Back To The 80s: President's Doted Wife
Chapter 388 Selling at an Unaffordable Price

Chapter 388: Chapter 388 Selling at an Unaffordable Price

After sitting in the soy milk and fried dough stick shop for about ten minutes, Cheng Su didn’t want to occupy the seat for too long. She had already observed the business of the shop. During the time she was seated, steamed buns and fried dough sticks were the best sellers. Those who bought fried dough sticks would always pair them with a bowl of soy milk. Steamed buns, being filling, sold the most. One basket would sell out and another would be ready right away, with the couple not forgetting to steam them again. From the moment Cheng Su sat down until she left, the couple hadn’t once stopped working.

While paying, Cheng Su smiled casually and said, "Big brother and sister-in-law, your business is doing very well, isn’t it? Is this little shop your own property?"

"Not at all, it’s rented. We’re just running a small business to get by," the sister-in-law replied, wiping sweat from her brow.

"But that must be quite cheap, right?"

Perhaps because Cheng Su was well-dressed and spoke sweetly, the sister-in-law spoke a bit more, "Cheap? Over here? For such a small shop, the rent is thirty yuan a month. Think about how many bowls of soy milk and fried dough sticks I have to sell to make that!"

"Alright, alright, no more talking. Hurry and steam the buns. I heard another train has arrived!" the fried dough stick brother urged, seemingly annoyed with his wife for chatting, and shot Cheng Su a cautious glance.

Cheng Su’s eyes flashed with realization. So that’s what the announcements were for, wasn’t it? Indeed, when a train arrived, passengers would disembark. If they passed by and found nothing to buy, wouldn’t that be a missed opportunity?

Not wanting to disturb further, she wished them prosperity in business before leaving.

Cheng Su stood on the roadside and looked towards the train station exit from afar. Sure enough, a large crowd of travel-weary passengers surged out. Some directly bought food from the nearby shops, while others merely glanced before gritting their teeth and moving on.

Many people also bought food on the road that led from the train station to the bus station, perhaps to take a bus to some county town or other.

Cheng Su patted her belly and entered a small restaurant that wasn’t too well or poorly located. The prices here seemed quite reasonable, even lower than those in the city restaurants, which was strange given the crowds around the train station. Why were the prices so low?

One would think that with so many people around, eateries wouldn’t worry about lack of patrons, and with high shop rent, they should be more expensive than in the city. Yet, the prices seemed as if they couldn’t afford to charge more!

She ordered a meal consisting of one meat dish and one vegetable dish for a total of fifty cents. She sat down without rushing to eat, just observing the restaurant and its clientele.

The restaurant was larger than the fried dough stick shop, but still only twenty to thirty square meters, fitted with several round tables. The food was precooked and placed in a large basin for customers to pick from, similar to the fast food at her Joy Soon Loy, except that the presentation here was not as appealing. Moreover, there was a price difference between meat dishes; stir-fried egg with pork shreds was only two dimes, while chicken or beef dishes were more expensive.

It was approaching eleven, nearly noon, and when customers inquired about the prices, their heads would shake at the mention of the more expensive items, opting for the cheaper egg with pork shreds or simply going vegetarian with more rice to fill their stomachs.

Cheng Su suddenly understood the reason for the low prices.

It was because most people coming here, whether to visit relatives or to work, were from out of town and tended to be on the poorer side. If your prices were too high, who could afford to eat?

Cheng Su saw some people even struggling with the cost of a meal consisting of one vegetable dish with rice for thirty cents, asking if it could be cheaper. When they learned it could not, they walked away licking their lips.

If people couldn’t afford even this, how much higher could the prices be?

With this thought, Cheng Su’s enthusiasm and passion were quenched as if doused by a bucket of ice water.