there weren't many mantis shrimp, they were packed in a separate small bucket.
There were also three baskets of salted duck eggs and one basket of crabs.
The little goldfish thought the turtle brought good fortune, so it carried the turtle on its back as well.
She could secretly store individual items into her spatial storage, but these buckets and baskets were indeed difficult to cheat on.
With her two children, three people and three pairs of hands, she still couldn't carry it all.
Thinking this, Lin Chang'er smiled at the old man again and asked, "When do you usually pass through the town when you come back from the city?"
If it's convenient, could you wait for us at the entrance of town?
The old man laughed and said, "That's hard to say, but nobody's going into town today, so we're just killing time."
"I'll charge you 8 coins. Just tell me when, and I'll come back. You don't need to go all the way to the town entrance; I'll get on the bus at the same place I got off."
Lin Chang'er paused, knowing that the old man was a straightforward person, and did not refuse again. She said a time, "Then I will trouble you."
The two round trips are less strenuous than a one-way trip to the city. The little girl even uses honorifics, which is quite polite. The old man waved his hand and chuckled, "My surname is Zhou, so just call me Old Man Zhou from now on."
Lin Chang'er smiled, "That would be too impolite. If you don't mind, I'll call you Uncle Zhou."
Grandpa Zhou nodded and said okay.
When they arrived at the destination, the old lady selling scallions had already arranged them as usual, and she saw Lin Chang'er.
First, they exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, what good stuff have arrived today?"
Smiling, Grandpa Zhou stepped forward to help, and he also volunteered to help unload the goods.
In the end, there is strength in numbers, and in no time, all the goods were unloaded.
After Lin Chang'er paid the fare, Grandpa Zhou confirmed the time with her again before driving the oxcart away, swaying and rocking.
Zhang's family also got up early today. Yesterday, she hired Brother Biao and a few other thugs to rob Lin Chang'er.
As evening approached, the brothers found her and said they had scared the bitch so badly that she never dared to come to town again.
The Zhang family happily paid the money. Although it cost three strings of cash to drive away that unlucky thing, they were glad that they would never see that annoying face again.
Zhang's family was still happy, but the brothers Biao and his gang had somehow gotten themselves all injured, insisting that they were injured while doing errands for her, and that it was considered a work injury, demanding that she pay for their medical expenses.
Therefore, she had to spend an extra string of cash to get rid of the person, which was somewhat unpleasant.
But the goal was achieved, and I felt refreshed. I even put some osmanthus oil on my hair early in the morning before taking the scallions to the market.
On Lin Chang'er's side, after she finished arranging the goods, the old lady finally saw what she had brought today.
The old lady looked worried. "Girl, do you have mostly seafood here?"
Lin Chang'er nodded, instantly understanding her meaning, and reassured her in return, "I was thinking that people in our town probably eat seafood too, but it's not available at the market."
If you want to try something new, you have to make a special trip to the city, which is inconvenient. Besides, seafood is hard to keep fresh once it leaves the sea.
Besides, prices in the city are generally higher than in the town. Selling here means fresh produce, and I can save time and transportation costs. It should be worth a try.”
The old lady's expression softened after hearing her words. "What you said makes sense."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Shall we stick to the old rules?"
Lin Chang'er smiled, "Okay, but there are a lot of things today. Do you have any left at home?"
Buy salted duck eggs and get free scallions; how could you miss out on seafood?
The old lady was taken aback. It wasn't that she was unwilling to sell to her, but she saw that the little girl had a hard time, and what if the seafood didn't sell well?
Given her personality, it's impossible to return the scallions to her; wouldn't that cause her to lose even more money?
The old lady smiled and said, "My home is nearby, so I can go pick some later if I need to."
Without giving it a second thought, Lin Chang'er nodded and said, "Okay!"
Today, the oxcart we took arrived in town earlier than the previous two days, and now the market is starting to fill up with people.
Having gained experience, the little goldfish put the big turtle on the stall today and shouted even more enthusiastically.
"Selling salted duck eggs! Delicious salted duck eggs, fresh clams, small stream fish, as well as blue crabs, mud crabs, swimming crabs, conger eels, grouper, sea bass, and mantis shrimp. Come and take a look if you're passing by..."
After calling out the order once, he looked at Lin Chang'er and asked, "Mother, is there anything else you've forgotten?"
Lin Chang'er chuckled. This child has a good memory; he's remembered almost everything. However, "It's alright if he misses something."
The little goldfish nodded and continued its call.
Upon seeing a regular customer who had visited the stall yesterday, he didn't forget to greet him, "Uncle, you're here early today!"
The person replied, "Good morning to you too!"
He asked them, "What would you like to buy today? We got a lot of good stuff last night, would you like to take a look? We're open for business, so we'll give you a discount."
The way he solicited customers was exactly like that of a seasoned pro.
Lin Chang'er was amused, Xu Gun'er was dumbfounded, and even the old lady who was helping to sell seafood had a look of amazement in her eyes.
Finally, the uncle indeed picked out a blue crab, and then took a fancy to the small stream fish. "How much are these small fish?"
The little goldfish didn't know the price and wasn't in a hurry. It calmly called out, "Mommy, this uncle wants the little fish."
Lin Chang'er took them and said, "These are the ones we just fished out of the river yesterday. How about two coins for three of the smaller ones and one coin for each of the larger ones?"
The uncle was also very straightforward, "Okay, give me 10 big ones."
"Alright, buy ten small fish and get one free. Orchid crabs are 30 coins each. To make it your first day of business, I'll give you a 2-coin discount and two scallions for free. It's a sincere deal at 38 coins."
The first order was a big deal, and Lin Chang'er gave the little goldfish a thumbs up.
The little goldfish smiled happily at her.
After the delivery was completed, a customer was already waiting. She was an elderly lady who asked how much the clams cost.
This stuff isn't worth much; it was only a few dollars per kilogram when it was cheap in later generations.
"Nowadays!" Lin Chang'er thought for a moment, "3-5 coins a pound should be about right." "Five coins a pound? I've been spitting out sand all night, would you like to take some to try?"
“These things are everywhere on the beach! Five coins is too expensive. Can you give me a discount? They’re delicious. I’ll come back tomorrow,” the old woman said, her eyes fixed on the two buckets of clams.
Lin Chang'er concluded that she was satisfied with the items, so she replied, "Auntie, it's true that they're everywhere on the beach, as you said, but I still have to spend time and effort to find and collect them, right?"
The old lady chimed in, "They have to be hauled all the way from the seaside to town. Five coins isn't expensive at all; a pound can fill a whole plate!"
The old woman pursed her lips, looked at the clams again, and finally held up four fingers, "Four coins, four coins for two catties."
Some customers watching from the sidelines chimed in, "If it's four coins, I'll take two jin too."
"Four coins for a pound!"
"I want three jin!"
Listening to the various voices, Lin Chang'er thought that 4 coins was actually reasonable. He deliberately set the price high to leave room for bargaining.
But he pretended to be reluctant, saying, "Alright, four coins it is. Let's make our faces known so that everyone will come to patronize us more often in the future."
The old woman beamed with joy, "As long as the product is good, we'll stick with you."
Others echoed, "That makes sense!"
Lin Chang'er borrowed a scale from the vendor selling mountain products next door to weigh clams. Before each delivery, she would show the scale to the vendor, saying, "Look, it's perfectly balanced. Here's a scallion for you. Come again next time."
As more and more customers gathered, Lin Chang'er was busy selling and weighing goods, aiming to make both sellers and buyers happy.
When the Zhang family arrived at the stall with their baskets, they happened to see this scene...