Chapter 116
After paying the market fee, Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing found an open space and pushed the cart in.
After shouting all the way, Lu Gu opened the bamboo tube and drank a few sips of water, then passed it to Shen Xuanqing. They brought two wooden chairs today, so they could sit down and rest if they felt tired after standing for a while.
The busiest time of the morning market had passed, and now there were fewer people doing business.
It was already mid-morning. Fortunately, the sun was not very strong today. The small vendors who arrived early in the morning were still holding out for their unsold goods, waiting for buyers to come.
"Duck eggs, fresh duck eggs."
"Wild buds, freshly picked from the mountains."
"Aunt, come and have a look. My eggs are cheap."
Whenever there were people coming passing with baskets to buy things, many of them would start shouting and chatting in an attempt to sell their things.
There were many people selling chicken eggs and duck eggs. When they hawked their goods along the road, they would meet women carrying small baskets and selling eggs. Poor people were always very careful when selling eggs, for fear of breaking these precious things. The two of them were the same, so they walked slowly.
There weren't many people like Lu Gu who put the eggs inside bamboo basket. When he saw a woman coming over, he also shouted a few times.
"So many." The woman was surprised to see him using a bamboo basket to carry the eggs. She stopped to join in the fun and peered into the basket. She also said, "These eggs are smaller than others."
"Yes, aunt. My chickens and ducks are smaller, and so are the eggs, but they taste the same. There's no difference." Lu Gu said seriously, and took one out and held it in his hand for the old woman to see.
Shen Xuanqing wanted to help his fulang, naturally he had to stand up when selling things.
Shen Xuanqing was taller than the average man, people didn't feel anything when he was sitting on the back of the cart. But he suddenly stood up, which scared the short and thin old woman, and she subconsciously took half a step back.
Seeing the customer's frightened face, Lu Gu was afraid that she would be scared away and he would lose the business, so he quickly said to her: "Don't be afraid, aunt, this is my husband."
Shen Xuanqing felt helpless, but the other party was an old and frail woman, so he smiled and said, "I got up too hastily, don't be afraid, aunt."
The fulang in front of her was gentle and spoke softly, and the man also spoke without any aggression, which made the old woman calm down. She came closer to look at the eggs and said, "Oh, your husband is really tall."
Hearing this, Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, "Don't underestimate these small eggs. Aunt, you won't suffer a loss if I weigh them by catty. Besides, small eggs have their advantages. Since they're small, there will be a few more eggs per catty (0,5 kg) than the big ones. If there are children in your family who eat eggs, it’s the same even if you give them the small ones, and he or she can even eat a few more. "
"Yes, if you want to buy it, the price is not expensive." Lu Gu nodded in agreement.
Shen Xuanqing's words made the old woman stunned for a moment and then she seemed to understand something. The family's life was neither good nor bad, they could afford to eat chicken eggs and duck eggs, but they had to be frugal in life. This egg was small, but the chicken yolk and white were complete, and there was not much difference from a big egg. The old man in the family had many rules and wanted to eat one egg every day. Since the money spent was the same, wouldn't it be better to buy the small ones so that they could eat eggs for a few more days?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was the truth, so she said, "Okay, give me a catty."
Lu Gu took the eggs out of the bamboo basket with a smile. Shen Xuanqing took the scale on the cart. The old woman also looked into the bamboo basket and said, "Don't give me the ones covered with chicken shit. Take the ones that are clean."
Who would complain about the hassle of doing business? Besides, the old woman was easy to talk to and didn't bargain for the price, so Lu Gu picked up some clean ones for her to weigh.
Thirteen copper coins came into Lu Gu's hand. He weighed them and found them quite heavy, so he put them into his purse. Listening to the clattering sound of the coins inside, the smile on his face widened.
If it wasn't for the warm spring weather, so the chickens and ducks would gather together to lay eggs, otherwise a catty of eggs would cost fifteen or sixteen copper coins. Fortunately, even if there were too many eggs, the price wouldn't be too low. He said the price was fourteen copper coins, but the old woman lowered the price to thirteen copper coins. Anyway, he wouldn't lose money, so he sold it.
The eggs would easily break if they walked around, so they stayed at the market and continued selling them until the afternoon.
For lunch, Lu Gu had the plain noodles that he hadn't tasted for a long time. After the meal, Shen Xuanqing went to return the bowl and pay, he also took out two eggs from the bamboo basket. He was puzzled, so Shen Xuanqing said that he was not full with one bowl of noodles, so he went to ask the stall owner to make two fried eggs for him and gave him an extra two copper coins for his hard-earned money.
After selling things, Lu Gu could also eat the eggs laid by his own chickens. He ate them with great relish, and his eyes were full of joy.
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