In a blink of an eye, the day of the market arrived.
For the first time in the morning, Xu Zhengxiang did not get up too early, but waited until the sun showed up before getting up.
Ye Luoxin prepared a breakfast with Yang Feng's help, including porridge, pickles and vegetable dumplings.
"You won't go to the fields today. You two will go to the market with me, sell the eggs you saved, and buy some chicks back."
Xu Zhengxiang wore a green button-up shirt that she made three years ago and only wore it when going out.
"Okay, mother!"
Yang Feng liked to go to the market the most, and she talked to Ye Luoxin several times while cooking in the morning. Now after listening to Xu Zhengxiang's words, he swallowed the vegetable dumplings in two gulps and went back to the house to change clothes.
Ye Luoxin didn't have any new clothes, only her wedding dress and the set of clothes Yang Feng had given her.
She wanted to return Yang Feng's clothes, but she really didn't have a change of clothes. She just wanted to give Yang Feng a new set when her life would be better in the future.
The market is in Qingshu Town, ten miles away. On this day, there will be an ox cart at the entrance of the village. Xu Zhengxiang negotiated the price with the driver, and the three of them gave a total of five copper coins.
The market was very lively, and people from the surrounding villages, as long as they had some inventory at home, wanted to take it to the market to exchange for something.
There will be a stall fee for the designated stalls. If you don't want to pay the stall fee, you can squat on the roadside outside and put things out, and people will come to ask the price.
Xu Zhengxiang and the others arrived quite early and found a conspicuous spot on the roadside and squatted down.
A total of 40 eggs were brought this time. According to the market price, two eggs can be sold for three cents, and this basket can be sold for 60 cents.
But after squatting until noon, only one customer came and asked for ten eggs. There were still thirty eggs left in the basket.
Xu Zhengxiang was a little anxious. If they couldn't sell the thirty eggs, they would have to take them back. If they come back half a month later, the eggs would be stale.
Ye Luoxin didn't expect that selling an egg would be so difficult.
She originally wanted to look at the flow of people and figure out a suitable small business.
But after standing for a long time, she found that the biggest problem was not the flow of people, but that the country people had no money.
Without money, no matter how many people there are, it is useless.
"Mom, why don't we change places." Seeing Xu Zhengxiang's anxious expression, Ye Luoxin suggested.
"What's the use of changing places? People coming and going at the market are the same everywhere."
Ye Luoxin said: "I think people in the town seem to come from the west. Some people already have eggs in their hands when they come here. Let's move to the west. Maybe we can sell them faster."
Xu Zhengxiang didn't agree with this, but looking at the eggs in the basket, she decided to give it a try.
The three of them walked all the way to the west. When they were almost at the end, a farmer selling vegetables happened to pack up his stall and leave, so the three of them took his place.
After a while, an old lady came over and looked at the eggs in their basket.
Xu Zhengxiang greeted quickly: "Sister, do you want to buy eggs? Our eggs are very fresh, they are all just laid recently."
"How much does one cost?" the old lady asked.
"Two cents for three cents." Xu Zhengxiang replied.
The old lady picked up the eggs, shined them in the sun, and said, "You can make them cheaper for me. I want them all."
"You want them all?" Xu Zhengxiang has never met such a big customer.
However, she reacted quickly and did not show too much surprise. She said calmly: "Sister, you can tell that you are discerning. Our eggs are all laid by old hens. They are very big and some are even double-yolk eggs." , this price is already the cheapest, if you want them all, I’ll give you one for free, do you think that’s okay?”
The old lady also fell in love with the eggs in the basket. When she heard what Xu Zhengxiang said, she said, "Then you give me two and I'll buy them all."
It's a bit sad to waste two eggs for nothing, but it's good to be able to sell them at once.
Xu Zhengxiang agreed and counted there were thirty eggs in the basket. If two were given out, that would be twenty-eight.
Two eggs cost three cents, twenty-eight. How much is that?
