護花近衛 - 第105章 砍價好手 - 墨香閣

Tang Yun stared in astonishment as Wei Zhao and the stall owner chatted like old friends... When had he ever run a clothing stall south of the bridge? Since when did he have a wife? And pregnant, no less? Wasn't he still in school?

"Hey, a pregnancy's a good thing. Congratulations." The stall owner nodded at Wei Zhao in congratulation. In truth, he had not the faintest recollection of where he had met Wei Zhao—who knew which Old Zhang that was? He picked up stock in so many places; there were at least three or five bosses named Zhang. But Wei Zhao was so familiar, and a fellow tradesman besides, so clearly they had met and chatted before, and he simply had not remembered the man. The stall owner felt a little embarrassed, but could not very well say so; he could only feign a look of sudden recollection and keep chatting with Wei Zhao.

"Ah, don't get me started. My woman loves to look pretty—even pregnant, she sends me out to buy her things," Wei Zhao said. "She wants me to pick up some cosmetics and some clothes for the summer in a couple of days... I was just on my way to Old Zhang's when I ran into you. I'll just grab a couple of things from your stall."

"No problem at all," the stall owner said warmly. "The wholesale market's a long way off—just take a couple of things here. I can't make money off you; we both know what these things cost."

"All right, then I'll just pick a couple at random." As he spoke, Wei Zhao casually picked up the dress Tang Yun had been looking at, then chose a pair of men's shorts for himself. Once he had made his selections, he said to the stall owner, "Just these two."

"Got it." The stall owner glanced at them and said, "That dress came in at forty-five, the shorts twelve—fifty-seven altogether."

"Make it sixty. I'd have to pay bus fare to get to the wholesale market anyway, and I can't let you make the trip for nothing." Wei Zhao took sixty yuan from his pocket and handed it to the stall owner.

"How can I take that? We're in the same trade," the stall owner said, waving his hands again and again. "This is a small business. Your wife's pregnant, and I haven't even sent a gift—that's embarrassing enough. How could I make a profit off you?"

"Heh, brother, if you're going to be like that, I won't dare come back next time. Sixty—just take sixty, all right?" Wei Zhao waved a hand, pretending to be annoyed.

"Fine, sixty then." The stall owner took the money with a chuckle. "You're an honest young fellow, so I won't say more. Next time you've got a moment, come by and we'll have a couple of drinks."

"No problem at all." Wei Zhao nodded and stood up. "I'll be off then, brother."

Tang Yun watched Wei Zhao buy the dress she had set her heart on, and was too shocked to speak. Forty-five yuan? Was she hearing things? This stall owner was far too ruthless—he had quoted her two hundred earlier, which would have bought four of them. Tang Yun fumed inwardly.

"Oh, right—what was it you wanted to buy?" The stall owner, having seen Wei Zhao off with a smile, only then remembered there was still a customer here, and asked.

"I... that dress from just now, do you have any more?" Tang Yun asked.

"No, that was the only one," the stall owner said, shaking his head.

"Then how come you sold it to him for forty-five and quoted me two hundred?" Tang Yun could not help but demand. This stall owner was really too dishonorable.

"He's in the same trade as me. I'll sell to him for forty-five if I please—what of it, is that not allowed?" The stall owner, seeing Tang Yun dawdle and haggle for so long without buying, was growing impatient. If not for her being rather pretty, he would have stopped paying her any mind long ago.

"He? He's in the same trade as you?" Tang Yun looked at the stall owner strangely.