Chapter 1681

Chen Chi has a truly bright, booming voice.

It is loud and carries the clear, resonant quality of a young man. As soon as Song Tan heard it, she subconsciously looked toward the residential buildings on both sides of the road—

"Don't look!"

The plumbing shop owner knew what she was looking at: "Look at how dark and quiet those buildings are; no one lives in these two buildings facing the street."

People are so shrewd nowadays; the storefronts on the ground floor are hard to sleep in anyway, so the upper floors are simply rented out for various tutoring classes, art classes, and the like.

Otherwise, could it be this quiet at night?

Only then was Song Tan reassured: "I was afraid that if we had a barbecue here at night, it would be noisy, and it wouldn't be good if the people upstairs complained."

Old Zhao was unhappy: "A barbecue is meant to be lively. Would I find you that kind of place?"

Who are you looking down on? He was meticulous to a fault when selling vegetables, and he's no different now!

He turned his head, his attention caught by the man in front: "He already bought water caltrops, why hasn't he left yet?"

The man who had come specifically for this stood at the water caltrop stall and sniffed—there was some distance, so the aroma of the barbecue wasn't that obvious, but it could still be smelled.

It smells so good, it really smells so good! He couldn't bear to leave.

"I see your craftsmanship is quite good, and the seasonings must be a secret recipe, right? Have you considered having the parents set up a stall at night? Let me tell you, this barbecue stall looks a bit shabby, but it's actually very profitable!"

He said this to the group of naive children, but his eyes were fixed ahead, full of longing.

He Tuoluo asked curiously: "If we opened a barbecue stall, how much could we earn in one night?"

The man paused—he was just guessing blindly; he had never opened one himself, and besides, stalls vary in scale, and business varies from good to bad...

He hesitated for a moment and replied: "There should be a profit of two or three thousand a night, right?"

The children frowned.

Qin Beibei hesitated and said: "Money is so hard to earn. It would take four nights of work just to earn a pair of glasses for Dad..."

The smile on the man's face stiffened.

After a pause, he couldn't help but ask: "Little friend, do you know how much money 4 nights is, calculating at 2000 per night?"

Yun Danqing snorted: "8000, Uncle, can't you even calculate that?"

"What kind of glasses cost 8000!" The other party was also stunned! He knew children were prone to exaggeration, but this was too exaggerated!

Qin Beibei counted on her fingers blankly: "The frames cost 6000, the lenses 2000... I didn't calculate wrong."

She especially liked wearing her father's glasses, and every time, he would nervously tell her to take them off, saying he couldn't bear to replace them. Now that she was using them for comparison as prompted by the older girl, it was only natural.

She even turned around and ran to Qin Yun's side, saying loudly: "Dad, how much are your glasses?"

Qin Yun was blank: "Which pair are you asking about? This one now? I can't even tell if it's a Xia XX or Lin XX brand anymore, probably over eight thousand."

His voice wasn't loud, but this space wasn't very big to begin with, and the other party heard it clearly very quickly.

Needless to say, when in doubt, check Taobao first.

Uh...

He finally took one last sorrowful look at the barbecue stall emitting billowing smoke, then looked at the other party's nonchalant demeanor, his eyes suddenly filled with pain:

No matter what, people who wear glasses like that would definitely never come to sell barbecue; he would never get to eat it after all!

The other party left in disappointment, while Yun Feng looked at Qin Yun again: "No wonder you haven't changed your glasses for so many years..."

If he had 8000-yuan glasses, he wouldn't change them either.

Qin Yun was a bit embarrassed: "I bought these 10 years ago. Back then, I had just had some success writing, and I was a bit carried away..."

He had changed the lenses twice in between, but he really couldn't bear to change the frames. After all, his earning power was average, far worse than Lu Chuan's.

But one thing is one thing, they really are quite comfortable, otherwise he wouldn't have worn them for so many years.

This was just a small interlude; everyone sighed while drooling and stared at the grill again.

Master Xiao Zhou held a skewer in his hand, tasting it leisurely. Seeing everyone's eyes fixed on him, he couldn't help but put on an act: "A bit lacking in heat, a bit lacking in heat..."

Before they had even eaten here, the man who had taken the water caltrops back already had material for chatting at the wine table.

In the middle of clearing the cups and plates, the bag of water caltrops was thrown on top. Everyone was stuffed from drinking, so they reached out to pick one to peel slowly, while listening to someone exaggeratedly recount the story of buying the water caltrops—

"Is it really as fragrant as you say? I guess there were no other barbecue stalls in that area, so it just stood out."

"Exactly, if they had that skill, they would have gotten rich long ago. They'd be having a barbecue in a villa by now; who would still be on the street?"

