Chapter 128: Even Selling Goods Requires Acting Skills

Not long after, a large shop at the head of the most prosperous street on Chang'an Street East Market quietly changed its sign. Inside, the clattering renovation was finished in just a few days, and it hurriedly opened for business in mid‑October.

Following the old custom of opening a shop in Youzhou, they set off firecrackers for a brief celebration, then gave each curious customer who entered a blessing character, saying that pasting the blessing character for the New Year would bring good fortune in the coming year.

Such goodwill was impossible to refuse; the well‑informed East Market locals inevitably asked what the shop sold, and the clerk brought out samples of spicy cabbage, handing each person a toothpick to spear a piece for tasting.

What we're selling is spicy cabbage and spicy radish, a specialty of Youzhou. It's sour, spicy, salty, and fragrant—serve it with it and anyone can eat an extra bowl of rice! If there's an elderly person at home with no appetite, buy a jar to try; I guarantee it'll improve their appetite. We have samples—go ahead and taste. How about it? With rice or a quick stir‑fried meat dish, doesn't it smell wonderful? This jar holds two and a half taels; take another look at the jar—it's white porcelain! In our Great Jin it's a rarity. When you're done, you can use it to hold oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, or even stick a flower in it—it'll still look nice.

Oh dear, you really know how to talk!

But this is too expensive……

What flavor is this? It's so strange…… rather fresh?

Did you add pepper? The shopkeeper is really generous!

You really are from Youzhou? Isn't the fighting over there?

The clerk shook his head and sighed, "We had a skirmish before the New Year; Prince You's Guard Battalion fought bravely and held off the Northern Barbarians. Now it's peaceful, but the harvest is poor—even drier than last year. So we had no choice but to pull up the vegetables from the fields and bring them here to sell, hoping to exchange them for grain to get through the winter. Hey, auntie, what do you burn for heat in your home in winter? In Youzhou we have a kind of stone called coal; it burns for a long time, it's far more economical than buying firewood, and it saves space. The clerk quickly lit a fire—look at our coal: fifty cash per jin. …I haven't finished yet—this is the top grade, and there's also cheaper honeycomb coal at five cash per piece; we make them large, so saving just one piece might be enough to cook a meal. …It's not expensive—we paid people to dig it out of the mountains and then hauled it all the way to Chang'an."

Even after all that, ordinary people still thought the price was high compared to firewood, but a single bite of the spicy cabbage and radish opened the Long Peace citizens' palates.

This is roughly what we expected; now coal output is low and the price is high, so ordinary folks basically have no chance—it's still necessary to target nobles and blacksmiths.

Zhu Ti stepped up to the counter, clacking the abacus a few times, and said through gritted teeth, "Sell each jar for two and a half taels; if you buy five jars, we'll count it as ten taels. Our bottles are expensive, so we must break even—this first batch is a gift for our fellow Long Peace folks to try. Prince You came from Long Peace originally; we're all one family. Eat well, and next year we'll come back—just keep supporting the Youzhou Trading Firm's business."

The clerk timely reminded, embarrassed, "Boss, did you miscalculate? This jar holds only two taels; the spicy cabbage isn't just the vegetable cost—there are many precious seasonings too! We need to sell at three and a half taels to avoid a loss, and we can't afford to lose that much just to break into the market…"

Zhu Ti glared at him and said quietly, "Not every auntie will buy five jars—are you the boss or am I?" After saying that, he put on a look of barely concealed pain, gritting his teeth and holding himself together.

The neighboring auntie who had tasted and didn't want to leave heard, "I heard that! Ten taels for five jars, right? Then I'll take five—my family's large."

Anyway, the Great Jin common folk had never seen this sort of modern livestream scam where a wrong price is posted, the boss and host get scolded in turn, and the 'leeches' go on a frenzied grab. As they spoke, everyone in the store indeed pricked up their ears, sensing a bargain to be had.

Someone even shouted that they'd all heard it, and that the price shouldn't be changed again!

Even those who couldn't squeeze inside stretched their ears……

That well‑dressed auntie took the lead, and immediately someone else followed, asking for five jars. Then Zhu Ti glanced over—though the business had taken off, she didn't look particularly pleased, just stood at the counter clicking the abacus once, her face worsening the more she calculated.

One reason is the rare opportunity; another is that the spicy cabbage's flavor is genuinely solid. After all, almost all its ingredients are 'imported' goods, which hits hard in the Great Jin, a culinary wasteland where stewed dishes dominate.

Otherwise, ten taels isn't exactly uncommon in Long Peace either.

Great Jin folks may not have seen much, but there's never a shortage of clever people. Everyone realized that buying five jars saves two and a half taels of silver; with that silver they could buy another jar, saving five hundred cash per jar. For ordinary households wanting to try something fresh, they pooled their money and sent someone out to make a proxy purchase.

Zhu Ti heard them speaking openly and, right there in the store, loudly organized a group—his complexion grew worse and worse……

The clerk wiped sweat from his forehead, "These Long Peace folks really have money! Taking the already‑two‑tael spicy cabbage and adding a little drama, they rushed to pay. It's not like in Youzhou, where even if you performed a three‑day opera, the locals wouldn't fork out two taels of silver for pickled vegetables.

The last time they dined together at Mountain Forest Villa, the few spoiled youths who had eaten with Baili Heng finally heard that the Youzhou Trading Firm had opened, and they sent their servants over to buy.

Originally they didn't think much of any Youzhou specialty—what good could possibly come from a remote, bitterly cold place?

Who would have thought that after trying it, they'd all find it truly fragrant.

Zhu Ti's sharp‑witted clerks brought the gifts to the Second Prince's palace attendants and also explained how to eat them.

After half a day of horseback riding, several hungry folks were fortunate enough to at noon enjoy spicy cabbage, diced spicy radish, and stir‑fried spicy cabbage with meat.

In the Great Jin, where there's no chili, where the salt tastes earthy, and where stir‑frying isn't common, deep‑fried spicy cabbage topped with thin slices of meat let these young nobles eat their fill, and they'd keep thinking about it for days to come.

Later on, they even began to wonder whether they'd just been too hungry that day—was it really not that delicious? The longing grew stronger, and they wanted to verify it again.

After learning from the Golden Clan that Prince You's trading firm had finally opened, they all simultaneously sent people to buy; Li Chang ran into Liang Ben at the gate, and the two simply dismounted, teamed up, and walked into the shop together.

Upon entering, the doorman clerk indiscriminately shoved two blessing characters at them, saying, "Young master, put this up at home for the New Year and you'll have good fortune next year!"

Li Chang turned it over in his hand, "Interesting—this is such red paper, and it's even glossy; I've never seen anything like it."

On it was a large black blessing character, and underneath the inscription read: 'Presented by the Youzhou Prosperous Peace Trading Firm.'