“Auntie is right.” Su Li quickly grabbed Su Tao’s arm, fearing that if others overheard them, no one would want their wild jujubes anymore.
Su Tao looked puzzled, wondering why she was being stopped from asking. Li Chunhua beside her wore the same bewildered expression, staring eagerly.
Su Li had no choice but to explain, “Two baskets aren’t worth much anyway. If they’re given, just take them.” After all, the buyer had paid extra silver, likely accounting for this already.
Aunt Shen observed that despite her young age, Su Li was quite clever—unlike those foolish types who push their luck after gaining an advantage. Being overly calculative could lead to no benefit at all, or even invite trouble. Were the powerful really so easy to deal with?
In her nearly forty years of life, Aunt Shen had rarely seen any.
“Exactly, this young lady is right. There’s a basket seller over there—only five coppers each. You can buy two later.”
Su Li politely thanked her.
Su Tao and Li Chunhua followed Aunt Shen’s pointing finger and indeed spotted a vendor selling bamboo baskets and back-baskets.
Neither was foolish; though they couldn’t do math, they knew they were still making a profit. Their moods lifted immediately.
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
Aunt Shen felt immensely pleased. She had always had a soft spot for well-behaved, sensible young girls. After a moment’s thought, she said:
“Alright then, I’ve sold all the flatbreads in my basket anyway. I might as well do a good deed and take you there. Young girls like you might be quoted higher prices.”
This was perfect. The three girls followed Aunt Shen, though along the way, Su Li and Su Tao quietly discussed that they didn’t need to buy bamboo baskets—Su Laotou could weave them. Su Tao even tried to persuade Li Chunhua not to buy one either, suggesting her grandfather could weave one for her later. But Li Chunhua firmly refused.
“My mother would beat me if she found out.”
With just that one sentence, Su Tao fell silent, reminded of Li Chunhua’s mother, Liu Shi, and feeling a bit intimidated.
“How much for this back-basket?” Aunt Shen picked through the items for a while before selecting the most sturdy one and asking.
The basket seller, seeing an older woman, didn’t quote a high price. “Ten coppers each.”
“Will you sell for eight?” Aunt Shen directly haggled down two coppers.
The man’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. “I can only go one copper lower. Any less, and it’s not worth it.”
Aunt Shen turned to Li Chunhua. “Shall we take it then?”
Li Chunhua had no idea about these matters and instinctively looked at Su Li.
“Alright, we’ll take this one. Thank you, Uncle.” Su Li took out the two mace of silver she had just received—still warm from her hand—and passed it over.
The man bit the silver to test it, then pulled out a string of copper coins from his money pouch, removed a few, and handed the rest to Su Li in one handful.
Su Li hadn’t expected over a hundred coppers to be so many—a large, heavy string feeling much more substantial in her hand than the small piece of silver earlier.
For safety, the three had already agreed not to divide the coins on the spot. Instead, Su Li would keep all of them, and they would split the money after returning.
“Thank you, Auntie. May I ask how we should address you?” After purchasing the items and storing the coins, Su Li expressed her gratitude.
Aunt Shen waved her hand dismissively. Then she added:
“My surname is Shen, people call me Shen Danniang.” Actually, she didn’t necessarily need to tell the other party her name, since they likely wouldn’t meet again after today. But she quite liked this young lady before her – straightforward in manner, not the least bit awkward – so she didn’t mind hearing what the girl wanted to say next.
Sure enough, the very next moment, Su Li asked what she wanted to know: various matters about setting up a stall at Ma Tou.
When Su Li arrived earlier, she had noticed there were plenty of food vendors at the dock – drinks, steamed buns, mantou, bean rice, noodles, wontons – you name it, they had it. Combined with the coming and going of boats, business probably wasn’t bad at all.
She remembered that going into town required paying an entrance fee – two wen per person. Just now, listening to Shen Danniang chatting with the uncle selling bamboo baskets, she learned that setting up a stall in town cost five wen daily, while the dock only charged two wen…
So Su Li thought, why not come sell food at the dock instead?
Meanwhile, Shen Danniang, upon learning that Su Li wanted to set up a stall, showed an understanding expression. “Does your family want to sell food too?”
“It’s not impossible. These days there are quite a few boats. If you want to come, you should hurry – when winter comes and boats decrease, there won’t be many people left.”
So there were peak and off seasons? Su Li understood now.
Shen Danniang continued inquiring, “What are you planning to sell?”
“Some prepared dishes.” Yes, Su Li had just decided – she planned to sell boxed lunches!
The dock had dense crowds and tight schedules, not much different from train stations and high-speed rail stations in later generations. Selling boxed lunches would be perfect – convenient and fast. She could cook everything in one pot at home without spending too much time, then just bring it over to sell daily.
She had even thought it through: starting without money to buy meat dishes, she could use local ingredients from the fields, using river mussels or collecting field snails for cooking. Green vegetables could come from home. As long as she worked hard, she believed making money would just be a matter of time!
Meanwhile, Shen Danniang, hearing “prepared dishes,” automatically imagined roasted chicken or Lu Cai type dishes in her mind.
This didn’t conflict with her selling baked cakes, so she didn’t mind offering more advice. “If you want to sell food, you need to come early every morning, otherwise the good spots will be taken by others.”