Selling Fishes

The town was bustling with people, it was lively, unlike the silence in their house. They felt the prickling heat of the sun on their skins, draining them of energy and making them squint at the suns rays.

There were different colored 'cars' of different styles all around. Some would even honk their horns at her making her flinch on guard. It was a lot to take in. There were people in different wears and shoes that hid their feet, it had sticks on its ends, embedding holes on the ground.

"Mother, what are those called?" she asked pointing the woman's footwear

"hmmm? Ah that's called 'stilletos'" by now, her mother had grown used to her random questions paying no heed to it anylonger. "it makes us women look taller"

"have you worn those before, mother?" a sad look appeared on her mother's face and her eyes welled up but she quickly hid it, masking her face in smiles. This had not escaped Qinwei's keen senses but she did not probe much on it because she knew sooner or later, her mother will tell her

"how could I have worn such luxurious shoes? it would be wonderful if I could" her mother lied.

"un, don't worry mother, I will soon buy you one when I grow up!"

"ohoho okay I will look forward to it"

they soon stopped at the fishmarket to sell the fishes they caught. It seemed at first that the vendor was looking at it intently but soon his expression was that of greediness. The fish she caught were large, it scales were shiny and it looked lovely, something that cooks would love to cook. He was going to buy it for a high price but when he saw the attire the mother and daughter wore, a sly smile braced on his lips.

"ay ay, missus, this is one fair fish! Too bad it wouldn't sell much...how bout this ah? per 1 kilo scale is 1 yen"

"erm..mother, what is 'yen'?"

"our currency, dear"

"oh..so it's not in taels?"

"yes, let's put it this way, if 100 coppers of taels is equal to 1 silver and 1000 silver taels is 1 gold, then 1 yen is equal to having 5 coppers" her mother patiently explained but this put her to doubt.

The fish they caught were clearly more than just a yen, it had too much good qualities rather than the other fishes she saw....then...maybe...

"mother, I have an idea.. would you mind if I'd be the one to sell these fishes?"

"ah...okay dear, you were the one who caught them after all"

"thank you mother! I won't disappoint you"

"eh? Missus? aren't you going to sell me the fishes?" the vendor asked anxiously but too bad both of them were far away from him.

..

"Ermmm, Wei'er...what are you doing?"

"don't worry mother, how about you walk around the place first? I'll be done in half an hour"

"en, very well"

When her mother was out of sight, she quickly walked towards a very old lady who was also selling some fishes but didn't have anyone coming up to her to buy any

"excuse me..grandma? Can you lend me your stall? I'll pay you a quarter of what I can sell"

"hmm? a little girl like you? hahahaha sure sure, this old woman has nothing to do anyway."

"un thank you grandma"

Qinwei quickly cleaned up the stall. When in a battle, one must first plan, then prepare, and get ready to charge. This was what she planned on doing

She washed the fishes clean, placed ice cubes below them and took the knife and wooden board to cut up some fish

After preparing everything, she shouted with a tiny but assured voice

"FRESH FISHES FOR SALE! HALF A KILOGRAM FOR 1500 YEN ONLY!"

She repeated again and again, catching the attention of people. One by one they came to her stall, to check the freshness of the fish. Indeed! The fish looked so good amd it's quality surely musn't be bad!

It wasn't as pricy as other stalls were and it was completely fresh from the sea! Who wouldn't want this kind of quality?

Half an hour later, Fei Qinwei sold exactly 7 kg of fish giving her 1,400 yen. She gave the old grandma her 400 yen, leaving her with a thousand yen.

"Wei'er, where are all the fish?"

"I sold them a mother, this is all I got from it"

handing her 1000 yen to her mother, she caught a glimpse of tears in her mother's eyes. It had been too long since she last held this much money. This child was truly heaven sent!

"Wei'er....thank you!"