inspire-indiana Chapter 241 Six Crooked Teacups
Chapter 241 Six Crooked Teacups
Zhou Mi was holding a bottle with a white background and blue flowers in his hand. Seeing her looking at the jar in her hand happily, he was silent for a moment and said, "Guoguo, let's pick a colorful one. Look at the others, they are so beautiful."
Zhou Guo could tell that he thought her jar was ugly. She looked at it over and over again. It didn't look good on the stall, but she didn't buy it for its appearance. "Third brother, don't look at it because it doesn't look good. It's practical. It's fine and smooth. It's much better looking than the pickle jar at home. And most importantly, it's not conspicuous. People walking on the street wouldn't even bother to look at it. Even if there's a thief in your house, no one would want it."
When Zhou Mi heard this, he put down the bottle in his hand. Its biggest advantage is that it can avoid being noticed by others, which can also prevent theft.
This thing can be placed anywhere on the ground without attracting much attention.
Zhou Guo thought that there was still so much money at home, so he bought one to hold the money. He bought six at once. Anyway, they were cheap. The stall owner priced them at 60 wen each, and Zhou Mi cut it in half, so he got them at 30 wen each. It was much more cost-effective than buying a box!
After buying the jar, she was attracted by a set of teacups on the stall. It was a set of white porcelain cups. The teapot was also white, small, and had a delicate glaze, but with some flaws.
There are six cups, some with crooked mouths, some with crooked bodies, or just dents or bulges. All six cups have different flaws, and they look weird, but the overall look is inexplicably harmonious.
I thought that when my master has nothing to do at home, he would hold the wine gourd and take a sip from time to time. It would be nice to buy a set of teacups and some tea leaves and let my master make a few pots of wine a day.
When the stall owner saw her looking at the set of teacups, he immediately said, "If you want this set of teacups, I'll give it to you at a discount."
Although I like it, I still want to ask the price, "How much does this set cost?"
The stall owner said, "It's not expensive. This set of porcelain is damaged. I have had it for two years and have not been able to sell it. So, you can give me 1,500 coins. Although it is a defective product, the glaze is delicate and the color is good."
After hearing the offer, Zhou Guo knew why it had been kept in his hands for two years and could not be sold. Rich people looked down on it, poor people could not afford it, and even those who had a little money would not buy it. Don't people nowadays pursue perfection? This thing has nothing to do with perfection no matter how you look at it. It has a weird shape and people might even think it is unlucky.
Zhou Mi hung the jar on the horse's back, turned around and saw Zhou Guo drooling at a set of teacups in front of him. He walked closer and took a look at the cups, then frowned. They were too ugly! Why did they decide to put them here like this?
After hearing the stall owner's offer, he even laughed and said, "Are you sure you want so much money for this thing?"
Zhou Guo picked up a teacup with a crooked mouth and pointed it at the stall owner. "No matter how fine the base of a cup like this is, it can't be sold at this price. Otherwise, how could you have held it in your hands for two years and still not be able to sell it? If it's this price, this teacup will be a waste of your money."
The stall owner was a little annoyed and blurted out the truth in a moment of haste. He chuckled and said, "We're businessmen. I make an offer and you can bargain." He glanced at Zhou Mi meaningfully. If he didn't bargain at a high price and then slashed the price down in one go, how could he sell it?
Zhou Guo was quite honest. He held up a finger and said with a smile, "One hundred coins!"
Zhou Mi, who was about to say two hundred coins, shut his mouth silently. He didn't expect that there was someone even more ruthless than him.
The stall owner's smiling face suddenly fell, "You are too ruthless, I told you not to bargain like this, you directly gave me 100 Wen for 1,500 Wen. If someone didn't know, they would think you were here to rob me."
Zhou Guo didn't waste any words and laid out a few cups one by one, with the defective side facing the stall owner.
The stall owner looked at the cups and was suddenly speechless. "Yes, yes, yes, they may not look very good, but they can't be worth only a hundred coins. You can add more."
Zhou Mi rolled up his sleeves, pointed at the cups and said, "Look at these crooked ones. You're lucky to have met people like us who are not particular and have no money. Otherwise, you might not be able to sell them even if you put them here for ten years. They are not in order at all. This teapot is not a good one. Look, the spout... the spout is also crooked. None of the teacups in your set are good. I think a hundred coins is too much!"
The stall owner really didn't want to sell it. "One hundred wen is really too little. It doesn't look good, but this set of teacups has a good base, is delicate, and has a bright color. If it weren't for the crooked shape, a set would have been worth at least 40 or 50 taels. Now 1,500 wen is really not a lot. So, I won't ask for more. Be honest. 1,000 wen, how about that? I'm 500 wen less all of a sudden. Am I being nice enough?"
Zhou Mi's eyes lit up, and he started negotiating, insisting on the price of 100 wen. Then he raised the price by 10 wen at a time, until it reached 140 wen. It was not known whether the stall owner was determined that they were interested in this set of porcelain, and finally he insisted on 600 wen and refused to budge.
Zhou Guo narrowed his eyes and lost his patience. He said, "Nowadays, people value perfection. Your set of teacups is crooked and cracked. People who buy it will complain that it can't hold good fortune and will ruin the family's wealth. Think about it, is that the case? And you sell it at such a high price. Do you really want to keep it for the rest of your life? Third brother, I'm leaving."
When the stall owner heard the words about ruining one's fortune, he immediately became alert. Although he knew in his heart that Zhou Guo was probably a liar, he felt more and more frustrated when he looked at the set of teacups. He had bought them for two years, and the money he made from the business in these two years was much less than in previous years. Could it be that it was because of these teacups that could not hold enough water?
Zhou Guo pulled Zhou Mi up, turned around and left without any reluctance, leading the horse away.
"Hey, I sell it, I sell it, I sell it!" The stall owner now wished he could throw the teacup away. The farther the better, he could still make more than a hundred coins.
Zhou Guo smiled, turned around, took out the money and handed it to him. The stall owner took the money, wrapped each set of teacups thickly with oil paper to prevent them from breaking, handed them to Zhou Guo, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a feeling of relief.
After walking for a while, Zhou Mi asked, "How do you know that the stall owner has bad luck in making money?"
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "I guessed that the past two years have been difficult for us in the south, and life here is not very comfortable either. The price of grain has increased so much, and the weather has not been good. We ordinary people have no money at all, and other people who have a little money naturally have less than in previous years. There are definitely fewer people buying things at small stalls like this, so business is naturally worse than in previous years."
Zhou Mi listened thoughtfully.
After buying the teacups, they naturally needed tea. They went to the tea shop and pointed to the tea that cost more than 100 coins per pound and bought two pounds of tea.