"I think so too. Look at the price he sells the water caltrops for, 3 for a yuan, he's quite bold. I've never eaten water caltrops sold by the piece—if they were that good at making money, they wouldn't be doing this business now; the taste must be a bit lacking—"

As soon as these words were spoken, the water caltrop meat was stuffed into his mouth and chewed:

"Hey, these water caltrops are really delicious!"

"Right! So delicious!"

"No wonder they dared to ask for this price! Worth it! You really get what you pay for!"

Everyone muttered, and one hand after another reached into the bag. Instead, the man who bought the water caltrops only just peeled one open at this moment:

"It's not necessarily that they don't have money. The child in their family said it, a pair of glasses costs seven or eight thousand... Holy crap, this is so delicious?!"

What, what?

The table next door also cast sidelong glances—someone is showing off their wealth by blowing about their glasses costing several thousand yuan?!

So much gossip, so much gossip; the surrounding tables all pricked up their ears.

The barbecue is especially fragrant but suspected of being exaggerated—oh my, how could a barbecue street not be fragrant?

Wait a minute, the water caltrops are really delicious?!!!

Those who can come to this barbecue stall in the middle of the night are all foodies. Hearing a table of people shouting and screaming, they couldn't help it either:

"Brother, where did you say those glasses—no, where were those water caltrops sold?"

Yun Danqing and the others were still staring at the basket, worried.

They had been sitting for half an hour, and only two customers had come in total. But with over 100 water caltrops sold, the basket was big and the water caltrops were small; they didn't look like they had decreased at all!

"They won't be fresh tomorrow..."

Chen Chi felt a bit heartbroken: "Otherwise, should we go to the place they mentioned earlier where there are more people to sell them?"

He patted his chest: "I'm tall, strong, and I can shout; I can sell them by myself!"

"But you're slow at counting." Yun Danqing sighed: "Otherwise, let's be partners..."

Just as they were talking, an electric scooter rode slowly past them, turned around, and stopped in front of them again:

"Old Zhao's water caltrops, right?"

Everyone:???

Qiaoqiao said seriously: "They are our water caltrops."

However, the other party's eyes scanned the crowd and quickly locked onto the target: "Old Zhao, are these the water caltrops you mentioned?"

Boss Zhao raised his head in the crowd—a regular customer!

His eyes were fixed on the skewers on the grill that were being sprinkled with seasoning for the last time, and he responded quickly and perfunctorily: "Yes, yes, yes, these are the water caltrops!"

Alright!

The other party got off the electric scooter: "Little friend, I'll take this half basket!"

How heroic and passionate these words were!

But as soon as the words fell, he saw Old Zhao turn his head away: "Why are you buying so many? This stuff doesn't keep well; just buy a few to taste the flavor."

While speaking, the skewers in front of him were already grilled. He reached out and took them quickly, looking at the sizzling oil bubbles on top, the whole person was as anxious as a puppy that didn't know where to take a bite.

After spinning around twice, he tried hard to blow on them, but in the end, he couldn't help it and took a cautious bite—

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!" He was jumping with heat, and only when he finally let go of his mouth did he have the energy to look at his customer again.

However, the young man had already lowered his head to check the information: "Let me see if this stuff can be frozen first. If it can, I'll just take another basket..."

Hehe, Old Zhao didn't say there was a purchase limit tonight!

1 yuan for 3, I have to bleed a lot tonight. But since it was called a fine product by Old Zhao, the whole family will definitely be in pain and praise it after buying it back!

While searching for information online, he felt a bit nostalgic: this taste is just like elementary school!

Back then, you had to plan your 1 yuan pocket money carefully during class—should you buy spicy strips with instant noodles, or toys with milk tablets?

Should I buy half a basket, or another basket?

Oh my, it's so hard!

What was obviously harder than him were this group of flustered children.

If they were sold by weight, the price of this basket of water caltrops could be known as soon as they were put on the scale. But now that they were sold by the piece, 5 children were squatting on the ground, each with a plastic bag in their hand.

"1, 2, 3,..."

Those fresh-keeping bags were the kind on rolls from the supermarket; one bag could hold about 50. At this moment, the big and small children were anxious and focused, counting until sweat seeped out of their foreheads, and they hadn't finished counting in the basket...

Oh my!

The older girl was so anxious she wanted to jump; if they packed them slowly, would people not want to buy them anymore?

However, how can you not encounter difficulties when doing business?

The bigger challenge was still to come—

"Is this the fine water caltrops Old Zhao mentioned?"

Good fellow, a whole crowd, driving cars and riding bikes, all stopped here again.

