Baozi Xishi's Struggle

After paying a deposit of one hundred wen, Li and Shen Yu walked out of the dealership with a helpless expression on their faces, as if they were losing out by buying your car. The guy behind them wiped the sweat from his forehead as he saw them off, and heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the two people leaving.

When they were far away from the shop and thought the shop assistants couldn't see them anymore, Li couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, and Shen Yu couldn't help laughing too.

After laughing, Li said complacently with an expression that she had made a good deal, "Actually, the price of this car is still reasonable, but we can save 300 yuan, so we have made a profit."

Shen Yu knew in his heart that the guy from the car dealership was also putting on an act. If the price really wasn't right, how could a small guy like him dare to lower the price? In modern times, this is something that everyone knows when buying and selling something. They ask for a high price and pay a low price. He didn't expect that this has been a practice since ancient times.

Although he was complaining in his heart, he praised Li out loud, which made Li's face light up with joy and she even walked briskly.

Shen Yu discovered that Li had become a completely different person since coming to the county town.

In the past, Li was always ostracized in the village. She lived a depressed life and worried about food and drink every day. Her expression was always mixed with sorrow and complaints.

Since coming here, Li no longer has to gossip about her daughter anymore. She no longer has to worry about her daughter's safety all day long. When she goes out, she is no longer afraid of being pointed at and called the mother of misfortune by people she knows. She has become completely relaxed and more energetic.

Shen Yu thought happily in his heart that if the food stall became successful and had some income, his family would definitely be happier and their lives would get better and better.

With a smile on their faces, Shen Yu and Li discussed: "Let's go home first, give the remaining money for the car to Yu Tao, tell her that the new car will be delivered soon, and let them keep an eye on the door. Then we will go buy some flour, meat, vegetables and other ingredients.

Li tasted the sweetness and thought she could help her daughter with the screening, so she readily agreed.

The two men returned home, explained clearly to Yutao that the car would be delivered, counted the money for her, and then headed straight for Dongmen Street, which they had already arranged.

Dongmen Street is a street specializing in selling all kinds of food ingredients such as rice, oil, sauce and vinegar, meat, fish, chicken, duck, and vegetables. It is far from the market but close to the city gate. There are old shops on both sides that have been in business for many years. In the morning, vegetable farmers from the suburbs will come to sell vegetables grown in their own fields on both sides of the street.

I think it’s because it’s close to the city gate, so it’s more convenient to deliver goods. The freshest ingredients are concentrated here. This street market is like a modern farmers’ market.

We arrived at a large rice and grain store, which sold all kinds of rice, flour, millet, beans, etc.

Li was stunned when she entered the store. She didn't expect that there were so many varieties of rice. Although life was pretty good when Mr. Shen was here, in the countryside, the food they ate was all grown from their own fields. They ate whatever they planted. When she arrived at the rice store, she realized that there were several kinds of flour made from wheat alone.

Shen Yu asked the waiter, then grabbed a handful of flour from each of their bags, squeezed it with his hands, and chose the most expensive one.

As soon as the shop assistant saw her actions, he knew that this young girl was an expert who knew the quality of flour. He did not dare to quote a random price and just gave her a real price honestly.

This high-quality flour costs eighteen cents per pound, which is two cents more expensive than the flour bought from Yuelai Restaurant in Linxi Town, but the quality is better. Shen Yu immediately ordered five bags of flour, each bag weighing fifteen pounds.

The people in this part of the county have merchants from both the north and the south, so rice and noodles are their staple food. However, most people only eat flour at home to make cakes. They just buy the cheapest and coarser kind, and never buy so much at one time.

When the waiter saw the big customer coming, he smiled and asked politely, "Thank you for patronizing our store, young lady, since you bought so much at once. We have a rule that if you buy more than four bags at a time, we will give you a 15 cent discount for each bag. In addition, as long as the goods are in this county, we can deliver them to your home."

