You are unlucky and I am tough

Chapter 126 Selling Watermelons

In the East Market, sunlight shines on the bluestone road, illuminating the bustling crowd, and the streets and alleys are filled with the sweet fragrance of mooncakes and osmanthus cakes.

The stalls on both sides of the street are filled with a wide variety of festive decorations, and everywhere there is an atmosphere of family reunion and joy.

The vendors, sweating profusely, shouted at the top of their lungs, "Freshly baked mooncakes, thin skin, big fillings, sweet but not greasy!"

"Osmanthus sugar cake, sweet and soft, come and have a look!"

"It's time to sell lanterns! Beautiful lanterns, lighting up the road to reunion. Come and buy some!"

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, a series of clang-clang-clang sounds suddenly rang out, and passers-by looked in the direction of the sound.

A clear voice rang out: "Watermelons for sale, big and sweet watermelons!"

Everyone saw a beautiful young lady in front of a tea stall. She was wearing a lavender double-breasted silk dress with a ribbon embroidered with flowers tied around her waist. She was beating a gong. Her fair face was glowing lightly in the sunlight, and the smile on her face made people look like a spring breeze.

People are visual animals. Seeing this scene, they couldn't help but stop and slowly gather around.

It can be seen from the way the woman has tied her hair that she is married. Her black hair is tied into a low bun at the back of her head, which is simply fixed with a jade hairpin. A few strands of hair fall naturally in front of her forehead. Her eyes are as clear as a spring, and her shouting sounds particularly fresh and lively.

As the crowd gathered around, they discovered several carriages parked nearby, covered in thick cloth. No one knew what they were carrying. In front of each carriage sat a young man with sharp eyebrows and sharp eyes, his features deep and three-dimensional. He was bending one leg, shielding his eyes from the scorching sun.

With his looks and tough temperament, if he wasn't wearing coarse clothes, one would mistake him for a young man with great martial arts skills.

Who else could these two people be but Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang?

Seeing that hundreds of people had gathered, Cheng Shuang struck the gong again and said in a clear voice, "The bright moon of Mid-Autumn Festival shines on every household. I sell melons on the street. The green skin and red flesh are as sweet as honey. May you enjoy them and be happy."

"Good, good..." The crowd suddenly erupted in warm applause, and someone shouted, "This lady has great literary talent."

Cheng Shuang smiled gently, and seeing that there were enough people, she asked loudly, "Have you ever heard of watermelon?"

The crowd looked at each other, and almost all shook their heads, indicating that they had never heard of it, with puzzled expressions on their faces.

A middle-aged man in the back row, dressed respectably, raised his hand and said, "I know, I know. It's the after-meal fruit sold in Taibai Tower. A small plate weighing less than a pound costs two hundred coins. I went there a few days ago specifically to try it, and it tasted really good."

As soon as the man finished speaking, the crowd erupted in discussion. Taibailou had recently introduced many new dishes, using ingredients never before seen. Business was booming, and it had become the talk of the town.

Some people who knew a little bit of the news immediately started bragging to those around them.

Seeing that everyone was discussing enthusiastically, Cheng Shuang struck the gong a few more times to draw everyone's attention back, and said loudly, "Everyone, do you want some watermelon?"

The crowd didn't understand what he meant, and one man shouted, "My lady, even if you can write poetry, we can't afford to pay two hundred coins per pound for such precious things."

"Yeah." Someone started to agree, "We need money to eat it. This young lady is selling watermelons in the wrong place."

"We should go to Xishi Street. That's where the rich go."

The onlookers started to speak out, and some people felt it was boring and began to leave.

Cheng Shuang said calmly, "Two hundred coins is the price at Taibai Tower. If I say you can have it for only ten coins, does anyone want it?"

"Ten cents?" The crowd was in an uproar.

"Madam, are you kidding me?"

"This watermelon of yours is not fake, is it? Are you trying to trick us by taking advantage of the reputation of Taibailou watermelon?"

"Yeah, we're not that easily fooled."

Cheng Shuang was not angry either. She looked at everyone with a smile, "Whether it's true or not, everyone will know in a moment."

