NOVPUB
Chapter 508: Chapter 499 Going to the Big Market
Shen Yunfang left home with two children and a cartful of goods at seven in the morning, and only arrived at the Shangtang Brigade marketplace after nine.
She had heard about this place from people who came to wholesale couplets in the morning, and it was also from word of mouth that she knew which days these brigades around the Capital held their big market days.
By the time they got there, the market was already bustling with people, callings of sellers, and haggles overlapping one another, which made Shitou and Shuanzi very excited.
Shuanzi leaped off the cart in an instant, giving Shen Yunfang quite a scare.
"Shuanzi, where are you going?" Shen Yunfang parked the cart and called out to Shuanzi, who was running ahead.
"Aunt, you walk slowly behind. I’m going to look for an empty spot," Shuanzi called back as he disappeared into the crowd.
"Shitou, you hurry up and keep an eye on your brother. There are so many people here, don’t lose him," Shen Yunfang urgently beckoned Shitou to go and check.
The kid has really been getting braver.
Shen Yunfang looked into the crowd with some worry; with so many people blocking the view, of course, she couldn’t see anything. At that moment, she felt a tinge of regret. She shouldn’t have brought the two kids with her. If she lost sight of them for just a moment, no amount of money could compensate for someone else’s children.
As she was worrying, Shuanzi wormed his way back out of the crowd.
"Aunt, why are you still standing here? Hurry up and get inside. I found a great spot, and I’m holding it for my brother right now. We need to get there quickly, or someone else will take it," urged Shuanzi, hopping about anxiously like a monkey, afraid the good spot he had found might be snatched away by someone else.
"You child, you run faster than a monkey. With so many people, if you get lost, your aunt couldn’t compensate your parents even if she made all the money in the world. Will you stay calm and follow your aunt, understand?" Shen Yunfang chastised Shuanzi with a couple of slaps.
Shuanzi didn’t care about his aunt’s scolding; his own mother often hit him, and he didn’t take his aunt’s light slaps seriously.
Shen Yunfang realized this wasn’t the time to discipline the kids. Without a sign of Shitou, she hurriedly pushed the tricycle into the crowd, saying, "Excuse me, please let me through," "Uncle, please make some room."
With the crowd being so massive, it was indeed tough to move forward.
Seeing this, Shuanzi thought it would take forever to reach their spot, so his eyes darted around and he suddenly pointed ahead, yelling, "Oh no, whose donkey has gone mad and is running this way? Everyone move aside, move, move, it’s coming right through!"
The crowd ahead, hearing his shouts, automatically moved to the sides, leaving a passage clear in the middle.
"Aunt, hurry up and cross," Shuanzi whispered urgently.
Shen Yunfang was speechless; she had turned into the "mad donkey" the boy just shouted about.
"Oh, my mistake, I saw wrong, sorry, sorry, my apologies to everyone," Shuanzi said ostentatiously, then quickly slipped back into the crowd and disappeared.
Some people were startled by his scream, and after realizing it was a false alarm, cursed openly on the street; but the kid who cried out was already gone, so their cursing seemed pointless, and within a short time, the market’s normal atmosphere resumed.
"Aunt, over here, here!" Spotting his family’s tricycle, Shitou hurriedly called out and waved his hands.
Shen Yunfang pushed the tricycle over, stopped it, and only then managed to wipe away the sweat on her brow.
No wonder the wholesaler last year came every other day. The brigade’s market definitely had more people than the city’s market. It was so crowded she’d make so much more money.
Shen Yunfang didn’t start setting up her stall right away, but instead pulled the two kids to her side and instructed, "You two listen up, your auntie is setting up a stall here, and you can’t just run around everywhere, okay? There are too many people here. A few people could come by, squeeze in, and whisk you away, and your auntie wouldn’t even be able to catch up. In your auntie’s heart, no amount of money is more important than you two brothers, so you both better behave, understood?"
The two kids felt touched. Auntie was the best.
But Shuanzi was not the type to sit still. He was only well-behaved for a short while before he immediately edged closer to Shen Yunfang, "Auntie, I won’t wander off alone. If I go with my brother, is that okay?"
Shen Yunfang, finding his pleading hard to resist, thought to herself that it did seem unreasonable to expect the kids to not go anywhere exciting and just stay by her side, "That’s fine, but you have to promise that you and your brother stay together. If you see any bad guys, don’t be afraid, just shout loudly and run towards your auntie, got it?"
"I know I definitely won’t go off on my own, and if I see any bad guys, I’ll surely run like the wind," Shuanzi cheekily guaranteed.
Shen Yunfang had no choice but to repeat the instructions to Shitou one more time.
Just as Shuanzi was about to joyfully run into the crowd, Shen Yunfang hurriedly grabbed him and dug out two boxes of poppers from the tricycle and stuffed them into his pocket, "Take these and play with them where there are lots of kids. But let’s agree on this first: you must play safely and not hurt yourself or anyone else, understand?"
Shuanzi was thrilled. He had had his eye on these for a while and really wanted to play with them. But his mother strictly refused to let him, guarding him every day like he was a thief, claiming all these items were for making money and he must not cause trouble.
Look, staying with Auntie has its perks. He hadn’t even asked, and Auntie was already letting him have them to play. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
"This one’s for you, Shitou, watch over your little brother," Shen Yunfang said as she equally handed two boxes to Shitou.
Shitou might be sensible, but he was still a child. Seeing the firecrackers that boys love, he couldn’t help but beam from ear to ear.
After greeting Shen Yunfang, the two kids bounced off to play.
Shen Yunfang watched the two kids disappear into the crowd, then turned around to start setting up her stall.
She was prepared. First, she placed the larger fireworks from the tricycle out in front, then the sample firecrackers beside it, and pulled out a plank from the side of the tricycle, laying it across the tricycle’s handrails to form a simple booth. She topped it off by placing the samples she had set aside onto the plank.
"Wow, you’re selling fireworks?" A nearby uncle watched her bustling about, and only after Shen Yunfang was done did he strike up a conversation.
"Yes, uncle, I’m selling firecrackers," Shen Yunfang replied with a smile, knowing that it was important to be friendly to make money and get along with the other vendors.
"My, you’ve got quite the stock for our market here," the uncle observed, noticing how unique her stall was. "I just took a walk around and didn’t see anyone else selling these."
"Ha, that’s right. These firecrackers are not easy to come by. I also only managed to get a small amount by pulling some strings. There’s not much variety, and the capital is quite significant. It’s not really ideal," Shen Yunfang casually fibbed, of course not telling the whole truth.
"Right, I haven’t heard of anyone getting hold of these either," the uncle accepted her explanation. "Girl, how much for the small firecrackers?" Seeing the firecrackers reminded him that he hadn’t bought any for his home yet. Usually, the supply and marketing co-op only sold them a few days before New Year, and if you arrived late, you’d miss out. So, seeing that they were for sale here and if the price was right, he thought of buying some from the young lady to save the trouble of competing with others.
