Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Her shouts attracted many passersby. Qiao Mai looked at the bright red and juicy watermelon. It was in such good shape that she did not believe it would not attract young and old friends.
As expected, when the people saw the watermelons, they looked around and kept gulping.
Some people knew watermelons were not cheap. They were short of money, so it was okay to ask about the price.
“Hey, little lady, how much are you selling your melons for?”
“Fifty coins for one piece.”
“Isn’t this too expensive? How much is a pound of candy?”
“But candies don’t taste like watermelon, right?”
“That’s true. It’s just too expensive, or we might buy and try it.”
“It’s not expensive. These watermelons are usually grown for rich people to eat. I bought them cheaply from a melon seller and sold them separately. I can’t earn much profit, so I wanted to let passers-by try them.”
The crowd looked at the well-cut watermelons on the table and could only sigh. They shook their heads and left.
Qiao Mai was not discouraged. She sat on the chair and felt that the top of her head was too hot. She thought about selling the melons on the table later and returning to the embroidery shop to find a few bamboo poles to build a simple pergola.
Just as she was about to take out her embroidery work, a carriage stopped by her melon stall.
A boy’s head popped out of the window. He looked about twelve or thirteen years old.
“Ma’am, are you selling these melons?”
“Naturally!”
“Quick, give me a piece. I’m dying of thirst.”
When Qiao Mai heard this, she knew this person was not short of money. She immediately stood up with a smile, picked up a piece, and handed it over.
The little boy took the watermelon and bit it. He praised it comfortably and then ate it in a few mouthfuls.
“Another piece.”
“It’s fifty coins for each piece.”
“I have plenty of money. How many more do you have?”
“Twelve pieces.”
“Give me five more pieces.”
After saying that, he stuffed a corner of silver into her hands. It was enough to buy seven or eight pieces.
Qiao Mai didn’t try to be pretentious. She handed him one piece after another. The little boy ate another five pieces in one go before rubbing his stomach comfortably.
“Your melons are delicious. Did you soak it in ice?”
“No, I soaked it in the well water.”
“Hmm, do I have any leftover payment?”
“You can eat two more pieces.”
“Then give two pieces to my coachman. He’s not having it easy either.”
Qiao Mai immediately had a good impression of the little boy. He had a good character. She handed two pieces to the coachman.
“Thank you, Young Master. Thank you, lady.”
The coachman was also thirsty. After a while, he had two melons in his stomach. The little boy waved at the coachman.
“Hurry home.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Qiao Mai’s first bucket of gold from selling melons was in her hands. Shopkeeper Lu watched from a distance in the shop with a smile.
This girl had been dragged down by the Tian family. She was good at doing business. On the first day of setting up a stall, she was not timid at all.
Moreover, she was so lucky that she earned some money on the first day. It was great!
Qiao Mai glanced at the five pieces of watermelon on the table. She picked up one piece and took a bite to moisten her throat. Then, she began to yell again.
The surrounding vendors did not think much of her business at first. They did not expect her to sell a few pieces shortly, so they all looked at her enviously.
After Qiao Mai finished eating, she took out her embroidery work and looked up from time to time.
In this season, there were even flies. It seemed that she had to make a net cover later. Otherwise, if flies landed on the watermelon, it would disgust people. If the customers saw it, who would want to buy it?
There were no plastic nets in ancient times, but she could replace them with white gauze. With the tools, she could make them herself. It was simple.
As Qiao Mai thought so, three boys around the age of eight stopped in front of her stall and swallowed their saliva as they looked at the melons.
Qiao Mai saw they were all dressed in fine cotton, and their hair was combed clean. It was obvious they came from a good family.
“Auntie, how much are your watermelons?”
“Fifty coins for one piece.”
“What if we don’t have money?”
“Then I can’t sell it to you. Otherwise, I’ll lose money.”
The three boys gulped again and looked around. “Why isn’t Father here yet?”
Speak of the devil!
A brawny man came running to them. Qiao Mai knew that this person knew kung fu at a glance.
“Aiya, why did you run around? If the human traffickers caught you, how would I explain to your mother? Wouldn’t she beat Father to death?”
“Dad, we didn’t run around. We came here because we saw the watermelon.”
The burly man glanced at the watermelons on the table and knew the children wanted to eat them.
“How much?”
“Fifty coins for each piece.”
“It’s not expensive. Give me three pieces.”
“There are still four pieces left. You can each get one. How about I give you a discount of ten coins?”
“Alright, I’ll take them all.”
Seeing that the burly man was not short of money, the four melons on the table were gone in the blink of an eye.
“This melon is really good. Do you have any more?” The burly man and his three sons asked.
Qiao Mai smiled.” Naturally!”
She bent down to pick up the melons from the basket, wiped them clean, and cut them into sixteen pieces of even size again.
“Give me four more pieces.”
“Okay. It’s still the same price as before. In the future, if you want to eat melons, come to my stall. As long as it doesn’t rain or wind, I’ll be here.”
“Yes, yes.”
They each ate another piece to satisfy their cravings and thirst. After paying Qiao Mai, they left.
Qiao Mai put the money into her purse. Several peddlers around her had been watching her sell melons and could not help but strike up a conversation with her.
“Young lady, did you source your melons from the prefecture?”
“Yeah.”
“How much is one melon?”
“Seven hundred coins.”
“So expensive?”
“That’s right. I only got this price because I bought a lot in one go. If not, one melon is worth a tael of silver.”
“Then you can earn a hundred wen by selling this melon, right?”
Qiao Mai knew what they were thinking, so she counted with his fingers.
“Earn? You guys are thinking too lightly. Not to mention whether these melons are top-notch, even if they are all good melons, could you sell so many every day? Can you guarantee all the watermelons you cut are sold? If a few pieces couldn’t be sold, it would be a loss. If it rained and the wind blew, and the stall couldn’t be opened, could the pulp inside still be sold after the watermelon was left at home for a long time? I could only eat it myself. You are wrong to think that selling melons was easy.”
The surrounding peddlers also silently calculated in their hearts. It was really like what Qiao Mai said.
It looked like she was earning money for a while, but if there were a slight mistake, she would lose money.
“Then why are you still selling this?”
“Our shopkeeper doesn’t lack money. She eats it herself and only takes out the surplus melons for me to sell.”
Only then did the peddlers realize the watermelons did not belong to Qiao Mai but to the shopkeeper of the embroidery workshop.
It would make sense. After all, Boss Lu was rich. She didn’t need these few watermelons and could afford to pay for them.
After her explanation, the hawkers no longer envied her and stopped staring at her stall.
The weather was still hot, so when the carriages passed on the road, they would stop to eat a few pieces of her watermelon when they saw it.
Soon, another melon was gone. Qiao Mai used her mind to look at the refrigerator. Two more melons appeared.
This was really a free lunch, a transaction without capital.
After moving the two melons from the space into the basket, she thought of the four-acre field and used her mind to look at them again.
The corners of her mouth curled up to her ears.
In just two days, the watermelons she had planted had already grown seedlings. If this continued, she could harvest the watermelons in a few days.
Hmm? She suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why did the watermelon field seem to have doubled in size?
Qiao Mai swallowed. Recalling that she was guarding a stall, she withdrew her thoughts and suppressed the excitement in her heart.
If she was right, the space could not only replicate consumables but also land.
But the land wasn’t a consumable. What was going on?
Qiao Mai felt that her brain was not enough. She could not understand.
However, this was a good thing for her.