Chapter 029
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
From the time the two of them collected the large bag until they reached an area at the Eastside Market where Zhao’er had already set up the stall, Jiang Wu could not react properly.
By the time Zhao’er was done, a large mat was piled high with all kinds of clothes for men and women, old and young. Not only that, she also managed to use the mule cart’s side compartment to fashion an area for hanging clothes and displaying several outfits on the outside of the cart.
Some passersby had already noticed this eye-catching display. As soon as she was done with arranging her little makeshift stall, Zhao’er’s crisp voice rang out loudly across the market, “Clothes! Selling beautiful and affordable clothes! Excellent quality clothes! Come take a look, don’t miss out on this great opportunity~ excellent clothes that don’t cost one or two taels, but only 60 coins! That’s right, every piece here is 60 coins only! 3 pieces only cost 150 coins!”
Attracted by this loud and rhythmic call, people in the marketplace started looking over.
The colourful clothing caught their eye. There were clothes in black, blue, green, red and all sorts of colours in between. It was clear with just a glance whether the clothes looked good or not.
The fabrics shimmered. Striking red, refreshing green and cool blue invited the eye. Some clothes sat heavily on their hangers, indicating their good quality and texture. They studied the clothes hung around the walls of the cart. Not only were the fabrics of good quality, but the cuts were in the current popular style as well.
Just 60 coins?
60 coins would only get you a few feet of cloth and you still had to put in the labour for it.
Suddenly, several middle-aged women rushed forward.
“Young man, are all these clothes only 60 coins each?”
Zhao’er nodded with a smile. “The outer garments are 60 coins each. The inner shirt and pants are 60 coins per set. Winter clothes are a little more expensive at 150 coins each, but just take a look at the quality and style. You won’t make a loss if you buy this.”
At that, a few sharper women had already bent down and were already quickly picking out the clothes they had spotted from afar.
Some shook out the clothes for a closer look, joy clear on their faces. Others showed some disappointed looks as the clothes they had tugged out were made of beautiful fabrics, but were obviously men’s clothing.
Still, there was plenty to go around and the majority of them already had something in hand. Nothing they picked out was bad and, as for the men’s clothes, which family did not have a man in their family? Let’s buy it for the head of the family!
While clutching their chosen pieces close to their chests, they continued to dig through the pile.
Some clothes were thrown back into the pile after a look.
Others were quickly tucked away.
Two people spotted the same article of clothing they liked, but one was faster with her hands. The one who lost the ‘battle’ stared at the clothing in the other’s hand, hoping against hope that it would be thrown back into the pile even as they searched for something more suitable.
That feeling of digging through a pile of treasure was quite enjoyable. You never knew what you may find as each article seemed better than the last. This treasure hunt was novel, fun and exciting. Moreover, there was even a bit of killing intent in the air as several women’s eyes turned red when something they wanted was snatched away.
While the women were busy trawling through the pile of clothes, more and more people crowded around to watch the excitement. The women were too engrossed in their treasure hunt to notice the observers.
“This one is good.”
“This one suits the family head!”
“Brother Jiang Wu, you look after that side. I’ll take care of this side,” said Zhao’er.
Jiang Wu nodded and the two of them split up and divided the work.
Very soon, the few who had already made their choices rushed forward. Even so, there was a look of discontentment on their faces, “Young man, can’t you lower the price a little?”
Zhao’er shook her head, her eyebrows twitched drawn together in a pained look, “You have a good eye and have chosen good quality items. You must know that you have a great bargain in hand. I cannot lower the price anymore. In fact, I am already selling it at a loss. Any cheaper, I will cry, ah.”
“Young man, you sure know how to exaggerate. How could a little discount make you cry?” a nearby woman interjected.
Another woman said, “That’s right, that’s right, if you are willing to make it a little cheaper, we will all buy a few more.” She then winked at the women still looking through the pile.
Several women, who were practically strangers to each other nodded in unison, “Yes, yes, we buy so many pieces at once, won’t you lower the price a little?”