"Then take it out and show it to us."

"Yes, take it out and let me see."

Someone shouted loudly, and others followed suit. The noise here immediately attracted more people to gather around.

Seeing that the atmosphere was already lively, Cheng Shuang turned to look at Wei Qinglang and winked. Wei Qinglang jumped out of the car and pulled one of the carts of watermelons into the middle of the crowd.

Then he raised his hand and gestured towards the tea stall, "Uncle, please move the table over here. It's time to get to work."

"okay!"

The owner of the tea stall nearby immediately responded and he and his son began to move tables over and put them together, placing a sharp kitchen knife on each table.

Cheng Pan and Wei Xinyi, who had been sitting in the tea stall, also ran over to help and spread a cloth on a table nearby. Today they were responsible for collecting money.

The father and son who came to help were hired by Cheng Shuang to help her cut melons. Because all the suitable stalls on this street were occupied, she couldn't find a suitable place to set up a stall to sell melons, so she looked for a tea stall.

Then he talked to the tea stall owner and used five hundred coins, twice the tea stall's half-day income, to rent the venue, and hired the tea stall owner's father and son to help for another one hundred coins each.

Wei Qinglang pulled off the cloth covering the carriage, revealing a carriage full of green-skinned watermelons. The crowd exclaimed and asked each other if this was what watermelons looked like.

Wei Qinglang took a board off the cart and hung it on the tea stall sign. It said: Watermelon is ten cents a piece, and each person is limited to buying two pieces.

"It's really ten cents?"

"Does the two-yuan purchase limit mean you can only buy two yuan?"

Cheng Shuang answered from the side, "Yes, watermelon is a seasonal fruit. Once the season is over, it's gone. The ones we brought today are the last ones from the fields. Once they're sold, we'll have to wait until next year. So, to allow more people to taste them, each person can only buy two pieces at most."

While she was talking to everyone, Wei Qinglang had already skillfully cut a watermelon. A watermelon weighing about ten pounds was cut into twenty small pieces, each weighing about half a pound.

When the crowd saw the cut watermelon, they stretched their necks and saw that the skin of the cut watermelon was a thin layer of emerald green, and the flesh was bright red and juicy. Just looking at it made people start to swallow their saliva unconsciously.

At this time, the man who had said he had eaten watermelon in Taibai Tower squeezed in and shouted, "Give me a piece. I've eaten it before, let me try it first to see if it tastes the same."

Wei Qinglang picked up a piece and handed it over. The man counted it and dropped ten coins on the table. Wei Xinyi ran over and reached out to pick it up.

The man took the watermelon and took a big bite under everyone's gaze. Then his eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's the taste. It's the same as Taibai Tower."

The crowd became excited when they heard this, and began to take out money and shout to buy it. They were reluctant to spend two hundred coins, but many people were still willing to spend ten coins to eat something worth two hundred coins.

These people rushed forward, almost pushing the table over. Cheng Shuang started banging the gong again and shouted, "Please line up in front of the three tables separately. Don't push or rush, otherwise we won't sell to you. Those who buy will pay at this table over here."

Next to it was a wooden board with the words "Cashier Counter" written on it, leaning against the table in front of Cheng Pan.

It was a bit chaotic at the beginning, and those people didn't line up, so Cheng Shuang kept beating the gong until they lined up properly.

Wei Qinglang and the tea stall owner and his son quickly began to open the watermelons.

Wei Nanxing, who was looking for his family along Dongshi Street, saw someone eating a watermelon on the street, so he immediately went up to ask where the watermelon stall was.

By the time he got there, the first truckload of melons had almost been sold out.

There was a long line in front of the stall, and the whole family was busy. Wei Nanxing quickly parked the donkey cart where the watermelon cart was parked and waved to Lu Yinyin to follow him.

Lu Yinyin followed in and saw that there were so many people queuing up. Cheng Shuang's family was busy with their work in an orderly manner. She didn't feel comfortable disturbing them, so she asked Wei Nanxing to go and help, and she sat down at the only remaining table in the tea shed.