Chapter 19: Selling Vegetables While Listening to Chat

Today, Xiaomei planned to buy some bananas for her grandmother—hopefully, they’d help with her constipation. She also wanted to buy some bones to make soup for her.

She thought about buying straws too. She had seen children drink with them, and since her grandmother was bedridden, using straws would be more convenient than feeding her with a spoon.

Xiaomei also wanted to buy some sweets for her grandmother—her mouth lacked flavor, and alternating between haw flakes and candy might make things better.

She needed to buy some plastic bags for selling vegetables too, since she couldn’t keep using Aunt Zhou’s.

She also wanted to get something for her little brother and her two cousins at her uncle’s house. Everyone had been busy taking care of her grandmother lately, and those three hadn’t been cared for properly. Buying them something would make them happy.

She even thought of getting something for her grandma. Since she traveled to the modern world, her grandma had been worried but couldn’t tell anyone. The psychological pressure must be heavy. Xiaomei noticed her grandma had lost weight.

On this street, there were many small shops. Xiaomei first went to the supermarket.

The supermarket was small and mostly sold household items. Xiaomei bought plastic bags and, after asking a store clerk, also found bendable straws, which would allow her grandmother to drink while lying down. She also got a bag of milk candy—Xiaomei had tried it before, given by her godmother Wang Yanqin. It was delicious. This candy could be shared with her grandmother and younger relatives.

Out of six items, she had bought three. Xiaomei left the supermarket and entered the bakery next door.

By then, kindergarten had ended, and many children were arriving at the bakery with their grandparents. Some were shouting, “I want that one!” while others whined, “I don’t want that!”

Xiaomei’s mouth watered as she looked at the delicious-looking pastries. They looked so tasty—but the prices were high.

She finally gritted her teeth and bought three pork floss buns and ten small cakes. Her grandmother and grandma could eat the cakes, and Xiaomei wanted to try them too. The buns were for the three boys.

Though the cakes were light, ten of them took up a lot of space. Carrying them gave Xiaomei a sense of accomplishment.

She slowly made her way to the market, first buying bones and asking the vendor to chop them into chunks. Then she bought a handful of mushrooms. Xiaomei went straight to the fruit stall and picked out a large bunch of bananas.

The vendor kindly advised, “Little girl, bananas spoil fast. You might want to buy fewer and come back for more later.”

There’s no way they’d go to waste—Xiaomei herself could eat bananas all day. But she wasn’t buying them for herself, only for her grandmother.

So she listened and bought just three bananas—less than a kilo, costing 6.3 yuan.

Grateful to the vendor, she chatted a bit and browsed the items at the stall.

Besides fruits, the stall sold vegetable and flower seeds.

There were even some potted flowers, but they weren’t well-maintained and drooping, with no one interested.

Suddenly, Xiaomei had an idea. “Big sister, what vegetables can be planted this season?” she asked.

The vendor smiled. “These are all in-season. Come July or August, we’ll switch to fall and winter seeds.”

Xiaomei was very interested. Some of the vegetables she didn’t recognize by name, but the pictures on the packaging looked familiar—her mom had grown some of them.

But some were new: “Big sister, what’s this ‘autumn something’ veggie? Looks like chili. What is ‘fast veggie’? Is ‘ridged loofah’ still loofah? And what’s ‘willow-leaf jian’?”

The vendor laughed and showed her four types: “This is okra. It’s popular and nutritious—quite expensive. This ‘fast veggie’ is a modified bok choy. It only takes about twenty days from sowing to harvest. The ‘ridged loofah’ produces more fruit than regular loofah and tastes better. The ‘willow-leaf jian’ is a type of amaranth. It grows branches under its leaves and gets bigger over time. Just plant three or four, and you’ll have a weekly harvest.”

She then took out a pack of corn seeds. “This corn sells well—it’s a sweet new variety. One cob can go for ten yuan.”

Xiaomei bought okra, fast veggie, amaranth, and corn seeds after some haggling.

At home, she could plant them under the eaves in the front and backyard. Once harvested, she could sell them here for extra money.

Next to the fruit stall was a booth selling small household goods. Xiaomei browsed with great interest.

She liked many items but didn’t want to spend too much, so she only bought a pair of size 39 cloth shoes for 18 yuan after haggling. The vendor claimed they were “Old Beijing Cloth Shoes,” a famous brand, and pretended to feel heartbroken over the low price.

Xiaomei didn’t believe that—she sold stuff too. No vendor would sell without a profit.

Estimating the time, Xiaomei greeted the fruit vendor, dropped her things off at the boxed lunch shop, and grabbed her vegetables, scale, bags, stool, and money pouch. Then she headed to her usual selling spot.

It wasn’t yet 4:30 PM, and the regular vendors were gathered, chatting with their goods at their feet.

Xiaomei smiled and greeted Grandpa Zhou and the others warmly.

Grandpa Zhou helped her set up and asked, “Why didn’t you come this morning? I saved your spot.”

“There was something at home. Grandpa, I came yesterday afternoon and now this afternoon again—two half days. That’s 0.5 yuan. I’ll pay you now.”

“No rush, wait till you earn something,” Grandpa Zhou said kindly. “What do you have today?”

“Same as yesterday, plus peach gum.”

“Oh, peach gum’s good stuff,” said a nearby old man. “I’ll take half a jin.”

“I don’t know the price yet, Grandpa,” Xiaomei said sheepishly and looked at Grandpa Zhou.

He announced, “15 yuan for one liang, 28 for two, 40 for three, 68 for half a jin, and 140 for a full jin.”

The old man handed her a 50 and 20 yuan note. “Keep the change—don’t say I bullied a little girl.”

Xiaomei weighed half a jin, added two extra pieces, and said, “Thank you, Grandpa.”

Others nearby joked, “Old Zhang is generous, and the girl is sweet. A great start!”

As cars cleared out, everyone got busy setting up stalls.

Xiaomei gave Grandpa Zhou some peach gum as a gift.

He smiled and handed her a meat bun. “Grandpa bought an extra—eat before selling.”

Xiaomei thanked him and, feeling a bit hungry, gobbled it up in a few bites.

While she ate, Grandpa Zhou helped display her vegetables and even set higher prices than yesterday.

Xiaomei was secretly thrilled at the higher prices but also amazed by how expensive everything was here.

Someone nearby asked Grandpa Zhou how his son’s senior class had done on the recent mock exams.

Proudly, Grandpa Zhou straightened up and said his son’s class ranked first in the district. One student even made the city’s top three.

Everyone chimed in with praise.

So, Xiaomei sold vegetables while listening to old folks boast and chat.

Some returning customers from yesterday said her vegetables tasted much better than others’—even with the price hike, they happily bought again.

Word of mouth spread, and soon, people were lining up at Xiaomei’s stall. In about 30 minutes, everything sold out.

She picked up her things from the boxed lunch shop, said goodbye to Zhou Huifang and others, and headed home.