Travel · Hangzhou, Part Two: Chongming Plucks Flowers' Bargaining Philosophy
After a peaceful night's sleep amidst the wind and rain, Xiao Ling and his group faced another day of continuous rain.
The typhoon's impact on Hangzhou was intermittent, sometimes bringing light rain and sometimes heavy winds and rain.
But at this very moment, Xiao Ling discovered something quite absurd.
"What's the point of having only seasonings but no vegetables?" He stared at the eerily empty refrigerator, lost in thought, like an old man on a subway phone.
In contrast to the empty refrigerator, the kitchen ceiling is crammed with a whole row of spice cabinets, containing Chinese, Western, Japanese, and Korean spices.
If it were just a matter of not having any seasonings or ingredients, that would be fine. But the problem was that they had plenty of seasonings but were lacking ingredients, which Xiao Ling found very strange.
He always felt that his second aunt wouldn't make things up without reason, after all, she had even prepared a set of carefully tailored new clothes for each of the girls.
The phone beeped, and Xiao Ling unlocked it, glanced at it, and immediately gave a knowing look.
Xiao Ji: Oh, I almost forgot to remind you, you little rascal.
Xiao Ji: I've bought all the seasonings for you. I didn't know what you usually use, so I got you a portion of each.
Xiao Ji: As for the vegetables, you'll have to buy them yourself. You're the cook, so you know better than I what the girls in your family like to eat.
Xiao Ji: The typhoon is heading towards your area soon, so please be careful. After you finish shopping, head back quickly and don't cause any trouble.
Xiao Ji: If you buy a lot of vegetables, just call and have them delivered to your place. I'll give you their contact information later.
"Sigh, so I have to make the trip myself." Xiao Ling said helplessly.
"What's wrong, Xiao Yu?" Black-Feathered Bird peeks out.
"What's wrong, Brother Ling?" Chongming Bird peeks out.
Looking at the two little birds that suddenly appeared at the kitchen door, Xiao Ling couldn't help but think that they really did fly over to the scene as soon as they heard a whisper.
"There's no food at home," Xiao Ling said succinctly. "I'm going out to buy some groceries now. After all, we'll be staying here for a while, and those greedy girls were craving my cooking every other day when they were in Guangzhou."
"Going grocery shopping? Perfect timing! We've been here for a while now, why don't we go with you?" Suisui suggested.
"Sure," Xiao Ling nodded with a smile. "This is my first time here too, and I happen to need a guide. Does Sister Suisui know of any good quality, reasonably priced farmers' markets around here?"
"Then you've come to the right person!" Suisui walked up to Xiao Ling with a smile, lightly tapping her folding fan on Xiao Ling's shoulder. "My sister and I happen to know a street full of fresh ingredients. If it's convenient for you, I can take you there to check it out now?"
"Thank you for your trouble; this is crucial for us to be able to eat lunch on time."
"Oh~" Xiao Ling exclaimed in surprise, as if she had never seen anything like it before.
To be honest, he only picked up the pot and pan again after Dania came into his life. He usually buys groceries at the supermarket, so this was the first time he had ever been to the vegetable market.
The street vendors had a complete selection, offering meat, vegetables, seafood, and even live poultry—a variety so extensive it was overwhelming.
"Where should we begin?" he asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Choose whatever you want, and leave the bargaining to me." Suisui blinked her left eye.
"Sister Suisui has this trick up her sleeve?" Xiao Ling asked in surprise.
"During my time in Hangzhou, my sister came to this street every few days and met all the vendors here. You can't go wrong leaving the bargaining to her!" Yangyang said softly, with a hint of proud smile.
"Then I'll have to leave it to you, Sister Suisui. I'm really a novice when it comes to bargaining."
"Don't worry, just leave it to me. I'll make sure you get the best quality ingredients at the best prices!" Suisui said with a bright smile.
"Yangyang, do you come here often?"
"Hmm... to be honest, very few." Yangyang replied after a moment's thought. "After all, since we came here, my older sister has always been the one handling external affairs while I handle internal affairs. Besides, I'm easily swayed and can't out-bargain these street vendors."
