Chapter 144

Xu Ran sent the things to Mr. Chen’s restaurant and said to Mr. Chen, “Mr. Chen, these are enough for you to sell before Spring Festival. I will send you the rest after the festival. The sale of this stuff can’t last long. The timing is in the one or two months when it is cold. After that, the other goods should take over.”

Mr. Chen took a look at the amount that Xu Ran had brought and nodded, “That’s fine. This is enough to sell before Spring Festival. I’m going to close to make a preparation for the festival in these few days.”

“Mr. Chen, do these two things sell well?” Xu Ran asked.

Mr. Chen said with a smile, “Well, very well! The several dishes made from the dried bamboo shoots rarely have leftover. The best seller is ‘potato dough drops’. Many people turned to buy it when they failed to buy potatoes. Both are potatoes, but they taste different. Many people like them.”

Xu Ran pretended to breathe a sigh of relief, “That is fine. I was worried that you will blame me if they don’t sell well.”

Mr. Chen patted Xu Ran on the shoulder as if he himself was very easy-going. “How can I blame you? Didn’t I say I trust you?”

Xu Ran looked at the sky. He must have forgotten the scene that he asked him in a questioning tone, and that he was still worried after the payment was made.

Of course, Xu Ran wouldn’t say it out.

He smiled and said, “Yeah, thank you for your trust, Mr. Chen. I still have some errands to run, so I’m leaving first.”

“Sure, sure, come back after the Spring Festival.”

Xu Ran left smilingly. He first sent the prepared stuff to Qin Shuwu’s place, and Qin Shuwu gave him the money earned by selling chess sets. After checking the stuff brought by Xu Ran and the recipes given by Xu Ran, Qin Shuwu was very satisfied.

The recipe was drafted by Xu Ran this morning. He had thought about doing it yesterday, but it slid his mind later.

Xu Ran said, “Brother Qin, make these things according to my instruction on the paper. I guarantee you will be satisfied.”

Qin Shuwu nodded with a smile, “Sure, you’re very thoughtful. You’re coming during this Spring Festival, aren’t you? At that time, I’ll let my spouse show his cooking skills.

Xu Ran nodded. “Of course we will come. We will come with Zhuo Yun and the others, so as to spare your trouble to entertain us twice.”

“Alright, the more the merrier. Your spouse has been out of postpartum confinement. Just in time.”

Xu Ran didn’t tell Qin Shuwu that Zhuo Yun was going to his home to spend Spring Festival. Since he was not blood related with them, he was in no position to propose it, which had to be put forward by Zhuo Yun himself.

After chatting with Qin Shuwu for a while, Xu Ran went shopping for some gifts for Little Qingshu. He wanted to select some ready-made longevity locks and silver bracelets. If there was none for sale, he didn’t know whether there was still time to make some now.

Xu Ran patted himself on the head and felt that his brain was getting worse recently.

Xu Ran found a specialist shop of jewellery. The shopkeeper wasn’t there, and only one staff member was tidying up goods. Xu Ran knocked on the counter and the staff quickly came over to greet him, “Sir, what do you want?”

Xu Ran asked, “Do you have longevity locks? I want a silver one. It will be best if you have a set of silver bracelet and bell to match it.”

The staff replied, “Sir, our store has longevity locks, gold and silver ones, and bracelets, but we have no bells. I suppose you buy this longevity lock and bracelet as gifts to others, don’t you? It’s better to send the gold ones, more elegant and valuable than the silver ones. It’s popular.”

Listening to the staff’s eloquent sales promotion, Xu Ran sighed that the eloquency was useful everywhere.

Xu Ran said, “Bro, I’ll buy silver one. It is for a baby about a hundred days old. Wearing silver is good for health.”

“Oh, this is new to me. Sir, you must be a scholar. I’ll get you some silver ones, and you can select one by yourself.” The staff  took several longevity locks and a few silver bracelets out for Xu Ran to choose.

Xu Ran thought this staff was amazing. He could figure out that he was an intellect through several words, but Xu Ran did not reply. He started to select the longevity lock and the bracelets attentively.

The longevity locks had big sizes and small ones. For kids, the big sizes should be excluded first. Xu Ran picked the smallest and most exquisite one, which would not be too heavy on the neck.

With the longevity lock chosen, Xu Ran began to select the silver bracelet. In fact, he didn’t have many choices because only one pair was suitable for kids.

Xu Ran looked at the silver bracelet and was not very satisfied. He said, “Bro, are there any other small-sized silver bracelets in your shop? The craftsmanship of this silver bracelet is not very exquisite. I can’t choose it.”

It was the first time that someone told him that he couldn’t choose. Others usually said that they didn’t like the stuff or the stuff was not good-looking. So the way the intellects spoke was different?

Xu Ran had been staring at the staff all the time. Seeing that he was in distraction, Xu Ran had reminded him again. The staff immediately came to himself, “I’m sorry, sir. We only have this pair of small-sized silver bracelet. Maybe you could try the other stores?”

Xu Ran nodded. “Fine, then I’ll try the other stores!”

