in spring

Chapter 108 Market Research
The summer sun gradually becomes hotter as the sun’s position rises. Passers-by on the street can’t wait to hide in the shade of the trees on the side of the road. Among them, men, women and children, all of them raised their sleeves in unison, intending to cover up a little heat. , but the hawkers who set up stalls on the street can only endure the sun's exposure and the thirst of their throats, and their hands are constantly busy.

One of the middle-aged salesmen, who sold his first oil powder, cleverly picked his load under a big tree. Taking advantage of the coolness of the shade, he not only avoided the fate of being dried out in the sun, but also successfully attracted many customers.The big girl and the little daughter-in-law took the opportunity to enjoy the coolness to choose their favorite makeup powder, and the men who came here because of the coolness were also persuaded by him, bought a box of rouge or a silk flower, and went home to coax their yellow-faced women .

The salesman was busy with his work while greeting customers, although he was tired and dry mouthed, but his heart was sweet.After all, I am the number one salesman in the east of the city. No matter how nice the youngsters are, they can't compare to my famous brand and good eloquence if they say good things to deceive the little girls!

After finally waiting for fewer guests, he took out the bamboo tube stuffed under the burden, took a sip of water, and suddenly a sweet and cool feeling went down his throat and went straight to the bottom of his heart, really refreshing!At this time, a light blue figure appeared next to his stall. It turned out to be a girl of twelve or thirteen years old. It seemed that her family was not very rich, but she was also well-to-do.A girl of this status and age is the best to coax!
He quickly smiled and asked kindly like a flower: "What do you want to buy, Miss? The powder and silk flowers here are the best! Look at this, authentic Suzhou goods! Chunxiangtang's rouge, there are pink and crimson There are pink ones and light pink ones, which are most suitable for young girls! No matter how much sweat you sweat, it won’t fall off! If you add a little water and apply it on your lips, you will look like a fairy in no time!” He picked up the next The small porcelain bottle: "There is also a special hair oil made by Ouyang's family in the south of the city. Just a little bit, the hair will become black and dense, smooth and soft, no matter how you comb it, it will not tangle. You can comb your hair in whatever style you want. It’s not greasy!” He leaned in front of Chunying and lowered his voice, pretending to be mysterious, and said, “This is a high-quality product that all ladies in the palace love to use! I have a network, and I finally got it. Today It was almost sold out in the morning, and now there are only two bottles left, and it will be sold out in less than half an hour. Little girl, if you don't buy it, you will miss out on good things!"

The little girl was in a daze when she heard it, and when he finished talking and wanted to stop to take a breath, she cleared her throat and asked, "Is this thing expensive? Is it true? If it's really such a good thing, How can you get it? Don't lie to me?"

"Where can it be?!" The peddler immediately argued, "It's definitely the real thing! Doesn't the little girl live nearby? If you ask people, you will know that I never lie! I got the goods directly from the royal merchant of the powder powder! I can’t buy it from others! I have it here in the whole capital!” After a pause, he put on a smiling face again: “A box of rouge eight coins, hair oil two taels of silver One bottle, if you think it is too expensive, I have cheaper ones here." He picked up two small porcelain boxes from the other side of the burden: "Although these are not from Suzhou, they are also from Jiangnan, Yan Shuangfei's peach blossom rouge, Now in the capital, this is the one that most people buy! It only costs five cents! There is also Changshu Zengji’s jasmine powder, which is really light, white and red, and it smells good all day long with just a little bit! Absolutely beauties My first choice! Little girl, if you want to buy it, I will only count you eight coins, how about it?"

A hint of disappointment flashed in the little girl's eyes, and then she looked at other rouges: "Why are they all produced in the south of the Yangtze River? Are there no local products in the capital?"

"Yes, there is, but now it is said that the rouge in the south of the Yangtze River is the best..." Lao Feng glanced at her, a little unsure of her thoughts, "The rouge from the capital is either imported or thicker. The face is also a bit green and heavy, and the price is not cheap. If the little girl really wants to buy it, she can choose this one? Xiangmanlou's rouge paste has the most correct taste, and it is applied on the face. It’s also much easier to moisturise than other’s, a box only costs one tael of silver, which is the lowest price in the whole city, and other’s may not be genuine.”

