My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 26 Setting up a stall
"Young master, how much is this chicken?"

"One yuan and sixty cents a pound."

"So expensive?" The gray-haired woman who asked the price was startled and couldn't help but say, "The chickens were only 1.4 yuan this morning! You're asking for 1.6 yuan here? That's a whole 2 mao more expensive!"

"Auntie, these are genuine old hens, how can the ones sold at the market compare?" Zhou Jiye explained with a smile, opening the cage and reaching in to lift an old hen to show her: "Look, this is a free-range chicken from the countryside, not one of those white chickens. You're knowledgeable, how can a white chicken compare to a free-range chicken? These old hens are free-range, the meat is fresh and oily, perfect for making soup! The taste is amazing...tsk tsk tsk."

The elderly woman carefully examined the old hen in Zhou Jiye's hand. As a woman who frequently "hangs out" at the market, she could easily tell that Zhou Jiye's chicken was different from the ones sold in the market.

Compared to white chickens, old hens are a rare breed. They are best for making soup, which is both fragrant and nutritious. When cooked, a thick layer of chicken fat will float on top. It is highly nourishing for families with pregnant women, the elderly, or children.

"Really a free-range chicken from the countryside? You're not lying to me, are you? Using a farmed chicken to impersonate one?"

"How could that be?" Zhou Jiye simply let the old lady handle it herself, shoving the chicken in his hands directly at her. "Auntie, look for yourself. The color of this chicken's feathers, its feet, its beak—farmed chickens are definitely not like this. Feel it, how firm the meat is, how energetic the chicken is! You'll know once you buy it and cook it; it's definitely a good chicken. Besides, I'll be setting up my stall here from now on. The management office gave me this stall after eight in the morning. I can't possibly try to fool you with an ordinary white chicken; if I did, you'd come after me later!"

These words touched the old lady. She picked up the chicken and looked at it from left to right, even reaching out to touch the chicken's crop and gizzard before she felt relieved.

"It's true, the chicken is good, and it wasn't stuffed with any weird stuff."

"Of course!" Zhou Jiye said with a smile. "When doing business, you have to be down-to-earth and not do anything fancy. Besides, I'll be selling chickens here from now on. You have a keen eye. If I tried to pull some tricks in front of an expert like you, wouldn't that ruin my reputation? Auntie, this chicken weighs about three and a half pounds. It'll be perfect for making soup. Why don't you take this one?"

"The young man is quite young, but he's very eloquent, with a whole repertoire of words." The old lady smiled; Zhou Jiye's words struck a chord with her.

"One yuan and six jiao is still a bit expensive, can you make it cheaper?"

"Auntie, I really can't lower the price any further. This kind of chicken is a rare find; you rarely see it in the market. I don't have many left either. Once they're sold out, they're gone. Besides, it's not easy to transport chickens from the countryside. I can't sell them at a loss, can I?"

"Make it cheaper, even cheaper? How about five cents less? One yuan and fifty-five cents, if you agree, I'll buy it right now." The old lady habitually tried to bargain, but Zhou Jiye shook his head vigorously, gritting his teeth and refusing to lower the price by a single cent. Lower the price? Are you kidding me! If the first person lowers the price, there will be a second. He only makes two cents per pound, how could he possibly lose a quarter of his profit? However, although he refused to lower the price, he still spoke politely, not at all annoyed by the old lady's persistence.

"Are you going to buy it or not? If not, I'll take this chicken."

Just then, an elderly woman wearing glasses suddenly spoke up. This woman had been standing by when Zhou Jiye was introducing the item to the previous elderly woman. Seeing the previous elderly woman haggling and arguing with Zhou Jiye over five cents, she couldn't help but intervene.

Zhou Jiye was indeed selling free-range chickens; she could see it clearly. These were good stuff. Her daughter-in-law had just given birth to a grandson and was currently in her postpartum confinement period. She had come out for a stroll today, intending to buy some red dates or something similar at a general store to nourish her daughter-in-law, but unexpectedly, she found old hens for sale at the market.

A hen weighs only three and a half pounds. Her family is well-off; her husband, son, and daughter-in-law all have jobs, and she herself has just retired and receives a pension. A few cents is nothing to her family; as long as the goods are good, there's no problem. Seeing someone haggling over five cents, the old lady couldn't stand it anymore and interjected.

"Who do you think you are!" The older woman who had been haggling immediately became unhappy upon hearing the woman with glasses say that. "Don't you know that it's first-come, first-served when buying things? Don't you have any manners? Can't you see I haven't even finished buying yet?"

"Oh my, you've been arguing for so long over five cents, you're so classy! I'm asking you, are you deliberately trying to buy it? It's not easy for that young man to do business, if you can't afford it, just give it to me." The bespectacled auntie wasn't going to put up with her, she rolled her eyes and said this, and then took two steps forward and reached out to take the chicken from the old lady's hand.

The old lady immediately panicked and quickly protected the chicken in her hands: "What are you doing? Why are you trying to snatch it?"

"Rob? This is your property? You paid for it? You won't let me buy it if I don't want to? What kind of logic is that?"

