Chapter Eighty-two: Choosing a Gift

  "Old man, this wooden carving was originally sold for five yuan, but I'm just setting up my stall for the first time today and you're my first customer, so two yuan will do," said Song Jie.

  "200 yuan? That's not expensive. Can I take a look at some others?" The old man's heart itched again, thinking there might be even better ones.

  "Of course, I have a lot more, let me show you, they're all the same price." Song Jie hastily said.

  Song Jie took out all the wooden boxes from her backpack and bag, and also borrowed a folding stool from the uncle next to her, letting the old man sit down.

  The old man didn't stand on ceremony and sat down, carefully admiring each box one by one, becoming so absorbed that he couldn't help nodding his head.

  After a while, someone else came, and Song Jie hurriedly greeted them. Although there were not many people who knew their stuff, just by looking at the appearance and aura, they could tell that the craftsmanship was good.

  More and more people are gathering in front of the stall, many of whom think it's a good idea to buy one back for collection, and they all ask about the price.

  Song Jie thought that since there were not many people, it would be better to have a preferential policy to attract attention. So she said: "On the first day of opening, in order to reward the public, the first three customers will only charge 2 yuan, and now there are two places left, everyone hurry up."

  Everyone was surprised to hear that there were such good things and felt fresh, so they carefully selected them. Those who loved to take advantage of the situation quickly bought them.

  Song Jie indeed kept her promise and gave discounts to the first two people. Even when one of them bought several more, she didn't go back on her word.

  The old man was so absorbed in the selection that he didn't even notice the people beside him. After a long time, he finally chose only two: a wooden carving of a shepherd boy riding a yellow cow and a stone carving of a general on horseback.

  Looking at the old man's reluctant gaze, Song Jie asked: "Old man, you are our first customer. Everything we sell is 2 yuan, would you like to pick a few more?"

  The old man shook his head: "Good things can't be put in a bag, two are already very good." After paying the money, he walked away with satisfaction.

  Song Jie admired the old man's demeanor, this is a truly virtuous person.

  The sun was getting higher and higher, also more and more scorching. Song Jie's forehead slowly started to sweat, although she had spatial water and wasn't afraid of getting a tan, but the sun was really too big to bear.

  The uncle next door had already set up a sun umbrella, and Song Jie thickened her face and squeezed over.

  "Little girl, you're selling well! You really have skills." The uncle praised with admiration.

  Song Jie glanced at the dazzling sunlight outside and leaned into the umbrella again. The weather is not good, if it were spring or autumn. Staying for a day would be fine, but summer is really torturous.

  After glancing at the envious eyes staring at the goods on her stall, Song Jie felt that she might be able to find a good deal.

  "Uncle, what do you think of my wood carvings and stone carvings?" Song Jie asked.

  "Not bad, it's really good stuff. I think it has great collectible value, your grandfather is truly an extraordinary person." The uncle said sincerely, he had seen the excitement earlier and even sold a few more items along with it.

  "Since it's so good, are you interested in buying some?"

  The uncle was stunned, although he envied him. He really hadn't thought about it that way before, and in his subconscious mind, these things were all someone else's, having nothing to do with himself.

  The old man stroked his chin, thinking carefully. If it were his own business, he might be able to drive sales of other antiques as well. After all, he knew that this was a popular item at the moment, and he had been selling it here for a long time. He naturally knew what would sell quickly.

  "Little girl, what do you think?" The uncle immediately entered a shrewd businessman state, no longer gentle as before.

  Song Jie nodded secretly, right, this is what it means to be a legitimate businessman.

  "What I mean is, uncle, we have a lot of such things at home. Are you interested in buying some in bulk?"

  Wholesale? The uncle's mouth twitched, these are all cultural artifacts, how can you use wholesale, it's too uncivilized.

  Although he was skeptical, he nodded; "I'm interested, of course I am. Tell me more."

  Looking at the old man's expectant gaze, Song Jie involuntarily trembled and then recovered normally: "Uncle, you also know that summer is so hot, I'm still a student, of course, my studies are more important. Where do I have time to set up a stall here every day? You're different, Uncle, you've been selling things here all year round. If I wholesale these things to you, you've seen it too, this stuff is quite sellable, and you can definitely make money."

  The uncle thought to himself, where can he make money, it's definitely possible to make a good profit? His emotions were stirred up by Song Jie, after all, he was an old businessman, and soon he thought of the market prospects, feeling that this business could be done.

  Next, the two old foxes began to haggle over the price of things. After a long dispute, they finally settled on 2 yuan each as suggested by Song Jie.

  Song Jie didn't drag her feet either. She immediately checked all the decorations and showed them to Uncle, then handed everything over to him in one go.

