Chapter 287: Returning from the Grand Market

Yan Lao’er’s grilled fish was coming out slowly.

Meanwhile, the stall selling fresh fish was gradually picking up business.

Three wen per jin, with each fish weighing three to four jin. For just a handful of copper coins, you could take a live fish home, raise it until the Mid-Autumn Festival, and then cook it.

All thanks to Yan Lao’er’s non-stop chatter: “What’s this fish? Prosperity! Having fish to eat means life’s getting better and better. It’s a good omen. Normally, we’d be too stingy to eat it, but during the holidays, you’ve got to cook one, no matter what.”

“You’re asking how to cook it? Trying to steal my business, huh? Haha, just kidding. I can’t give away my secret recipe, but I can teach you a simple home-style method.”

Then he went on to explain in detail how to kill the fish, clean it, remove the fishy line, and cook it. He didn’t leave anything out.

He wasn’t afraid of people learning. The more folks who liked eating fish, the better business would be for all the fish sellers.

Selling grilled fish or braised fish wasn’t a long-term gig. Sure, they could make some money at this Grand Market, but next time, someone else would see how well it sold and try to copy it.

Rather than letting them fumble around and end up making something inedible, it was better to teach them properly and save the catch from being wasted.

After all, walking all the way from Qishan Prefecture to here, they understood better than anyone how precious food was.

He even wrapped up with a little speech: “Eating more fish is good, but if you don’t know how to swim, don’t go messing around in the water just to save a few copper coins. It’s not worth it. If you want fish, come buy it from our village. We live by the river and know the water well. If you’re worried about cleaning it properly, we can help kill and clean it for you. It’s no trouble at all…”

Even if no one asked, he still told them exactly where Xiao’an Village was.

A hard sell, plain and simple.

It had to be said, the reason people remembered Xiao’an Village so quickly was largely thanks to the efforts of Madam Cui and Yan Lao’er, the sworn siblings.

After chatting with Yan Yu for a bit, Madam Cui bustled off to buy a sack of sunflower seeds from a household in the village that roasted them. Munching on the seeds, she rejoined the group of women gossiping nearby and jumped right back into the conversation, spitting shells and talking a mile a minute.

Yan Yu watched in disbelief as the sunflower seed stall started drawing more and more women from the Grand Market. Their eyes followed the others’ backs, and sure enough, they were all heading toward Madam Cui’s circle.

Xiao’an Village’s unofficial brand ambassador.

Impressive!

Yan Yu was just about to head over and see if she could sneak in a little promotion for their scented soap and shampoo.

As she got closer, she overheard Madam Cui showing off: “That scented soap from Yongning City sells for over a tael of silver! Each bar has characters carved into it. The cheap ones don’t get that treatment—only the expensive ones do. And the names, oh, they’re just beautiful. I heard it once and remembered it right away.”

“Didn’t your Xiao’an Village just arrive in Guanzhou? How do you know about Yongning?”

“Ha! That’s why I say my brother Yan Lao’er is something else! Our village isn’t that far from Yongning City. Not just his older brother, even he himself has official duties. He’s been there on business, learned a lot, and brought it back to us. That’s how we know.”

“Tell us, tell us! What’s carved on the soap?”

Madam Cui lowered her voice, pretending to be mysterious: “An—Xiang.”

“Just listen to that name. Doesn’t it sound special? We’re all married women, right? We can’t go around smelling too obviously fragrant. That wouldn’t be proper. But a secret scent, a fragrance that lingers quietly… that’s what ‘Dark Fragrance’ means.”

Yan Yu froze in her tracks, eyes wide.

You could explain it like that?

Surprisingly, quite a few women actually agreed with Madam Cui’s take.

“Oh wow! That name really is something!”

“No wonder it’s expensive. Even the name shows how much thought went into it.”

Yan Yu: No, it didn’t. We just made it up on the spot.

