Chapter 34: Setting up a Stall
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"What's the matter, Xiao Yan?" Seeing how serious his nephew was, Ye Dayang was a little confused and asked with a smile.
Ye Yan didn't say anything, but pointed to the front, "Let's talk while we walk. We've been delayed for a long time. If we don't walk now, we won't be able to get a good spot for our stall."
Everyone came to their senses when they heard this, and without any delay, they hurriedly pulled the tow truck and set off.
Every month, the Ye family would bring some things to the market to sell. Most of them were carpentry done by Grandpa Ye, Ye Wen, and Ye Wu, such as bamboo baskets and so on.
The others were some farm food, including pickled cucumbers, dried radishes, and so on, all produced by the Ye family. Old Master Ye would take some of the profit they made, then give the rest to his sons.
On the way, Ye Yan told Ye Dayang about his purpose of going to the market. He then told Ye Dayang that he would use him as an example in front of the crowd to make them believe him.
When Ye Dayang heard that there was a spell that could clean teeth, he was taken aback, "Xiao Yan, you're not lying to me, are you? There's actually a spell that can clean teeth?"
Ye Yan nodded and didn't say anything. He simply bared his white teeth at his uncle. Ye Dahai, who was in front, immediately turned around and bared his teeth as well when he heard the keywords "white teeth". After all, what was the use of having white teeth if he couldn't show off?
The two sets of teeth seemed to shine under the sun. Ms. Chen's eyes were fixed on them, and she repeatedly slapped her thigh in excitement as she said, "My good nephew, this is such a good spell! Auntie will act as a passerby for you!"
Hearing Ms. Chen's offer, Ye Yan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. He had just been worried that he couldn't find many to set examples!
The group walked on and soon arrived at Qianhua Town. Qianhua Town was a very remote town, not important in the states. The higher-ups didn't value this place much, so there were not many troops stationed there, and the gates were already very old.
This was the second time Ye Yan came to the town. The first time was when he was five years old and he came to the market with Ye Dahai. But he never came again after seeing that the town was not prosperous.
There weren't many residents in Qianhua Town, only a few thousand. Their living standards were only slightly better than that of Dumen Village.
Ye Yan had wanted to do business in the town before, but the consumption level here wasn't high, and anything technical wouldn't sell. At most, he could offer labor services. But at that time, Ye Yan was very young and his physical fitness wasn't that good, so no one would hire him to do labor work.
It was only now that he had obtained the system and become a human cultivator that he had come out to do business for the sake of the sect. It seemed that they had arrived quite early this time. There were only a few dozen people in the line entering the town, which was not many.
It wasn't without reason that the village chose a fixed day to go to the market every month. It was because Qianhua Town was only open for free on this day. At other times, bailiffs would come to guard the gates, and those who were not from the town had to pay a fee to enter.
There was a particular space in the market for stalls, and the guards had already divided the area into grids. Each person could only occupy one grid and no more than that.
Many armed bailiffs were watching the crowd outside the market. The government had issued a decree forbidding anyone from making trouble in the market, and those who violated the rule could be arrested immediately.
With the existence of such a group of blade-wielding guards, ordinary people did not dare to cause any conflicts. Even if conflicts arouse, the persons involved would only grumble to themselves.
As soon as Ye Yan and the others entered the market, they quickly found a good area to occupy, and Ye Yan helped to unload the goods.
Since entering the market, Ms. Chen had parted ways with the three of them. She had to go see if there was anything that her family needed to buy. This month's soy sauce was almost used up.
It wasn't too long after sunrise, so there weren't many people at the market. Most of them were from the village. After Ye Yan unloaded the goods, he found a place to sit down. He planned to take a rest and start the business when there were more people.
"I wonder if Hong En is here yet..." He suddenly remembered that he had set off without telling Hong En in the morning. The latter seemed to have said that he would be coming to the market with his mother yesterday, right?
Ye Yan stood up and looked around, but didn't see Hong En. He walked around the market again, but still didn't see him. He didn't even see Hong En's mother.
"This shouldn't be. That kid usually keeps his word," Ye Yan scratched his head, stretching his neck and looking around, "Did he oversleep today?"
He searched again but still didn't see his target, so he gave up and returned to his stall to sit down and rest. Ye Dahai and Ye Dayang had already started their business. Ye Yan had never done business before, so he wanted to see what he needed to pay attention to.
However, his father and uncle's way of doing business was beyond his expectations. He looked at them for a while, but there was no haggling as he had imagined. After Ye Dahai and Ye Dayang had placed the goods properly, they simply took a small stool and sat down. They didn't say anything and just looked straight ahead.
They didn't call out to anyone who passed by. Occasionally, when a customer stopped, then only would they raise their heads and reveal the price of the items. If the customer wanted to bargain, they would shake their heads directly and refuse to give in at all. Even if the customer left, they didn't attempt to make the other party stay.
They only sold things to those willing to take the bait! As such, after an hour, they had not even sold a quarter of their goods.
Ye Yan was speechless. The two grown-up men didn't even know how to holler for customers. No wonder their goods weren't sold out every time. It was really a waste of good items.
His grandfather's woodworking skills were among the best in town. Wasn't this a waste? What he didn't know was that the Ye family's selling methods could be even worse than this. For example, Old Master Ye...
Back then, the old man was in charge to go the market on behalf of the Ye family every month. However, the old man had a stubborn temper. He was fixated on the set price and would not give in no matter what. Whenever someone bargained, he would immediately tell them to scram.
Such a situation continued for a long time. The sales of Old Master Ye's items were not ideal at all. In the end, Grandma Ye finally realized that that wouldn't do and let her two sons replace Old Master Ye to improve the situation.
Now, Ye Yan, the grandson, found that the methods of his father and uncle couldn't do as well. He couldn't stand the two of them continuing to be so nonchalant, so he stood up. It was the time when the flow of people was at its peak, and the market was already a little crowded.
"Dad, what are the prices of these things?" He stood beside Ye Dahai and asked while pointing at the woodworking. The bamboo basket was twenty-five copper coins, the straw hat was ten copper coins, and the wooden bench, tea bowl, and other miscellaneous items were basically around thirty copper coins.
In Ye Yan's eyes, the prices weren't expensive. After all, his grandpa's woodworking skills were very exquisite, and the things he made were very sturdy and easy to use, so it wasn't expensive to sell them at their respective prices. By right, the products should've been very popular, but who would've thought that the sellers were two "mutes" who didn't know how to do business, Ye Dahai and Ye Dayang?
"Dad, uncle, there are so many people here, I have to start work," The two brothers nodded and lowered their heads without saying anything.
Ever since the two of them entered the town, their open and generous personalities had been suppressed. Now, they seemed gloomy and refused to say a word.
-- Gift
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