Seeing Chen Xiaoman crouched there, the shopkeeper’s eyes turned and an idea came to him.
“This is cotton thread, much more comfortable than hemp thread. Little miss, feel it.”
Chen Xiaoman did as told and felt it.
“So soft.”
“Clothes made of cotton thread are even softer, comfortable for a child to wear.”
Before the shopkeeper could keep persuading, Old Li rushed over in a few steps and took Chen Xiaoman’s hand.
“We’ll just buy hemp thread, hemp thread is fine.”
Cotton thread wasn’t something a country family could afford to wear.
The young shopkeeper hurried to say, “This cotton thread is cheap, only ten coppers a catty!”
Zhou Daya was puzzled. “Isn’t that the same price as hemp thread?”
Old Li eyed the shopkeeper suspiciously. “How can cotton thread be this cheap? Don’t try to fool us!”
Hearing this, a flash of pain crossed the young shopkeeper’s face.
“Last year there was heavy rain, and the storeroom flooded. This cotton thread all got soaked. The colors came out mixed and uneven, so we can only sell it cheap.”
Zhou Daya went over to look, and sure enough, the cotton thread was mixed with all sorts of colors.
“Shopkeeper, why not dye it a dark color and sell it?”
The young shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly. “If I sold water-damaged goods and customers found out, I might as well close this shop.”
Zhou Daya thought it over and understood.
Those who could afford to buy cotton thread were wealthy households, and the shopkeeper couldn’t afford to offend them.
“Thread that’s been soaked in water is probably ruined.” Old Li shook his head repeatedly.
Cotton cloth already wasn’t as durable as hemp cloth, and having been soaked, it would probably wear out even faster.
He didn’t want to be spending money on clothes every few days.
The young shopkeeper hurried to say, “Our clothes get soaked in water when we wash them too. This thread won’t be ruined, it’s just the color that’s not pretty.”
Chen Xiaoman looked at the various colors of thread in the basket and said in her babyish voice, “It’s very pretty.”
“The colors are all mixed up. If we made clothes from it people would laugh at us when word got out. We don’t want it.”
Old Li kept shaking his head.
Why was cloth expensive? Wasn’t it because of the pure, even color?
After villagers spun thread, the cloth shop bought it cheap, dyed it, and sold it at a high price.
The money made was in the coloring.
This cotton thread had red, green, yellow, and some had even faded to show the original color of the cotton thread underneath, cloth woven from it would look terrible.
Not fit to be worn out in public.
The young shopkeeper’s heart sank.
This thread had been cleared out and sitting in the shop for over two months, and today was the first time anyone had even asked about it. He’d thought he might sell some.
Who knew it still wouldn’t sell.
If it didn’t work out, he’d have to weave it into cloth sacks and sell them cheap.
But that way, he’d lose even more.
Chen Xiaoman stared longingly at the cotton thread in the basket.
If only she had money.
Zhou Daya’s heart softened, and she asked the young shopkeeper, “Can you make it any cheaper?”
The young shopkeeper perked up at once and asked Zhou Daya, “What price did you have in mind?”
Old Li grew anxious. “Old woman, you can’t just go along with what Xiaoman wants. This thread would be useless to buy!”
“I can knock off two coppers a catty!” the young shopkeeper said quickly.
Old Li kept shaking his head. “Eight coppers for a whole basket would already be too expensive.”
The young shopkeeper nearly choked to death.
A whole big basket, over ten catties, for just eight coppers?
Was he out of his mind!
Chen Xiaoman’s eyes lit up, and she wobbled over to the counter, looking up at him longingly. “Uncle Shopkeeper, can you sell it cheap to us?”
Being looked at so hopefully by the little girl, the young shopkeeper’s heart softened, and he nearly agreed.
He hurriedly shut his mouth, almost biting his own tongue.
But Zhou Daya had an idea.
She sighed. “This girl just wants to buy it to play with. Ah, there’s nothing to be done.”
As she spoke, she looked up at the young shopkeeper. “Could you give us a discount?”
The young shopkeeper gave a bitter smile. “Selling it to you at that price, I’d lose my shirt.”
“Shopkeeper, if you leave it here it won’t sell anyway, it’ll just gather dust. Sell it to us cheap and you’ll at least earn a few coins.” Zhou Daya urged.
