Chapter 25: Part 3 out of 3
The next day, Qiuniang came early, even more concerned about setting up the stall than Qingyan and Aunt Li combined.
Yesterday, they bought small white porcelain bottles for the balm. Qiuniang and Aunt Li were responsible for filling the bottles, while Qingyan labeled them with red paper sprinkled with gold powder, carefully pasting each label onto the bottles.
The labels were small and writing on them wasn’t easy; they also had to be cut into uniform shapes.
Aunt Li recognized some characters and picked up a labeled bottle, reading aloud, “Xizhen’s Snowflake…”
The last character was more complex, which she didn’t recognize.
Qingyan added, “It’s Xizhen’s Snowflake Balm.”
Qiuniang also picked up a bottle and looked at it, smiling.
“These labels look really nice. I know Xizhen is Aunt Li’s name, but why is it called Snowflake Balm?”
Qingyan opened the bottle and explained, “I’ve checked the balms available in town. They all have darker, yellowish tones. Compared to them, ours looks as white as snowflakes!”
Aunt Li was still puzzled.
“It looks good with these labels, but isn’t it a lot of effort?”
Qingyan shook his head, “Even if it’s troublesome, we have to do this. We don’t have a storefront. If people buy it and like it, they might want to buy it again. They might not remember who they bought it from last time. With this label, as long as they recognize it, they won’t need to remember us. Besides, if we start selling more in the future, we can inquire with the bookstore manager about mass-producing these labels.”
Aunt Li hadn’t thought that far ahead; she just thought it was a small venture to earn some extra money by selling at the stall.
Hearing Qingyan’s foresight, though, she felt quite happy.
The three of them worked tirelessly for most of the day, finishing the packaging of the balm and applying all the labels.
After seeing Aunt Li and Qiuniang off, Qingyan started setting up his own stall.
He took out all the woodworking tools from home, arranged the small pieces of wood and paint he had bought yesterday, took out the sketches he had drawn earlier, picked up a piece of wood, and began carefully polishing it according to the design.
Time passed quickly when he was busy, and by the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Qingyan’s body had fully recovered.
Early in the morning, Qiu Henian cooked sweet dumplings, and each of them had almost half a bowl.
Eating sweet dumplings alone didn’t fill them up, so Qingyan sliced a sausage, fried some bread slices dipped in egg, and ate them with the sweet dumpling soup, which tasted especially delicious.
After finishing breakfast and tidying up, Qiuniang and Aunt Li arrived one after another.
Wang Sanyao brought Niansheng along.
When he was young, he followed a wandering Taoist for a while to learn martial arts. He was strong and worked as a guard in a wealthy household in town.
Normally, he lived with the wealthy family, but since New Year’s until now, the wealthy family had gone to visit relatives in the county and hadn’t returned. Being quite stingy, they didn’t want to pay wages for the past half month and had temporarily sent Wang Sanyao back home.
When Qiuniang mentioned setting up a stall with Qingyan and them, he eagerly brought his child along.
The group pushed the cart, carried their things, and set off in high spirits.
When they arrived in town, it wasn’t early anymore, and there were already many vendors on both sides of the main street.
There wasn’t much protocol; choosing a spot was first come, first served.
The prime spots on the main street were occupied by local big shops with many assistants. They probably took turns securing their spots the night before. Further out were itinerant peddlers and permanent vendors who eked out a living.
Farther towards the edge were people like Qingyan and his group, who didn’t often set up stalls.
Qingyan didn’t fuss over the location. After a simple look around, he settled on a spot and asked for everyone’s opinion, which they all deferred to him. With no issues, they began setting up.
Qiu Henian set up the prepared rack, while Wang Sanyao and Niansheng carefully hung the lanterns Qingyan had made on it.
Aunt Li and Qiuniang laid out the cloth on the ground and meticulously arranged the items they were selling.
Qingyan took out a wooden sign from the back of the cart and stood it in front of the stall. Even before officially opening, passersby couldn’t help but glance at the wooden sign for a while.
Next to their stall, a late-arriving peddler was busy organizing his goods, muttering to himself, “I shouldn’t have indulged in that drink last night. It’s causing trouble now!”
He didn’t pay much attention when someone else came to set up a stall nearby. Looking at the way they dragged their family along, he could tell they weren’t accustomed to this. He had seen plenty of such people; they wouldn’t stay long and wouldn’t sell much before losing interest and leaving.