"What about these?" The little girl seemed to be undecided, but looked at the others hesitantly, "Which one is the most bought? It's the first time for me to choose rouge powder by myself. I really don't know which one to choose." Seems like everything is fine..."

Lao Feng knew that most of the girls who bought makeup this time were like this, so he patiently introduced them one by one. Seeing that the little girl seemed to have made up her mind, she suddenly turned to the silk flower: "This flower is very beautiful. , Did you tie it yourself? How much is it?"

Lao Feng talked dryly, and he had to hold back the desire to drink water and introduced again: "It's all made by craftsmen for decades, and it's an ancestral gold-lettered signboard! One flower costs only [-] yuan, so let's buy a few." The little girl has such a good appearance, it would be a waste if she didn’t put in a few more flowers!”

But the little girl's eyes wandered again, and Lao Feng wailed in his heart, seeing other girls coming, he couldn't help becoming impatient, and only hoped that the little girl would quickly decide what to buy.

The little girl turned her head and waved: "Brother, come quickly and help me see which one is better? I can't make up my mind!"

Lao Feng froze for a moment, then saw a handsome young man of seventeen or eighteen coming from the opposite street corner, his face seemed to have a suspicious blush, he quickly glanced at the two young girls on the other side of the stall, and whispered to the little girl Said: "Sister... go back quickly, such...expensive things...what can I buy..."

Old Feng hurriedly said: "My little brother is wrong. Although the things in my house are a bit more expensive, they are definitely worth the price! Look at your little girl, how juicy you are? Such a lovely face, only With a little powder, you will immediately become a fairy! The girl is well-dressed, and my brother’s face is also shiny? Besides, brother, look at what your sister is wearing on her head? She looks so good and her hair is beautiful, but she only wears it A flower made of cloth is too plain. My silk flowers are all high-quality, just like real flowers. Buying one is enough to wear for a long time. If you buy more, you can change them. , Every day is not the same! Brother, if you have such a good sister, you should love her more? Buy one? Buy a box of rouge? Make the girl more beautiful? Look at the girls over there, How juicy are you? Girls, you should dress up well!"

He said a lot without panting, and the young man blushed even more when he heard it. He hesitated and glanced at the younger sister next to him. : "Then...a pink lotus..." Seeing her sister's eyes widen, she couldn't help but lower her head.

Lao Feng was a little disappointed, but it was better than not making a deal, so he took the boy's money, passed a silk flower over, and immediately turned to the two new customers. When he was done, he turned around and saw that the brother and sister had disappeared. .

Chunying strode vigorously in the alley, feeling sullen in her heart, and looked back at Hu Fei, getting even more angry!
Hu Fei said sarcastically: "That uncle has said so much anyway... I can't tell him to talk for nothing..."

"How many times is this your first time?! The box of five-cent silver rouge and one-two-cent hair oil! You bought it on your own initiative! This time the silk flowers are fine, not worth much, if Once you got hotheaded, you bought back the most expensive things on other people's stalls, how long will your few silvers be enough for you?!"

Hu Fei shrank his head: "I don't dare anymore..." Without his beard, his majesty seemed to disappear immediately. Chunying could still talk to him politely, but after most of the day, that kind of politeness has disappeared. Totally left behind.

Chunying stared at him for a long time, but was finally discouraged: "Forget it, just treat it as hard money for them..." Thinking of the rouge hair oil in her sleeve, she had a headache. The quality is better than these. Of course she doesn't mind using it occasionally, but after leaving the house, she hasn't used it at all. After all, it's still a little girl's skin.Now tell her what to do with these rouge oils?It can't be wasted, can it?
Hu Fei glanced at her carefully: "Let's... go back to the car and talk?"

"What's the rush? Let's take a closer look at that Uncle Feng just now. Among the salesmen and flower girls we met today, his business is the best, and he has almost never stopped. I think he is very good at selling. We have to work hard. Learn." Chunying pulled him back to the entrance of the alley, and carefully checked the salesman on the opposite side, "Have you noticed? No matter what he sells, he blows it up to the sky, and everything must belong to his family Best of all, you can talk! Brother Xiao Fei, if you can learn his five-point eloquence, you won’t have to worry about not being able to sell your stuff.”

