Chapter 23: Chapter 23: A Good Start

Xu Shuhua hurried along with her basket and reached the county town in just over half an hour.

It was harvest season, and everyone in the countryside was busy gathering crops. If you took a walk around the village, you’d hardly see a soul. But in the county town, the streets were still bustling with activity.

Xu Shuhua stopped at a busy intersection, noticing others selling goods from carts nearby. She walked over and lifted the blue floral cloth covering her basket.

As soon as the strawberries were exposed to the air, the neighboring vendors grew curious.

“Oh wow, Auntie, how did your strawberries get so big?”

Xu Shuhua lifted her chin proudly. “Of course! My strawberries are one of a kind—you won’t find them anywhere else!”

“Doesn’t that make them expensive? I’ve seen strawberries in the fruit shop—none of them are even half this size, and they’re a whole yuan per jin! Auntie, how much are yours per jin?”

The speaker was a woman in her thirties, who had two kids at home. Her children liked to eat fruit, and seeing how good Xu Shuhua’s strawberries looked, she was tempted to buy some—as long as the price wasn’t too high.

Xu Shuhua had already checked the prices at the fruit shop on her way over and had set her own price in mind. Hearing the woman’s question, she smiled and replied, “You said it yourself—one of my strawberries is worth two of theirs! Plus, mine are sweet, not sour at all—they’re really good! I won’t ask for much, just one yuan and twenty cents per jin. But since you’re my first customer, I’ll give you a deal: one yuan and ten cents per jin. How about it?”

The woman did a quick calculation in her head, then came over. One yuan and ten cents per jin was only ten cents more than the fruit shop, but the quality was much better.

As she got closer, the woman caught a whiff of the strawberries’ sweet fragrance, and was even more tempted.

“Alright, I’ll take a jin!”

Hearing that the woman really wanted to buy, Xu Shuhua’s smile grew even brighter. “Great, great, I’ll weigh them for you right now.”

Xu Shuhua had brought the family’s small scale with her—perfect for weighing strawberries.

The strawberries were so big that a jin ended up being only eight of them.

After weighing them out, Xu Shuhua realized she didn’t have anything to put them in. She’d left in such a hurry that she’d forgotten to bring some newspaper to wrap them up!

Luckily, the woman really wanted to buy. Seeing Xu Shuhua had nothing to pack them in, she simply ran back to her own stall and brought over her lunch tin. “Auntie, just put them in here for me!”

Once Xu Shuhua received the one yuan and ten cents, she finally felt at ease. Even if she didn’t sell the rest, the trip wouldn’t have been for nothing!

But that thought only flashed through her mind for a moment before she pushed it aside. How could she not sell out? Wasn’t this already a great start?

With her first sale under her belt, Xu Shuhua felt much more confident and bold. She started calling out, “Strawberries for sale! Fresh, big strawberries! Come and have a look, come and buy!”

Xu Shuhua had a loud voice, and her shouting quickly attracted a lot of attention.

Once the first person came over, others soon followed. People are always curious, and the more crowded a place is, the more attention it draws.

Before long, Xu Shuhua was surrounded by a throng of people.

“Wow! I’ve never seen strawberries this big before!”

“Auntie, how much are these strawberries?”"

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