“So it’s only sold in Yongning City? Then forget it.”

“It’s over a tael of silver! Would you even buy it?”

“I wouldn’t buy it for myself, but for my daughter’s dowry? That would really make a statement!”

“Sis, you’re absolutely right. I don’t have a daughter, but if I did, I’d definitely give her two bars.” Madam Cui casually spat out another sunflower seed shell.

The women around her were getting more and more excited.

But of course, women’s conversations never stayed on one topic for long. Soon enough, they had moved on to something else.

Yan Yu quietly backed away.

The Grand Market lasted until the afternoon.

Everyone had browsed to their heart’s content, sold most of their goods, and bought what they needed.

One by one, families began packing up and preparing to head home.

The Yan family’s ox cart was even fuller than when they arrived.

There were several sacks of grain, bundles of chickens, ducks, and geese, a few sheep, and five puppies.

The five dogs were from the same litter—true village mutts.

Yan Lao’er had just shouted casually about buying pigs and dogs. He hadn’t actually expected anyone to bring dogs to the market.

He did call out for pigs too, but no one brought any live ones. They did manage to buy some pork, though.

There wasn’t even room left for people to sit in the cart. So the whole family walked back to the village at a leisurely pace.

Once they got home and into their courtyard, the three of them went inside to wash up.

Li Xuemei asked, “You bought all this? It’s all for our family?”

“Of course not! The village gets first pick. Whatever’s left is ours,” Yan Lao’er replied.

“Dad! Who’s taking the dogs?”

“The Hu family, the Wang family, and Uncle An all asked me about them. We don’t even have enough to go around.”

“Dad, did you ask Auntie to help promote the scented soap?” Yan Yu remembered and asked her father.

“It wasn’t really promotion. More like… advertising,” Yan Lao’er said, glancing at his wife. “Just making some noise, so people know about our scented soap with the carved characters. That way, it’ll sell better in the future.”

Since they strictly limited how much they produced each month, the only way to increase profits was to raise the price per bar.

Li Xuemei saw right through him with a single glance.

“Instead of fussing over this, why not think about how to improve the quality of Scented Soap?”

Yan Yu replied, “Mother, we’ve thought about it, but the current conditions just don’t allow for it. Once we get the chance, we definitely want to go the high-end route.”

Then she shifted the topic, mimicking what she’d seen and heard about Madam Cui thriving at the Grand Market.

“My aunt really is something. Just at the Grand Market alone, she’s already made friends with the wives from several villages.”

The chatter had been lively and nonstop.

The ground littered with sunflower seed shells was proof of their blossoming friendships.

Yan Lao’er chimed in, “No wonder she’s my sister!”

Li Xuemei and Yan Yu exchanged a glance, both catching the amusement in each other’s eyes.

“So, uh, you sold quite a few of those braised eggs, huh?” Yan Lao’er asked.

“What, Dad? You’re eyeing our little earnings? You and the uncles from the Qi Family’s grilled fish stall are the ones really raking it in. Bet you’ve made quite a bit, huh? Just don’t get so busy you mess things up,” Yan Yu teased with a grin.

“I’ve got Granny Rong helping me. How could anything go wrong?” Yan Lao’er patted the pouch at his waist.

The soft clink of copper coins and silver shards rang out.

Yan Yu’s eyes lit up.

“Dad, you’ve worked so hard today. You must be exhausted. Go ahead and rest—I’ll count the money for you.”

“Heh, jealous now, aren’t you? That’s what you get for not preparing enough. You ran out of stock before the end. Let’s see if you remember next time.”

Yan Yu protested, “I really did bring a lot! I just didn’t expect people at the Grand Market to be so willing to spend.”

Li Xuemei added, “It’s probably because the harvest looks promising this year. With a good yield in sight and Mid-Autumn Festival coming up, folks are more willing to buy their kids something nice to eat.”

The adults only took a taste—most of it was for the children.

(End of Chapter)