Hu Fei came up behind her and whispered: "He just exaggerated a little too much, and what he sold were all genuine products...but those silk flowers are not really good things..."

"Of course I know, I've made that thing too, and I even strung colored glaze beads in the Hou's mansion! Beads are very cheap, and he's too ruthless, unexpectedly, a small bead flower costs two renminbi! It's not an uncommon trick, and the glass beads bought for two renminbi are enough to string ten beads!"

"That's not what I said. No matter how high or low the cost of something is, it's good to make a profit. How much you earn depends on everyone's conscience, but...he boasted too much in person, as if all the patrons of him were beauties Like..."

Chunying squinted her eyes and turned her head: "What does this mean?" She is not a beauty, but also a delicate little beauty, okay? !
Hu Fei knew that he had said something wrong, so he hurriedly corrected it: "I didn't mean you..." He also felt that there was no silver 300 taels here, so he hurriedly pointed to Lao Feng: "Look, the girl who bought the hairpin now is obviously fat and ugly Very soon, the peddler said that she is very blessed, but her face is paler, and she should put on more rouge to add some blessings... Do you think her face is not red enough? You can still look at it with rouge?!"

Looking at the female customer, Chun Ying had to admit that Hu Fei still has a bit of aesthetic sense, but she couldn't help but spit out: "This is the art of speaking! We have to learn from him! Fat people say she is blessed Thin people say she is slim and slender, beautiful people say she is more beautiful, and ugly people..."

"How ugly is it?" Hu Fei looked at a woman approaching the sales stall. She had thick silkworm eyebrows, a flat nose bridge, bright red rouge on her thick lips, and a large mole on her lip. tight.

Chun Ying also saw it, and hesitated for a moment: "Maybe...she looks very temperamental?" Then she saw the woman open her voice and scolded Lao Feng for selling her fancied hairpin to her deadly enemy the day before yesterday. , talking so frothy that Lao Feng couldn't get in his mouth at all.Chunying coughed, and muttered softly, "Or she's very energetic..."

As a result, Lao Feng managed to send the woman away, and a middle-aged woman with a sick face was ushered in. She was weak in speaking, and asked him if he had any good makeup powder to make her face look better.

Hu Fei whispered to Chunying: "This one...should I say that she is very soft and charming?"

Chun Ying reluctantly nodded.It seemed that Hu Fei was making rapid progress.

Then came another gray-haired old woman in her fifties, who bought a silver hairpin inlaid with jade and three big boxes of jasmine powder.Chunying made a suggestion in a low voice: "This one is... dignified and virtuous, right? Actually, I think she is dignified enough without wearing such a thick powder."

Hu Fei looked at another little girl who was about eight years old: "This one is... very juicy..."

Chun Ying and Hu Fei stared at the salesman for a long time, until he closed the stall and left, then left in a carriage.In the evening, I feel that I have benefited a lot today. I have sorted out all the popular powder brands, and I plan to go to another block tomorrow to learn more.But Chunying still told Hu Fei again and again: "Remember, when I asked my brother to come out, you said I wasted money and pulled me away. Don't buy it again! Even if you buy it, you can only buy the cheapest one." Maybe we can buy one or two rare designs and learn how to weave them when we come back. I remember Shopkeeper Shi had leftover silk yarn, and he promised to give it to me. Go, and take a look at the neighbors on Funing Street."

Hu Fei smiled: "That's true, I should also buy some fruits and go back to see everyone, and then ask Uncle Jiang, how is the recent oil sales?"

The courtyard door opened, and Second Uncle Lu came in. Seeing Hu Fei here, he hurriedly greeted him: "Here you are? How are you today?"

"Well, I've learned a lot of useful things." Hu Fei saluted him, and Chunying ran over to carry the burden for the second uncle, a little strange: "Why is it so heavy? What are they all about?"

"You can keep the things that the young master rewarded me." Second Uncle Lu paused, then looked at Chun Ying, "I'm sorry to say Chun'er, Second Uncle...maybe I'm going south with the young master. .”

(End of this chapter)