After Jiang Tang set everything up, she began to call out: "Bosses, handsome men, and beautiful ladies passing by, come and take a look! Large, plump, and delicious seafood, fresh and tasty without being expensive."
Someone actually stopped, but after glancing at her small stall, they hesitated and walked away.
Especially those purchasing for restaurants; no one dared to rashly buy items without a guarantee. If a customer were to get sick, they would be the ones held responsible.
Before Jiang Tang could even wait for a customer to ask about the price, she encountered a Market Administrator.
"Young lady, where are you from? We don't allow stalls at the entrance of our market. Hurry up and move your things; don't obstruct the customers coming in and out."
The Market Administrator frowned as he looked her over. Seeing that Jiang Tang was sallow and thin, wearing tattered clothes, his tone softened quite a lot.
Although he felt a bit of sympathy, he could not fail to enforce the market rules.
"Brother, I'm sorry. It's my first time here and I don't know the rules." Jiang Tang explained hurriedly. She conveniently picked out a few of the largest oysters and pushed them toward him. "My grandmother is seriously ill at home, waiting for money to buy medicine. I brought this seafood here to set up a stall. Brother, could you point me in the right direction?"
The Administrator refused to accept the items and pushed the oysters back. "The back alley of the market is Morning Market Street. You can set up a loose stall there. Go there; it's mostly neighbors shopping, so it'll be easier to sell."
"Thank you, Brother!" Jiang Tang quickly packed up her things.
Seeing that she was just a young girl, the Administrator worried she couldn't carry it all, so he simply gave her a hand.
"Where are your parents?"
"My father went out to sea and never returned, and my mother remarried. There's only my younger brother, my grandmother, and me left at home."
"I'm sorry! I brought up a painful memory."
"It's okay, I'm already used to it."
Jiang Tang lowered her head. The Administrator thought she was sad, so he talked about other things, mostly telling her about this Morning Market Street.
Chatting as they went, the two moved the seafood to the front of a grocery store.
The Administrator was named Li Hongyu, over thirty years old, with a Buzz Cut and a warm heart.
From Li Hongyu, she learned that it was now the year 2035.
A full ten years had passed since she died suddenly in her previous life.
Her heart sank slightly; after all, she could never go back.
The familiar era, those operating rooms where she fought through the night, and the younger brothers and sisters at the orphanage...
Fortunately, she had been prepared.
In her previous life, she had quietly written the passwords for all her bank cards on the back of a photo taken with the director of the orphanage.
She had thought that if anything were to happen, she hoped the director would discover them and take that money out to use for the younger brothers and sisters at the orphanage.
The grocery store boss, Zhou Chong'an, was a friend of Li Hongyu.
After hearing about Jiang Tang's difficulties from Li Hongyu, he readily agreed for the sake of his friend: "Xiao Tang, you can just set up your stall in front of my shop. It's no trouble."
Jiang Tang did not want to take advantage of others for nothing, so she separated some plump green mussels and oysters from her basket and brought them to Zhou Chong'an.
"Brother Zhou, please accept these as the stall rent. You must take them."
Seeing that the seafood was fresh, Zhou Chong'an didn't stand on ceremony. He happily accepted them and grabbed a basin to put them in.
She then picked out some of the largest oysters and handed them to Li Hongyu: "Brother Li, thanks to your help moving things, you must accept this small intention of mine."
Li Hongyu couldn't refuse and accepted the oysters. Seeing that she didn't have any bags, he seemed to think of something and asked: "You don't have bags to pack the goods? Do you have a scale?"
Jiang Tang shook her head in embarrassment; how could she have money to buy those?
Zhou Chong'an, who was listening from the side, pointed to the scale at the entrance: "Use mine, feel free to use it."
Li Hongyu took two bundles of plastic bags from the shelf, scanned the code to pay for them, and pushed them directly to her: "Take these and use them."
"Thank you, Brother Zhou! Thank you, Brother Li!"
Jiang Tang clutched the plastic bags in her hand, feeling as if something had ironed out her heart, leaving it warm and cozy.
