Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Flourishing
Translator: 549690339
“Here you go, take this tofu. If you find it good, please visit again. My sister and 1 will frequently be here selling tofu.”
“This young lady, you really have the knack for business, and your words give me pleasure,” the old woman chuckled. “After all, 1 really enjoy this tofu. 1’11 take it home and let the head of the household try some too. If he also likes it, I’ll come regularly to buy.”
“Alright then, take care, auntie.”
Zhuang Qingning collected the coins and continued to attract attention to her tofu.
Business often works that way. The more one is ignored, the more desolate it becomes. But the more one sells, the more people will come to buy.
The opening of this tofu stall, coupled with the attraction of free tasting, only led to more and more people coming to taste the tofu.
And most of the people who came to taste, ended up buying some, only rarely a small piece or a larger piece. There were a few who did not buy anything, evidently just looking to take advantage of the free samples or liking the tofu but unwilling to part with their money.
Zhuang Qingning, however, did not care and continued to greet them with a smile and bid them farewell in the same way.
Such a soft smile proved comforting to people, and whether they bought tofu or not, their impression of Zhuang Qingning and their affection for her grew by quite a bit.
The tofu in the bamboo basket was sold out piece after piece. Soon enough, only the last piece was left.
Zhuang Qingning simply didn’t sell it, tidying up the bamboo basket and cloche, preparing to call it a day.
The last piece of tofu was divided into three portions with a tofu knife. One portion was kept for their own cooking, while the other two were given away- to Aunt Liu, who sold the fried chop rice cakes, and to Ge Hetong, who sold pea cakes.
“How could we accept?” Mrs. Liu and Ge Hetong were taken aback, both of them waved their hands in refusal.
“I owe much of today’s success to both of you. Without your assistance, I wouldn’t have sold as much tofu. This piece of tofu is not worth much, so please take it. It’s nearly noon; please take this home for your family to taste.” “If you refuse to accept it, it will mean that you consider my tofu worthless. To be honest, my sister and I have just started selling tofu here. We aren’t familiar with the town, and we will certainly need your help in the future. Please guide us in our endeavors.”
Hearing Zhuang Qingning’s heartfelt words, if they didn’t accept, it would create a distance between them.
As all of them had stalls in the town market and were bound to run into each other frequently, there was no need to nitpick about such a small token of gratitude.
So, Mrs. Liu and Ge Hetong accepted the tofu, and each of them gave something in return.
Mrs. Liu gave a piece of fried chop rice cake and Ge Hetong gave a small piece of Pea Cake.
“It’s almost noon now, and you both must be starving. These snacks may not suffice as a complete meal but they should hold you over for now. Try to eat something.” Mrs. Liu chuckled.
“Thank you, Aunt and Uncle,” Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui thanked them, packed up their bamboo basket, and bid Mrs. Liu and Ge Hetong goodbye.
[Ding, Congratulations! The host has completed the first step of the tofu sales task by selling the first basket of tofu. The host earns a reward: a random lucky bag, one point in sales experience. Cumulatively, the host has earned ten points of sales experience, which can be redeemed for a Mapo Tofu recipe.] Selling tofu and earning rewards, that’s perfect.
But this random lucky bag…
Zhuang Qingning directly confirmed to open it in her mind.
[Congratulations! The host has received the item Spring Fragments *2.]
Fragments…. What are they?
[Random lucky bag items can be exchanged for high-end objects according to the host’s level. High-end object exchange is not yet available; you’ll have to wait before you can view the convertible items.]
Okay, apparently, they are of no use for the moment, so let’s just keep them.
This Mapo Tofu recipe, however, is precious…
Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but touch her chin, lost in thought.
“Sister, I never thought we could sell our tofu so well,” exclaimed Zhuang Qingsui excitedly on the way home, “The idea of offering free samples was brilliant. At first, 1 was worried about losing profits if we let people eat without buying, but 1 never imagined that we’d only give out one free sample and sell all the rest of our tofu.”
“Yes, that’s the strategy. Our tofu didn’t have any reputation and people usually trust well-known brands. However hard we claim how tasty our tofu is, people won’t believe us and they dare not risk buying a piece to taste.”
“Only by offering something they believe to be a good deal will they dare to try it. After tasting, they’ll find our tofu tasty and will be willing to buy some. Although it seems like a loss at the start, it speeds up the process of selling our tofu and prevents us from incurring losses from unsold tofu.”
“Once people try it and find our tofu delicious, even if we stop offering free samples, they will still prefer our tofu. That’s how a reputation is slowly built.”
Zhuang Qingning explained.
“Yes, it seems like a bit of a loss, but actually, we earn even more.” Zhuang Qingsui nodded seriously.
“Yes, that’s the principle.” Zhuang Qingning ruffled Zhuang Qingsui’s hair.
Over these few days standing on their own, even their meals weren’t lavish, at least they were filling. Zhuang Qingsui’s complexion looked much better than before, her hair, originally pale for lack of nutrition, seemed to have developed some luster.
Everything seemed to be heading in a positive direction.
Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“Buns! Hot meat buns! Generously filled with juicy meat, guaranteed to be delicious…”
The cries of the bun seller resonated in the air while the delicious smell wafted into their noses.
Zhuang Qingning’s stomach timingly grumbled.
“Qingsui, are you hungry? I’ll buy meat buns for you.” Zhuang Qingning led Zhuang Qingsui over to buy buns.
Piping hot meat buns, stuffed with green onions and pork, were priced at two for one coin. Zhuang Qingning spent two coins and bought four buns, two for each of them.
About grain prices: They vary from dynasty to dynasty and even year to year. For example, during the reign of Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty, due to different years, the price of rice varied from 2-15 copper coins per dou (2 liters), which is 12.5 Jin. The grain prices were extremely low at that time, but during the war-raging period of the Song Dynasty, the price of one shi (59.2 Jin) was 1,000 copper coins, and the food prices were much higher.
The author has set the story during a prosperous and peaceful era for easy calculation and also set the exchange rate at about 1 coin = 3 modern RMB to determine commodity prices. Therefore, please don’t argue about whether the prices are reasonable, as they vary significantly from dynasty to dynasty…
Also, please don’t question how a twelve-year-old and an eight-year-old can carry around forty Jin of tofu. When 1 was young in the countryside, 1 often did farm work. Starting from the age of ten, I could carry a half sack of wheat (about fifty Jin) from home to dry outside. Carrying twenty or thirty Jin of wheat from the field to home was a common occurrence. Children who frequently do farmwork are usually very strong, so please do not judge them by the physical strength of children today.
Many people often misunderstand these two points, so the author is clarifying them here for your understanding…
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