stingy landlady

Chapter 51 The Vegetable Selling Scandal 2

Shopkeeper Qu came out and glanced at Zhao Shi. She was dressed in coarse cloth, her clothes wrinkled from carrying a basket on her back. Sweat beaded on her face, whether from exhaustion or nervousness, it was hard to tell. She didn't dare put the basket down!

A boy followed behind, his face slightly red and swollen, as if he had been in a fight. He was also carrying a small basket on his back.

Shopkeeper Qu gestured for Zhao and Da Bao to put down their baskets: "Put the vegetables down! Da Zhu's family! Why are you selling vegetables so late?"

Zhao explained, "Yes! Dazhu is my eldest brother! I'm from Erzhu's family. There were some things to do at home, so I had to walk here! We used to deliver the vegetables we grew with my eldest brother here."

Manager Qu's eyes darted around. "Erzhu's family, if you come to deliver vegetables at this hour, you won't be able to sell them! It's past lunchtime!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao became anxious: "Shopkeeper! I'll bring it earlier tomorrow! I've already delivered all the vegetables today! If I take them back again, my mother-in-law will scold me!"

"How could you have ruined these vegetables like this! They'd be rotten by tonight! You can't take them! Take them home! Nobody wants them! They're all for vegetable growers!"

Manager Qu rummaged through the vegetables in his basket, complaining as he did so.

Da Bao was exhausted and said, "Mom! I'm not carrying it back anymore! It's too heavy to pull!"

Zhao was also anxious and couldn't help but raise her voice: "Shopkeeper! Please have mercy! Just accept it! We'll carry it back and forth, and by the time we get home, the vegetables will be all crushed!"

"This doesn't look appealing at all, and it's not fresh anymore. Plus, there are so many rotten leaves! Even if you gave it away for free, people wouldn't want the hassle of sorting through it!"

Zhao pleaded repeatedly!

Shopkeeper Qu waved his hand, signaling Zhao to stop talking, and asked, "How much do you plan to sell these vegetables?"

Zhao asked in surprise, "Didn't you say it was twenty coins a catty?"

"Can that vegetable be the same as yours that's been sitting out for a day? Besides, I already told Guihong and the others yesterday that there's more green vegetables available now and the price has dropped! Didn't she tell you?" Manager Qu asked deliberately.

Zhao stammered, "No! They didn't say anything! If only I had known, if only I had known..."

"If you knew beforehand, what? If you knew beforehand, you wouldn't have come, right? Well, it's not too late for you to take it back now!" Manager Qu said, wiping his hands.

Da Bao exclaimed anxiously, "Mom! You can carry me! I don't want to! My shoulders are all red and must be swollen!"

"Alright, alright! We won't carry it! Shopkeeper, please give us a price! We won't carry it back!" Zhao felt she had no other choice.

"Alright, seeing that you two have it tough, let's set it at five copper coins a pound! That's already quite high; in previous years, you could buy a whole bunch for just one copper coin!" Shopkeeper Qu said kindly.

Zhao suddenly exclaimed "Ah!"

"This, this, shopkeeper! My mother-in-law will kill me when I get back! Others sell it for twenty coins a pound, and I'm selling it for five! Shopkeeper, you can't do this!"

Shopkeeper Qu, with a heart as hard as iron, said, "Take it back! If you take it back and leave it until tomorrow, even if you feed it to the pigs, they won't eat it!"

I only accepted it out of kindness. So many people eat at my restaurant, I'll buy it for them at a cheaper price! It'll save you from carrying it home and ending up with nothing!

"You still expect the restaurant to spend a lot of money on food for its workers? If you were the manager, would you do that? You're not stupid!"

The more Zhao listened, the colder she felt. She had never sold anything before; at most, she would take a few handkerchiefs to the embroidery shop, and the price was whatever they quoted.

Looking at the vegetables in the basket on his back, he didn't dare to sell them anywhere. It was so late, and if he couldn't sell them, they would rot and be a complete waste.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again, having made up her mind. She said, "Shopkeeper! Let's weigh it then!"

"Erzhu's son! That's right! In the end, it'll be worthless. Wouldn't all your hard work have been for nothing? Look at your son, he's exhausted!"

Manager Qu then turned to the waiter and said, "Little Li! Take him to the kitchen and pick out the good ones, five copper coins a pound! Don't bring in any rotten leaves. Make sure you watch carefully!"

The waiter quickly replied, "Yes, sir! Ma'am, please carry your basket and follow me!"

Zhao walked out of the restaurant with an empty basket on her back and two hundred and thirty coins in her pocket. She couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad. Probably more happy!

She had never touched so much money before! The old lady held onto all the money in the house tightly!

"Come on, Da Bao! Mom will take you to eat meat buns! I'll also bring two back for Dad and Er Bao!"

"Let me tell you! Da Bao! When you get back and your grandma asks how much it costs, just say two hundred coins. Don't be silly and just say whatever it costs!"

"Once it gets into your grandma's hands, we won't get a single penny! Let alone be able to buy meat buns!"

Leaving aside how Zhao would outwit and outmaneuver the old lady upon returning home, let's turn our attention back at the restaurant. Li Cai went to find Manager Qu.

"Shopkeeper, how should we handle the vegetables tomorrow?"

Manager Qu looked at Li Caiban and said, "Brother Li, you've been in this restaurant for a long time! Let's be business! Just do what needs to be done! Whoever comes early gets the price! If you come late, this is the price!"

"If the Erzhu family had arrived earlier, this price..."

Shopkeeper Qu narrowed his eyes and tapped the table with his fingers: "Do I need to teach you this? You don't want the cheap vegetables but want to buy the expensive ones. That's not how business is done! What do you say, Brother Li?"

Purchasing agent Li nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes! I understand! Manager, I do have some skill in negotiating prices!"

That evening, the old lady and the old man briefly recounted what had happened during the day. Of course, everyone's perspective is different, so the meaning they conveyed was bound to vary.

The old man looked at the north kang (heated brick bed) and said, "I was wondering why I hadn't seen Xiaoyun come back! I thought something had gotten in the way!"

The old lady said angrily, "Don't even mention that little wolf cub! He's an ungrateful wretch! I've been so good to him! And he dared to threaten people with a knife! And those kids from Dazhu's family, I feed and care for them! They all dare to talk back to me! I've raised them all for nothing!"

The old man didn't tolerate the old woman's behavior and said:

"And you! Why are you causing trouble now that you're old! Dazhu led us to grow vegetables and wheat, and helped us sell them! He helped us make money! You should just sit at home and count your money! You have to stir up trouble!"

The old lady was unconvinced and shouted:

“Dazhu is also my son, he crawled out of my belly! Aren’t I doing this for his own good? I’m thinking that if the two of us get along well with Dabao, he can take better care of us when we get old! Look at those girls, they’ve all gotten married and their families have someone to back them up!”

The old man took a puff of his pipe and said, "Oh! You're doing this for Dazhu's good! But he doesn't appreciate it! He's not going to take care of you anymore! From now on, you and your second son's family can sell vegetables yourselves!"

"Sell them ourselves! I'll have Zhao go to town first thing tomorrow morning. The restaurant said they'll take them from whoever gets there first! There are more vegetable vendors now, so let's sell these vegetables quickly and then plant early potatoes! We'll plant vegetables early this year too—eggplants, peppers, green beans, cucumbers! We'll even deliver them to the restaurant to sell!"