Everyone had the same idea: Old Zhao didn't mention a purchase limit, so shouldn't each of them buy a hundred or two hundred or half a basket first?!

They, the people of Yuncheng, are absolutely willing to spend money on eating!

"Oh, they really are small water caltrops, they look tender, give me 200 first!"

"Children, about how many are in your half basket? Give me a number, if it's suitable, I'll take half a basket..."

"Whoa! Are you all that willing? I don't want that many, I just want 100..."

Several children were sweating profusely from anxiety, and Yun Danqing almost counted wrong! He Tuoluo was still causing trouble: "You have to call us Boss Brother, Boss Sister... ah, I forgot the count just now!"

"Half a basket isn't finished counting yet, I don't know how many there are... Uncle, wait for me..."

What's going on? Why are they buying so much? It feels like it's not as easy as just buying 20!

The young man who was waiting for his water caltrops also stopped struggling instantly, just feeling extra lucky that he had asked for this half basket first.

No matter if the people behind can buy them or not, his share is settled anyway!

However, what made the Boss Brothers and Sisters even more anxious was that at this moment, another crowd of people turned over from the other end of the alley:

"Is it here in front?"

"It should be. They said a few children were selling water caltrops, and someone was having a self-service barbecue—I just wanted to see who was bragging and showing off wealth here saying their eyes—sigh, holy crap! This barbecue is really fragrant!"

"Wait a minute, why are there so many people buying water caltrops? There aren't this many people at our tables nearby, right?"

"Oh my, so many people buying water caltrops proves that there really is something to it, I just don't know if they'll be sold out..."

"What are you worried about? At most, you buy a few dozen to eat, it's just the thought that counts, who could—holy crap, holy crap! Why is he walking away with the basket?!"

The one carrying the basket was the young man in the lead.

No way, the 5 children were sweating profusely, and they had to redo a few bags in the middle, but they finally counted this half basket of water caltrops clearly.

Because the water caltrops were small, there were 766 in total, which came to 240 yuan. Qiaoqiao decided to give the extra ones away!

There were many people queuing behind, and if they continued to calculate, Chen Chi's fingers would be broken.

And although Yun Danqing was good at math, she was better at paper and text. When there were too many people, her head also stumbled a bit.

Compared to previous stall-setting experiences, this can be considered very sincere.

The young man was also very satisfied.

He originally thought it would cost five or six hundred yuan, but he didn't expect it to cost only over 200, and this Boss Brother was so willing to give them away...

Oh my, in Old Zhao's shop, even a green onion is hard to get!

Of course, ordinary green onions are fine, a fact he incidentally ignored.

The only problem was that there were only small fresh-keeping bags here, and the dozen or so bags he was carrying were really impossible to take, so he had to take the basket away together.

Regarding this, Old Zhao made a guarantee while gnawing on meat skewers:

"It's okay, when he has time to come to my shop later, I'll bring them back for you."

So delicious! I dare not talk too much; in the time it took to say these two sentences, others took one more skewer than me!

But the young man was satisfied, while the customers who squeezed in from behind had stern expressions!

Sure enough.

Only to hear two more of Old Zhao's customers in front shouting loudly: "What? Half a basket is only over two hundred?!"

Good heavens, fine vegetables haven't had this quantity and price for a long time!

Over seven hundred, just hearing the number feels like the New Year, they feel heartbroken even when buying a watermelon in summer.

Everyone looked at each other and spoke quickly: "I want half a basket!"

"I want a basket!"

"Give me the last half basket!"

Only 3 people, and the rest were basically divided up! Old Zhao's customers were a huge crowd, who could bear this?

Everyone shouted out immediately: "Old Zhao, Old Zhao, stop eating, hurry up and take a look!"

"Exactly, you can't buy like this, otherwise I drove for more than half an hour from the new district, am I buying air?"

"Purchase limit! Must have a purchase limit!"

Everyone talked at once, never expecting that one day they would actively request a purchase limit, truly a tearful experience...

They were arguing in front, no one willing to give in, as if they had missed some treasure if they bought one less.

And the group of barbecue stall customers who came over after hearing the big brother's gossip:...

In the middle of the night, in this remote area, selling the even more obscure water caltrops, you are fighting like this? Is this reasonable?

Also, is half a basket for over 200 yuan a big bargain? If you bring a tricycle for over 200, you don't even need to go into the water, you can pull a cart from the countryside!

Also...

Everyone was looking at the people arguing in front in confusion, while smelling the wisps of fragrance in the air that seemed to be scratching their hearts like little hands...

Unknowingly...

"Slurp."

?? Coming! Tonight is 4000 words, cousin came home, we are going to eat fried chicken for a midnight snack! There is none next door tonight!