The happy little days of the Ye family

Today is the 29th of the year, and it is the last day that Ye’s grocery store is open for business this year.

Ye Donglin had already made an agreement with a nearby woman who often came here to buy groceries. The grocery store would be closed tomorrow and would not open for business until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

Thinking that it was inconvenient for women nearby to buy vegetables, Ye Donglin planned to bring more fresh vegetables to the grocery store today.

Not long after they got up, Wang Xiaofu and Ye Ping'an pulled a cart over to Ye's house to deliver vegetables.

There are not many fresh vegetables in winter, only chrysanthemum, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, white radish and potatoes.

In addition to these, there are several round winter melons and large pumpkins on the cart.

Thinking that they would not be able to open their doors for business for several days, Ye Donglin specifically told the two of them yesterday to bring more winter melons and pumpkins that are resistant to aging.

After packing up the fresh vegetables, Ye Donglin moved three large buckets of fresh fish to the donkey cart. The buckets contained four to five kilograms of large grass carp.

Ye Donglin also carried several baskets of bean sprouts cooked by Mrs. Ye.

Thinking that there was not much food and dry goods in the grocery store, Ye Donglin also brought some there. There were many people visiting relatives during the New Year, so food and dry goods were selling particularly well these days.

The donkey cart was packed to the brim with all kinds of things, and even a sack of cornmeal was placed on the shaft.

It was probably because the donkey cart was too heavy. When we set off, the big green donkey at home looked unhappy and was unwilling to move.

Ye Donglin guiltily took the fodder and fed it, then the stubborn donkey bared his teeth and reluctantly pulled the cart out.

Father Ye and Ye Donglin drove a full donkey cart out. Today was the last day to go out for business. Both father and son were very happy. They could finally rest for a few days during the New Year.

At the end of the year, every household has a lot of things to do. Early in the morning, women from the neighborhood came to Ye's grocery store to buy groceries.

Every year when there is more than enough, the New Year’s Eve dinner is a good one. Fish is an indispensable item for every household.

As soon as Ye Donglin brought down the three buckets of fish, several women surrounded the large water tank containing the fish.

Compared with pork, the price of fish is much lower, and everyone buys big fish.

The grocery stores were closed for the next few days, so these women bought a lot of vegetables and stored them at home.

People buy more of these long-lasting vegetables, such as cabbage, winter bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage, and radishes.

Pumpkin can be eaten as both a vegetable and a grain, and the pumpkin seeds inside can also be used as snacks. You can eat several of them. It is very popular among the women nearby, and almost everyone has one.

Although bean sprouts and chrysanthemum cannot be stored for a day or two, they are still fine. Everyone took some with them.

Half of the vegetables were sold when Wang Chunyu came over with a donkey cart and gave Ye Donglin four roast ducks and three roast chickens.

These roast ducks and chickens were freshly prepared and are still steaming hot and fragrant.

It's the end of the year, and the women who usually search for food are also generous. They buy roast ducks and chickens half by half.

Wang Chunyu saw that the business in the shop was good, so he was not in a hurry to go back and stayed to help entertain the customers in the shop.

When Wang Chunyu saw many women wanting to buy grain, he quickly stepped forward with a small scale beam to help weigh it.

"Madam Wang, I want 5 pounds of shelled rice and 5 pounds of cornmeal."

"Lady boss, I want 10 jins of cornmeal, and another 20 jins of rice."

"Bring me 2 kilograms of rice and 20 kilograms of corn cobs. I also need 20 kilograms of sweet potatoes."

"Okay, don't be in a hurry, take your time one by one." Wang Chunyu took the sacks from the women and weighed the grains with quick hands and feet.

Ye Donglin on the other side was extremely busy selling vegetables and collecting money.

After the women who were buying vegetables and grain left, a few energetic young men came to the grocery store.

The academy had been on holiday a few days ago, and these young people had nothing to do. They rented a lot of story books and travel notes and went back to read them. In the past few days, people have come over to borrow and return books.

Everyone nearby knows that today is the last day the grocery store is open, and many people come to borrow books to read during the Chinese New Year.

People who can read and write generally have a good family background, and these half-year-old boys can eat.

Almost every one of these boys had a piece of pastry in hand. While eating the sweet pastries, they happily selected the miscellaneous books to rent.

Compared to the bustle of the grocery store, Father Ye's stall is much deserted.

Everyone has already bought the New Year's goods, as well as all the other dry goods and cosmetic items that are needed.

Father Ye had been guarding the stall for almost a morning and sold two roast chickens, a jar of honey and about 2 cakes.

There were a lot of people on the street at this time, but most of them were just wandering around, and not many people were actually buying anything.

Seeing that no one came to the stall, Father Ye, who was a little bored, took a piece of red date cake and ate it.

Seeing that Ye's father was eating well, a man passing by stopped and bought two red date cakes from the stall.

"No need to pretend." The man held the pastry with his hands and ate it while walking.

As soon as the man buying pastries left, a shrewd-looking middle-aged man came to the stall.

The man smiled brightly and said, "Boss Ye, I see that your stall is doing good business. This small stall can't hold many things, so why don't you just open a grocery store?"

Father Ye also knows this man. He runs a breakfast shop at the end of the street. However, the location of the shop is not good, and I heard that the business is very average.

"Boss Liang, you are really joking. You have also seen my small stall. It is deserted and there are not many customers coming here all day long. The money I make is not enough to pay the rent for the shop."

The business of this small stall is pretty good, but Father Ye has no plans to open a shop.

Boss Liang persuaded again: "Boss Ye, you are too humble. Who doesn't know that your stall has the best business around?"

"In my opinion, you should find a shop and open a grocery store. With Boss Ye's methods, he will definitely have a lot of customers and make a lot of money."

"Boss Liang, please don't tell secret stories. Just tell me what you have to say." Ye's father is doing business, so it's not good to keep chatting with him here.

"Boss Ye is so refreshing. Let me tell you straight away. My son has found a good job in the county and plans to move the whole family to the county."

"I plan to rent out my small shop. I wonder if Boss Ye has the intention to rent it and open a grocery store?"

Father Ye quickly refused: "Boss Liang is really kidding me. How can I afford a small stall like mine?"

Father Ye heard that the shops on North Street cost at least one tael of silver in rent, but now he is setting up a stall on the roadside, and the stall fee is only 10 cents a day.

In addition, he usually has to go to other villages to sell goods and collect the goods and sell them to stall owners. He does not set up a stall every day, so renting a shop is really not cost-effective.

Besides, he also knew that the Liang family's small shop was located in a particularly remote place at the end of the street, and its location might not be as good as the current stall.

Moreover, everyone can see the things on the stall when they pass by. The business is actually better than that of ordinary shops.

"This Boss Liang must have come to our door because he couldn't rent the shop. He won't be fooled." After Boss Liang left, Father Ye muttered in a low voice.

Although business was not very good today, the food items were sold pretty well. The three roast chickens and several pastries I brought here in the morning were all sold out, and 3 jars of honey were also sold.

Father Ye went to the grocery store, and he and Ye Donglin packed up the items in the grocery store and cleaned up before going home together.

On the way, Ye's father heard the good news. Yan Dafu's Braised Pork Shop finally couldn't bear it any longer. Yesterday, a notice for leasing was posted, and the shop was to be closed and sublet.

The father and son were in high spirits along the way and planned to go back and have some drinks to celebrate.