Reborn as a Tough Army Wife-Chapter 37 Selling Things

The next day was market day, and Fang Pingying and Luo Zhiyong got up early in the morning.

To sell goods in the town, they had to arrive early to secure a good stall.

Since Luo Zhiyong had difficulty walking and the other members of the Fang Family were not up yet—and even if they were, they probably wouldn't be willing to help Fang Pingying—

Fang Pingying still took Luo Honglan with her to the town to sell goods.

The two packed baskets with hawthorn jam and hawthorn cake and brought a small scale from home.

By the time they arrived in town, many regular vendors had already occupied the stalls.

At that time, to increase revenue, the government set up wooden stalls along both sides of the town's streets during the market. After 10 a.m., government officials would come to collect the stall fee of 50 cents each, regardless of whether any goods were sold.

Of course, many people, in order to save that 50 cents, would lay a cloth on the ground and directly place their goods there, ready to run with their goods if someone came to collect the stall fee.

After all, if government officials saw someone setting up a stall, as long as you were on the roadside, even if you were not using their stalls, you still had to pay.

Considering she was selling food items, Fang Pingying thought it wouldn't look too good setting them up on the ground, so she chose a smaller stall. The 50 cents was not a big deal to her.

Next to Fang Pingying's stall was a woman in her thirties selling small cloth shoes, baby bellybands, and little garments.

Seeing the appealing appearance of Fang Pingying's goods, the woman asked with a smile, "Girl, what are you selling? They look very nice."

Fang Pingying introduced each item to her, "Sister, this is hawthorn jam, and this is hawthorn cake. Would you like to try some?"

"Can I try? But I might not buy," the woman said, indeed somewhat curious to sample the goods.

Fang Pingying smiled and waved her hand, "It's okay if you don't buy, have a taste, it's rare we get to be neighbors selling goods together."

The woman immediately laughed, "What a sweet talker you are, alright, I'll try some."

Fang Pingying first cut a small piece of hawthorn cake and handed it to her, then told her, "The hawthorn jam and hawthorn cake pretty much taste the same, though the jam is a bit harder to handle. Later on, I need to buy some wax paper before I can give you a taste."

After tasting the hawthorn cake, the woman chewed it carefully and then looked at Fang Pingying with a surprised expression, "Girl, is this hawthorn cake really made from hawthorn? It doesn't taste sour like hawthorn at all, rather it's both sour and sweet, tastes pretty good."

Fang Pingying casually replied with a smile, "Hehe, Sister, I made the hawthorn myself, that's why it tastes so good."

"How much is it?" the woman asked.

"Hawthorn cake is one yuan per jin, and a jar of this jam is three yuan each," Fang Pingying thought for a moment and decided to slightly raise the prices, thinking about the future; if it really didn't sell, she could think of another plan.

"That's quite expensive." The price wasn't cheap, and the woman hesitated, as one yuan could even buy her a jin of meat.

Fang Pingying didn't force her to buy, just smiled and explained, "Sister, honestly, I've put quite a bit of good stuff in this, otherwise the taste wouldn't be so good. It's my first time making this and I'm not really making much, just earning back the cost. Maybe next time, you won't be able to buy it at this price."

After thinking it over, the woman finally pointed at the hawthorn cake and said, "Well, I won't take the jam then, can you weigh me half a jin of hawthorn cake? I want to buy it for my two children to try at home, they've never tasted something this delicious."

"Sure, for your two children's sake, I'll weigh out six taels for the price of half a jin." The first transaction was so easily made, giving Fang Pingying an added boost of confidence.

"The girl is really nice, then if I buy one jin, will you give me one jin and two taels?" Upon hearing she could benefit, the elder sister immediately changed her mind.

"If you want, giving you an extra two taels is no big deal, after all, I made them myself, consider it fate with the elder sister." Fang Pingying didn't say much, just agreed directly.

"Alright, then weigh me one jin." The elder sister said, and started chatting with Fang Pingying, "I was initially thinking of buying some meat for the kids as we haven't had any for months, but now I'll just get this for them instead of the meat."

Hearing the elder sister mention her kids, Fang Pingying thought of her own daughters from her previous life, feeling a tenderness in her heart.

She smiled and persuaded the elder sister, "Elder sister, buy some meat as well, just buy a little less. The kids are young and need meat to grow; these snacks are just casual treats, they don't need to eat too much."

Hearing this, the elder sister couldn't help but smile gratefully, "Girl, you are really honest. It seems like it's your first time doing business. If it were a regular trader, they wouldn't be so honest, they'd rather sell everything in one go to a customer, not advising them like you do."

"Doing business should also come with a conscience, to empathize. We all have kids at home, we need to think about the kids," Fang Pingying said, sighing lightly, regretting not having thought this way in her previous life.

Seeing her discuss children, the elder sister seemed to have a lot of topics to discuss, laughing as she asked her, "Young lady, you have children too?"

"Not yet, my sister-in-law and my elder brother just got married over a month ago, they haven't had children." Luo Honglan, standing to the side setting up goods, laughed along while talking with the elder sister.

"Haha, then I wish you have a big chubby boy soon."

Fang Pingying also smiled lightly, then pointed not far away to the supply and marketing cooperative, "Elder sister, wait for me, I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative on the opposite side to buy some parchment paper, I'll wrap the hawthorn cake in parchment paper before I give it to you."

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After the elder sister agreed, Fang Pingying went across to buy the parchment paper.

Although the supply and marketing cooperative was open, the salesperson didn't look like she was working, still knitting a sweater. Fang Pingying had to call her several times before she lazily responded, "It's not time yet, not working, come back later."

Fang Pingying knew that the people working at the supply and marketing cooperative were not like before, they were serving the state, merely passing the days without a sense of responsibility.

So, she kept a smiling face and said to the salesperson, "Young lady, I just want to buy some parchment paper, I need it for the sale, can you cut some for me? It won't take much of your time."

Seeing that she was only buying parchment paper, not a major item, the salesperson was even less inclined to engage, put down her knitting needles on the counter, and said impatiently, "I already said I'm not working, what are you yelling for?"

Fang Pingying was already displeased by her attitude, but thinking of her own business, she tried not to waste any more time and continued to sweet-talk, "Young lady, please, I really just need a few sheets of parchment paper, it will be quick, it won't delay you for long."

This time, the salesperson actually stood up, but she slammed the measuring ruler usually used for measuring goods in front of Fang Pingying, cursing fiercely, "Are you deaf or what, I told you it's not working hours, why are you screaming?"

"Young lady, if you are not working then why open the doors so early? Plus, I saw someone just now buying goods from another counter, which means technically you can sell," Fang Pingying's face was starting to show signs of frustration.

"Then go buy from that other counter, after all, I'm not working yet, if you really have money, you can go buy in the county or provincial city, people there follow the rules." The salesperson said mockingly, looking down on Fang Pingying.

Fang Pingying really couldn't tolerate it anymore, her expression stern as she coldly spoke, "Not selling, is it? Then call your manager here, I really need to ask what's going on."

"On a market day, you open your doors early in the morning, but when customers come, you keep saying you are not working. If you're not working, don't open so early, and besides, other counters have started selling already."

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I saw a comment from a reader mentioning something about some potential errors with names and surnames. I wrote and stored several Chapters before posting, then changed the main male and female characters' names when publishing, some changes may have been overlooked and didn't get corrected. I've checked and made some corrections where possible, but there may still be overlooked places. If you spot them, please remind me in the comments, and I'll make the corrections immediately. I'll also double-check myself.