  The two men settled their accounts and parted on good terms. The uncle was actually not that old, only 32 years old. Song Jie had just learned that the uncle's surname was Liu and his name was Liu Manjiang.

  After selling everything, Song Jie felt a sense of relief and finally escaped from under the scorching sun.

  It was agreed that goods would be delivered once a week, and payment would be made on the spot. Song Jie packed up her things and walked home leisurely, even buying an ice pop to treat herself along the way.

  Mr. Liu looked at the little girl's back and sighed, saying that she was really a good seedling for doing business.

  Song Jie took more than 40 wooden carvings and sold them for over 100 yuan, all of which was pure profit. She was in a great mood and planned to come back in a few days to see how Uncle's business was doing. If it was good, she would send another batch over, and the money from selling gifts should be enough.

  Song Jie's time is ample, the space is filled with her works from childhood to adulthood, if not for a versatile storage room, it would probably be piled up into a small mountain.

  In addition, she often uses carving to practice her magic power, and delivers a batch of goods every week, which is naturally in short supply.

  Three days later, Song Jie went out again. She wanted to check on Uncle's business and used the same technique as last time in her backpack. She arrived at the stall again.

  Uncle was unusually enthusiastic this time when he saw her, which left Song Jie a bit stunned. It wasn't until later that she understood, it turned out that the business had been exceptionally good these past few days, and all of the decorative items bought from Song Jie's place were sold out. If only he knew Song Jie's home address, he would have come knocking on her door.

  Song Jie arrived just in time, and the decorative items she brought solved the urgent problem. Again, it was easy to earn over a hundred yuan, and at this time, there were less than ten days left before Zhao Juan's wedding.

  Song Jie had money and naturally grasped the time to buy gifts.

  She pulled Zhou Muya, who happened to come to her for homework, out of the door, and the two began to stroll around.

  It was said that Song Jie had so much money, Zhou Muya thought it was given by the adults and didn't ask more questions, letting Song Jie escape a disaster.

  Zhou Muya was very familiar with the situation around her, she loved shopping, and every time she sighed because of a lazy friend Song Jie. Finally seeing Song Jie wanting to go shopping, how could she not show off her skills?

  Following Zhou Muya, they walked into a newly opened jewelry store, and the two of them pushed open the door and went in.

  Actually, Song Jie hadn't thought about what to buy either, but after listening to Zhou Muya's suggestion, she felt that buying a pair of matching accessories would be better, so she followed her to the newly opened jewelry store.

  The waiters in the store saw that they were two little girls and did not want to come forward to greet them. Song Jie was also not embarrassed, and began browsing in front of the glass counter.

  Zhou Muya's face was a bit flushed, she had come with her mother at first, but the service attitude back then wasn't like this. The little girl was sensitive and wanted to show off in front of her friends, but didn't expect to be slapped in the face, feeling embarrassed.

  Seeing Zhou Muya looking a bit embarrassed, Song Jie immediately guessed the situation and said kindly: "Muya, come and help me see which one is better?"

  Zhou Muya listened and couldn't help but feel embarrassed, so she quickly went forward to help with the selection. The two of them walked along the counter for a circle, and Song Jie set her eyes on an emerald green jade pendant.

  That piece of jade pendant is a circular shape, the pattern inside is a pair of mandarin ducks, after separating it becomes half of the Tai Chi diagram, and the two mandarin ducks become one each.

  Although the material is not top-notch, the water head is even, the meaning is full, and the carving work is also very good. It's a great choice to give it as a gift to mom. If she can engrave another defensive spell on it, it would be even better. Song Jie thought about it more and felt more satisfied.

  Zhou Muya on the side also thinks it's okay, both of their eyes are about the same. Moreover, the price is also acceptable, only 199 yuan.

  Song Jie calculated her own purse and felt that there was still a surplus, so she decided to buy it.

  "Auntie, take out this jade pendant and let me see it, okay?" Song Jie shouted.

  The service staff chatting nearby didn't react at all, and I don't know if they heard or not.

  "Auntie, I want to take a look at this jade pendant." Song Jie raised her voice, and now they had no choice but to listen.

  A round-faced waiter sauntered over and said impatiently, "Which one?"

  "This." Song Jie didn't mind her attitude either, pointing at the jade pendant. After all, things like this happen often now, and it's not worth getting angry about.

  "What's this?" The waiter's voice was shrill, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

  "It's this one."

  "This isn't for sale, go play somewhere else, don't cause trouble here." The round-faced waiter started to shoo people away impatiently. What a joke? They can't even afford this jade pendant themselves, how could a little kid possibly buy it? Just playing with people, huh?

  The waiter was impatient from the start, and when he saw Song Jie order a relatively high-end jade pendant, he became even more anxious, his eyebrows almost standing on end. His abnormal behavior caught the attention of the waiters chatting nearby, who all came over to surround him.