Stepmother

First Sale

The following day, Sun Baohai went to get the jars of jam from the bowl of cold water. Before he went to sleep yesterday he put the jars of jam in cold water so that they would not garner too much moisture and go bad. It was very early when he got up this morning so he had time to cook breakfast for the kids. He made some egg pancakes for the kids and some thin porridge for the baby. He packed the breakfast and brought the still sleepy kids to Aunt Lin's house. After ensuring that everything was taken care of he boarded the carriage and made his way to town. 

As soon as he got off the carriage he made his way to his shop. The shop no longer looked depilated and broken. He had fixed it, painted the outside light blue, and drew browallia and orchid flowers on the wall. The decoration was both appealing to men and women. In this ancient times, most men would not enter a shop if things that are meant for women are affiliated with the shop. So he just decided to decorate his shop gender-neutral.

He put the jar on a shelf that could be seen as soon as somebody walked in. He made sure that everything was okay in the shop before he put the open sign he painted on the door. The business wasn't that great, and barely anybody visited his shop. But his decoration and the way he arranged the shop were modern to some people and appealed to them, so two hours later he got his first customer. His shop had a space front that was kind of like a drive-thru so customers could clearly see what was inside. Though this sounded pretty modern, almost every store he saw had one of these. He saw the lady look, and then she actually made her way inside.

Seeing his first customer, he immediately went to her. The lady was dressed in fine cotton, which meant that she was pretty well off. Her hair was tie,  which meant that she was married. She had two silver hairpins in her hai,  which meant that her husband's family was well of,  and she was probably loved. Plu,  her chubby figure meant that her life was probably smooth sailing at home. This was indeed a good customer.

"Hello, miss! How may I help you?" Sun Bohai asked politely, and immediately after that, a smile made its way onto the lady's face.

"Miss? It's clear that I am married,"the lady responded, trying to keep her smile under control.

"Ah, sorry, I was just doubting that theory since you seemed so young," Sun Baohai apologized with a bow, his voice genuine.

"Really? I don't get that often." The lady replied her smile so wide, you can barely see her eyes. "

"Now that is surprising," Sun Baohai said with a shocked look on his face, making the lady even happier.

"What do you sell here," The lady asked. She liked this kid.

"I sell something called jam. It is made from strawberries and sugar. Would you like to 6" Sun Baohai responded.

"Sure," The lady answered. After a while, Sun Baohai brought back a spoon and a jar of jam and gave the lady half a spoonful full. The lady was curious to see this new food and tried it enthusiastically and was surprised by how delicious it was. The jam was sweet and tangy and left a nice aftertaste.

"How much is this?" The lady asked excitedly.

"The jar is thirty-five cents ma'am," Sun Baohai responded.

"So expensive?" The lady commented the surprise in her voice evident.

"Madam, this is a pretty sweet desert, which means that a lot of sugar went into it. Plus, this jam can be used for multiple things. You can put it on bread, in certain teas, on pastries, and in milk. Plus, this jam could last you up to a month." Sun Baohai explained.

"Really? Then, please sell me a jar!" The madam responded enthusiastically.

"Yes, madam," Sun Baohai responded with a smile as he gave the lady her jar of jam. After the lady paid him, he touched the money and felt a little emotional. Now, he wasn't going to starve to death. As soon as the lady walked out, the system started speaking.

『Your new mission is to sell three jars of jam today. Your reward will be a bottle of vegetable oil and two points.』

'I accept the mission'

When people saw Madam Li come out with a jar of red paste while smiling happily, some wives went up to her to inquire. Madam Li was the wife of a small but wealthy merchant in town. They grew up as childhood sweethearts and married each other. Plus Madam Li had given her husband five sons and became very favored. Her husband adored her so much that he never had a mistress despite getting wealthier. So she was kind of a well-known figure in this small town, and many people tried to befriend her. So they saw this as a good opportunity to talk to her. Madam Li was also not an unreasonable person and also stopped to talk to them.

"Madam Li, what is it that you're holding in your hands?" A pretty ger who was dressed in blue asked. 

"This is called jam, I bought it at Bǎowù Diàn* that just across the street. It's kind of expensive but it has multiple uses and last long so I would recommend buying it." Madam Li explained.

"How much was it?" A lady dressed in yellow asked.

"Thirty-five wen," Madam Li responded.

"Thirty-Five?!" A lady in green asked, clearly shocked.

"I was just as shocked too but, the seller has really good reasons, plus he lets you taste it. So in the end it's up to you to buy it." Madam Li explained.

"Well I'll go visit," The ger in blue responded. He was known as Madam Luo and he was not favored by his husband at home and had to deal with unruly concubines every now and then, he gave his husband his only two sons, and was undoubtedly very favored by his mother-in-law so his spending money was not so different from Madam Li's.

"Me too," The lady in yellow responded. She was known as Madam Hu. Her husband was a hunter and a butcher, so she had some extra money to spend. Though she gave her husband two daughters, she was still very loved as she married her husband when he was dirt poor despite the opposition of her parent.

"I will also go," The lady in green said. She was known as Concubine Liang. She's a concubine of the county magistrate and was not very favored because she gave birth to a sickly son. They considered her son being sick bad luck and sent them to stay alone in this town. But she had a supporting maternal family, hence they took her in. Their family owns a clothing shop, plus her brother were all small scholars that would transcribe books as a job, so they lived very comfortably.

Meanwhile, Sun Baohai was thinking of how to attract customers not knowing that three big customers were about to visit him. 

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