Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Laixi, however, grinned and picked up a sieve, saying to the woman, "Let’s go with this one. Look, this sieve is woven so sturdily, the mesh is even, and the bamboo strips are shaved smooth—they won’t be rough and poke your hands. It’s a bit better than those other three. As for the earthenware pot, hmm, this one." He then tapped it gently with his finger. A clear "CLANG CLANG" sound rang out, and he nodded, saying it was good.

The woman seemed to trust him completely. She happily took the items and followed him to pay.

Another woman, however, had wandered over to the Liu Family’s bamboo-ware shelf. Holding a small basket, she asked Laixi, "Shopkeeper, how much is this basket?"

Seeing someone ask about her second brother’s basket, Liu Xiaomei’s eyes lit up with joy. She hurried over and said to the woman, "Are you asking about this basket? Oh, my, this basket is exquisitely made..."

But unexpectedly, Laixi walked over and cut Liu Xiaomei off. He said to the woman, "Ma’am, if you’re looking to buy a basket for carrying vegetables, laundry, and such, this one isn’t very suitable. It’s also a bit small."

Liu Xiaomei grew anxious and quickly interjected, "It can hold sewing supplies! And it’s convenient to carry when you go out."

The woman nodded. "That’s right, that’s what I was thinking too. How many cents is it? If it’s more than five cents, I don’t want it. If you’re selling it for that much, I might as well go home and have my husband weave one for me!"

Liu Xiaomei was dumbfounded. Juhua thought with a sigh, ’It’s so exquisitely made, and she wants it for five cents? Does she think we have nothing better to do?’

Laixi chuckled. "You’re right, ma’am. For us country folk, it’s not worth wasting money on something like this. With five cents, you’d be better off buying that basket over there. It’s bigger, sturdier, and holds more. Isn’t that better than this one? It’s not easy for us to earn money. And you can use anything to hold sewing supplies, can’t you? Since you said your husband can weave, just have him make a small one. It’ll work just the same, and you’ll save yourself the purchase."

The woman heard his reasoning and nodded repeatedly. "Then I’ll just buy that big basket. This one’s not a good deal."

The woman with the dark, ruddy face came over and said to her, "You can’t go wrong listening to young Shopkeeper Laixi. He won’t trick you into wasting money. If he sees you buying something unsuitable, he’ll even talk you out of it."

And so, the two women picked out their things and left. Naturally, the basket from Liu Xiaomei’s family didn’t sell.

After they left, Laixi carefully explained to Liu Xiaomei, "Selling things is also about reading people. That woman was never going to be willing to spend much on your family’s basket. Even though she asked, she was only planning to offer a very low price. If I had told her the real price, we might have started arguing. It was better to talk her out of buying it—she definitely wasn’t going to buy it anyway. No point in wasting my breath."

Only then did Liu Xiaomei understand why he had cut her off earlier. She said to Laixi apologetically, "It’s all my fault. When I saw her looking at that basket, I thought she wanted to buy it, and I got so excited I just... hehe! If she says her husband can weave, then why did she still buy that big basket? Wouldn’t it be better to just have him weave one? It doesn’t need to be so nice-looking."

Laixi shook his head, shot her a knowing, smiling glance, and said in a soft, mysterious voice, "If her husband really knew how to weave, she definitely wouldn’t have bought anything. She was just making an excuse to haggle."

Juhua and Liu Xiaomei were amazed. ’Even in a small business like this, there are so many tricks. Making money really isn’t easy.’ Liu Xiaomei said to Laixi with admiration, "No wonder my Third Brother says you’re so sharp!"

Laixi was exceptionally happy to hear this. He kept grinning at Mei, making her blush, which earned him a roll of her eyes.

Zhuzi and the others wandered around for a while before telling Juhua they were going to head to the market first. They agreed to meet back at the shop later to go home together. Juhua reminded them of a few things, telling them to come find Laixi here to send a message if anything came up. Then Zhuzi left with her younger sister Lin Zi, Yan, and the other two women.

Back at the shop, Juhua waited for quite a while longer before she saw Zhang Huai and Zhou Xiaoman arrive with the empty ox-cart. Liu Xiaomei complained, "What took you so long? Didn’t you say you’d come right after unloading the goods? Zhuzi and the others have been gone for ages, leaving us to wait here like fools."

Zhang Huai first smiled at Juhua, then explained to Liu Xiaomei, "Someone from Qinghui’s side just came to pick up a shipment, and we talked a bit of business. If you all hadn’t come, I would have had to treat him to a meal to be polite. I just had to say it wasn’t convenient today and gave him half a jin of wood ear mushrooms instead."

Juhua asked with concern, "Then you should have gone with him. It’s not like we can’t wander around by ourselves." These social obligations, though annoying, were very important.

Zhang Huai smiled. "He was in a hurry to leave too, so we didn’t stand on ceremony. Let’s go, it’s getting late. We should head home early after we’re done looking around, so your mother doesn’t worry."

Laixi watched Juhua, Liu Xiaomei, Xiu, and Cui follow Huai Zi and Zhou Xiaoman toward the market, feeling very envious. He wished he could just close up shop and go with them. He spent all day at the market, so of course he didn’t really want to go shopping; he just wanted to accompany a certain person.

The morning mist had completely dissipated, and the market streets were bustling. There were country men with shoulder poles, old men with baskets on their backs, young wives holding baskets and leading their children by the hand, and village girls like Juhua and Liu Xiaomei pointing things out to each other in low voices—a picture of a thriving market.

Along the sides of the narrow street, a slender alleyway appeared every so often. At the end of one’s gaze was either the corner of a wicker fence or the houses on the other side of the river. Mischievous children would occasionally dart out of the alleys, laughing as they weaved through the street and threaded their way through the crowd.

Juhua and her friends merged into the stream of people. Their cloth shoes with layered soles stepped leisurely on the bluestone pavement, silent and soundless. Though they were on a clamoring street, a sense of clear, quiet tranquility rose in their hearts.

Their eyes swept over the shops on both sides. The aroma from a stall selling fried dough sticks and steamed buns was so enticing it made a small child stop in his tracks. At the entrance of a tofu shop, people were exchanging beans for tofu. The fragrance wafting from the sesame oil mill was the strongest, a mix of roasted peanuts and the smell of oil-seed cakes. The general stores selling daily necessities were doing the most booming business.

Suddenly, they saw a large door panel set up in front of a shop ahead, covered with an array of coarse silk flowers, silver-colored bracelets, and various hairpins and rings—who knew if they were real or fake. There were also all sorts of garish powder boxes, small wooden combs, fine-toothed combs, and other grooming accessories. Liu Xiaomei and Xiu immediately stopped in their tracks and went forward to rummage through the items.

Juhua glanced over but wasn’t very interested. While waiting for them, she let her gaze drift elsewhere and saw that the shop next door sold cloth. Just as she was thinking of going in to have a look, she suddenly felt a large hand take hers, and Zhang Huai’s gentle voice sounded by her ear, "How about we go take a look at the cloth?"(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)