The young shopkeeper felt even more depressed.
This poorly colored cotton thread, rich families looked down on it, and poor families couldn’t afford it.
Leaving it in the shop just took up space.
But selling it for eight coppers really was too much of a loss.
He shook his head. “At that price I’d rather throw it away.”
Seeing him soften, Zhou Daya quickly asked him, “Shopkeeper, how much would you want to sell it for?”
The young shopkeeper thought it over and said, “At the very least, fifty coppers.”
“Hiss!”
Old Li sucked in a breath of cold air.
He said quickly, “Can’t afford it, can’t afford it, old woman, let’s go!”
Zhou Daya also looked regretful.
Too expensive.
“Let’s just buy hemp thread then.”
But Chen Xiaoman wouldn’t give up. She pulled Zhou Daya aside and said quietly, “The cloth my ma wove with this kind of thread was very pretty.”
An idea stirred in Zhou Daya’s mind.
“Do you know how to weave it?”
Chen Xiaoman nodded hard. “I helped Ma sort the thread.”
Qiuniang’s weaving skill had been excellent.
Back then, she herself had learned from Qiuniang.
If Xiaoman remembered, the cloth woven from it shouldn’t turn out too badly.
Old Li came over to interrupt. “If you ask me, we should just buy plain-colored hemp thread, it’s durable and looks good too.”
Zhou Daya said, “Old man, it’s cotton thread after all. Cloth woven from it is comfortable, and it’d be good for making inner garments worn against the skin.”
Old Li began to think it over.
Counting it up, cotton thread was even cheaper than hemp thread, and they could get more clothes made for everyone. That wasn’t bad at all.
“Xiaoman has nothing to wear.”
Old Li looked at Chen Xiaoman.
Zhou Daya said quietly, “I can alter my inner garments smaller for her to wear. It’s better to wear cotton cloth against the skin too.”
Chen Xiaoman nodded repeatedly and chimed in, “Ma’s right!”
Old Li looked at the big bamboo basket, enough to make inner garments for the whole family.
He stretched out his hand and chopped it flat through the air. “Bargain hard, ruthlessly!”
Chen Xiaoman nodded even harder. “It can be cheaper.”
Zhou Daya thought it over and said, “Deal!”
The young shopkeeper watched the family of three huddled together whispering not far off, his mouth twitching.
Was it really okay to scheme right in front of him?
After a while, the three of them broke apart.
Chen Xiaoman ran up to the counter with quick little steps, stood on tiptoe, and asked him, “Would nine coppers work?”
The young shopkeeper nearly fainted from anger.
So this was the result of all that discussing?
“Not selling!”
Chen Xiaoman held up one finger. “How about ten coppers?”
The young shopkeeper gritted his teeth. “Not selling! Not selling for anything under forty coppers!”
The family of three was overjoyed.
He’d dropped ten coppers just like that.
Old Li walked up next to Chen Xiaoman, chuckling. “Shopkeeper, ah, we’re poor, where would we get forty coppers.”
The young shopkeeper didn’t believe it.
Just now they’d been about to buy two kinds of hemp thread, at least thirty coppers’ worth.
“How about this, thirty-five coppers, and not a copper less.”
Old Li shook his head and said to Chen Xiaoman, “Let’s come back tomorrow and ask the price again.”
The young shopkeeper looked at Old Li suspiciously.
Old Li said shamelessly, “If it’s still too expensive tomorrow, we’ll come ask again the day after. The price is bound to come down eventually.”
Was there really such a good method?
Ba is so clever!
Chen Xiaoman looked at Old Li with pure admiration.
She nodded hard too. “Then we’ll come back tomorrow!”
Old Li thoroughly enjoyed being admired by Chen Xiaoman like that.
The young shopkeeper nearly fell over.
He’d never seen anyone so thick-skinned.
This was outright betting that his cotton thread wouldn’t sell.
Zhou Daya tried to smooth things over with the young shopkeeper. “My old man here has nothing to do all day, don’t take it to heart, Shopkeeper.”
Wasn’t having nothing to do exactly why he’d come sit in his shop every day?
Was it really worth it, grinding down the price over such a small amount?
The young shopkeeper knew he couldn’t out-haggle them, and he didn’t feel like grinding over such a small sum anymore, so he said, “Forget it, forget it, take it for twenty coppers.”