Chapter 141

The next morning, Xu Ran brought more chess sets to the town. He set up a stall next to an old man selling masks.

The old man looked very hale. Xu Ran started to talk to him after he set up the stall. They chatted and became familiar. Xu Ran offered to teach him to play chess.

The old man hurriedly waved his hand, “No, no. I can’t read even a character. How can I play chess? It’s something you scholars do.”

Xu Ran pulled his hand, “Sir, nobody says it’s something only scholars can do. What’s more, I’ve thought of this myself. Even those scholars can’t play this game. It’s very simple. Just watch how I place the chess pieces, and then you place the pieces in another color as I do.”

Xu Ran guided the old man step by step, and taught him to recognize each character. The people who came to buy masks noticed what they were doing, and many of them stayed to watch the fun.

This old man was very serious and did exactly as Xu Ran said. He even forgot to watch his own stall. A lot of people around came and watched the fun. Some people gradually understood and started to instruct the old man.

This effortless campaign was just what Xu Ran wanted.

When the old man could play a full round with Xu Ran, the two stalls were totally surrounded by the people.

Seeing this, the old man felt embarrassed. He waved his hand and stood up to tout his masks.

Xu Ran thought it was fine, so he started to do promotion.

“Guys, come and take a look. This is called Chinese chess. You have seen it when I played with this old man just now. You guys definitely want to give it a shot, right? The chess is something novel. People say only scholars can play Go game, but mine is Chinese chess and even scholars have never played it. Don’t you want to try it? Rest assured. I will teach you. ”

Hearing this, many people were motivated, especially by “even scholars have never played it”. In ancient times, scholars were always respected. They thought that if they could beat the scholars to pick up Chinese chess, it would be great honor!

“How much is your chess?” Someone asked about the price first.

Xu Ran said, “I will charge according to how fast you learn about the chess. The faster you learn, the less I charge. If I teach you once and you learn it, I will only charge 800 pence. If I have to teach it twice, I will charge 900 pence. One more time, another 100 pence. Who wants to try now?”

“Do you really mean it? If I don’t need you to teach me, can I pay less?” The person who asked was the one who had just guided the old man to play chess, and obviously this man was clever.

Watched by so many people, Xu Ran appeared generous, “Buddy, if you don’t need me to teach you, I’ll just charge 750 pence. My business opens today!”

Xu Ran looked at the person as he spoke. His hands looked very delicate with no calluses, and his face was clean and fair-skinned. It looked he was either a scholar or a childe of a wealthy family.

The man didn’t seem to care about money. Xu Ran said that he could pay 50 pence less, and he just took out the money and paid Xu Ran without hesitation. He selected a set of a small size and left.

Xu Ran smiled and waved his hand from behind, “Goodbye, buddy.”

Someone tried as the first, and naturally others would follow suit. As soon as the young man left, another person said that he wanted to buy one set at the price of 800 pence. Xu Ran didn’t fool him. He put the chess pieces in the box and asked him to place them on the chessboard like him.

While placing, Xu Ran introduced the moves of each piece. Xu Ran was not afraid that other people around would learn. If they could get the hand o fit and bought the chess directly, he would be pleased.

This person learned well. Xu Ran taught him just once and he understood almost all. Xu Ran finished teaching, asked him to choose one set himself and charged him 800 pence.

After that, Xu Ran sold two sets of 900 pence, and then the crowd almost dispersed. Most of them couldn’t afford to buy it, and even if they could, they were not willing to pay.

The winter wind chilled people. Xu Ran wore quite a lot, but after standing in the wind for so long, he still felt cold and started to stomp his feet constantly.

If there was no business for both, Xu Ran and the old man would play chess. The vendors nearby would come to watch, and more people would follow them.

In this way, Xu Ran would get his business naturally.

Xu Ran knew that he couldn’t make much money from these people.All he wanted was to attract more people and help them learn about chess.