Shen Yu was delighted when he heard this. He had just thought that he would have to wait for the new car to be delivered before he could come here tomorrow to push the purchased flour and other ingredients home. He did not expect that the food here would offer large quantities and preferential prices, and would even deliver the food to his door. He truly enjoyed the treatment of being like a god.

Li didn't understand what Shen Yu wanted with such expensive flour, and she couldn't ask in front of the shop assistants. She could only watch with distress as Shen Yu took out his purse and counted the money for five bags of flour.

The accountant in the store took the money, made a few quick transactions and then wrote out a note for the clerk to give to Shen Yu.

After the waiter asked for Shen Yu's address, he said that the flour would be delivered before dark, and the girl could then hand the note to the flour deliveryman.

Shen Yu took the note and left the rice store with Li. Li had been holding back in the store and had been holding back for a long time. When she finally left the store, she immediately asked impatiently, "Yuzhi, what are you buying this kind of high-quality flour for? On weekdays in the countryside, flour is not this expensive. The money you spend on one pound of flour like this can buy one and a half pounds in the countryside."

Shen Yu pulled Li's butcher shop and explained to her with a smile: "Mom, the finer the flour is ground, the better the dough will rise, and the buns made will be soft and chewy, and can hold the filling and the soup."

Li had never made leavened noodles before, so she seemed to understand what he said, but she pretended to understand and nodded, saying, "Oh, the more expensive the noodles, the better, and the more fragrant they are."

Shen Yu smiled and nodded: "Mom is right, this kind of noodles tastes delicious."

The two of them ran around, buying things in various shops. The prices of these commonly sold ingredients were very realistic. They probably did not quote high prices to deceive new customers because they were old shops.

When they finally bought all the seasonings, their hands were filled with large and small bags, and there was a basket of fresh vegetables piled on the ground, a large piece of pork wrapped in lotus leaves, a bottle of oil, a jar of sauce, a gourd of vinegar, etc.

Li looked at it and said worriedly, "How can we take it back? It's really too much."

Shen Yu was also in a dilemma. She was hesitating whether to let Li wait here with the things while she went back to get the basket and carry them back together. Then a small cart with a small donkey on it stopped in front of them.

A middle-aged man with a simple and honest face asked Li: "Sister-in-law, did you buy too much food? Is it difficult to take it back?"

After hearing what the man said, Shen Yu realized that it was the cart drivers waiting on this street to solicit business. That was great, there were also taxis in ancient times.

Li had never seen this in the countryside. Suddenly, a strange man called her sister-in-law affectionately. She looked up, but she didn't recognize the man. She frowned and asked cautiously, "Who is your sister-in-law? I don't know you."

The middle-aged man was a little confused by Li's reply. He scratched his head awkwardly and didn't know how to start.

Shen Yu said crisply, "Brother, you are a porter. How much money does it cost to go to Liushu Lane next to the market?"

When the driver heard the girl asking about the price, he forgot the embarrassment and replied quickly, "Miss, you want to go to Willow Alley, it's not far, ten cents will be enough."

Shen Yu thought to himself, "You may look honest, but your asking price is not low. We moved a lot of luggage yesterday, and the cost was about the same, but it was only twenty cents."

"Five dollars, go or not, forget it if you don't want to go."

Li, who was standing by, heard the question and answer between the driver and Shen Yu, and realized that she had made a fool of herself because she didn't understand.

When she heard the price, she thought of the quote she got when she moved yesterday and felt it was too expensive.

The driver looked embarrassed, and Shen Yu also chimed in, "Big brother, it's getting dark, and I guess you're just doing some business on your way home. We don't have much stuff, just two people, so it's easy."

The driver, who wanted to try his best to earn more money, was about to speak, but was comforted by Shen Yu calling him "big brother". He thought what the girl said made sense, so he nodded in agreement dizzily.

The two men loaded all the things they had bought into the cart and sat down. The driver cracked his whip and the donkey started to trot briskly with a "de-de-de-de" sound.