The Leisurely Life of a Peasant Woman in the Tang Dynasty

"What brilliant idea? Mom, tell me quickly!" Tang Jin was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks, wishing he could pry open Tang Youyou's head to see what kind of brilliant ideas were inside.

Tang Youyou deliberately kept it a secret and said with a smile, "The secret cannot be revealed. You will know when we get to the market."

Over the next few days, Tang Youyou and her family prepared for the agricultural product fair. Tang Wan, a clever and skillful woman, wove many delicate little baskets out of bamboo strips and colored paper to hold fresh fruits and vegetables. Tang Jin, though young, was incredibly strong. He worked with Boss Sun to repair the stall that had been damaged by the rainstorm and even made several display boards out of wooden planks, on which they planned to showcase the advantages of their products. Even five-year-old Tang Xiaoya helped her mother organize the goods, using her childish voice to promote them to the passing villagers: "Delicious fruits and fresh vegetables, come and take a look, take a look!"

On the day of the market, Tang Youyou and her family arrived early at their designated location and began setting up their booth. Tang Wan arranged baskets of bright red strawberries, emerald green cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes in an orderly manner, while Tang Jin wrote eye-catching slogans such as "Green and Pollution-Free" and "Fresh and Delicious" on the display board, attracting the attention of passers-by.

Tang Youyou, wearing an apron, stood in front of the stall, greeting customers enthusiastically: "Fresh vegetables, just picked, come and try them!" She knew very well that in order to stand out in the fiercely competitive market, in addition to high-quality products, flexible marketing strategies were also needed.

"Big sister, look at this tomato. It has a thin skin, thick flesh, and is full of juice. It's grown with real farmyard manure and absolutely does not contain any harmful substances. You can buy it and eat it with confidence!" Tang Youyou said as she picked up a ripe tomato and handed it to a passing woman, "Try it. If it's not sweet, you don't have to pay!"

The woman took the tomato with a doubtful look and took a bite. A sweet juice immediately filled her mouth, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so sweet! Sweeter than any tomato I've ever eaten!"

"Of course!" Tang Youyou said with a smile, "Our vegetables and fruits are all watered with mountain spring water, so they are naturally tastier than other places!"

With the approval of the first customer, more people soon came to watch. Some of them were moved by Tang Youyou's enthusiastic words, while others were attracted by the fresh fruits and vegetables and paid for them.

Seeing the crowds of people in front of their stall, Tang Youyou and the children all smiled with relief.

Seeing Tang Youyou's business becoming more and more prosperous, Mrs. Wu, who was selling fish nearby, was furious. She was jealous of Tang Youyou's beauty and hard work, and now seeing her making a fortune, she was even more unwilling to accept it.

"Hey, Miss Tang, you sell these vegetables so cheaply, are you growing them with something bad?" Mrs. Wu's sarcastic voice rang out in the crowd, immediately attracting a lot of people's attention.

Tang Youyou frowned slightly and looked at Mrs. Wu calmly. She had a false smile on her face, but her eyes flashed with malicious intent. The customers around her also began to talk about it. Some customers who had originally planned to buy hesitated, worried that there was really something wrong with the vegetables.

"Mrs. Wu, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! You said there was something wrong with my food, but do you have any evidence?" Tang Youyou asked calmly, her voice clear and powerful, and she was not intimidated by Mrs. Wu's momentum.

"Evidence? These vegetables grow so well, you can tell you used a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides! Nowadays, people in the city pay attention to green and healthy things, who would dare to buy your vegetables?" Mrs. Wu said confidently, as if she occupied the moral high ground.

"Sister, don't listen to her nonsense!" Tang Wan heard someone slandering her own products and couldn't help but stand up to defend her mother. "Our vegetables are all watered with mountain spring water. We never use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. If you don't believe me, you can try it!"

Tang You You also continued, "We are all neighbors. Everyone knows what kind of person I am, Tang You You! If there is really something wrong with my food, I will be the first one not to eat it! Today, I will simply put it here. If anyone finds that there is something wrong with my food, I will double the compensation!"

