The two kids kept walking and passed through the main gate.
By this hour, all the good spots were already taken, so they had to settle for a spot at the very end and crouch down.
Luckily, the morning market was still bustling, and even at the tail end, plenty of people passed by.
Other stalls were already making sales, but theirs remained untouched. Xiaogu tugged anxiously at her sister’s sleeve. “Sis, how about I start calling out? Nobody’s even looking at our stall.”
They were too far back—most shoppers had already bought their produce by the time they reached them.
“Alright, just yell: ‘Shepherd’s purse for sale! Purslane for sale!’” Lin Xiaohe felt she was a bit more thin-skinned than her sister, so this formidable task was best left to her.
Xiaogu had no idea what shyness was. She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, “Wild greens for sale! Wild greens for sale! We’ve got shepherd’s purse and purslane—picked fresh this morning up in the mountains! Don’t miss out, grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunties!”
Not only was she completely uninhibited, but she even mimicked the street cries from the neighboring stalls.
A little kid hawking goods quickly drew attention.
“Kids, where are your parents?” An old lady with a basket squatted down with a smile to inspect the greens.
“Grandma, no adults came today—it’s just me and my sister selling.” Xiaogu immediately struck up a warm chat. “We sell our greens by the bundle—10 yuan a bundle.”
The old lady smiled and picked up a bundle, weighing it in her hand—it looked to be about a jin and two liang.
The greens were fresh and crisp, and she looked at the two children. Their hair was neatly tied, their clothes had a few patches, and their cloth shoes were dusty with mud and dirt.
They looked like something out of her own childhood—she hadn’t expected to see kids dressed like this anymore.
Partly because the greens really were good, and partly out of pity for the two children, the old lady took two bundles of each.
She’d actually already bought her vegetables for the day—mostly the longer-lasting kind, which could wait until tomorrow.
Seeing the kids had no bags, she didn’t mind—she had her own basket anyway.
She searched around but didn’t see any QR code for payment. After fumbling for a while, she finally found her wallet at the bottom of her basket—thankfully, she had some small change.
Exactly 40 yuan.
Lin Xiaohe looked at her sister thoughtfully and said, “We really need bags and a scale. I’ll ask around later. If it’s not too expensive, we’ll get them. If it’s pricey, we’ll wait a couple more days.”
There were just too many things they lacked—it’d take a while to get everything together.
They’d have to prioritize based on urgency.
After the first sale, people trickled in—some asking for a bundle of this, a couple of that. Sales weren’t fast, but eventually, everything sold out.
Some customers left when they heard they couldn’t scan to pay, so they lost a number of buyers. But there was nothing they could do about that.
The stallholder to their left was glaring daggers at them. He was also selling wild greens, and he’d been there longer, yet they’d sold out before him. His face was long with displeasure.
The sisters couldn’t care less about him right now. They were grinning from ear to ear—they’d made a good chunk of change today. All they wanted was to find a quiet place to count their money!!
“Sis, that sold so well! Should we bring more tomorrow?” Xiaogu rested her chin in her hands, grinning so wide her cheeks ached.
She’d never been this happy in her whole life. How much grain could they buy with this? How many good things?!
Lin Xiaohe thought for a moment. “Alright, we’ll bring a bit more tomorrow and see if it all sells.”
Today, they’d brought 15 bundles of greens—5 sold to the shopkeeper at the start, and the remaining 10 sold off one by one.
The first 12 bundles sold for 10 yuan each. The last 3 bundles had been packed at the very bottom, and some of the greens got crushed, so they sold those at a discount—8 yuan each.
In total, they made 144 yuan. To two kids, that was an astronomical fortune!
If they exchanged it all for grain, the family wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time.
But they wanted to buy a few other things too. First on the list were plastic bags—they’d heard those were pretty cheap, and since they were affordable, they planned to get some. Today, two customers had walked away because they had nothing to carry the greens in and didn’t want to hold them by hand.
Second was a pot!
Cooking with that tiny clay pot was just too inconvenient.
They just didn’t know if the money they had would be enough for a pot. They’d heard iron woks were terribly expensive.
“We made a big haul today. Let’s buy some more meat later—and this time, we won’t render it all into lard. We’ll stir-fry thick slices of fatty meat!” Lin Xiaohe announced with a wave of her hand.
“Yay!!” Xiaogu clapped and cheered right away.
“Let’s go to the grain and oil shop first. We’ll ask that auntie where’s the best place to buy a pot—we’re not familiar with this area. We’ll also pick up some more grain.”
Money in hand made for a steady heart.
Lin Xiaohe felt herself walking with her chest held higher.
At the grain and oil shop
“Auntie, we’re back!” Xiaogu waved enthusiastically.
“Oh, it’s you two! Been out selling wild greens, have you? How’d it go—easy to sell?” Chen Fang was happy to see them and chatted back with a smile.
“Sold like hotcakes! Auntie, we’re here to buy some grain, and also to ask—do you know where we can get an iron wok?” Lin Xiaohe quickly followed up.
“Grain’s easy—I’ve got a pretty good selection here. Whatever kind you want, I’ve got it.
As for an iron wok, that’s trickier. Nobody sells those at this new market. There’s a shop in the old market that sells pots, pans, and the like.
It’s a bit of a walk, though. The supermarket up ahead probably has some too, but it’s not worth it—poor quality and overpriced.”
As Chen Fang was grumbling, she suddenly remembered something. “Hang on a sec—let me go inside and grab something for you to take a look at.”
The market building had shops on the first floor and living quarters on the second, where she and her family of three stayed.
Two minutes later, Chen Fang came back out carrying an iron wok.
“See if this is still usable. I bought this one at the supermarket—cost me 269 yuan, and it was terrible. Stuck to everything no matter what.
If you think you can make do with it, take it for now. When you come across a better one later, you can replace it.”
She knew about seasoning a wok and had tried everything, but it still stuck like crazy. Eventually, she bought a new one and had no issues with it.
She loved cooking with an iron wok—it gave the food that smoky wok-hei flavor and made everything taste better.
If it were anyone else asking, she wouldn’t have bothered pulling this old wok out.
But these two kids clearly came from a struggling family, and they just might be able to put it to use.
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