Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 317 Sold Out

"Hey, big brother," Xu Xiaoyan called out to him, "You bought so much, here's a slice of watermelon for you to try."

She picked up a slice of watermelon and handed it to him.

The man paused for a moment, then smiled and took it.

"Oh, is that a good thing?" he said, taking a bite. "Hmm, this watermelon is sweet, not bad, not bad, thank you, young lady," he said, and walked away while eating.

People nearby saw it, and several of them came over.

An older woman in a floral shirt asked, "Young lady, how many do you buy to get a free watermelon?"

Xu Xiaoyan thought about it; she hadn't considered this question yet.

Giving away watermelons is a way to get rid of the leftover watermelons and also to attract customers, but it can't be given away too easily, otherwise everyone will be waiting for free watermelons, and who will buy things at full price?

She quickly calculated in her mind.

The man just bought five skewers, and she gave him a slice of watermelon for free. The threshold of five skewers is neither too high nor too low. Usually, more people buy one or two skewers, but fewer people buy five. However, if someone is willing to collect five skewers just to get the watermelon, then she makes a profit.

No, five skewers isn't enough? How about ten?

"Buy 10 skewers or more," she said, "and we'll give you a free watermelon."

The woman in the floral shirt frowned upon hearing this.

"Ten skewers?" she said. "That's 20 points, isn't that too much?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, 10 skewers is too much, young lady, you're too heartless, how about 5 skewers instead?"

Xu Xiaoyan smiled but didn't say anything; she knew what she was doing.

If the barrier to entry is too low, and everyone can get one, then watermelons won't be a rarity. Besides, she doesn't cut many watermelons; once they're gone, they're gone. A higher barrier to entry is necessary to control the quantity.

She continued making candied hawthorns without saying anything more.

The woman in the floral shirt stood there for a while, then took out her money, bought two skewers, and left.

But Xu Xiaoyan didn't expect that her "buy 10 skewers and get a free watermelon" offer would spread so quickly.

First, a young man came over and asked, "Is it free with the purchase of 10 skewers?"

Xu Xiaoyan nodded.

Without saying a word, the young man took out his phone and started calculating.

"Give me 10 skewers," he muttered to himself. "I'll buy 5 skewers of apples and 5 skewers of cherry tomatoes. Pick the nicer ones; I'm giving them away as gifts."

Xu Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment, then immediately started doing it.

She quickly finished, picked out the biggest piece of watermelon from the bag, and handed it to the young man.

The young man took the watermelon, took a bite, and nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad."

After he left, several more people came over.

A young couple, the girl said in a coquettish tone that she wanted to eat watermelon, and the boy had no choice but to buy ten skewers.

She glanced at the syrup in the pot and saw it was almost empty. She quickly started making the next batch of sugar and took out a few apples from under the table to cut them.

More and more people were waiting nearby.

Some people simply stood in front of her stall, chatting while waiting.

"This girl has good skills; the sugar is cooked just right and doesn't stick to your teeth."

"Yes, her fruit is fresh."

Xu Xiaoyan felt delighted listening to these words. She hadn't expected that a temporary promotional idea would be so effective.

Just then, someone else walked over.

She was a middle-aged woman, simply dressed, carrying a cloth bag. She stood in front of the stall, looked at the candied hawthorns, then at the people waiting beside her, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Young lady, how late do you plan to close these candied hawthorns?"

Xu Xiaoyan looked up, smiled, and replied, "I'm not sure about that. I'll head back after I sell them all."

The woman nodded and left.

Someone nearby joked, "What's wrong with this lady? If she wants to buy it, she should just buy it. Why is she dawdling like that?"

Someone chimed in, "That's right. By the way, isn't there another vendor selling candied hawthorns over there? The fruit there isn't fresh at all. I won't say any more."

Everyone smiled knowingly.

After all the candied hawthorn skewers were sold out, Xu Xiaoyan glanced down at the time on her phone—7 p.m.

7 p.m. is the busiest time of the night market. The stalls on the right side of the market light up one after another, and more and more people come and go. The flow of people passing by her stall is several times denser than in the afternoon.

It was a pity. She looked at the empty cutting board. The apples were gone, the cherry tomatoes were gone, the watermelon was gone, and even the last few bunches she wanted to keep for herself had been bought by a passing uncle.

She has nothing left to sell except that pot, that small coal stove, and those few tools; otherwise, she could have sold here for a few more hours.

She sighed. She heard that 7 to 10 o'clock was prime time. There was nothing she could do. The sales quota was set, and selling too much would be too conspicuous. It wasn't worth putting herself in danger. She had already earned a lot of points today, so she should be content with what she had!

She stood up, stretched her stiff back. She had been sitting for too long and working with her head down, and her neck and shoulders were sore. She twisted her neck, making a few soft cracking sounds, and then began to pack her things.

Cutting board, knife, bamboo skewers, plastic bags... put them away one by one. Fold the cutting board and the chair, move them all next to the pickup truck, open the trunk, and put them in one by one.

She opened the car door, got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and drove out of the designated parking space. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye.

The woman came running from a distance, running very fast and stumbling, looking around as if searching for something. She was wearing a gray top and carrying a cloth bag—it was the middle-aged woman who had asked her questions that afternoon.

Xu Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment, then quickly braked.

The woman ran to Xu Xiaoyan's stall, slowed down, and scanned the open space with her eyes.

All she saw was an empty stall, a folding table, and a lit lamp. The stall owner was gone, and the glistening candied hawthorns were gone too.

She stood there, stunned for several seconds, then covered her face, squatted down, and burst into tears.

Xu Xiaoyan sat in the car, watching this scene, and frowned.

What's all this fuss about?

She started her car, intending to drive past the woman and go straight home, but the woman heard the car and suddenly looked up.

Upon seeing Xu Xiaoyan in the driver's seat, her eyes lit up. She immediately stood up, staggered a couple of steps, and then spread her arms to block the front of the car.

Xu Xiaoyan slammed on the brakes, and the car came to a sudden stop. Her body lurched forward, but the seatbelt pulled her back. She glared at the woman with outstretched arms outside the windshield, her brows furrowed.

Is this guy crazy?

If I didn't buy it back then, what am I planning to do now?

She rolled down her window, leaned out, and said in a rather rude tone, "Ma'am, what are you doing? Why are you blocking my car?"

The woman stood in front of the car, her arms outstretched, her face streaked with tears.

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