“Three yuan a bottle is already a high price. We’ll only sell at five yuan per bottle in the city.” Liu Mingdong said, smiling at He Xiyan.
This chopped pepper sauce was also sold recently. He purchased them from this dumb man before. Unexpectedly, they were sold out the first day they were put on the shelf after the purchase. He was ready to purchase more.
Hearing his words, He Xiyan raised her eyebrows at once, obviously not believing what the man had said. Although she did not know the exact price, she seemed to have some impression about it.
“No, brother…” She then said again, “This can be sold at ten yuan a bottle at least. Even the chilli sauce processed by ordinary factories, would cost eight to nine yuan a bottle. This, however, is a local farm product, which would cost more. Don’t fool me…”
He Xiyan smiled.
“Well, five yuan per bottle, I’ll sell them all to you. If it is lower than that, I won’t sell them. I’ll give them to the villagers.”
After that, He Xiyan was ready to put away all the things she brought.
Chen Jiahang took her hand and shook his head towards her. He seemed to be surprised at her behavior. He did not understand why she wanted to raise the price. In this way, the merchants would refuse to buy their things.
Seeing the girl ready not to sell, Liu Mingdong hurriedly reached out his hands and put all the chili sauce into the box. Then he smiled and said, “Okay, sister, since it is your first time selling things, I’ll pay a high price at five yuan. Okay, just five yuan. You can make more next time. You’d better have one to two hundred bottles. I’ll take them all anyway.”
The merchants happily asked his assistants to move the things away.
He was not silly. Such chopped pepper sauce was a kind of seasoning that many people in the city liked to use for cooking, or as the hot pot sauce for dipping, which was sold quite well. Besides, they had a one-year shelf life with low transportation cost. He could make a lot of money by purchasing at five yuan a bottle and selling at twelve yuan each.
He Xiyan took the money handed over by the merchant. She counted them, and found that there was no less.
After a while, she took another bottle from her bicycle, which seemed to be chopped pepper as well.
The merchant doubted, “Why, there’s another bottle?”
He Xiyan twisted the bottle open, and soon the aroma of chili pepper and radish overflowed all around. It smelled spicy and delicious, drawing forth a good appetite from others.
“Brother, this is my newly made chopped pepper radish, which can serve as the small dishes accompanying meals and can also be used as a kind of seasoning in cooking. Try the taste.”
The merchant took out the chopsticks and took a little to have a taste. Only a little, he then licked his lips satisfactorily.
“Delicious!” He couldn’t help complimenting. It tasted even better than chopped pepper sauce, spicy and crisp. He had to say that this sister was indeed good at making this. No one knew where she had learned that. After all, having been a merchant for so many years, he seldom met such things in this province. The farmers here did not seem to know how to make it. But he had eaten them in some places in Xiang Province. What the sister made tasted more like the taste there. Although people in these two provinces all liked eating hot food, the hot taste in Xiang Province was purer. They used fresh peppers as seasoning while most of the people in this province would dry peppers and turn them into chili powder.
“Well, you can also make some of this chopped pepper radish. How about 30 bottles first. I’ll see how its market is. If it is sold well, I’ll order more from you then.”
The merchant made such a decision happily.
The other villagers watched aside. They were talking and discussing while pointing at He Xiyan whom they were still unfamiliar with.
“Is she the wife bought by Jiahang?”
A man in white whispered behind.