In this unfamiliar place, this small bit of kindness actually made her feel a sense of stability.
Zhou Chong'an found two large basins in the shop and lent them to her.
Jiang Tang arranged the seafood by category, making it look much more refreshed and convenient for customers to choose.
She set the prices: octopus at twenty-eight per jin, grouper at fifty-two per jin, sea snails at twenty per jin...
Since it was her first day setting up a stall, she had no idea what to expect, so she set the prices a bit cheaper than the market. For one, she wanted to sell out early.
The weather was too hot, and she had no oxygen pump or Ice Cubes. If the seafood sat for too long, it would easily spoil, and she was truly in a hurry for money.
Just as she was lowering her head to sort the goods, an elderly man approached.
The old man saw the patches on Jiang Tang's clothes, and his eyes softened instantly. Remembering how he wore patched clothes when he was young, a sense of friendliness welled up: "Young lady, how do you sell this grouper? And these crabs?"
"Grandfather, the grouper is fifty-two per jin, and the crabs are forty per jin." Jiang Tang smiled with her eyes and brows curved, her tone full of sincerity. "You really have an eye for quality! This grouper is large and wild-caught; the meat is especially firm and delicious. You won't regret buying it!"
The old man was amused by her cleverness and placed a bold order: "Good! Give me a mouse grouper, and two jin of crabs!"
His Grandson loved fish the most, and his Daughter-in-law had a Preference for crabs. The price was quite a lot cheaper than the market, making it a good deal.
"Alright! Please wait a moment!" Jiang Tang hurriedly used a bag to pack them up and carried them to the scale at the entrance to weigh them.
The grouper was two and a half jin, exactly one hundred and thirty; the crabs weighed two jin, eighty.
But she ran into trouble when it came time to collect the money.
She didn't have a mobile phone, let alone a payment code; she could only accept cash.
In this day and age, very few people carried cash when they went out, and her heart was in her throat.
Fortunately, the old man was someone who clung to the past and always kept some small change in his pocket, so he paid the money readily.
Because Jiang Tang didn't have tools to clean the fish, she gave the old man five back. The old man happily carried the seafood away, saying he would patronize her seafood stall again next time.
With the first order opened, business indeed became smoother.
A woman over thirty years old bought two jin of octopus, ten oysters, and two jin of green mussels, paying one hundred and twenty-six.
Jiang Tang clutched the three hundred-plus in cash, her palms sweating, but her heart felt very secure.
Taking advantage of the moment when there were no customers, she hurried to the breakfast shop next door, ordered two meat buns and a bowl of lean meat noodles, and devoured them.
The juice from the meat bun was so fresh it made one smack their lips, and the rice noodles were slippery and coated in the aroma of meat. It was so hot she kept exhaling, but she couldn't bear to stop eating. She ate until she was sweating profusely, finally letting out a satisfied burp.
Just as she put down the bowl, a young couple walked over. Their eyes lit up when they saw the seafood at the stall: "Such large oysters! And small lobsters!"
The two said they were treating friends to dinner that night and ordered the largest mouse grouper, two small lobsters, twenty oysters, four jin of octopus, and a pile of sea snails and green mussels in one go, totaling six hundred and fifty-eight.
Such a large order made the corner of Jiang Tang's mouth unable to stop curling up.
But when the couple took out their mobile phones to scan the code, she was in a bind again, her face instantly turning red.
Zhou Chong'an, who saw it from inside the shop, walked out to help: "Use my code. Once you scan it, I'll exchange it for cash for you."
After the couple left, Zhou Chong'an handed the six hundred and fifty-eight in cash to her and said with a smile: "Xiao Tang, your seafood is good. From now on, you can just set up here. I won't charge you any rent."
"Thank you, Brother Zhou. Then I won't be polite with you, Brother Zhou."
Jiang Tang took the money, her heart warmed once again. She knew Zhou Chong'an wanted to help her.
However, she wouldn't occupy someone's space for nothing. Since she was using his entrance, she could just use seafood to cover the rent!
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