12dz Chapter 34 Bargaining
Chapter 34 Bargaining
In the past, when customers came to buy fabric, he would recommend it, but they would either refuse it because they thought it had flaws, or they would refuse it because they thought the cheapest options were too few.
The mother and her two daughters who came into the store today were all dressed in patched-up clothes. They probably didn't have any better clothes at home. Buying just one piece of clothing probably wouldn't be enough to make up for it. Moreover, since they could afford to buy a full-price piece of clothing, they might actually be able to buy an extra piece to get rid of it.
He tried mentioning it briefly, and to his surprise, the guest's daughter was interested. Although she was young, her mother seemed to listen to her opinions.
Looks like there's hope!
"Madam, this is the only flawed piece of cloth in our shop. If you don't buy it today, it will be gone tomorrow. You can buy it and make a few more outfits to wear, which would be very good."
A sly glint flashed in Shen Xiaotang's eyes. "Mom, let's go. It's flawed and thirty coins cheaper all at once. If it were easy to sell, it would have been sold long ago. We don't come to town easily, so this good thing is never going to happen to us. This apricot color is too light and doesn't keep up with dirt. If we wear it to work, it will get so dirty in no time that you can't even see its original appearance. It's also hard to wash."
Upon hearing this, the waiter immediately became anxious.
“Young lady, you can’t say that. Even though we are farmers, we can’t work every day without a break. You’ve come to town for the market today, and you’re in a good mood wearing clean new clothes, aren’t you? If you’re not in a hurry to make more clothes, you can buy them and keep them at home. You can make them later.”
Seeing that the shop assistant was unwilling to lose the deal, Shen Xiaotang took the opportunity to bargain down the price.
"Make it cheaper, eighty coins, we'll take it!"
Upon hearing this, the shop assistant nearly vomited blood. "No way, no way! Eighty coins isn't even as expensive as a bolt of coarse cotton cloth. And there aren't many flaws. Selling it like this would be a huge loss. Even our manager wouldn't agree to that. How about ninety coins, the same price as the coarse cotton cloth? That way, we'll gain another regular customer. What do you say?"
Shen Xiaotang said firmly, "Eighty coins is fine. If you don't want it, you can keep it and sell it to other customers. We only need to buy one bolt of cloth."
The shop assistant was very hesitant. This piece of cloth hadn't sold for half a month, and the shopkeeper was very unhappy.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Eighty-five coins, that's the lowest I can go. Take it or leave it, I'll keep it for sale."
Upon hearing that it was 85 coins, Liu was immediately tempted. After all, the blue cotton cloth they had just bought cost 130 coins, and this apricot-colored cloth with flaws was of the same quality, yet it was only 85 coins, a difference of 45 coins.
So what if it's flawed?
They were all dressed in clothes covered in patches, but even the flaws looked better than the big patches, didn't they?
Moreover, we can make two new outfits for each person after buying them, and there will be some left over. We can make two more outfits for our two daughters to change into, and we can also sew a few more little clothes.
With that thought in mind, she immediately became certain.
buy!
"Eighty-five coins, we'll take it."
As soon as the waiter saw that the customer had agreed, he beamed and quickly wrapped it up.
Shen Xiaotang had been thinking that her mother was reluctant to part with the money since she hadn't said anything until her mother agreed to the price before she could even negotiate it down to her satisfaction. This was quite unexpected.
Her eyes flickered, and she asked, "Young man, we bought two bolts of cloth at once, and even bought the defective ones that were hard to sell. That's a small favor for you, right? Could you give us something in return?"
The shop assistant paused, somewhat embarrassed, "The fabric we sell here is all in whole bolts, and even the loose pieces are already cut to size. There are only a few rough edges and scraps left, which can't be used to make anything. What can we give them away?"
"Rough edges or scraps are fine, as are dirty or old threads. We can take them back to patch up the clothes when they get torn."
The guy immediately said he wanted rough, scrap, and old thread, which was no problem at all!
He had just seen the customer ask for a free gift and assumed he wanted some good fabric, which startled him for no reason.
“The inner rooms of the shop are better. I was planning to clear them out and throw them away when I was free. If you want them, you can take them all.”
The waiter immediately helped bring out all sorts of rough, frayed fabric scraps, and also a large wad of tangled, knotted thread in various colors, including some rare and valuable silk threads.
There was only one roll of old cotton thread in Liu's room. She had to muster up the courage to ask her mother-in-law for it. Even though she got it, she was scolded by her mother-in-law and listened to her cursing for half a day.
If she could gather all these threads, she could make quite a few clothes. And these scraps of fabric, though small and fragmented, she could patiently piece them together to make pillows for her two daughters.
A thought stirred within her, and she thanked the waiter repeatedly.
"Thank you so much."
The shop assistant scratched his head and grinned, "These are all unwanted items, so I can't offer you better ones. Just come to our shop more often to buy fabric; that would be a favor to me."
Liu was an honest woman, not one to scheme. She simply grunted in response, thinking to herself that she only had a few taels of silver left in the house, and once it was all gone, it would be gone. She wondered when she would be able to buy cloth again.
Shen Xiaotang smiled and said, "Okay, we will definitely come again in the future. If there are any scraps of cloth that you don't want in the shop, please save them for us."
The waiter quickly agreed, thinking to himself that although the mother and her two daughters were poorly dressed, they had plenty of money and spoke politely, unlike some older women who were domineering and rude.
After they finished tidying up the scraps of cloth, they took out two knotted threads and tied the scraps together securely. The mother and her two daughters then thanked the shopkeeper again with their belongings.
Stepping out of the fabric shop and looking at the bustling traffic and the street vendors lining both sides of the road, Liu felt a little unreal.
"Tang'er, this town is so nice. You asked them to give you things, and the butcher gave us bones, and the cloth shop gave us scraps of cloth. Although they are not worth much money and are not very useful, their attitude is very good. If it were your stepmother, she would immediately start cursing no matter what it was."
Xiaoyu nodded in agreement, "Mother is right...that's right, stepmother...she scolds everything."
Shen Xiaotang explained, "Mother, Xiaoyu, stepmother is a real oddball. She's so lazy and always looking for trouble. You probably don't see many like her in the surrounding villages. It's all because you and Father are so capable, and Grandpa favors her children. She's been spoiled and become so domineering. The people doing business in this town are generally very kind. As long as you have money and don't haggle too much, they're usually very friendly."
Madam Liu nodded. "Mother understands. Mother has never been out of town and is not very knowledgeable. Today, coming to town with Tang'er has really broadened my horizons."
"Me too, me too, I also followed my older sister... I've learned a lot. This town is so... so big, the houses are so grand, the roads are straight and... so flat, and they sell all kinds of things."
Xiaoyu was overjoyed, her eyes and brows beaming with smiles, and much of her innate timidity had dissipated.
Shen Xiaotang said with a determined look, "Mom, Xiaoyu, when we have saved enough money, our whole family will move to town. I want Dad, Mom and Xiaoyu to live in such a grand house."
Liu chuckled and said, "Tang'er, let's not even talk about how much money a grand house in this town would cost, we probably can't even afford a piece of vacant land."