Chapter 22: Demand Outstrips Supply

Xu Duoyu obediently sat behind the stall, silent, as she simply opened her big eyes to look around.

With the first transaction complete, the young men who had been secretly sizing things up finally understood that the beautiful girl selling water was the one at the roadside stand.

Their interest grew considerably in a short time, and as for Xu Niannian's looks, using today's words, she was absolutely radiant and well-proportioned.

In other words, she was beautiful and had a great figure.

The eyes of the young men were fixed on her.

Xu Niannian, annoyed by her long hair getting in the way, simply grabbed it with her fingers, pulled it back, and tied it up with a string.

Her high ponytail, combined with her delicate face, exuded a youthful charm.

The weather was indeed hot, enough to make one break into a sweat.

Soon enough, people began to feel thirsty.

A couple of young men came over to ask, "How do you sell this water?"

Seeing new customers approaching, Xu Niannian greeted them warmly, "Eight pennies a cup, would any of you gentlemen like to try one?"

Xu Niannian called each one "big brother," and combined with her beauty, it made the young men blush, although it was uncertain whether it was from the sun or from shyness.

A beauty could always get ahead in any era, and even in this impoverished time, girls who were just slightly more delicate were somewhat haughty, especially in front of men.

Xu Niannian, a great beauty, was also so warmly and friendly in her approach that the young man who started the conversation stuttered a bit, "We'll… we'll take five cups."

There were five of them in total, so it worked out to one cup each.

Xu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhicheng had already prepared the water as soon as they saw people coming.

As Xu Niannian took the money, the two handed water to the customers.

The young men had originally intended to find an excuse to talk more with the beauty, but the weather was indeed hot, and they really did want a drink.

They didn't expect the water to be so cold and sweet, chilling them to the core and alleviating the heat, plus it even had a sweet taste.

One of the young men said, "I'll take another cup."

"Sure." Xu Niannian took the money and handed over the water with a smile.

"It really quenches the thirst," another young man commented.

People tend to follow the crowd, and seeing several people gathered around, others grew curious and came over to ask what was going on.

Upon learning that water was for sale, and that it was particularly refreshing for just eight pennies a cup, with the weather being so hot, quite a few people followed suit to try it.

In a short while, the stand was surrounded by people; unfortunately, there weren't enough cups, and only six individuals could drink at a time.

And crucially, several of the young men who had drunk previously were still lingering around, staring at Xu Niannian.

Xu Niannian, feeling helpless, politely said, "Gentlemen, I'm busy with business here. If you're not going to continue buying, could you please make room for others to come and purchase water?"

Xu Niannian was beautiful, and when she smiled, the corners of her eyes lifted, and her large, watery eyes sparkled with bright laughter—it was irresistibly enticing.

And since she was also so courteous, the young men suddenly felt embarrassed to stay any longer and quickly made way for others to buy water.

The crowd that came to watch the dragon boat race was nearly a thousand strong, and with only one water vendor, many were unbearably thirsty but unwilling to spend too much on buying fruit.

Hearing that water was available here, word spread from ten to a hundred, and gradually, more people came over for a drink.

The small stand was soon swamped, and Xu Niannian, while collecting money, called out, "Please, could everyone line up?"

Xu Zhiqiang and Xu Zhicheng were overwhelmed with the work.

With so many people waiting to buy water and needing to wash the cups after each use, the two were swamped.

Finally, unable to keep up, Xu Zhicheng beckoned Xu Duoyu over to wash cups, while he and Xu Zhiqiang fetched water.

Xu Niannian was collecting money and nearly got disoriented, almost miscalculating the amount.

There were just too many people.

Xu Niannian had thought of selling water in this kind of situation, knowing the business would surely be good, but she hadn't anticipated it being this good.

When you consider the weather, scorching hot to the point of making the ground simmer, and these people watching the race, basking in the sun all morning, how could they not be thirsty?

Because there were so many people clustered in front, it was as though the air itself was blocked, leaving Xu Niannian drenched in sweat.

After busying herself for about half an hour, the situation finally improved a bit as the crowd gradually began to thin.

Finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, Xu Niannian looked at her bulging wallet and asked Xu Zhiqiang, "How much water do we have left?"

"One bucket."

Xu Zhiqiang was also drenched in sweat, his face beet red.

He hadn't expected the business to be so good; both he and Zhicheng's hands had grown sore from pumping water.

Despite the soreness in his hands, his spirits were exceptionally high, they had made money.

Xu Niannian looked up at the clear sky, a vast expanse of blue, recalling that last year's dragon boat races continued until nearly evening, and yet now, only at midday, they were down to their last bucket.

There were still some sugarcane stalks left uncooked at home. Thinking it over, Xu Niannian said to Xu Zhiqiang, "Zhiqiang, hurry back home and cook the rest of the sugarcane to bring over."

Xu Zhiqiang was already excited about the amount of water they sold, and hearing Xu Niannian's instruction, he quickly responded, "I'll go right now."

Xu Zhiqiang pushed the cart, carrying five empty buckets back home.

Taking advantage of the momentary lull in customers, Xu Niannian took out fifty cents from her pocket and gave it to Xu Zhicheng, asking him to go to the shop and request the shopkeeper to freeze a few more blocks of ice.

It wasn't long after Xu Zhicheng had left that more people came to buy water.

This time it was a couple.

The woman, upon seeing how beautiful Xu Niannian was, felt a bit displeased but was really thirsty, finding that the fruit they had made them even thirstier.

The woman asked somewhat reluctantly, "How much for a cup of water?"

"Eight cents a cup. How many would you like, beautiful?" Xu Niannian asked eagerly.

The woman was feeling reluctant at first, but with Xu Niannian calling her beautiful, she suddenly felt much happier, and her view of Xu Niannian also improved significantly.

"Two cups," she said, her voice now much more cheerful.

Xu Niannian smiled, pouring a cup for each, "Here you are."

That smile was mainly directed at the woman.

From the morning's experience, Xu Niannian had come to understand the charm of her own face, and so she chose not to converse with the men, speaking directly to the women instead to avoid unnecessary trouble.

She wasn't afraid of trouble coming her way, but she didn't like attracting it.

Seeing that although Niannian was pretty, she behaved properly; the woman's fondness for Xu Niannian increased a great deal.

"Your water is quite sweet. Did you put rock sugar in it?" she asked.

"No, it's just water boiled with sugarcane."

"You can boil water with sugarcane?" the woman asked in surprise, "That's really odd."

After finishing her water, the woman handed the cup back to Xu Niannian, and then more people came to buy water, one after another.

Fortunately, Xu Zhicheng came back in time to help.

This is why it's easy to make money in business during this era, demand exceeds supply.

If this were the future, the whole riverside would be lined with vendors, and it wouldn't be so easy to sell so much water.

After about an hour, the last bucket of water was sold out too.