“Sir, do you still want this longevity lock?” Seeing that he was about to leave, the staff asked in haste.

Xu Ran thought for a while and said, “Keep it for me for now. I’ll try whether I can select a set from the other stores. If I can’t, I’ll come back to buy this one.”

At Xu Ran’s words, the staff suddenly regretted that he had asked Xu Ran to go to the other stores just now. What if he didn’t buy any of them?

Before he thought of a way to persuade Xu Ran to buy the longevity lock, Xu Ran had stepped out of the store.

Such regrets!

Xu Ran wandered through two more stores but failed to find a satisfactory bracelet. As to the bell, he hadn’t even seen one.

There were quite a few stores selling jewelry in the town. After all, these were rare items. With one sold, a lot of money could be made.

Xu Ran searched while walking. Then he saw another jewelry store, the decoration of which was not as magnificent as that of the first three. Instead, it had the style of countryside.

After several glances, Xu Ran explained his intentions to the staff. The staff carried a bunch of boxes for him and opened them one by one to show to Xu Ran.

Xu Ran didn’t pay much attention to the longevity locks. After all, he had taken a liking to the one in the first store. The ones in the other stores were not as exquisite as that one, so he would not pick again.

Xu Ran took up the stuff in the box and looked at them one by one. These were all sizes for kids. Xu Ran looked for a while and chose a bracelet engraved with plum blossoms. There were also bells strung in a silver ring, which jingled at touch, very suitable for kids to wear. Xu Ran liked it very much.

He took the two selected ones in his hand and asked the staff, “Bro, how much for these two?”

The staff took the things from Xu Ran’s hand and checked the purity. Then he gave Xu Ran a price.

Xu Ran weighed the weight and felt that they were worth the price, but he couldn’t be sure whether they were real.

Xu Ran asked the staff, “Bro, can you tell me how to judge whether this stuff is really made of silver?”

The staff said, “Don’t worry, sir. Our store definitely won’t sell fake goods. Real silver can’t be easily bent. Sir, try to bend the bracelet in your hand and you will know.”

According to the staff’s instruction, Xu Ran bent the silver bracelet in his hand and found that it was not deformed. He felt that it should be genuine. Xu Ran asked the staff to pack them up. Because it was for little Qingshu, he paid without bargaining and left.

The staff said enthusiastically, “Goodbye, sir. Welcome to come back next time.”

Xu Ran froze for a moment, but he didn’t look back. Then he walked on. These words were too similar to the lines of the girls in the whorehouse, but he couldn’t complain.

Xu Ran went back to the first store. Only that staff was in, who was lying on the counter with a bitter face and mumbling something. But Xu Ran didn’t hear it clearly.

At the sight of Xu Ran, the staff immediately livened up, “Sir, you’re back! You want that longevity lock, right? I’ll pack it for you right away.”

Then Xu Ran figured out what he had been mumbling earlier.

Xu Ran smiled gently, “Pack it up for me. It is the best after comparing some in the other stores. I will take this!”

“Okay, sir, please wait a moment,” the staff quickly took out the longevity lock and packed it for Xu Ran.

Xu Ran took it in his hand, bent it hard and found that there was no deformation…

Then he believed…

Xu Ran shook it in his hand, “How much?”

The staff chuckled, “Sir, you also saw how exquisite this thing is made. This price won’t be too low. You can take it with 10 taels of silver.”

Xu Ran, “…” He just bought two pairs at this price…

Xu Ran put down the longevity lock and turned to leave.

The staff immediately ran out from behind the counter to stop Xu Ran. “Sir, keep cool. Let’s talk about the price. Let’s talk about it.”

Xu Ran glanced at him. “I don’t want to bargain with you, but if you want to rip off me, I won’t let you do what you want. I’m sincerely willing to buy it. If you sell it sincerely, give me a reasonable price.”

“Sir, how about this price?” The staff hesitated and stretched out five fingers.

The price dropped by half in an instant.

This longevity lock is delicate but small. Xu Ran was not clear about the price of silver is in this era, but he thought it was not worth five taels of silver.

Seeing that Xu Ran didn’t agree, the staff frowned and offered another price. Then he said, “Sir, I can’t go any lower, otherwise the shopkeeper will definitely scold me.”

The staff looked very young, about sixteen or seventeen years old, and he displayed everything on his face. Xu Ran smiled and said, “Alright, I will take it at this price.”

The staff’s bitter face immediately turned bright. He stared at Xu Ran and waited for him to take out the silver.

Xu Ran shook his head smilingly, took out the silver and gave it to the staff.

The staff took it happily and asked if Xu Ran had bought the satisfactory silver bracelets and bell.

Xu Ran nodded. “Yes, I have. You can also suggest your boss to make some sets. Families with newborn babies will come to buy them.”

The staff nodded and thanked Xu Ran.

Xu Ran didn’t say anything else. He put the thing in his pocket and left.

When he reached the doorway, he heard the same words from the previous staff.

“Goodbye, sir. Welcome to come back next time!”

So all the staff greeted the same way?