She was not good at arithmetic, and she couldn't do it when she was in a hurry.
"It's forty coins in total, let's take it for you." The old lady calculated it first, handed over the money, and wanted to take the eggs away.
"Madam, this number is wrong." Ye Luoxin was loading eggs, but when she heard the price, she pressed her hand on the egg basket, stopping the old lady's movement.
"What's wrong?" The old lady frowned.
"My mother said I would give you two eggs, so the remaining eggs should be twenty-eight, two and three pennies. Let's divide these eggs into 14 piles, and one pile of three pennies should be 42 pennies."
"Yes, yes, my daughter-in-law is right, eldest sister, there are 42 articles in total." Xu Zhengxiang said quickly.
The old lady originally thought that they, the country women, didn't know how to settle accounts and would take advantage whenever they could. But she didn't expect that this little daughter-in-law calculated so clearly and didn't take advantage, so she suddenly felt a little unhappy.
"I see that your eggs are not very fresh. Three pennies for two is a bit expensive."
Yang Feng quickly said: "Don't worry, aunt, we often come to the market to sell eggs, so we guarantee that the goods will be good."
Ye Luoxin also said: "Auntie, you are discerning, otherwise you wouldn't be able to spot our eggs at a glance. You look very impressive. You must be from a wealthy family, right?"
In fact, you rich people don't care about being penniless. They only care about delicious food. You can rest assured that our eggs are absolutely fresh. "
The old lady was happy to be flattered, and the unhappiness in her heart disappeared: "Okay, okay, forty-two cents is forty-two cents, you pretend it for me."
With that said, she handed over her basket.
Yang Feng and Ye Luoxin put the eggs in one by one. Xu Zhengxiang also collected the coins, counted them and put them in his purse.
When the old lady left, the three of them looked at each other and closed the stall happily.
Xu Zhengxiang was in a good mood and said to the two of them: "It's early to close the stall today, and my second wife helped recover 2 cents. Let's go, mother will buy you two pancakes to eat."
"Great!" Yang Feng grabbed Ye Luoxin's arm and shook it happily.
Her biggest interest in coming to the market is to improve the food. Every time Xu Zhengxiang is in a good mood, she can buy something delicious to satisfy her cravings.
The market was very lively, and snack sellers were all lined up, stretching to the end of the alley.
There are smooth noodles, crystal shrimp dumplings, snow-white cloud cakes, round sesame glutinous rice balls, and fat and oily sauce duck and roast chicken.
They gulped all the way and walked over. When they were near the end, there was a big pot selling pancakes that was smoking.
The fried cake costs four cents each, is as big as a face, is made with thick ingredients, and is fried to a crispy and fragrant texture.
Xu Zhengxiang bought a cake and asked the boss to cut it in half and give half to each of his two daughters-in-law.
"Mom, let me eat it first." Yang Feng handed the pancake to Xu Zhengxiang's mouth.
Xu Zhengxiang took a big bite and chewed, "Yeah, it's very fragrant."
Ye Luoxin also tore off a large piece of her own: "Mom, you can eat it."
Xu Zhengxiang stuffed the cake into his mouth and said, "I'm not hungry, you can eat the rest."
This was Ye Luoxin's first time eating fried cakes.
The high-temperature hot oil makes the dough crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. When the boss kneads the dough, he also adds five-spice powder and chopped green onion. When you take a bite, the corners of your mouth will be soaked in grease, and your mouth will be filled with the smell of burnt aroma.
It was surprisingly delicious.
The three of them ate and walked around. There were many interesting things in the market, such as noodle makers, fans, bronze mirrors, sachets... It was dazzling and looked very fresh.
While strolling around, Xu Zhengxiang, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.
Ye Luoxin didn't pay attention and almost stepped on her heel.
"Mom! Why don't you leave?"
She rubbed her hit head and looked forward, and immediately knew the reason.
Opposite, Zou and Ye Qingqing were walking towards this side.