For everyone who came to buy chess, Xu Ran said that it was the most suitable for old people, especially during Spring Festival. They could kill time with it, or send it to relatives as a gift.

Poor people wouldn’t believe him, but rich people would feel novel and give it a try.

Xu Ran stayed on the street for a whole day and only sold nine sets of which the most expensive one was just one tale of silver, much less than he had expected. Xu Ran comforted himself that this was after all the fisrt day and the business would be better tomorrow.

Xu Ran stayed on the street for three whole days in a row, and he got windburnis; he felt pain whenever he touched it. He still wanted to do that business himself, but Liu Tong stopped him. Liu Tong said it didn’t matter if he couldn’t sell more, and he definitely couldn’t stay on the street in such cold weather again.

Xu Ran touched his face and agreed after a second thought. He wouldn’t go to the street to sell chess, but he still had to go to the town.

There should be news from Qin Shuwu, and he should go to Zhuo Yun’s and take a look. Apart from anything else, the shopkeeper of Zhuo Yun knew a lot of people, especially people almost the same age.

Xu Ran felt that he could ask the shopkeeper to help.

Xu Ran stayed at home for two days to for face recovery, and Doctor Liu prescribed him ointment. His face was almost healed when he went to the town.

Xu Ran had left more than ten sets of chess at Qin Shuwu’s before, but there was none left as Xu Ran came this time.

Seeing Qin Shuwu standing at the door and looking at him with a smug expression, Xu Ran couldn’t help but say, “Brother Qin, have you sold out all the sets?”

Qin Shuwu crossed his arms and said, “Of course. What’s more, someone even booked some with me. He would come over to pick them up today. Since I sold so much for you, shouldn’t you do me a favor?”

Xu Ran answered, “What favor do you want?”

Qin Shuwu raised his chin and looked at him, “I heard that you got much bacon and sausage for the Zhuo Yun’s family. Could I expect some from you?”

Xu Ran chuckled, “Well, Brother Qin, I will actually send some to you even if you don’t ask. Do you want anything else?”

“Well, I am only interested in the delicacy in your family. Tell me honestly whether you have anything else delicious at home or not. I will help you sell another ten sets and charge you nothing.” Qin Shuwu said.

“Well, I do, Brother Qin. I will cook it at home and bring it here the next time, OK? As for the chess, I hope you can sell another 20 sets. I made about 100 sets this year, just enough for selling and presenting.”

“Presenting? Who do you want to present?” asked Qin Shuwu .

Xu Ran said, “Several friends whom I got acquainted with when I took the imperial exam. They are also from merchant families. Coincidentally, some of them will come here in the next few days, and I’ll prepare them a few sets.”

Qin Shuwu looked at Xu Ran with interest, “It seems you can sell your goods far away. Could I get involved?”

Xu Ran thought about it seriously, “Brother Qin, I think it could be done. The stores at their town sell things we can’t see at He Shui Town, vice versa. You can buy the shop next door and sell cooked food specially. The business of your fruit shop is so good, and I guess that the business of the cooked food shop will not be bad.”

Qin Shuwu was originally just joking, but after Xu Ran said that he was really interested.

“Tell me, what should I see in the deli? Is it easy to run? How big should the shop be? How many people should I employ?”

Xu Ran sighed with emotions, ‘What a business old bird! I just mentioned it, and he started to think about these things!’

Xu Ran said, “Brother Qin, this can’t be rushed. We have to wait until next year. When spring comes next year, I will tell you the details. You should find and buy the shop first.”

Qin Shuwu touched his chin, “That’s right. Let’s talk about this next year then. But remember, you should settle this when you deliver food to me as soon as possible. I’ll help you sell another 10 sets of chess, OK?”

Xu Ran reached out and gave him a high-five. “Okay, it is a deal then. Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome. Just don’t forget the food for me.”

He never forgot to remind Xu Ran in terms of food.

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