As he spoke, Tang Youyou picked up a clean cucumber, broke it in half, and handed it to the customers around him: "Everyone, feel free to try it. Once you taste it, you will know whether what I said is true or not!"

The customers took the cucumbers skeptically and took a light bite. Immediately, a fresh fragrance filled their mouths. The cucumbers were tender, crisp, and lightly sweet, exactly the taste of fresh vegetables.

"Delicious! This cucumber is so delicious!"

"Let me try it too! Mm, this tomato is delicious too, juicy and sweet!"

"I want to buy more! Give me two pounds of cucumbers and one pound of tomatoes!"

The customers praised the food highly, and the doubts that were originally raised by Mrs. Wu disappeared, and they began to rush to buy vegetables from Tang Youyou's house.

Seeing that her plan had failed and had made Tang Youyou's business even more popular, Mrs. Wu was so angry that her face turned green. She glared at Tang Youyou fiercely and hid behind her stall in shame.

Tang Youyou looked at Mrs. Wu's fleeing figure, a cold smile curled up at the corner of her mouth. She knew that this contest had just begun. At this moment, a strange voice came from outside the crowd...

"Big sister, I want all your dishes!"

A middle-aged man dressed in coarse cloth, but unable to hide his shrewdness and competence, squeezed in front of Tang Youyou's stall and spoke cheerfully.

Tang Youyou and Tang Wan looked at each other, both a little surprised. The man in front of them looked unfamiliar and didn't look like someone from the nearby village.

"Big brother, you are..." Tang Youyou asked tentatively.

"My last name is Sun, and I'm in the grocery business. I heard there's a girl's family nearby that sells fresh and delicious food, so I came all the way here to take a look. It really lives up to its reputation!" Boss Sun said with a smile, his eyes full of admiration.

Tang Youyou then realized that her reputation had spread to other places. She was delighted and quickly said, "Boss Sun, how much do you want? I'll weigh it for you!"

"Take as many as you want! I brought a few carriages this time, just fill them up!" Boss Sun said generously.

Tang Youyou, Tang Wan, Tang Jin, and Tang Xiaoya worked together to fill the carriage brought by Boss Sun. Boss Sun paid and left satisfied.

Watching Boss Sun leave, Tang Youyou's heart was filled with hope. She realized that relying solely on offline sales would ultimately limit the market. So, she began to think about online sales.

Tang Youyou consulted young people in the village who were knowledgeable about the internet and learned how to use e-commerce platforms. She registered a shop, uploaded photos of the vegetables and fruits she grew, and provided detailed descriptions and prices.

In order to attract customers, Tang Youyou also specially filmed some videos of picking and processing agricultural products and uploaded them to the online platform. In the videos, Tang Youyou and her family, dressed in clean and tidy clothes, busy in the fields, and the fresh and plump agricultural products left a deep impression on netizens.

Soon, Tang Youyou's store attracted a large number of fans, and orders came in. Tang Youyou hired women in the village to help pack and ship the goods, and used part of the profits to improve the village's infrastructure.

Just when Tang Youyou's online business was booming, she received an invitation from the county town, inviting her to participate in the upcoming agricultural product exhibition...

"Mom, how much do you think we can sell at this trade fair?" Tang Wan asked excitedly while helping to sort the goods.

Tang Youyou looked at the fresh fruits and vegetables piled up in the yard, a confident smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, "This time..."

"This time, we're going to surprise those who look down on us!" Tang Youyou was full of confidence, with a gleam in her eyes.

On the day of the trade fair, Tang Youyou arrived at the venue early. She carefully arranged her stall, displaying a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and even prepared some samples for the guests to taste.

Soon, the trade fair officially began, and the crowds were bustling and lively. Many customers quickly gathered in front of Tang Youyou's stall. They were attracted by the freshness and deliciousness of Tang Youyou's fruits and vegetables and donated generously.

"Boss, your peaches are so sweet, give me five pounds!"

"These cucumbers look so juicy. Weigh two for me!"