The frown on Zhao’er’s face grew even more pronounced, “Hahh, I shall tell you ladies the truth. In fact, we are not in a ready-made clothing business. Our pawnshop just happened to receive too many clothing and we have nowhere to store them, which is why we are now selling them at a loss. The sale of the clothes is just enough for us to cover the cost of laundering them. Not to mention, when coupled with the money we handed out by receiving these as pawn items, it all adds up to our expenses. We really cannot sell them for less.”
“And here I was wondering why such excellent clothes were being sold so cheaply here,” said one of the housewives.
Zhao’er immediately pounced on this, “Madam, you have an excellent eye! You must know that pawnshops only accept clothes of a certain quality. Take a good look at the quality of the fabric, style and stitching. If I were to say more, I’d be accused of talking up my goods, therefore I shall say no more!”
These days, there was no taboo about wearing used clothing, especially among commoners and farming villagers. Having a single piece of unpatched garment was considered quite respectable. In their entire lives, many people in the country had never worn or even touched this kind of fabric, let alone in such style. If they could get their hands on such clothing cheaply, their entire family would have new clothes to wear when at New Year gatherings and other festivals.
With that in mind, some came forward to pay.
“Little brother is a good talker, enough, enough, I’ll take these two.”
“Madam, why not pick out another piece? One outfit is 60 coins, two are 120 coins, but for three outfits, you only have to pay 150 coins. Only 30 coins for such an excellent outfit, don’t say I didn’t remind you~”
“Heh! Young man, you have a point! I’ll pick out one more.”
With that, you take three pieces, I take three pieces, and everyone happily picked out three outfits for themselves. The joy of having picked up a bargain was enough to satisfy them.
Soon, most of the clothes that were hung outside the cart were snatched up, leaving only a few scattered pieces. Even so, there were still people standing around, asking if there were any more.
“Of course, I have. Just wait.”
This way, the large bundle of clothes were nearly sold out, leaving only a few random pieces.
Instead of taking out the second bundle of clothing, Zhao’er quickly packed up the stall and left the market with Jiang Wu.
“Are you not planning to sell the rest?”
“I don’t plan to sell those here. I just put them in the cart for convenience’s sake. The remaining clothes would be sold to the villagers.”
Jiang Wu finally caught on to Zhao’er’s plan.
For a flower to look its best, it should be accompanied by green leaves.
A beautiful flower needs green leaves as companions, and a talented individual needs support from the masses. Without the green leaves, how can the beauty and brightness of the flower be truly appreciated?
“Just how did you develop such a mind?” he asked admiringly.
Zhao’er did not try to act demure as she chuckled confidently, “Thank my parents.”
Even as the words left her mouth, a trace of gloom flashed across her face. Jiang Wu wisely did not choose to pursue the subject. Instead, he asked her which village she planned to go first.
The two of them stopped at the villages where they usually gathered vegetables.
Because the villagers were already familiar with them, the mule cart was not stopped or driven away by the usually tight-knit villagers.
In general, small villages had wheat fields [1], which would be used to dry and thresh grains during the autumn season. These were generally considered public property and were usually situated at the entrance or the centre of the village.
Jiang Wu’s mule cart stopped at the wheat field situated at the centre of the first village of the day.
Zhao’er had already made all the preparations. The moment they reached their destination, she set up her stall, took out a slightly cracked gong from the carriage and started banging on it.
Not long after that, quite a few villagers started to turn up.
Most were there to gawk. There were many familiar faces, and some were even people she often had little business exchanges with.
One of the more familiar ones stepped forward to ask, “What’s this? Not collecting vegetables today?”
“I want to, but I can only collect if you have it,” Zhao’er said with a laugh.
Everyone else laughed at that.
That’s right, around this time it was difficult even for farming households to get their hands on fresh vegetables. Right now, most people were still subsisting off their reserves of dried and pickled vegetables hidden in their cellars since last autumn. They would have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit more before there were any vegetables to be collected.
“Right, right, on to business. I am not here to collect vegetables. I am here as a seller. Go on, take a look. Don’t say that I don’t look after my fellow villagers. I especially found a way to bring all these back from the county. These are 30 coins apiece, these are only 20 coins and as for these winter clothes, 80 coins apiece. Come now, be quick, I still have other villages to visit.”
