Proofread by Claire.KK
The old man shouted to the middle-aged woman, “Sister, mine is one copper coin per bowl. Why do you bother to spend two more copper coins for buying her fine words? If you want to listen to such words, I can tell you more.”
The middle-aged woman replied, “The thing is I’ve bought one of hers yesterday and hers is tastier.”
After several moments, the chubby shopkeeper who had come on the first day came again. This time the old man acted swiftly, coming to the chubby shopkeeper and pulled his sleeves. “Hey, this gentleman, you’re the shopkeeper. I remember you. You’ve always patronized my business but you seldom came to buy any recently. My cold jelly becomes cheaper now. One coin per bowl. Would you like to try some?”
Li Hongmei standing aside said aloud, “Shopkeeper, you’re a businessman too so you should know that cheap goods equal poor qualities, right? He lowered the price today and he must put less sugar or add more water in it, but ours are different. Ours are maintaining the original flavour of cold jelly.”
Ye Xiaoxian saw that Li Hongmei had been working so hard and she then followed suit. “That’s right. We’ll add one more spoon of sugar for our regular customers.”
Chubby shopkeeper looked the old man and then turned to Ye Xiaoxian. He wanted to buy cheap stuff but also felt like a qualified one so he bought one each.
People around had been witnessing the scene over there for long and they wanted to know whose cold jelly was tastier as well. Seeing that the chubby shopkeeper bought one bowl of cold jelly from each stall, a group of people started to surround them.
The chubby shopkeeper was a well-known foodie. As long as he said something was tasty, it must be so.
He tried the cold jelly of the bridgehead old man’s, however, once he poured the cold jelly into him mouth, he frowned.
He had been drinking Ye Xiaoxian’s cold jelly for days which made his palate become picky while now he just felt the bridgehead old man’s cold jelly was too chewy, not sweet enough and very plain.
He then drank Ye Xiaoxian’s cold jelly and a satisfied smile crossed his chubby face right away. Ah, it was the same ingredients and the familiar taste.
He then picked up his bowl and finished it up within several mouthfuls. He then said to Ye Xiaoxian, “Little girl, I’ll have another bowl!”
Ye Xiao hurriedly gave him another one.
The onlookers saw this and naturally they knew that Ye Xiaoxian’s cold jelly must be tastier. Those people are not dumb, and though the bridgehead old man’s cold jelly was cheaper, they knew that the old man must cheat in work and cut down on ingredients.
Moreover, the bridgehead old man’s deeds were on the contrary to the will of the people.
“Though you are the first stall selling cold jelly, others didn’t rob your business in your neighbourhood; on the contrary, you came to rob other’s business. Is there a written law that you’re the only cold jelly stall under the sun?”
Some onlookers couldn’t bear to see this and some of them went to Ye Xiaoxian to buy a bowl of cold jelly to eat out of justice. The old man was even angrier.
Ye Xiaoxian had been selling cold jelly here for several days. They had quite a few repeat customers. Some of them came to buy several bowls of cold jelly at one sitting. Although they were more expensive than those sold by the old man, their cold jelly were much more delicious. In addition, Li Hongmei was bold when she touted to passers-by and she dissed that bridgehead old man for several times. Their business was even hotter than the day before.
Ye Xiaoxian found that if Li Hongmei was born in the modern times, she must be a marketing legend. Have a listen—
“Brothers and sisters, I’m from Daliang village and I am a widow. My children’s father was gone years ago. I’ve raised several children by myself. I used to live by picking wild vegetables and farming. But my daughter-in-law learned how to make cold jelly a few days ago, so we came to the town to try our fortune. All thanks for your kindness and thank you for liking our cold jelly, we are so glad too but who knows—
Who knows the bridgehead old man is such a nasty person. He was originally selling cold jelly at the bridgehead but when he heard that we did a good business here, he then came over and took our place in the early morning. That’s right, the place he stood now should be ours. As for his nasty tricks, I think everyone is more than clear…”