However, passersby kept glancing at the sign on that stall. After setting up his own stall, unable to resist, he stood up and stretched, stealing a glance at the sign.
On the sign, in large letters, it read, “Shopkeeper is not at home, so the assistant is having a big clearance sale!”
Underneath were several lines of smaller text, such as “Xizhen Snowflake Balm, nourishes the skin, lasting fragrance”, “Clear pearl necklaces, embellishing your beauty”, and so on.
The peddler curled his lip and muttered to himself, “All flashy, but of little use.”
With many people nearby and much conversation, opinions varied widely on where things should be placed, but the handsome young man seemed to make the final decision with a few words, leaving others without objections.
After fussing around for quite a while and not having much to sell, they finally managed to set everything up.
The peddler pretended to relax and twisted his waist as he glanced over at the stall. There weren’t many items for sale, and they didn’t seem to connect with each other.
In the middle were the Xizhen’s Snowflake Balm and, on one side, wooden tops and bracelets of various sizes, and even… a shoe horn, all varnished and somewhat attractive.
The peddler shook his head and glanced at the other side, where there were knitted children’s hats, gloves, vests, and such, all of good craftsmanship.
After looking over everything, the peddler gave an overall assessment, “A mishmash, disorderly!”
Losing interest in looking further, he turned to admire his own stall.
Although he sold groceries, they were neatly categorized according to household cooking needs, making it clear what each item was for. Customers could easily see what they wanted at a glance—this was how a grocery stall should be.
The stall next to them finished setting up and began discussing where to eat.
Most of the people walking by were businessmen setting up stalls, not many were customers. The peddler was bored and listened to their conversation. He quickly understood that the young man’s name was Qingyan, and his husband was the man with scars on half his face. The peddler clicked his tongue in pity.
The slightly darker-skinned young woman was named Qiuniang, and she was with the big, burly man and the child—they were all family.
The older woman, who looked a bit familiar but he couldn’t place where he’d seen her, was called Aunt Li.
Those people finished their discussion and sent two men to buy food. After a while, when the two returned, they carried large and small bags.
The vendor smelled the fragrance of the food and immediately came over, not even having had time to eat.
He manned the stall alone, skipping two meals wasn’t difficult for him. He didn’t plan to eat, but the neighboring scent kept drifting over, which was hard to endure.
The vendor squatted on the ground, secretly swallowing saliva, and shifted his numb feet.
Just then, an oily sugar cake was extended to him.
The vendor looked up and saw the rugged man from next door, grinning with his white teeth, saying, “Brother, have a piece of cake.”
The vendor was a bit bewildered, “Why give me cake? I’m not eating.”
The man didn’t say anything, just smiled.
His child spoke up loudly, “Grandpa, if you don’t want to eat, why are you secretly watching us?”
The vendor suddenly felt awkward and hurriedly said, “I didn’t sneak a peek at you guys, I’m not hungry, I won’t eat!”
The sugar cake was taken back, and the vendor sat back down dejectedly, only relaxing after the food next door was finished.
In the afternoon, more people gradually passed by, sometimes stopping at a stall to inquire about prices.
Some also asked the vendor about prices, and he warmly welcomed them, though there were many inquiries, not many purchases were made.
However, the vendor wasn’t in a hurry. After all, the neighboring shop didn’t even have inquiries.
Just as he was comfortably thinking of singing a little tune, the handsome young man next door stood up and called out to passersby, “Come and see, Xizhen Snow Cream, our whole family uses it and says it’s good!”
He shouted for a while, and indeed a young woman came over and asked, “Do you really use this Xizhen Snow Cream yourselves?”
She looked at Qingyan’s face, then at Li Shun with his fair complexion, and even at a woman with slightly darker skin whose face was clean without obvious flaws, with obvious envy in her eyes.
The young man nodded, looking sincere, and took out a bottle to open the seal, directly applying it to his own hand to show the woman. The woman also tried it herself, but hesitated repeatedly and still couldn’t make up her mind.
The young man had a good temper, saying, “No rush to buy. I’ll be at this stall until the lanterns are lit. If you can’t find something better elsewhere, come back to me.”
The vendor rolled his eyes in secret. This layman really didn’t understand business. Letting people go at this time, with so many stalls causing confusion, don’t expect this person to come back again.
Sure enough, the woman left, but the young man was not discouraged, still shouting vigorously. Later, the slightly darker-skinned woman couldn’t sit still and joined him in calling out.