"Wearing glasses and acting like an intellectual, how come your mouth is so foul? You keep talking about manners, is this what you call manners? At your age, you still have no manners. Didn't you see me haggling over prices? You just grabbed it! Is this chicken mine or yours? Who told you I wasn't buying it?" "Buy it! Go ahead and buy it! Haggling? Why don't you go haggle at a state-run stall?" The aunt with glasses wasn't going to back down either, she retorted, "You're fussing over a hen, you're a terrible person. If everyone acted like you, the stall owners wouldn't be able to work all day, they'd just be arguing with you."

"You...XXX!" The older woman instantly lost her composure, blurting out a string of punctuation marks. The woman with glasses was not to be outdone, and the two began arguing back.

This scene caught Zhou Jiye off guard. He didn't know whether to advise or not. One was his first customer, and the other was speaking up for him. If he went up to advise, he would inevitably offend one of them. "Harmony brings wealth," Zhou Jiye thought helplessly and could only force a smile on his face.

However, while women in Shanghai may argue, they rarely come to blows. After all, they are from a big city, and they prefer verbal communication to physical violence. Once they start fighting, the situation changes. After the two women exchanged a few words, the first older woman, perhaps provoked, shoved the chicken she was holding at Zhou Jiye and pulled out her wallet, saying, "One yuan and six jiao, right? I'll buy this chicken. Please weigh it for me."

As she spoke, the older woman glanced provocatively at the woman with glasses and muttered, "Anyone can show off. Those who complain are the ones who buy. Don't they understand this basic principle?"

The woman with glasses immediately got angry, pointed at another chicken in Zhou Jiye's basket and said, "Young man, take this chicken out for me to check. If it's okay, I'll take it!"

"Alright! Please wait a moment."

Zhou Jiye nodded with a smile, and deftly picked up a scale, hooked the rope holding the chicken leg, and weighed the old lady's chicken first. The scale was raised high, and he pointed to the scale mark and said, "Auntie, you see, this chicken is less than three jin and six liang, so I'll just say it's three and a half jin, five yuan and six mao."

The old lady took a closer look, nodded in satisfaction, and handed Zhou Jiye five yuan and six mao. After taking the chicken, she glanced at the bespectacled lady with a smug look.

Not to be outdone, the bespectacled aunt urged Zhou Jiye to bring out the chicken she had chosen. Zhou Jiye deftly grabbed the chicken and showed it to her. After examining it, the bespectacled aunt nodded in satisfaction and said she would take the chicken. After weighing it, the chicken was two ounces heavier than the old aunt's, and the price was five yuan and ninety-two cents. Zhou Jiye voluntarily rounded it down to five yuan and ninety cents. The bespectacled aunt paid the money readily, picked up the chicken, and smiled smugly at the old aunt who hadn't left yet. The old aunt snorted heavily through her nostrils in anger, and the two of them left, one on each side.

Unexpectedly, he sold two hens in less than half an hour on his first day at his stall. With such a good start, the remaining three hens were quickly sold out as well. After selling all five hens he had bought the day before, Zhou Jiye was very happy. He earned nearly one yuan per hen, so five hens would be five yuan. Although this profit was not as high as Lin Ying's tea eggs, it was still considerable. In a month, he could earn at least a hundred yuan. Moreover, because it was the first day, Zhou Jiye dared not buy too many, fearing he wouldn't be able to sell them all. Who would have thought business would be so good?

"Looks like I'll have to collect a few more next time..." Zhou Jiye thought to himself as he busily tidied up the empty baskets and picked up a broom from the side to clean up the chicken feathers and other debris on the stall.

He remembered what Brother Cao said. This stall was a fixed stall that had to be used every morning before dawn. It couldn't be left uncleaned, or it would be a big deal if someone complained.

"Hey friend, come on, have a cigarette."

Just as Zhou Jiye finished cleaning and was about to pack up and go home, a man approached him and offered him a cigarette with a grin.

Zhou Jiye turned his head and saw that he recognized the man. Although he had never met him before, he had seen him several times. Wasn't he just a vendor who sold eels and eel shreds not far from his own stall?
Startled for a moment, Zhou Jiye was already offered a cigarette. He subconsciously took the cigarette, but wondered what was going on with this person taking the initiative to strike up a conversation and offer a cigarette.
"I heard you have a good relationship with Comrade Cao?" The other person handed Zhou Jiye a cigarette, lit it, and asked with a grin.

"You mean Brother Cao?" Zhou Jiye asked with a smile. Who else could it be but Cao Ping from the management office at the market? All these temporary stalls are managed by Cao Ping.

Upon hearing Zhou Jiye address Cao Ping as "Brother Cao," the man's eyes lit up even more, and he then enthusiastically inquired about the relationship between Zhou Jiye and Cao Ping.

Zhou Jiye wasn't stupid, so of course he wouldn't tell the other party that he wasn't very familiar with Cao Ping. However, he also wouldn't flatter himself by saying that he was very familiar with Cao Ping, so he deliberately spoke vaguely for a few minutes.

But this very statement made the other party feel that Zhou Jiye and Cao Ping had an unusual relationship. After all, there were quite a few people setting up temporary stalls here, but very few were personally brought by Cao Ping to choose a stall. In addition, Cao Ping had specially given this fixed stall space to Zhou Jiye, which was something that had never happened before.

Thinking about it, the man became even more convinced that Zhou Jiye and Cao Ping's relationship was definitely not ordinary. The more vague Zhou Jiye's words were, the more certain he became, and he even imagined that Zhou Jiye had a powerful background.

(End of this chapter)