“Selling clothes? Brother Zhao Cai [2], your name suits you very well, ah. You can sell anything.”
Some of the villagers started cracking jokes with Zhao’er and she did not shy away as they continued with their back and forth. Soon, laughter rang across the wheat field.
While the men were chatting with ‘Little Brother Zhao Cai’, the women were already looking through the piles of clothes.
Most townspeople would disdain those clothing, but that didn’t mean the villagers would dislike them.
Countryfolk usually wore clothes made of coarse cloth or homespun fabric. The pile of clothes Zhao’er had put before them were made of fine cotton, and there were even some with silk or satin lining on them. The only drawback to these clothes was that they looked a little worn.
Still, a silk dress was a silk dress. Moreover, there was not a single patch on that dress!
“20 coins is a bit pricey, can’t you lower the price?”
“No haggling! You’ll lose out if you don’t buy it. If you buy these you’ll definitely won’t suffer a loss. I won’t cheat my fellow villagers.”
“I don’t have much money in hand this spring, can I exchange with goods?” someone asked.
“Others can’t, but fellow villagers can. No living things, only non-living things like eggs or grains. We’ll go according to the village selling price.”
At this, many of the women beamed with delight and hurried back home to grab those items.
Before long, people started appearing with sacks of grains and baskets of eggs.
Naturally, the value of grains would depend on their type. As for the eggs, the villages sold them for about 2 coins each, but it was just too troublesome to go all the way to town to sell a few eggs. Therefore, they sold those eggs at ‘village price’ to people who collected eggs and vegetables. It was a practice that Zhao’er had set in the past.
About an hour later, Zhao’er managed to collect two sacks of grains, several baskets of eggs and other assorted items. After packing up the stall, they set out for the next village.
By the time dusk arrived, the clothes were sold out, but Zhao’er and Jiang Wu’s cart were filled to the brim with things.
After stopping the mule cart on the path between the villages, Zhao’er started calculating the money inside the cart.
Since she was illiterate and had never learned arithmetic, she could only count up to a hundred, but anything beyond that was impossible for her.
After attempting to count several times, she finally pushed the small pile of copper coins away in frustration, “I refuse to count anymore! I don’t get it!”
Jiang Wu, who was still in the driver’s seat, smiled and said, “I’ll help you count later.”
“You can’t count either, don’t think I don’t know!” Zhao’er retorted.
Jiang Wu coughed lightly in embarrassment.
Suddenly, Zhao’er perked up. She spread out the scattered copper coins and visually estimated about 20% portion and set that aside.
“Right, this is your share. You also get half the grains and eggs.”
“We agreed on a 20% share, so why half the eggs and grains?”
“Those don’t count. That’s Da Qing’s reward. Also, please take my half of the grains and eggs to your house first. I will try and sell them tomorrow in town. That’s right, I need to go to the county too.”
“I’ll come and pick you up tomorrow morning.”
“Alright.”
While they were chatting away, the walls of Huyang Town appeared in the distance.
Zhao’er’s eyes lit up, “Let’s drop by the town one more time. I want to send some eggs to Ting’er.”
Jiang Wu tightened his grip on the reigns and said with a smile, “Sure, since it’s still early, we don’t have to rush back.”
Thus, after a busy day, Xue Tingxiang returned to his dormitory to find that someone had just sent him a small basket of eggs.
Moreover, the eggs were sent by the same girl.
[Gumihou: Jiang Wu is being undermined a bit here. A leaf to Zhao’er’s flower. A supporting character. Which I kind of appreciate. Since it reduces the second ML syndrome.]
[1] The term “麦场” (màichǎng) in Chinese can refer to both a wheat field where wheat is grown and cultivated, as well as a drying field where harvested grains, including wheat, are threshed and dried. The context in which the term is used will determine whether it specifically refers to a field where wheat is grown or a field where grains are processed after harvesting. [2] Zhao Cai (招财) – as in ‘calling fortune’. The Zhao Cai Mao or Zhao Cai Cat is the same Fortune Cat you see in shops with their arms up, beckoning fortune into the house/shop.
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