Chapter 64: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 64: Making a Heap of Money
The sun had just risen, and the vegetable market street in the Eastern Market was gradually filling up with pedestrians buying vegetables. Vegetable vendors energetically shouted their wares, smiling and attracting customers.
In the depth of winter, there weren't many types of vegetables available for sale. Besides radishes and Chinese cabbage, there were also pickled tofu and pickled vegetables. There were also quite a few vendors selling chicken, duck, and pork, as well as some selling dried mushrooms and fungus.
Most of the people living in the Eastern Market were well-off, and they usually lacked interest in buying fresh vegetables since they couldn't find any. However, today was different. Many people who came to buy vegetables all headed towards the end of the street. Some hurried over but were still a step too late. The small stall was already surrounded by layers of people, making it impossible to see what was inside.
"Miss, give me thirty catties of spinach and thirty catties of bok choy. We have a happy occasion at home and need plenty!"
"Boss, I was here first, so please weigh mine first!"
"Hey, hey, don't push in the back, you're crushing the baskets!"
...
"Everyone, please come one by one. There are plenty of these leafy greens, plenty!"
Mo Yan was sweating profusely as she weighed and packed cabbage for the customers. Seeing that the vegetable stall was almost toppled over by the crowd, she quickly asked them to step back a bit.
Beside her, Mo Qingze was also busy weighing for the customers. They had never done this before, so with so many people, they naturally felt a bit flustered.
"Oh my, you're all so slow. Business is booming, why don't you call in more help? I've been waiting for ages!"
"Yeah, that's right. I've been waiting for a quarter of an hour, and it's still not my turn. The people at the back are getting impatient."
...
Listening to the customers' complaints, Mo Yan and her father could only smile apologetically.
They had originally thought that the vegetable prices were almost comparable to pork. On the first day of selling, they didn't expect so many people to come. They had thought that with just some greens and spinach, people wouldn't be willing to buy, but as soon as these leafy vegetables were displayed, people swarmed over. If they had known that business would be this good, they would have definitely hired more help.
It wasn't surprising that they miscalculated. After all, ordinary vegetables cost fifteen wen per catty, while spinach and celery were even more expensive, at eighteen wen per catty. Ordinary families couldn't bear to buy them.
But little did they know that since the onset of winter, the people living in the city could hardly get fresh vegetables. Every day, it was either radishes and Chinese cabbage or meat and pickled vegetables. It was getting boring!
So, after holding back for a month or two, when they saw these lush, tender leafy greens, how could they resist? They were willing to buy even if they were expensive!
As the money kept coming in, the money pouch hanging from Mo Yan's waist became heavier and heavier. With a slight movement, you could hear the clinking sound inside. Mo Yan didn't know how much money she had earned this morning, but just looking at the three carts of vegetables almost sold out, she knew it was a lot.
In less than an hour, all the vegetables were sold out. Several women who had heard the news rushed over, only to see scattered green vegetable leaves left on the stall.
Oh, but these vegetable leaves were also very green and tender!
In the end, when there was nothing left on the stall, those who hadn't bought anything could only regret that the woman was too quick, and they couldn't even grab any vegetable leaves!
Under the resentful gazes of several women, the father and daughter had to promise to come back tomorrow and set up their stall here again, asking them to come earlier.
The faces of several women improved a bit at this, worried that something might delay them tomorrow. They repeatedly requested the father and daughter to reserve some greens for them tomorrow. They would come and pick them up directly when they arrived. After the father and daughter agreed, they were satisfied and left with their empty baskets.
After tidying up the vegetable stall and getting on the hired ox cart, the father and daughter were too tired to move.
Once they left the Eastern Market, Mo Yan felt a bit better. She specifically asked the carter to take them to the vegetable market street in the Western Market. Seeing the bustling crowd and similar goods being sold, she couldn't help but consider setting up a stall here tomorrow. The Southern Market was full of wealthy merchants and tycoons, so they could also set up a stall there.
After paying for the cart and returning home, Mo Yan couldn't wait to pour out the two money pouches on the table. With a clatter, copper coins and silver pieces covered the entire table, with some rolling onto the ground.
Xin'er, and Zhen'er immediately rushed to the table, their eyes wide and mouths gaping. It was the first time they had seen so much money!
Mo Qingze was also quite surprised. He knew that they had earned quite a bit of money from selling three carts of vegetables today, but seeing it all piled together, he realized it was a lot!
"Don't just stand there foolishly. Hurry up and count the money. If you make a mistake, you'll get a slap on the palm."
Mo Yan happily took out some cotton thread and scissors. Seeing the four of them like this, she couldn't help but laugh.
Counting money? That was truly a happy thing!
The four of them sat around the table, each with a piece of cotton thread, counting and stringing coins. After half an hour, all the copper coins were counted and strung together. The final count was astonishing: eighty strings and seventy copper coins, plus more than twenty silver pieces of various denominations.
"A string has one hundred copper coins, so eighty strings is eight taels of silver. These silver pieces total two taels and nine maces. Together, it's..." Xin'er earnestly counted on her fingers, then suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Mo Yan. "Sister, pinch me quick, to see if I'm dreaming!"
"Hehe! Haha..." Zhen'er was the first one to burst into laughter without giving face, teasing his second sister, "Second sister is really ridiculous, she's actually scared by a dozen taels of silver. Haha, it's so funny!"
Everyone laughed along, not mocking Xin'er, but genuinely happy. No one expected that in just one hour, they would earn nearly eleven taels of silver.
Seeing Xin'er come back to her senses, glaring fiercely at Zhen'er as if she was about to pounce and hit him, Mo Yan lightly slapped the back of Saner's head. "How dare you speak to your second sister like that? Quick, apologize!"
Seeing his second sister's fierce expression and fearing getting beaten up, Zhen'er reluctantly walked over, hugged Xin'er 's neck, and coquettishly begged for forgiveness.
Xin'er unceremoniously twisted his ear for a bit before finally letting go, scolding him and letting it go.
After the laughter died down, Mo Yan solemnly placed all the silver coins into a wooden box. Although this amount of silver wasn't much, it brought confidence to the family. She believed that this box of copper coins would eventually turn into a box of gold and silver!
As it was nearing noon, Mo Yan originally wanted to cook a table of good dishes to celebrate, but Li Zhong was busy looking for his daughter and hadn't returned for lunch recently. So, she decided to cook a simple meal for dinner instead. Combined with the busy morning, they also needed to go to Liu Yang Village in the afternoon. They only made three dishes and a soup.
The family was in a good mood, and the simple home-cooked meal was delicious.
After finishing their meal, Mo Yan and Mo Qingze rushed off to Liu Yang Village again. This time, they not only had to make sure the villagers prepared more vegetables but also had to find more people to help sell the vegetables!
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