Qi Lei walked over to the stall and quietly glanced over the bean sprouts. “Hello, are you selling these?”
“Yes!” Sheng An answered quickly. “Are you here to buy groceries? How is Xiaohong doing?”
“Xiaohong is doing very well. She’s been talking about how much she misses you!” Qi Lei had a very good impression of the two sisters. “These bean sprouts look good. I’ll take two catties.”
“Sure!” Sheng An was quick. She weighed and packed two catties of beansprouts and passed them to Qi Lei. “That will be forty cents in total. But since you’re our first customer, I’ll charge you thirty cents instead.”
“Great! Thank you!” As a grown man, it wasn’t appropriate for Qi Lei to spend too much time talking to the two young ladies, and he left immediately after he paid.
After seeing Qi Lei buy the bean sprouts, the other passersby who had been looking on came forward one after another.
“Girl, how much are your bean sprouts?”
“I’ll take one catty. Make sure there isn’t any water inside. The weight must not include any water.”
“Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ll give you the right amount.” Sheng Ning smiled as she took care of the customers. Sheng An was in charge of collecting the money. The sisters worked with a great tacit understanding between them.
Moreover, between the both of them, one was fair and beautiful, while the other possessed a bright and bubbly personality. Standing in the midst of the crowd, they made for a very pleasant sight.
The customers who came after Qi Lei bought up three quarters of the girls’ stock. By noontime, the sisters found that they were still unable to sell the last remaining bit.
Sheng An lowered her head in defeat and rubbed her tummy. In addition to pushing the cart all the way there, she had been standing for the whole morning, and was famished.
“An’an, why don’t you buy a biscuit if you’re hungry? I’ll take the rest of our bean sprouts to the township office canteen and see if anyone wants them.” Sheng Ning placed the rest of the bean sprouts in a basket and covered them with wet gauze.
“Will the canteen want them? We’ve already earned enough to cover our costs. Why don’t we go home?” Sheng An was feeling a little discouraged.
“I’m sure someone will. Our produce is good, and it’s cheap. Let me give it a try.”
“All right, then. Go, and come back quickly.”
The town office wasn’t far from the marketplace. With the basket in her hand, Sheng Ning reached the place after walking for roughly ten minutes. She registered her name with the guard at the entrance and asked for directions to the canteen.
Sheng Ning carried her basket over to the canteen and got straight to the point. She finally found the person in charge and said to him with a smile, “Hello, would you be interested in a wholesale of bean sprouts? Have a look at these bean sprouts grown by my family. They were just ready today, and we’re already selling them. They’re very fresh.”
The person in charge was a man in his forties. He was so dazzled by Sheng Ning’s smile that it took him more than a few moments to regain his wits. However, people in this era were simple and honest, and he had the decency to look abashed at his actions. He cleared his throat and replied, “How much do they cost per catty?”
“Twenty cents per catty.”
“They look good.” The man raked through the bean sprouts with his hands. They were all fresh and tender. Most importantly, none of them were black and rotting. These were definitely of better quality than the ones sold at previous fairs.
“Are you able to provide a long-term supply?”
Sheng Ning’s eyes lit up when she heard that. “Yes, we can!”
“How about this? I’ll take whatever you have with you for now. In future, send me one batch of ten catties every week. I cook bean sprouts once a week. If I make it any more times than that, people will start to tire of it.”
“Sure! Thank you so much, Master Chef. You don’t have to worry about our bean sprouts at all. I can guarantee they will be fresh and crisp and that the comrades in the township office will approve of them!” Sheng Ning’s attitude was just right. She was able to set the other person at ease without coming off as silly or overly charming.
She did, after all, have a few decades’ worth of experience in the school of hard knocks and had become adept when it came to making a sale. She didn’t dare to display her skill at the fair. The change in her would have been too drastic, and she knew An’an was already beginning to suspect something.
However, over here she was free to bring all her skills into play.