Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 115 Bargaining Master
The first batch sold out in two minutes.

They then steamed a second batch, which sold out in two minutes as well.

Facing the still-surrounding crowd, Chen Fan nonchalantly spread his hands and said, "Sold out, no more."

"Master Chen, that's not fair!"

Someone pointed to the wooden bucket next to him and said, "There are still a lot in there, I think there are at least a dozen bowls left."

Chen Fan continued to spread his hands, saying innocently, "But we don't have any bowls!"

Ten large turtles provided more than 120 kilograms of ingredients, which, along with the soup and other accompaniments, could indeed make more than a hundred bowls.

But even after he replaced five bamboo poles and sawed them all off, he could only gather 96 bamboo tubes. What could he do?

The man didn't believe it, so he went to the back of the cart to take a look and found that there were indeed no bamboo tubes. He could only shake his head in regret.

Just then, a person came over, holding up a bamboo tube, and said, "I have some here, give me another bowl."

Chen Fan (◎_◎), he actually has repeat customers?

The man held up the bamboo tube and turned to the person next to him, saying, "In restaurants, a plate of stir-fried chicken only has about half a pound of chicken and costs 1 yuan. This stuff has more than twice the amount of chicken and tastes even better. If I hadn't been unable to squeeze in earlier, I would have bought two more bowls."

With this example set by Chen Fan, the others who had bought the bamboo tubes immediately realized what was going on and stretched out more than a dozen bamboo tubes in front of him, saying, "I want one too."

Chen Fan stared at them with his mouth agape, then at the few leftover dishes in the bucket.

Alright, if they dare to buy, then we dare to sell.

Jiang Lili immediately took a spatula and served them the food. She weighed each bowl, first the empty ones, then the ones with meat. In no time, she sold another 19 bowls.

Even the last bit of soup was poured out.

Those people carried the turtles without even letting him steam them; they simply held the bamboo tubes and left.

Chen Fan looked at both sides and saw that there was only one basket of cured meat and fish left. Everything else had been sold out, so he could pack up and leave now.
Those still gathered here are mostly town residents. Even if the commune members are craving meat, they won't spend a single yuan to buy a bowl of meat.

Instead, they were wondering to themselves, is turtle meat really that delicious? Could they go back and dig up some turtles to sell? Or should they sell turtle meat next time?

Just as Chen Fan was about to pack up his stall, someone suddenly asked, "Master Chen, when are you going to make turtle again? Can I buy some from your team?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan quickly waved his hand, "No, no, absolutely not! There are rules about market management; you can only sell at the market. If you come to my house to buy it, what would I be considered? No way!"

He was marked as "of unknown origin," and if he dared to do business in his own home, he would be beaten with a stick in no time. He wasn't that stupid to cause trouble for a few dollars.

It's not like we're so poor we can't survive!
Seeing Chen Fan's resolute attitude, the man said no more and could only shake his head and leave regretfully.

The two management staff members who had come to maintain order nearby nodded slightly upon hearing Chen Fan's words.

"We were just saying whether we should give Master Chen a heads-up, that he's skirting the rules in this business, and that we'd let it go this time, but it's best not to do it again next time. But it seems that Master Chen is a very self-aware person."

"It's called skirting the rules, but there are no regulations at all. Since Master Chen is so conscientious and has been registered with Secretary Qian, let's leave it alone for now and wait for someone from above to give instructions."

The two exchanged a glance, chuckled twice, and turned to leave.

If someone else did this today, they probably wouldn't be able to sell a single bowl of meat, and the money from those sales would be confiscated.

But Chen Fan, he wrote an article that was published in the prefectural daily newspaper, and he came with Master Liu. He has a lot of face inside and out, so let's see how he does first.

...The basket used as a steamer lid is scalded in hot water in a large pot, then placed on a cart. Another basket containing cured meat and fish is stacked on top, and the meat and fish are covered tightly with a cloth.

I made a good profit today, so I'll keep these things for myself.

The earthen stove was no longer needed. The water in the large pot was poured into a wooden bucket, left to cool, and then placed upside down on top of the baskets containing meat and fish. Then, all the other items were organized and loaded onto the cart.

Chen Fan looked around and said to Jiang Lili, "Let's go for a walk too."

Jiang Lili looked at the cart. "I... I'd better keep an eye on this. It would be terrible if someone took it away."

Chen Fan glanced back, his eyes darting around, and ran over to a stall owner in Lujiawan to ask, "Master Luo, is there a place here to store your cart?"

This Master Luo is from Team 5. He looks like an honest and simple man. He waved his hand with a smile and said, "Why are you storing the cart? Just leave it here. I'll watch it for you. Everyone around here is from Lujiawan. There won't be any problems."

As he spoke, he moved his "stall" between the two carts, firmly securing his position.

Other people nearby greeted Chen Fan, saying, "Master Chen, you go ahead and explore. We'll watch the cart."

Chen Fan looked at their stall, which was actually just a large bamboo basket containing several jars of pickled vegetables and preserved vegetables, as well as some homemade soy sauce and vinegar.

No wonder they haven't sold yet. Almost every household makes these things themselves, and even the residents of the town never lack them. If there's any product that's hard to sell at the market, it's definitely these.

Chen Fan couldn't do anything about it. He had a lot of these things at home. Otherwise, he could have bought them all for just a few dollars.

But for now, all we can do is wish them good luck.

After arranging the cart, Chen Fan and Jiang Lili, lightly equipped, began to stroll through the market.

After browsing around for a while, he suddenly realized that there wasn't much to buy.

Firstly, all the good stuff has already been bought up, and secondly, he doesn't really lack anything at the moment.

They had everything they needed—food, clothing, and daily necessities—and even a radio and a grandfather clock. All they had to do was buy a piece of wire and a socket, and a spare part to fix the clock. Their life was definitely that of a high-class person.

Since there's nothing to buy, I'll just browse around.

After walking for a while, he realized that it wasn't entirely impossible to buy anything.

Although some people arrived early and had already sold out and left, people who lived far away continued to arrive. At this time, Chen Fan saw someone carrying a basket of eggs, preparing to find a place to sell them.

He immediately went over and asked, "Auntie, how much are your eggs?"

The old lady looked at him and said, "Four cents each, or three mao if you weigh it."

Chen Fan said, "I want them all, can you give me a discount?"

The old lady hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "If I have to sell it cheaply, I might as well sell it to a recycling station."

Jiang Lili, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Your eggs aren't very big, yet you're selling them for more than the supply and marketing cooperative. The commune is right next door; you can buy them there. How can they be so expensive? If you sell them to the purchasing station, they'll only give you two and a half cents each at most, and by weight, it'll probably be less than two and a half cents."

Chen Fan looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected that this quiet girl was such a bargaining expert.
The old lady's face darkened. "Then how much do you want? I won't sell it for too low."

With Jiang Lili's persistent arguments, the old lady finally lowered the price a bit, to 25 cents per pound. Chen Fan bought all ten pounds of eggs that were almost empty.

I spent an extra 1 cents to buy the old lady's basket as well, and then continued shopping with the basket in my arms.

(End of this chapter)