The vendor wasn’t worried at all; he was experienced in stall-keeping. It was only just starting to get busy now; at the busiest time, it would be after the lanterns were lit. Now that he had exhausted his energy shouting, he wouldn’t be able to shout much when that time came.
Indeed, later on, several inquiries came to the neighboring stall again, asking about the Xizhen Snow Cream, spinning tops, and even picking up a shoehorn to examine for a long time, but all the shouting was in vain, and nothing was sold.
Li Shun furrowed his brow, constantly changing his sitting posture.
Look at the big and sturdy man; by now, he had lost his spirit, yawning continuously with the child.
Only the man with half a scarred face still stood behind the stall, with a steady temperament, standing tall like a pine tree.
The vendor had traveled far and wide, seeing few people like him. Just now, he thought it was a pity that the handsome young man didn’t match this man, but now it seemed not so incompatible.
He was just pondering when he saw a somewhat familiar young woman passing through the crowd and walking towards him.
The vendor was slightly stunned. His memory was good in this regard, and he quickly recognized her as the person who had inquired earlier and said she would look around again!
The woman turned back and waved to those behind her. Three or four women of similar age followed, chattering along.
The vendor suddenly understood what was happening, his eyes widening in disbelief, watching the group of women arrive at the neighboring stall.
Someone asked, “Is this the Xizhen Snow Cream you applied just now?”
Then turning to the young man, “Can I try it too?”
The young man smiled with charming eyes and said, “Sure, would you ladies like to try it too?”
So the vendor watched as this wave of people bought three or four bottles of Xizhen Snow Cream in one go. After that, like a magic trick, the neighboring stall suddenly had many more customers, mostly those who had tried it and come back.
After buying the Xizhen Snow Cream, they also casually looked at the wooden small items and cotton woven products. The prices were reasonable, the craftsmanship was good, and quite a few were sold.
As a result, just as it was getting dark and the lanterns were finally lit, the neighboring stall unexpectedly sold out all those odds and ends of Xizhen Snow Cream, cotton woven products, and even the shoehorn was bought. Only two spinning tops and a lantern were left of those wooden small items, which the young man deliberately left for the child.
In other words, while the vendor himself had just sold one sieve and was about to exert himself, the neighboring stall closed!
Several people efficiently took down the shelves and mats.
The child happily said, “Can we go see the lantern festival now?”
The woman with slightly darker skin touched the child’s head and smiled, “Let’s go, Mom will buy you something delicious!”
The whole family left lively and joyously, leaving the vendor looking at the empty space beside him, his heart filled with mixed feelings. He inexplicably felt like he had lost a “one-sided inevitable competition.”
Qingyan and the others stayed at the lantern festival until quite late before heading back. Everyone was in high spirits.
Qiuniang’s eyes were sparkling all night, saying that running a stall was really interesting. Li Shun also happily kept smiling.
The child had fallen asleep, wrapped in a blanket and lying in the cart. Li Shun sat beside, the lantern on the cart shaft swaying. The big and sturdy San’er pushed the cart, laughing so much that his eyes disappeared.
Qingyan and Qiu Henian walked at the back.
Qiu Henian asked if he was tired.
Qingyan shook his head, then nodded.
Running a stall wasn’t tiring, but now walking, he was indeed a bit tired.
However, tired or not, he had to persevere. With the child and Li Shun on the cart, and with San’er pushing it, Qiuniang couldn’t even get on, so Qingyan naturally felt even more embarrassed to get on.
Thinking this, Qiu Henian made a gesture to him. Before Qingyan could react, he bent down and picked him up.
Qingyan’s feet left the ground, only then did he understand that the other party had just told him not to make a sound.
Qingyan secretly nestled in Qiu Henian’s arms, watching the relatives and friends ahead who hadn’t noticed anything, feeling embarrassed but unwilling to say anything.
Even when Qiu Henian slightly bent to adjust his posture, thinking the other party was about to put him down, Qingyan hastily whispered, “No, Qingyan wants to be held!”
When Qiu Henian straightened up, Qingyan realized he had made a mistake.
Thus, he was carried along for a while, feeling the man holding him having tremors in his chest, and then, he heard the low laughter of the other party!
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
His Adam’s apple moved as his face tensed, and his voice, low and hoarse as if resonating from deep within his chest, said, “Qingyan, does it hurt, my love?”