Listening to the customers' exclamations and rushes to buy, Tang Youyou's face was always filled with a happy smile. Tang Wan, Tang Jin, and Tang Xiaoya were also busy and happy. They helped their mother weigh the goods and collect the money, their young faces full of seriousness and joy.

However, just when Tang Youyou's business was booming, a discordant voice suddenly rang out.

"Hey, isn't this the girl from the Tang family? Why, you're here at the trade fair too? You're so embarrassed to show off those ugly things of yours?"

Tang Youyou looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged woman with a bloated figure and dressed in fancy clothes standing in front of her stall, looking at her with contempt. This person was none other than Mrs. Wu, who had been making things difficult for Tang Youyou when she was setting up a stall at the entrance of the village.

Seeing Mrs. Wu appear, Tang Youyou was not flustered. She still maintained a polite smile and said neither servilely nor arrogantly: "Mrs. Wu, business requires fair competition. Aren't you afraid of ruining your own reputation by slandering me like this?"

Mrs. Wu snorted coldly, pointing at the vegetables on Tang Youyou's stall, and said sarcastically: "Fair competition? With these things of yours, you are qualified to compete with me? Don't you see, my vegetables are all imported from greenhouses in the city, and they are all fresh and juicy. Unlike yours, you can see that they are grown in the field, small and ugly!"

After hearing what Mrs. Wu said, the customers around started talking about it. Some customers who had originally planned to buy hesitated. They were worried that Tang Youyou's vegetables were of poor quality, so they turned to Mrs. Wu's stall.

Seeing this scene, Tang Wan, Tang Jin and Tang Xiaoya were all a little anxious. Tang Wan couldn't help but wanted to open her mouth to refute, but was stopped by Tang Youyou with a look.

Tang Youyou took a deep breath. She knew that she couldn't panic at this moment, and she couldn't be angered by Mrs. Wu's words. She looked around and found that many customers were attracted by what Mrs. Wu called the "greenhouse in the city", so she had an idea in her mind.

Tang Youyou calmly took out a beautifully packaged small box from the basket behind her. After opening it, there were several bright red strawberries inside.

"Fellow villagers, please listen to me!" Tang Youyou cleared her throat and said loudly, "This elder sister said that my vegetables are grown in the fields. Yes, my vegetables and fruits do come from the countryside, but I can guarantee that my vegetables and fruits are green and pollution-free, and the varieties are carefully selected. The taste is definitely no worse than those grown in greenhouses in the city!"

As he spoke, Tang Youyou picked up a strawberry and handed it to a customer, "Big brother, please try it and see how this strawberry tastes."

The customer hesitated for a moment, took the strawberry and put it in his mouth. Suddenly, a sweet juice filled his mouth.

"Delicious! So delicious! These strawberries are big and sweet, and better than any strawberries I have ever eaten!" The customer couldn't help but exclaimed.

Seeing this, other customers also asked to taste it. Tang Youyou generously distributed the strawberries to everyone, and soon, the crowd of people who were trying the strawberries burst into exclamations of admiration.

"These strawberries are delicious, Madam, weigh two kilograms for me!"

"These vegetables look fresh, give me some!"

Seeing customers rushing back to her stall to buy, Tang Youyou smiled triumphantly. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wu's face turned pale with anger. She had never imagined that Tang Youyou would have such a trick up her sleeve.

In the evening, the trade fair came to an end. Tang Youyou's stall was empty, while Mrs. Wu's stall was still piled with vegetables and fruits, but no one was interested in buying them.

Tang Youyou counted today's income, a happy smile on her face. In this trade fair, she not only sold a large number of agricultural products, but also received many pre-orders.

As night fell, Tang Youyou and her family returned home with a full load. They pushed the cart and walked along the country road, their laughter echoing in the night sky.

"Mom, we have money now and can buy a lot of things!" Tang Jin said excitedly, still tightly holding the copper coins he earned today in his hand.

Tang Youyou patted Tang Jin's head and said with a smile, "Well, let's go to the town first..." Her eyes fell on a brightly lit shop not far away. It was the largest furniture store in town...