Yang Family and Laixi followed the road by the pond toward the center of the market. The shops lining the street had just seen off a wave of shoppers, but the area remained bustling with people.
Unlike in the big cities and towns—with their clean, tidy streets and magnificent, brightly lit shops—the streets of Xiatang Market were narrow paths of bluestone. They were clean enough, but the shops on either side were low and cramped. They mostly catered to the needs of country folk, with oil presses, tofu workshops, various general stores, and grain shops. rchandise displayed out front of so stores spilled into the street, making the already narrow road even more constricted.
And yet, a street like this was bursting with the energy of daily life.
Villagers brought ho-grown peanuts and sesa seeds to trade for oil, or beans to trade for tofu. If they bought anything, it was usually just a few cheap daily necessities. The costics and hair ornants the won bought were also incredibly inexpensive. The fabric shops didn’t stock fine materials, only coarse hospun and cotton cloth suitable for villagers. The range of patterns, however, was quite extensive—after all, the young won and new brides of the countryside wanted to look beautiful, too!
Yang Family reached the area where at was sold. Butcher Zhang, his face a mass of surly flesh, spotted her from behind a dense row of at hooks. He imdiately called out, "Hey! You’re here! I made sure to save all the offal for you today."
He grinned, showing off a set of large buck teeth. He was trying his best to look friendly, but it had the exact opposite effect.
Laixi curled his lip and called him out. "Saved it? More like no one else would buy it! You’re unbelievable. My aunt buys your offal every day, but instead of being grateful, you go and break our agreent just for an extra one or two cents! If everyone did business your way, who’d want to be your custor? It’s not like we have to sell dishes made with pig offal, you know. My aunt’s planning to start selling fish and shrimp!"
Butcher Zhang gave an awkward laugh, wiping his hands on the greasy leather apron tied around his waist. "Hey now, young man, no need to get so worked up! I guess I was just blinded by greed yesterday. It won’t happen again. Look, I’ve got two sets of pig offal today, and Qian Dazui over there has two sets as well. We already talked it over. From now on, we’ll save all the pig offal for you!"
It seed he was worried. And for good reason. While plenty of people had co to buy the offal yesterday, not a single person had asked about it so far today. If he couldn’t sell it, he’d be out several cents.
Yang Family saw Qian Dazui from the next at stall smiling at her fawningly as well. She kept a straight face and said, "I may only earn a few cents a day, but do you have any idea how much work that takes? Can you eat pig offal if it’s not cleaned properly? Can you even put it in your mouth if it isn’t cooked well? Other people are just envious that my food is delicious, so they ca running to buy this stuff. See? That custor didn’t co to buy today, did he? And why is that? The braised pork at Qinghui Restaurant is expensive, so how co you don’t see more people buying your at to make it themselves?"
Laixi imdiately picked up on his aunt’s cue, chiming in with a sarcastic laugh. "Not just anyone can make braised pork taste good. If it were that easy, I’d open my own little tavern instead of selling groceries."
Seeing the sour look on Butcher Zhang’s face, Yang Family pressed on. "People only see making money; they don’t think about how hard-earned it is. Let’s not even talk about all the washing and cooking—we country folk are just fated to work hard, after all. Even my selling price can’t compare to the restaurants. I sell a huge scoop for only one cent, while a restaurant can make over ten cents just by stir-frying a few slices of at. This dish of ours takes a whole day and night to get right, with several family mbers all pitching in!"
Butcher Zhang forced another smile onto his face. "Alright, alright," he said to Yang Family. "From now on, I won’t be so greedy over small profits! Please, just let it go this once!"
Qian Dazui, from his stall, quickly chid in, "That’s right! From now on, we’ll save the pig offal for you and won’t sell it to anyone else. Or how about this? Have the young man here co pick it up first thing every morning. Once it’s gone, no one else will be able to buy it."
Butcher Zhang quickly agreed. "Yes, yes! Let’s do that!"
Yang Family said, "Here’s what I think. It would be better if you two deliver it to the Fuxi Grocery Store at the head of the street first thing every morning. And don’t you be reluctant. From now on, I won’t just be buying the offal. I’ll also buy your pig heads, tails, and trotters. I’ll even buy so regular pork from ti to ti. I can’t make any real money just selling the offal, and it’s exhausting work. If I add these other items, I can increase my sales volu. That way, I’ll at least make a decent profit, and my family’s hard work won’t be for nothing."
Butcher Zhang and Qian Dazui were overjoyed at the proposal and quickly agreed.
In reality, this "delivery" just ant dropping the items off at the grocery store on their way past it each morning. These miscellaneous parts were the hardest things to sell. Unloading them all in one go would save the butchers a great deal of effort!
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