Chapter 35 - 35 24 Selling Flower Baskets

Words : 1538 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

35: Chapter 24 Selling Flower Baskets 35: Chapter 24 Selling Flower Baskets Wulang and the others’ lifted hearts finally settled down. Thankfully, Manbao still had some self-awareness. The stall owner was taken aback, seeing the worry plastered all over Manbao’s round face, he hesitated and then said, “Then I’ll give it to you for cheaper, sixty-five wen okay?” Manbao shook her head, “I don’t even have that much money, but if I sell the flower baskets, I might have it. When that happens, I’ll definitely come to buy your big rooster. Oh, and uncle, do you know where there are the most children around here?” The stall owner glanced at the flower basket in her hand, then looked at the two kids and two teenagers behind her, belatedly realizing, she was his business competition. It took him quite a while before he pointed outside to the main street: “Go out and turn right, walk a bit further, there’s a place selling candied haws and sugar figurines, lots of children there.” He couldn’t help but say, “Young lady, you’re really quite something.” Being praised, Manbao’s cheeks flushed with happiness, feeling quite proud of herself. After saying goodbye to the stall owner selling the big rooster, Manbao led everyone to look for children. The main street was much livelier than the smaller street from before, with all kinds of goods for sale. Manbao curiously walked along, gazing around, when she noticed that the people on both sides of the road were yelling out to attract customers. This was something the other street lacked. Listening with great interest, it took Manbao a good while to make out what they were shouting. She looked down at her small flower basket, her eyes lit up, and she too started yelling, “Selling flower baskets, beautiful beautiful small flower baskets for sale, with candy too!” A tender childish voice mixed into the adult’s loud calls was too noticeable, and quite a few people on the street turned to look. Seeing people looking at her, Manbao got even more excited and shouted louder with her basket, “Flower baskets for sale, especially especially pretty flower baskets, fresh and fun!” This was obviously a copycat mix of the nearby two stalls’ pitches. But nobody could bring themselves to dislike her because Manbao was not only young but also pretty. The key was, whenever Manbao saw someone looking at her, she would beam a big smile. Even the most disgruntled person couldn’t maintain their temper in the face of such a grin. Who doesn’t love a beautiful child with a radiant smile? Manbao, holding her small bamboo basket, went around looking for customers. Seeing her enthusiasm, quite a few people asked about the price. Manbao said, “Five wen each, plus a piece of candy.” Manbao pulled out a piece of candy from her pocket and placed it inside. The candy was wrapped, and the previous evening, Manbao had taken out all the oiled paper she had collected and had Junior Ms.Qian cut it into small pieces, just like the candy wrappers she had opened. Then she, along with Daya, wrapped the sweets in the paper. They rolled it up just like the candy wrappers, and now it was stored at the very bottom of Wulang’s basket, covered with a piece of cloth. Manbao had less than twenty pieces in her pocket. The person who had asked about the price was only inquiring casually and hadn’t intended to buy, but seeing Manbao put a piece of candy in, they hesitated and asked, “Is the candy tasty?” Manbao nodded vigorously, “Especially tasty.” Zhou Wulang then brought out the prepared crushed candy bits. This was the county town; he couldn’t be too casual, so the crumbs were wrapped in a handkerchief. The customer tried a small piece, their eyes brightened, and they asked, “I’ll buy the flower basket. By the way, are you selling the candy separately?” Manbao’s eyes flickered, asking, “Do you want to buy just the candy?” The person nodded, “The candy’s good, I’ll buy some to take home for the kids to try.” Manbao took out the candy from her pocket, saying, “The candy is one wen for two pieces.” Wulang and Daya both turned to look at Manbao, opening their mouths as if they wanted to speak, but Liulang and Erya held them back and stood behind Manbao, puffing up their chests with feigned confidence, pretending to be full of bluster. The customer hesitated for a moment then said, “Okay, give me ten pieces of candy, forget the flower basket.” Manbao was displeased, “That won’t do; the candy only comes with the flower baskets. If you won’t buy the flower basket, I won’t sell you the candy.” Even Liulang and Erya couldn’t help but poke her shoulder at this point. Manbao twisted her body, extremely insistent. She felt that flower baskets were better than candy, but deep down she also knew that if the flower baskets were sold without candy, they probably wouldn’t sell at all. So, for the sake of the flower baskets, she couldn’t sell the candy separately. The person was startled for a moment before asking, “So I have to buy ten flower baskets?” “You have to buy at least one before I can sell you candy separately,” she replied. After thinking about it, the person nodded and said, “Alright, then give me one flower basket and sell me ten pieces of candy separately.” Manbao handed him the flower basket she was holding and counted out ten pieces of candy to put in it, feeling happy. The person counted out ten coins to give to Manbao, smiling, “Your family’s candy is really delicious, but this flower basket isn’t of much use.” No sooner had he spoken than a little girl passing by gazed longingly at the flower basket in their hands, tugging at her mother’s hand, “Mom, I want this.” Her mother glanced at it and crouched down to coax her, “Let mom buy you some candy to eat later, okay? You can’t eat this flower basket.” “I want it, the flower basket is so pretty,” the girl insisted. Erya immediately ran up to them and said, “Our flower baskets also have candy in them, really tasty candy.” The little girl’s eyes shone even brighter, looking expectantly at her mother. Her mother hesitated briefly, then asked, “How much is it?” “Five coins!” Erya answered. It wasn’t too pricey; after a moment’s hesitation, she agreed to buy one, then let the little girl choose a favorite. The little girl picked a flower basket from Liulang’s hand. Manbao added a piece of candy to it and received five coins in exchange, leaving the other party delighted as they walked away. Having earned fifteen coins, everyone was extremely happy. Once there’s a start to the business, the rest won’t be that hard. Erya quickly opened up, holding hands with Manbao and walking in front, calling out their wares. Daya, too, was affected and started to shout. The three children were like having a competition, walking along and calling out, “Flower baskets for sale...” This attracted nearby children, some of whom came to buy flower baskets and some who just followed behind, joining in the shouting. Before they even reached the candy sellers, a group of children had already followed behind Manbao and the others. People love a lively scene, and children are no exception. Many were drawn over, and their flower baskets sold out quickly. Zhou Wulang found a place to stop, and Daya and Erya started to twine flowers on the spot, going through all the styles they had twined the day before. Manbao went to Keke’s to find several beautiful styles and directed them on how to twine them. With every flower being different, naturally, every flower basket was unique. More and more children gathered around, with many running back to ask their parents for money. The people of the county were different—although five coins were quite a bit, for families with a decent wealth, it was only a small amount of money. If the children were persistent enough, the parents who loved them couldn’t help but give in and pull out money to buy one. Zhou Wulang had already taken the cloth bag hidden at the bottom of the basket and was responsible for placing a piece of candy in each flower basket. Manbao was in charge of promoting to the little customers up front, explaining how lovely their flower baskets and how delicious their candies were. Quite a few children were tempted, taking out money to buy. Manbao received the cash and handed it to Liulang, then presented several flower baskets for the customer to pick one. Daya and Erya’s pace of twining flowers began to fall behind, and as the flowers in the basket were about to run out, Zhou Wu instructed Liulang to quickly go back and bring over the rest of the Small bamboo baskets and flowers. Liulang handed over the money-collecting task to Zhou Wu and ran off at full speed.

Chapter 35 - 35 24 Selling Flower Baskets

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