“You still want me to lower the price? Sister, the prices I am giving you are already very cheap!”
The woman thought for a while before she replied, “Cheap?! It’s twice as expensive as the price on the market, okay? Your prices are too expensive! Money grubbers like you really have a big appetite!”
Xiulan immediately reddened in anger when she heard that. In fact, if the woman would bargain with her for a few cents less, she was still willing to make concessions, but this woman directly want to cut the price so much. If this was not because the woman didn’t want to do business with her, then Xiulan really couldn’t tell anymore.
She replied coldly, “Sister, do you want me to give you the fine grains directly?”
“Oh, really? Sister, you are so kind! Will you really give the fine grains to me?” The woman thought that what Xiulan said was true and she felt happy to take advantage of it.
The corners of Xiulan’s lips twitched and thought, why do some people like to daydream?
“Okay, Sister! Then, you should go to the black market and ask the other sellers. If anyone is willing to give you half a kilo of foodstuffs, then I will give you five kilos of the same kind.
“Since you are not sincere in doing business, then let’s forget about it. Just go and find someone who can sell you foodstuffs so cheaply. I’ll get going now!”
After speaking, she turned around and left, not caring about this woman.
Her fine grains were a good thing on the black market and she was not really worried that no one would buy them, so she didn’t have to make herself suffer at all and sell them to that woman.
Before she had taken a few steps, another woman chased her up. “Sister, hold on! You seem to be selling foodstuffs to others just now. Do you still have foodstuffs there? Are you willing to sell me some as well? I swear that I’ll never treat you badly in terms of price!”
Xiulan stopped and looked at the woman who had caught up with her.
The woman’s name was Song Caixia. She also came to buy foodstuffs on the black market today, but she wasn’t able to buy any after asking a lot of people around.
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
She just saw that Xiulan seemed to be trading with someone, but because the price was not negotiated well, she dared to rush over and ask.
If she could buy foodstuff, she wouldn’t have to ask about it on the black market.
Xiulan glanced at her. Caixia was not very old, about in her twenties only. She was slightly fatter than the villagers and looked more fortunate. Her appearance looked kind and she seemed to be an easy person to get along with at first glance.
When she talked to Xiulan, she also had a smile on her face, giving people a sense of closeness.
Xiulan felt that Caixia was really good to her, so she nodded and replied, “Well, yes, there are rice, white flour, and dried noodles.”
Caixia was even happier when she heard that Xiulan even had fine grains, so she hurriedly asked, “Sister, what are the prices?”
Xiulan told her the same prices she had quoted to the other woman earlier, and Caixia agreed without any bargaining.
“Okay, Sister! How many do you have there?”
“I still have five kilos of rice, five kilos of white flour, and four kilos of dried noodles. How much do you want?”
Caixia exclaimed, “Wow!” She didn’t expect that Xiulan would have so many fine grains in her hands.
Although it would cost a lot of money to buy them all, the prices given by Xiulan were indeed very low compared to what was offered on the black market. If she didn’t buy them now, it would not be easy to buy any fine grains in the future, let alone fine grains that cost cheaper than the black-market price.
Caixia thought for a while, then she finally gritted her teeth and said, “Sister, I want them all! You can sell them all to me. There are still a lot of coupons at my house. I will give you both coupons and money in exchange.”
Seeing that Caixia was quick to buy her goods, Xiulan asked casually, “Do you also want some eggs and oil?”
Xiulan would probably not sell those two to ordinary people, but upon seeing Caixia’s refreshing business, she was willing to sell eggs and oil as well.