"Tofu~ Tofu~ Come and see, fresh and tasty tofu~ And delicious bean curd~"
In the bustling and noisy street market, a child's clear and innocent voice stood out distinctly.
It attracted quite a few people to look over and some came to their stall.
Seeing it really worked, Sun Daqing, Sun Daxiang, and Sun Daji all joined in eagerly.
The four kids seemed to be in a competition, each shouting louder than the last.
They didn't just shout themselves; they insisted on pulling Sun Youcai in to shout too.
Though Sun Youcai was eager to do business, he had only followed his brother a few times to gather herbs.
He hadn't done any other business, so for the first time, he was a bit hesitant to shout out or step forward.
Zhao Zhitong tugged at Sun Youcai and said in her small voice, "Uncle, do you want to make money? Old Mr. Bai said that smart vendors are good at promoting their products."
In this situation, he didn't bother with who Old Mr. Bai was and just stiffened his neck, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Tofu!"
"Hahaha." Zhao Zhitong burst out laughing, forming her small hands into a loudspeaker shape at her mouth and shouted loudly, "Tofu~ Fresh and tasty tofu~"
Having shouted once, it wasn't hard to shout again, and gradually Sun Youcai lost his sense of shame and began shouting various catchy slogans.
At this point, people became curious about what they were shouting about and asked, "What are you shouting about?"
Seeing someone ask her, Zhao Zhitong got excited, ran forward, and said sweetly, "Auntie, our family sells tofu, and bean curd~, so delicious."
This "Auntie" made the old lady laugh, "I'm over sixty, the same age as your grandmother, yet this girl calls me Auntie."
Zhao Zhitong's eyes beamed, "Wow, really? But Auntie doesn't look old at all."
These words made the old lady chuckle happily, "Let me see what fresh things you're selling."
Saying this, she went in front of the stall.
Zhao Dong, who was just mixing bean curd, saw the old lady come to inquire and warmly introduced, "This is tofu, soft and tasty, you can take it home to fry, stew, or make soup. This big piece is only three coins. This is bean curd, mixed with secret sauce, tangy and delicious, one bowl for one coin, you can eat here or take home."
Saying so, he took out pre-cut lotus leaves from home, used a spoon to scoop a small serving of mixed bean curd and placed it on the lotus leaf, handing it to the old lady, "Fresh food for you to try for free, taste it, if you don't like it, you don't have to buy."
The old lady took the lotus leaf, poured the bean curd into her mouth, and her eyes instantly brightened. It was indeed soft and tasty, very suitable for someone like her with bad teeth.
So, she decisively ordered a bowl of bean curd and a piece of tofu.
Zhao Dong smiled broadly, "Alright, please wait."
He turned to cut the tofu, while Sun Youcai also helped pack the bean curd.
Zhao Dong handed the packed tofu and bean curd to the old lady, smiling, "You are our first customer today, we added half a bowl of bean curd for you, if you find it delicious, do come again."
Upon hearing she got half a bowl extra, the old lady burst into smiles and praised the vendor's business acumen, "Good, good, may your business prosper!"
"Thanks for your kind words, take care, come back if you find it tasty."
Once someone starts it off, second, third, and fourth will follow, as people are always curious about new things.
Plus, Zhao Dong allowed customers free samples, thus gradually the stall became crowded.
In less than an hour, fifty pounds of tofu and two barrels of bean curd reached the bottom.
Not far away, Butcher Zhao was stunned by their speed, "Zhao Dong, you're selling fast, business is good."
While packing up, Zhao Dong responded with a smile, "Everyone's drawn to something new, how's your business?"
Butcher Zhao waved the straw fan in his hand to drive off mosquitoes, smiling, "It's okay, just the usual."
At this moment, Zhao Dong remembered what Sun Mei said last night about the pork smell problem, and took the chance to ask Butcher Zhao about it during the chat.
Soon, everything was packed up, and after telling Butcher Zhao, they went to find Second Uncle and Second Aunt.
Second Uncle and their stall were located at the end of the northern street of the market.
When they got there, they saw quite a crowd gathered around their stall.
Zhao Dong parked the cart nearby and went forward to help.
Second Uncle had chosen a spot at the end of the market with less traffic, thus business was poor at first; later, as Zhao Dong's side became popular, word spread, bringing business here.
Hence, as the market was about to close, there were still two pounds of tofu and five bowls of bean curd left unsold.
Second Uncle covered the tofu and bean curd barrels to prevent mosquitoes from getting in, looking at the diminishing crowd, he said, "Looks like these won't sell out."
Zhao Dong nodded, "Let's wait a bit more, if not, we'll take it back; there's not much left anyway."
Zhao Zhitong was standing in front of the stall lost in thought.
After a while, she suddenly grabbed a few cousins and Uncle, saying, "Let's go find customers!"
The others were puzzled, "Find customers?"
Zhao Zhitong nodded, "Yes, since customers aren't coming, let's go find them."
With that, she started shouting while her small legs carried her around the street to look for customers.
Sun Daji, Sun Daqing, and Sun Daxiang, who followed Zhao Zhitong's lead, saw their cousin run out and all shouted as they chased after her.
"Tongtong, don't run off! Second Brother, Brother-in-law, I'll watch them." Seeing the little ones running far, Sun Youcai shouted as he chased after them.
Now, Zhao Zhitong was chubby, with a fair face and a sweet mouth. Passersby halted by such a cheerful and cute girl wouldn't dislike her even if they didn't buy.
A woman, observing how enthusiastic the girl was, casually asked a few more questions.
Zhao Zhitong pointed to their stall's direction, "Our stall is right there, shall I take you?"
With that, she warmly guided the woman to their stall, praising while walking, "My family's bean curd sauce is made by my mom, so tasty..."
...
The customer Zhao Zhitong brought tasted the bean curd and immediately bought up all the remaining bean curd.
Zhao Dong instantly cut half a piece of tofu, wrapped it in lotus leaf, and handed it to the customer, "The last one, take a tofu to try at home, like it, then come again."
"Sure, sure."
The person left with a big smile.
At the end, there was still one and a half pieces of tofu unsold. Seeing the market crowd thinning, they prepared to close up.