She wasn’t much of a mathematician anyway, so she might as well set the prices like this.
It was convenient for both sides—no one had to rack their brains over calculations.
Shen Shan nodded in agreement. “Deal. What’s the most mushrooms you can take? It’s been raining a lot lately, so there are plenty up in the mountains.
If you need more, I’ll get a couple more family members to come pick with us. I’m just worried we might pick too many and you won’t be able to take them all.”
“As many as you can bring—just don’t give me a hundred jin or something. Let’s put it this way: for every jin of mushrooms, I’ll give you a jin of flour or half a jin of something else.
But the quality has to be good—just like today’s batch. No cutting corners for quantity. No bug-eaten ones, no old tough ones mixed in. That won’t fly.
We didn’t have experience before, but now we do. Let’s lock in these rates and stick to them from now on.”
Lin Xiaohe ran the numbers in her head and settled on the prices.
It was a sweet spot where both sides were happy—giving more would make her look like a sucker, and giving less would make them unwilling to work.
“Don’t worry. If you find a single old one or a single bug-eaten one, I’ll work for you free for a whole month.”
On that point, Shen Shan could guarantee with absolute confidence. They’d sort the mushrooms once up the mountain, again at home by the kids, and again by the adults with sharp eyes.
After layer upon layer of inspection, almost nothing bad slipped through.
“No need to go that far. As long as you’re not purposely slipping bad ones in, it’s fine. I’ll bring the stuff over this afternoon. Oh—did you tell the villagers about the salt trade?
If you did, I’ll bring it this afternoon. If not, I’ll bring it next time.”
She’d been so busy she’d nearly forgotten, but luckily she remembered.
“I did, I did. The villagers have their things ready. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“Alright. Same place this afternoon. You bring the villagers’ goods, and I’ll bring the salt. We’ll trade then—you take the salt and distribute it to everyone back in the village.”
“Deal.” Shen Shan nodded. This girl didn’t seem much older than his own daughter, yet she spoke and handled things with such composure.
Like a little adult—so organized.
Lin Xiaohe gave a genuine smile. “Then it’s settled. You two go on ahead.”
“Okay. Yuya! Let’s go home!”
“Coming, coming!”
Once they were out of sight, Lin Xiaohe grabbed her things with one hand and her sister with the other, blinked, and they were back home.
The congee was ready. The two of them each gulped down a big bowl.
Then they fed the two adults and the little one.
By now, the sun had barely peeked over the horizon—the perfect time to go sell.
Lin Xiaohe had a basket on her back and another in her hands.
Xiaogu reached out to help carry the weight.
It was their first time seeing just how busy the market was around 7 a.m.!
The noise was deafening.
They set up in their usual spot. They’d heard that if you stayed in the same place every time, regular customers would start to find you.
“Oh, I finally caught you two! You didn’t come yesterday—I waited all morning.”
An old lady rushed over the moment she saw them.
“Remember me? Last time I wanted to buy yams but you’d sold out. I told you to save some for me the next day.”
Even if she hadn’t said anything, Lin Xiaohe already recognized her.
“I’m really sorry, Grandma. We had some family issues yesterday and couldn’t make it.
We have yams today—how many would you like? We’ll give you a discount. I’m so sorry you made two trips for nothing.”
The old lady was straightforward and waved her hand. “No need for a discount. These yams aren’t very straight—all crooked and curvy—but that’s fine. I’ve got plenty of time to deal with them.”
While the stall wasn’t busy yet, the old lady picked out two of the most decent-looking yams.
“What else do you have today?”
“Grandma, today we also have wild shiitake mushrooms, shepherd’s purse, purslane, and wild garlic shoots,” Xiaogu answered enthusiastically.
“Oh, quite a selection! Give me a jin of wild shiitake mushrooms and two jin of shepherd’s purse.”
She’d make mushroom and shepherd’s purse dumplings, and a yam chicken soup as the broth—it’d be so delicious it’d knock her socks off.
“Coming right up!”
Including the yams, the total came to 98 yuan. Lin Xiaohe rounded it down to 95.
Though the old lady had said she didn’t need a discount, saving 3 yuan still made her pretty happy. She was even humming as she walked away.
Right after she left, a few more old ladies came by in succession.
Lin Xiaohe thought they looked familiar—probably previous customers, though she couldn’t recall exactly.
Two jin here, two jin there—before long, they’d sold most of their stock.
“Sis! Why did we sell so fast today? People came straight to our stall!”
Xiaogu could barely keep her mouth from splitting into a grin, but she was also puzzled—why was business so good today?
“Who knows? Maybe they think our goods are good—return customers, I guess.
It’s really strange—people here don’t seem to care for big meaty dishes; they all love wild greens and stuff.” She didn’t understand it, but she was happy. That’s exactly why they could make money and eat.
Several of the old ladies looked familiar, and none came alone—they all brought a few old friends along. No wonder sales were fast!
A few people even left empty-handed.
“We should bring more tomorrow—today wasn’t enough. Since we’re going back this afternoon, we’ll tell them to add more—40 jin of greens.”
“Hehe, okay!”
They packed up and went shopping.
First, salt—they needed a lot.
Lin Xiaohe bought 20 packs straight away and loaded them into her basket. She nearly buckled under the weight—it was so heavy!
She’d been planning to buy other things too.
“Sis, why don’t we leave the basket at Aunt Chen’s place for a bit?
We’ll go to the supermarket and pick it up on the way back. Carrying it back and forth is such a pain.”
“Good idea. Let’s go ask.”
The salt shop was right across from Aunt Chen’s grain and oil store—just a few steps away.
“Oh, you’re done selling already? Business was good today?”
Chen Fang had just watched them walk by—she didn’t expect them back so soon.
“Yeah! It sold really well today—gone in no time. Aunt Chen, could we leave our basket at your place for a bit?”
“Of course! Bring it in, bring it in. Don’t forget to grab it when you leave.”
Chen Fang led them inside. “Buying so much salt? No need to stockpile—they’ve got plenty of supply.”
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