Chapter 27: In Less Than Two Hours, the Basket of Eggs Was Sold Out

Lu Xiaoli noticed there was someone selling candied hawthorn skewers at the market.

The bright red skewers looked delicious.

She couldn’t help but say, “Mom, there are candied hawthorns for sale up ahead.”

Shen Xuezhu knew she wanted to eat them, so she said, “Let’s buy some, I’ll get them for you.”

Lu Xiaoli clapped her hands in joy, “We can have candied hawthorns!”

Shen Xuezhu felt happy seeing her so cheerful. She loved seeing her children happy and carefree.

“I’ll buy two skewers. Each of you can have one.”

Lu Xiaoli waved her hand, “I don’t want candied hawthorns this time, Mom… could you buy me some pastries instead?”

“I can’t even remember the last time I had pastries, but since Dad disappeared, I haven’t had them again…”

Since she wanted it, Shen Xuezhu thought she should buy it for her. She’d always be good to her children. “Alright, I’ll buy you pastries, but there aren’t any pastry shops around here.”

“Zhao Erge is watching over the eggs for us. If we go buy the pastries, it’ll take a while.”

“Let’s wait until the eggs are sold before we go get the pastries, okay?”

Though she really wanted pastries, Lu Xiaoyue understood they couldn’t make Zhao Erge wait too long, so she agreed, “Alright, we’ll go buy the pastries once we sell all the eggs.”

Shen Xuezhu bought a candied hawthorn skewer for each of the girls and then hurried back to Zhao Lao Er.

Zhao Lao Er was standing by the cart, keeping an eye on the basket of eggs. When he saw Shen Xuezhu and the girls returning, he sat back on the cart.

Shen Xuezhu felt she had delayed Zhao Lao Er and was a little embarrassed. “Sorry for taking so long, Zhao Erge, and thank you.”

Zhao Lao Er waved his hand, “It’s no trouble, no trouble. I’ll head out now.”

“Alright, take care.”

Shen Xuezhu took the basket off the cart, and Zhao Lao Er drove off.

The market was bustling, with various vendors shouting to attract customers. Shen Xuezhu placed her basket by the side of the road but hesitated to start calling out.

She was simply too shy to shout like the other vendors.

“Mom, I hear everyone calling out their prices,” Lu Xiaoyue said, looking around.

Shen Xuezhu glanced at her and replied, “It’s my first time selling things like this, I’m just too shy to call out.”

Then an idea came to her.

“Xiaoyue, Xiaoli, let’s go to the gentleman who writes letters for people.”

Lu Xiaoyue was puzzled. “But Mom, aren’t we here to sell eggs? Why are we going to the letter writer?”

Lu Xiaoli looked at Shen Xuezhu with confusion too.

Shen Xuezhu explained, “I need to ask him to write a few words for me.”

Lu Xiaoyue, still confused, asked, “Why do you need him to write something for you?”

“I don’t have any paper, ink, or brushes, so I need him to help. I want him to write something like, ‘Buy one pound of eggs, get two extra eggs free.’” Shen Xuezhu explained.

When the original owner was ten years old and wanted to learn how to read, she went to ask Jiang Shen’an, who was two years older, to teach her.

Jiang Shen’an loved playing with her, so he taught her to read and write.

Lu Xiaoyue thought about it and realized that most egg sellers didn’t offer extras, let alone two free eggs. Shen Xuezhu’s idea seemed unusual.

“Mom, why would you give eggs away for free?”

Shen Xuezhu responded, “This is the only way our eggs will sell out.”

“Think about it, there are so many egg sellers at the market. Fewer people will come buy from us.”

“Also, our two hens lay so many eggs every day, we can’t possibly eat them all.”

“If we don’t sell the eggs soon, they’ll go bad.”

Shen Xuezhu suddenly came up with the idea of selling at a low price and offering extras to encourage more sales.

Lu Xiaoyue thought about it and agreed, “Mom, that makes sense. Let’s go ask the letter writer to help us.”

Lu Xiaoli understood too, “Once we sell all the eggs, we can make lots of money and I’ll get to buy some candied hawthorns too!”

With that, Lu Xiaoli finished the last of her candied hawthorn.

Shen Xuezhu smiled and nodded, “Let’s go then.”

…

“Is it true that you’re offering one pound of eggs and giving away two extra eggs?”

Shen Xuezhu smiled and replied, “Yes, Auntie!”

Seeing Shen Xuezhu’s pleasant attitude, the woman smiled back, “I’ll take one pound.”