CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 62: I WANT TO DO WHOLESALE

Yu Xiaolian squatted down beside a wonton stall with a lunchbox in hand. She arrived a bit late, and all the good spots were already taken.

The wonton vendor was a man who looked about fifty years old. At first, he thought Yu Xiaolian was just squatting there to rest her feet.

When Yu Xiaolian opened her lunchbox and started shouting to sell her goods, he immediately ran over to shoo her away.

"Whose little girl are you? Do you understand the rules? Is this the place for you to sell stuff? Away, away..."

"You sell your wontons, and I’ll sell my pastries. How am I bothering you?"

"Hey, you little girl! Are you looking for a beating?" The wonton vendor, holding a long ladle, came at Yu Xiaolian fiercely.

So aggressive?

Isn’t he supposed to argue with her, lose the argument, and then start a fight?

This isn’t giving her any room to perform.

A wise person knows better than to put themselves at a disadvantage, so Yu Xiaolian grabbed her lunchbox and ran.

After Yu Xiaolian had set up her stall next to a woman selling vegetables and eggs, she found out from the woman that the wonton vendor had the worst temper in the entire market.

Goodness, what kind of luck is that?

To thank the woman for letting her set up next to her, Yu Xiaolian wrapped up two pastries and gave them to her.

After getting familiar with the woman, Yu Xiaolian not only learned her name but also learned some of the market’s secrets.

For instance, the stall fees at the market weren’t collected by government officers, but rather by the County Magistrate’s brother-in-law.

For instance, the man sharpening knives on the east side of the market was actually an Executioner. Whenever he sharpened his knives there, someone was going to be beheaded.

Beside the knife sharpener was a cobbler, but he wasn’t just any cobbler, he was a two-faced craftsman.

The cobbler and the knife sharpener were brothers; after a beheading, the cobbler would sew the head back onto the body, and the brothers made their living off the dead.

By the way, the work of this two-faced craftsman is like that of a modern restorative artist.

Sometimes, when there were unclaimed bodies, Yu Xiaolian would dissect and sew them back up out of humanitarianism.

She didn’t find it frightening, nor did she think there was anything wrong with this job. Dealing with the dead was a lot simpler than with the living.

Granny Ge saw Yu Xiaolian in a daze and thought she might be scared. "Oh dear, look at me, telling you all this stuff. Will you have nightmares when you go to bed tonight?"

Granny Ge came over, patted Yu Xiaolian’s head, and started to chant to calm her soul.

Yu Xiaolian: "..."

Why is she chanting so easily?

Now, just hearing it makes Yu Xiaolian shiver.

"Granny, I’m not scared."

Although Yu Xiaolian said she wasn’t afraid, Granny Ge dared not speak about the Ji brothers anymore.

Instead, she shared some business tips with her.

Yu Xiaolian shook her head while listening; Granny Ge’s so-called tips were just about judging people by their appearance.

If they look wealthy, call the price a few coins higher.

Especially if it’s a servant lady from a wealthy family responsible for procurement; they always buy the best, a one or two coins increase wouldn’t bother them as long as the produce is fresh and the goods are good.

"If they buy cheap, wilted vegetables and bring them back, they might get scolded," Granny Ge said, spitting with excitement.

Although Granny Ge had good intentions, Yu Xiaolian still believed that pricing shouldn’t fluctuate so much; honesty should be the cornerstone of good business, fair to young and old alike.

Yu Xiaolian thanked Granny Ge with a smile, then started shouting loudly, "Pastries, delicious pastries, four coins each, ten coins for three!"

Yu Xiaolian had inquired about pastry prices at the bakeries: some were sixty coins per jin, some were fifty coins per jin, and a jin could make ten pastries.

On average, each one was five or six coins, so selling at a street stall, she couldn’t compete with the shops, hence she priced them slightly lower than the shops.

As soon as Yu Xiaolian started shouting, a girl came over to look at her pastries, saw they looked good, and took out ten coins from her purse, handing them to Yu Xiaolian, "Give me three."

"Sure!" Having made her first sale, Yu Xiaolian happily wrapped three pastries in oil paper and handed them over.

"Miss, I also have green bean cake and chestnut cake here, would you like to try some?"

Yu Xiaolian moved the top layer of pastries in the lunchbox aside, to reveal the green bean cakes and chestnut cakes underneath.

Hearing Yu Xiaolian call her "Miss," the girl was overjoyed. To be called "Miss" meant that she was seen as the daughter of a wealthy family. She was actually just the daughter of a market pork seller, but how could she not be happy?

She cleared her throat and adopted the demeanor of a lady, "I don’t like green bean cake, how much for the chestnut cakes?"

"Same price as the pastries, ten coins for three."

"Then give me three chestnut cakes too!"

Yu Xiaolian deftly wrapped up three chestnut cakes, and the pork seller’s daughter counted out ten coins, handed them to Yu Xiaolian, and said she’d return to Yu Xiaolian’s stand in the future.

Yu Xiaolian sold until noon, handing over two coins as a stall fee to the County Magistrate’s brother-in-law’s house servant. Fortunately, she hadn’t brought many pastries, so by the time the sun was at its hottest, she had sold everything.

Her low prices attracted quite a few street vendors to buy for their children at home.

However, looking at the few hundred Copper Coins in the lunchbox, Yu Xiaolian wasn’t too thrilled.

To earn only this much in a morning, how can that be enough?

To own her own shop sooner, just relying on herself and Mrs. Sun selling retail would never work. That would take forever.

On her way home, Yu Xiaolian started thinking about how she could wholesale her pastries.

All the pastry shops had their own bakers. If she wanted them to purchase from her, she’d have to offer something fresh and new, something their bakers couldn’t make. Only then might they consider buying from her.

No need to bother with things like pastries and green bean cakes; they all know how to make those, and they’re all handmade too.

What could be both delicious and visually appealing, that didn’t exist in ancient times?

Upon getting home, Yu Xiaolian grabbed a notebook and went into the supermarket.

Sachima, not available in ancient times, noted down.

Egg yolk pie, not available, noted down.

Capital Cream Rolls, definitely not available; there’s no cream in ancient times, so this would probably sell well.

Hmm, waffles, meat floss buns, snow skin mooncakes.

Pork jerky, beef jerky, cranberry bread.

That should be enough for now, Yu Xiaolian smiled wryly.

Tomorrow, she’s going to visit each shop to promote her wares, whether it’s a bakery, restaurant, or teahouse. As long as they are willing to sell her goods, she won’t have to bake in the sun every day, just deliver the goods and wait to count money at home.

She took out the few foods she planned to promote tomorrow from the supermarket, and adjusted and readjusted the prices, also estimating the number she could deliver each day.

Though she had never done business in her previous life, nor paid much attention to her family’s supermarket.

But her parents had grown their business from a corner store to a big supermarket, and having been exposed to it all her life, she hopefully wouldn’t be too terrible at it.