Chapter 76: Not Sure

Su Qinghu and Da Dan were both taken aback for a moment, then seemed to realize something and immediately turned around.

It was a slightly plump foreign woman.

She was watching Er Dan, her eyes full of encouragement, patiently listening to him speak, occasionally letting out a few exclamations.

The more Er Dan talked, the smoother he got. If there was something he didn’t understand, or didn’t know how to say, he just gestured.

Su Qinghu and Da Dan stood quietly to the side, silently watching him communicate with the foreign lady.

The more Da Dan listened, the more astonished he became. Although he didn’t understand everything, with the help of gestures, he could guess about eighty percent of it.

Su Qinghu, on the other hand, wasn’t all that surprised, but she did gain a deeper appreciation for Er Dan’s adaptability.

Half an hour later, Er Dan beamed with joy, stuffed twenty yuan into his crossbody schoolbag, patted it proudly, and let out a couple of “hehe” laughs.

Yes, after twenty minutes of talking and gesturing, he’d managed to sell three baskets.

The price was seven yuan each, but since the woman bought all three, he gave her a discount of one yuan.

“…This is mine!” Suddenly sensing two gazes on him, Er Dan snapped out of his happiness, clutched his bag defensively, and looked at the two of them warily. “I sold them myself!”

He sold them himself, so the money was his alone. That was the deal they’d made earlier!

Da Dan still felt like he was dreaming. “We didn’t say we wanted your money.”

So… it was that simple? Just chatting and someone bought these worthless trinkets?

Su Qinghu gave him a big thumbs up. “Not bad.”

Caught off guard by the praise, Er Dan reflexively wanted to smile, but remembering his earlier grievance, he forced his mouth back down and pursed his lips, staring at Su Qinghu for a while before finally saying, “I don’t want to talk to you today!”

She kicked him earlier—not that it hurt, but it made him feel bad inside. He still felt bad now…

Su Qinghu: “Fine.”

If he didn’t want to talk, then so be it. Who doesn’t have a bit of a temper?

She turned to Da Dan. “What about you? Have you decided where you want to sell?”

“I’ll sell with my brother,” Da Dan looked up at Su Qinghu.

Su Qinghu nodded, took down Da Dan’s four baskets, put them together for the two brothers, gave them a few reminders, then rode off on her tricycle to another spot.

Once she was gone, Er Dan finally looked after her. “She just left like that?”

Da Dan: “What else? Stay here and steal your business? Or do you want to ride her coattails?”

That foreign woman’s attention was on Su Qinghu at first, but then she turned to Er Dan, asked for the price, and wondered why someone so young was doing business.

How did Er Dan answer? He said their mom brought them here for a social experience, to see if they could sell the handicrafts they’d worked so hard to make.

That made it clear to the foreign woman who the real seller was.

Catching the meaning in his brother’s words, Er Dan scuffed his toe on the ground and mumbled, “Can’t we just do what she said before—cooperate for a win-win?”

“Win-win? The way you talked before, was that really win-win?” After a week of making crafts and scavenging, Da Dan was no stranger to Su Qinghu’s constant mutterings. “What you wanted was to get something for nothing, be greedy, sell her out for money, and still expect her to count the cash and hand it over to you with a smile!”

Er Dan got annoyed. “…But I didn’t think that far. I just thought it’d be faster to make money that way. With more people, we’d sell out quickly.”

“Brother, didn’t you notice at the cinema?” Er Dan looked up at him seriously. “Movies with pretty girls on the posters always sell out fast.”

Da Dan couldn’t deny it—he’d noticed too.

He just couldn’t understand why so many people liked those movies. Wasn’t “Tunnel Warfare” better than those films?

“She’s good-looking. If she stood here with our crafts, even without saying a word, people would buy. If there were foreigners, and she spoke a few words in their language, we’d sell even faster!” Er Dan imagined the scene.

Da Dan: “That’s her. If it were someone else, would they want to partner with you? She’s the one who controls your supply!”

Er Dan sighed. “That’s why I was just thinking about it.”

He wasn’t shameless enough to force her to stay or make her do business with him…

“Why does she sound so good when she speaks another language?” Er Dan sighed. “When she was talking to that foreigner, I could see she was struggling to understand…”

Da Dan ignored him.

Struggling? If she knew more, she’d be talking non-stop!

“We’ve already sold three. If we keep working hard, every extra one we sell is more money. Anyway, we’re not losing out today.” Er Dan was delighted. “When we meet up later, I’m definitely going to show off to her!”

Da Dan: “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to talk to her today?”

Er Dan: “…”

Da Dan twisted the knife. “And she agreed.”

Er Dan: “I did say that, and she agreed, but… can’t I change my mind?”

Now it was Da Dan’s turn to be speechless. “If you change your mind, does that mean she has to change hers too?”

What kind of logic is that!

“Why not?” Er Dan lifted his chin, eyes shining. “I’ll talk to her about shopping!”

Da Dan: “!!!”

His face changed instantly. “No way!”

“Why not?” Er Dan looked at him. “We made so much money, what’s wrong with spending a little?”

There were so many baskets at home—even if they sold each at the lowest price, five yuan, that was still a lot of money.

Da Dan: “How many baskets can we actually sell? The ones we don’t sell don’t count as money.”

That foreign woman was a fluke, just lucky timing.

Could they really keep running into rich, patient foreigners like her?

“Then let’s work hard to sell them!” Er Dan was optimistic. “There are lots of places here where foreigners go. Even if we sell just one at each spot, plus what we’ve already sold, we’ll still make a profit!”

Da Dan didn’t say anything else. He just took a deep breath, looked at the passing crowds, and searched for potential customers.

When Da Dan finally sold one too, Su Qinghu still hadn’t returned.

“What are you two doing?!”

A familiar female voice rang out. Da Dan and Er Dan turned their heads in unison.

Chen Yan stared at them in disbelief, her tone full of shock. “You’re… running a street stall?”

Er Dan pursed his lips. What’s wrong with running a stall? It’s not like they’re stealing or robbing anyone!

Da Dan called out, “Auntie.”

“Is our family short on food or drink? Why are you out here running a stall?” Chen Yan asked angrily, lowering her voice.

Er Dan pressed his lips together. “We’re here for social experience.”

“I don’t care what kind of experience you’re after, you can’t do something so embarrassing! Pack up your stall and come home right now!” Chen Yan was almost out of breath.

What kind of people run stalls these days? Doesn’t Su Qinghu know any better?!"