"Afraid of haggling too much?"
"Yes, I've made my fair share of mistakes in this area. My sister has a lot of experience, so after discussing it, we decided to let her handle everything."
Suisui arranged it this way: Yangyang and Xiao Ling would go ahead to select the ingredients they needed, while she would follow behind and haggle with the sellers, which would save a lot of time.
Of course, all expenses were paid by Young Master Xiao; it wasn't his style to let the girls pay.
Not long after, Suisui, carrying a bag of vegetables, hurried over to Yangyang and Xiao Ling, who were walking ahead.
"Come on, lend a hand and feed them! This stuff is so heavy!" Suisui said sweetly.
"Oh dear, give it to me, Sister Suisui, don't tire yourself out." Xiao Ling quickly arrived at Suisui's side and took the bag of ingredients.
"Phew~ I'm saved." Suisui twirled her wrists a few times. "By the way, do you have any drinks? My throat was practically burning from haggling with them."
"There's a dessert shop over there, how about I go get you some?" Xiao Ling gestured towards the dessert shop not far away.
"I'll go," Yangyang volunteered. "You guys continue buying the ingredients you need, I'll catch up later."
After temporarily separating from Yangyang, Xiao Ling and Suisui continued forward.
"Sister Suisui, how did you negotiate the price with them?" Xiao Ling asked for advice.
"Want to learn?" Suisui asked with a smile, playing with the folding fan in her hand.
"If you want to learn, it's always a good thing to have more practical life hacks."
"It's actually quite simple. These street vendors all look kind and easy to talk to, but in reality, they're all very shrewd, and almost all of them treat outsiders like pigs to be slaughtered."
"Moreover, they are very good at judging people and catering to their tastes. For example, Yangyang is not suitable for bargaining; she's too easily influenced and can be easily tricked."
Xiao Ling agreed with Suisui's statement. Every time he asked about the price, the other party would basically quote a higher price. He had bought vegetables before and knew exactly what the price of each vegetable should be.
"So, since they like to treat people differently based on their status, why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine?" Suisui said with a smile.
"How do you retaliate against such a person?"
Just because they can treat people differently based on their status doesn't mean we can't.
"These vegetable vendors dare to charge such prices because they know that outsiders don't understand local prices and are naive and rich. But I'm a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and they can't compete with me in terms of shrewdness."
"As long as they perceive you as a knowledgeable and formidable individual, they'll naturally put away their little schemes."
Clearly, simply explaining the theory would only give Xiao Ling a superficial understanding, so Suisui decided to give him practical training directly.
She walked gracefully to a vegetable stall, pointed to the ingredients on the ground, and started chatting with the middle-aged woman in front of her.
Xiao Ling then realized that Suisui was speaking in the local dialect, but from her tone, it was clear that they were engaged in a fierce tug-of-war.
Finally, for some reason, the older woman waved her hand impatiently, while Suisui, satisfied, took the groceries she had just bought and returned to Xiao Ling's side.
"Like this vegetable vendor, she's impatient, so I have to keep at it until she gets impatient and gives in on her own." Suisui waved the groceries she had just bought, smiling happily.
"I've learned something, and I feel like my experience points have increased," Xiao Ling nodded.
"Sister! Xiao Yu!"
Xiao Ling and Suisui turned around and saw Yangyang carrying three cups of chilled mung bean soup, walking quickly towards them.
"Here, this is for you." Yangyang gave each of them a cup of mung bean soup.
"Mmm~ Delicious~" Suisui took a sip of the mung bean soup and smiled sweetly, clearly enjoying it very much.
"Speaking of which, we could buy some mung beans and make you some iced mung bean soup. What do you think?" Xiao Ling suggested, looking at the mung bean soup in her hand.
"Not bad~" Suisui agreed.
"I think so too," Yangyang nodded with a smile.
"That's perfect, let's keep going and see if we can buy some mung beans to make soup."