Chapter 52: Who’s the Fool? (Bonus Chapter 1 for Going Live)

The competitor’s stall was set up right across from Chu Xuan’s.

The stall owner was a woman in her thirties, eyeing the female customer in front of her stall with a critical look.

She spoke rudely, “If you’re not buying, don’t touch!”

Hearing this, the customer was about to leave, but the stall owner quickly shouted, “My grilled fish jerky is way cheaper than the one across the street! She charges two yuan a jin for retail, and only gives a 20-cent discount if you buy more than five jin. But mine is different. Only one and a half yuan per jin! If you don’t buy from me, you’re losing out!”

Trying to save money, the customer came back to her stall.

“I’ll take a bit of each of the three flavors. Just make it one jin in total.”

The stall owner looked annoyed. “Three flavors and you only want one jin? Does that do justice to my low prices? Not selling! Go buy the two-yuan-a-jin stuff across the street!”

Chu Xuan watched all this with a calm smile, then called out, “Try before you buy! No need to buy if you don’t want to! The most delicious and unique grilled fish jerky in the whole city, only here! Don’t miss out as you pass by!”

Hearing this, the customer immediately asked the stall owner, “Can I try yours before buying, like the stall across the street?”

“Of course you can!”

“And it’s fine if I try and don’t buy?”

“That’s right!”

The customer immediately had an idea.

She planned to try both stalls.

After sampling this one, she went across to try Chu Xuan’s grilled fish jerky.

Chu Xuan didn’t treat her coldly just because she’d gone to the other stall first.

She warmly invited her to try all the flavors.

After tasting, the customer could clearly tell that Chu Xuan’s jerky was fresh, sweet, and delicious, while the competitor’s had a fishy, unpleasant smell.

Chu Xuan’s jerky was also drier, while the competitor’s was damp and would weigh heavier on the scale.

She decided on the spot to buy from Chu Xuan. “I guess you get what you pay for! Can I get one jin made up of all three flavors?”

Chu Xuan smiled graciously. “Of course. I’ll weigh it for you right now. Two yuan a jin, no haggling.”

“Alright, no haggling. Go ahead and weigh it!”

In no time, Chu Xuan weighed out a jin and handed it over. The customer paid without hesitation.

Seeing the money she almost had in hand go straight into Chu Xuan’s pocket, the woman across the street started cursing, “Shameless woman! You ate my grilled fish jerky and didn’t buy! You’d rather pay more than buy from me? Are you out of your mind? Idiot…”

Before she could finish, the female customer shot back, “You’ve got some nerve calling people names! You dirty tramp! Your stall stinks, and your fish jerky reeks! I bet it’s your filthy hands that make it smell! Listen up, everyone—don’t buy from her! I tried it and it’s disgusting! If you want to buy, get it from the chubby girl’s stall!”

The stall owner grabbed her scale weight and charged out, trying to hit the customer.

Chu Xuan was about to step in.

But the customer had already grabbed her jerky and was running out of the market, shouting, “Help! Someone’s trying to kill me! Help!”

Seeing the stall owner about to give chase, Chu Xuan called out on purpose, “If you run after her, someone might steal all your fish jerky!”

Reminded of this, the stall owner stopped short.

She hurried back to her stall, gritting her teeth and shouting, “Grilled fish jerky, cheap prices! Come and take a look!”

At that moment, Lian Mei and her husband came in with their cart to set up their own stall.

Lian Mei didn’t greet Chu Xuan, but instead said a few words to the stall owner across the street, “Zhang Dong’s wife, you’re not selling dried shrimp anymore? Switched to grilled fish jerky…”

Chu Xuan was sharp and immediately picked up on the information.

So, she was Zhang Dong’s wife.

Now she understood.

The Zhang family really was persistent.

They’d try anything.

Zhang Dong and his brother probably hadn’t been released yet, otherwise it wouldn’t be his wife here today.

Chu Xuan had no intention of getting into a price war. She’d sell at her usual prices.

Just then, Liu Chao came in with a cart, stopping in front of Chu Xuan’s stall. “Three hundred jin, hurry up! The truck’s waiting. It leaves in twenty minutes.”

Zhang Dong’s wife heard this and quickly called out, “Buy from me! Mine’s cheaper by several mao per jin. You’d save dozens of yuan on three hundred jin!”

Liu Chao looked at her, face serious. “You can talk to Boss Yuan yourself when he comes to buy. Today, he only told me to buy from Chu Xuan.”

He knew Yuan Banyue always put quality first and wouldn’t switch suppliers just to save a few cents.

He helped Chu Xuan load the jerky onto the cart.

Chu Xuan took everything with her—otherwise, it would definitely get stolen.

She hauled the goods over to the office to be weighed.

She’d brought a total of 302 jin and 7 liang. After giving out samples and selling one jin, there were 301 jin and a bit left.

She rounded it down to 300 jin.

After Liu Chao helped load it onto the truck, he wrote Chu Xuan a receipt.

Chu Xuan put the receipt in her pocket and stepped on the scale to weigh herself.

195 jin.

She’d lost five jin since before. A good sign.

Liu Chao went back to the payment office, and Chu Xuan greeted him before wandering the market with her things, waiting for Mu Chenze.

Some old customers who’d bought from Chu Xuan before greeted her.

“Boss Fatty, did someone else take over your stall today?”

Chu Xuan didn’t mind being called fat at all. She smiled and explained, “I’ve sold out for today. I don’t know the people at that stall selling grilled fish jerky now. Best to try before you buy, so you don’t regret it.”

“Thanks for the tip!”

She ran into three or four old customers in a row.

She repeated the same explanation.

Chu Xuan continued browsing the market.

This was Peng City’s biggest farmers’ market. Seafood and vegetables were the main goods, with grains, fruit, pork, lamb, and so on making up the rest. There were lots of vendors and plenty of buyers.

Chu Xuan bought five jin of raw peanuts at 1.5 yuan per jin, spending 7.5 yuan without a second thought—just to satisfy her cravings. She could fry, boil, or roast them at home.

She also bought a jin of pork for one yuan.

She wanted to buy more, but since she hadn’t received payment for her goods yet, she had to be careful with her spending.

Now she just hoped Yuan Banyue would come and settle the bill in a few days.

It was over 700 yuan—not a small sum.

Half an hour later, she headed outside the market to wait for Mu Chenze.

Passing by Zhang Dong’s wife’s stall, she saw her staring gloomily at her fish jerky.

No business.

Chu Xuan pinched her nose as she walked by—the Zhang family’s jerky stank to high heaven.

She didn’t even need to check to know they’d used rotten fish.

Just as she reached the market entrance, Mu Chenze suddenly jumped out from the side, startling Chu Xuan so much she nearly dropped her sack.

Luckily, Mu Chenze caught it in time.

“Mu Chenze, what are you doing? Acting like a kid, trying to scare people!”

Mu Chenze looked proud. “I’m just happy we made money! Guess how much we made selling last night’s seafood haul?”

Chu Xuan was amused by his expression. “Judging by your face, it must be a lot. Maybe a hundred yuan at most?”

“Wrong! Guess again.”

“Is that too high or too low?”

“Too low.”

“Did we make a hundred and fifty?”

“Still too low.”

“No way it’s two hundred?”

“Nope. Still too low.”

“Don’t tell me it’s three hundred?”

“Correct!”

Chu Xuan looked incredulous. “Who’s the fool who bought our seafood?”"