836 In Pursuit
Li Gui continued to sell seeds today as usual, but she brought along some popcorn from yesterday. She thought of giving away some popcorn with every purchase of seeds today. This way, she could lay the groundwork for selling popcorn in the future. It might even attract people who want to eat the popcorn she sold.
Today, she brought Zhang Wei and Zhang Qin back to that same alley near the cinema to sell seeds. Many people were already waiting there with anxious expressions on their faces.
When one of the older men saw Li Gui, he pointed at her agitatedly as he shouted, “It’s her! It’s her!”
Li Gui froze on the spot and was so frightened that she wanted to grab the two children and run away.
Qiao Mei had asked her earlier if she had been bullied by the other peddlers and she had confidently said no. She did not expect to receive retribution so quickly!
“Don’t run! We’re here to buy seeds! Don’t run!” the older men shouted as they chased after Li Gui.
Li Gui did not even hear what they were saying behind her back. She used all her strength to run forward and only stopped when Zhang Wei broke free from her grip.
“Mom! Those people want to buy seeds from us!” Zhang Wei shouted towards Li Gui’s back.
Li Gui panted as she sat on the ground and wiped the sweat off her forehead. How could they be here to buy seeds? If they were here to buy seeds, why were they so agitated?
The older man also slowly caught up. He stood in front of Li Gui and asked, “You… sister, why did you run away?”
“I don’t know that you are here to buy seeds. It feels like you’re here to arrest me… since there are so many people with you…” Li Gui was so shaken that she did not even dare to breathe loudly.
These people who came to buy seeds had never had the experience of being chased down for street peddling, so they naturally did not know what Li Gui was afraid of. The few grown men found it quite embarrassing to have frightened a woman with two children to such an extent. Each of them bought two dollars’ worth of seeds to express their apologies, and someone even bought five dollars’ worth!
“Thank you! Thank you everyone!” Li Gui expressed her gratitude.
Zhang Qin took out some popcorn from her bag and said, “Uncles, try our new product. You can give us some feedback too!”
“Sure! We’ll try it.” The older men took the popcorn from Zhang Qin. After that, everyone was full of praise.
Everyone had eaten popcorn since they were young. There were peddlers who sold popcorn everywhere, but this was the first time they had eaten the type of sweet popcorn that Li Gui was selling.
“How do you make this! Why is it different from what we usually eat! How much are you selling this for!” the older men asked.
Speaking of which, it was quite strange. In the past, everyone only ate seeds for fun. Sometimes, when they brought their girlfriends to the movies, they bought seeds simply to show off. However, ever since they ate the seeds which Li Gui sold, they craved for the taste even after they returned home.
If not for the fact that a small cup cost 50 cents and they really could not afford to buy too much, they would have bought bags of it home!
They were unable to spend more than two dollars a month to buy the seeds that Li Gui sold. Ordinary folks could not afford to eat such expensive things too often.
Now that Li Gui had come up with a new product, they were worried that their wallets could not handle it.
“This is what we will sell in the future. In a few days, we will run out of seeds. If you like our popcorn, you can come over and buy it! The price is still 50 cents and it is definitely affordable! You won’t get any less!” Li Gui said with a smile.
No one had seen the size of one portion of popcorn, so they did not dare to order in advance. However, they noted that the seeds were running out. They did not bring enough money with them today, so they would definitely bring more money tomorrow!
After the older men left with the seeds they bought, Li Gui returned to the alley to continue selling her goods. The other peddler secretly followed her. His business was not as good as before and sales were slow.
After so many decades of doing business, he had never been in such a miserable situation. However, he was also a person with some standards. He had occupied the best location at the entrance of the cinema and he had already made a lot of money after so many years. He just found it strange that given everyone sold the same type of seeds, why was it that the customers liked to buy such expensive seeds from Li Gui.
“How strange… Have I lost to a woman?” the peddler said in exasperation.
Li Gui’s stall was surrounded by customers again. Everyone rushed over to buy the seeds and the peddler could not squeeze through at all.
