Chapter 105 — A Haggling Expert
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Beyond the snack street lay a whole-night department-store market. Though it was called a night market, on weekends plenty of vendors set up their stalls by day as well, making it every bit as lively as the snack street here.
Wei Zhao had nothing better to do—Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were still happily eating over there—so he wandered toward the department-store market. Compared with the outrageously priced brand-name sportswear in the malls, Wei Zhao much preferred the cheap goods off the street stalls.
As long as you had a good eye and knew a trick or two about haggling, you could pick up stylish, decent-quality clothes at the street stalls just the same.
"Ha—" Gazing at the familiar figure before him, Wei Zhao felt caught between laughter and tears. It seemed he and she really were fated to keep crossing paths.
As Wei Zhao walked on, he found Tang Zhi crouched in front of a stall selling girls' clothes, a dress in her hands, looking as though she liked it very much.
"Um... could you make it a little cheaper?" Tang Zhi hesitated for a while before asking the vendor.
"Little girl, take a look—this is all top-grade fabric, and look at the workmanship, beyond reproach, and this style is the most popular this year. Put this in Pengzhan Department Store and you couldn't take it home for under eight hundred or a thousand..." The vendor talked on glibly, spittle flying, as if his goods were the finest in the world.
"This..." It was obvious Tang Zhi wasn't much good at haggling. "But two hundred yuan is a bit too expensive..."
"Not expensive at all—look around, everything's gone up in price now. This fabric, the labor, together it's more than two hundred. Two hundred was calculated at the old wholesale price; the wholesale price has risen since, and once this batch is sold I'll be raising my prices..." The vendor went on singing the praises of his wares.
"I... I'm from the snack street over there... could you go a little lower? If you go a little lower, I'll buy it..." Tang Zhi gritted her teeth and revealed who she was.
"Oh? You run a stall on the snack street over there?" The vendor glanced at Tang Zhi, but said, "If you're a vendor over there, you should know even better. I'm working on small profits, quick turnover—how much can any of us make at this night market? With so many stalls, who's bidding up whose price? And there's the daily tax, the management fee to the market—what's really left over isn't much..."
"Huh?" Tang Zhi looked weakly at the vendor. She'd said all that, so why wouldn't he knock off a single cent? Could it be he'd seen how much she liked the dress, and that was why he wouldn't budge an inch? How hateful this man was.
Wei Zhao shook his head. With haggling like Tang Zhi's, it would be a wonder if she ever got the price down. It seemed he'd have to give her a hand. Tang Zhi's family circumstances weren't good—Wei Zhao could see that much—so if he could save her a bit of money, he ought to.
"Hey, brother, you setting up shop here?" Wei Zhao walked over and warmly clapped the vendor on the shoulder.
"Huh? Er? You are...?" The vendor stared at Wei Zhao, utterly baffled, having no idea who he might be.
"You've forgotten me? The year before last we went to pick up stock together, at Old Zhang's," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "I used to run a stall at the night market south of the bridge."
"Oh, oh," the vendor said, nodding in sudden enlightenment at Wei Zhao's words. "So it's you, little brother—no wonder you looked so familiar. How's business been lately?"
"Don't even mention it. Your sister-in-law's pregnant, and I'm home looking after her—when would I have time to run a stall? It's just that my sister finally came to visit these past couple of days, so I seized the chance to come out and stretch my legs." Wei Zhao crouched down familiarly in front of the stall.