Chapter 912: 912

“Are you selling those mulberries?” Yuan Zhou repeated when he saw the old man blanking out .

When Yuan Zhou asked, he spoke with a gentle tone . Even Broth contributed by whimpering for a bit, behaving quite adorably and seemingly trying to prove that he indeed wouldn’t bite .

The two baskets the old man was carrying on his carrying pole were filled with purplish-black mulberries of different sizes . Perhaps they had been plucked for quite a while as they looked somewhat withered, but of course, they were still very fresh .

When the old man heard the question, he looked at Yuan Zhou in astonishment, and only reacted after Yuan Zhou repeated his question .

“You want to… want to buy these?” the old man asked as he pointed at the baskets .

“Yes, they look good,” Yuan Zhou nodded .

“Oh… oh, sure . They are not expensive . I’m usually selling them for 8 RMB per catty, but since it’s getting late, I’m selling them to you for 6 RMB per catty,” said the old man when he saw Yuan Zhou nodding .

The old man seemed happy to sell as he gave a discount without Yuan Zhou asking for it .

“Ok . I will buy both baskets,” Yuan Zhou said with a nod .

“Both? That won’t do . Eating a small amount of mulberries can be healthy, but it gets unhealthy if you eat too many . Moreover, it will be a waste if you can’t finish them and they are left to spoil,” the old man said as he shook his head .

“Don’t worry, I’m using it for the restaurant . I will definitely be able to finish them before they spoil,” Yuan Zhou said gently .

“Restaurant? Ok . Boss, remember, you can’t keep mulberries for long . You have to use them immediately . Let me weigh them for you,” said the old man with a nod . Then, he placed his carrying pole down and started taking out the scales .

“Ok . I’ll go get a basket for the mulberries,” Yuan Zhou said with a nod .

“Sure . Don’t worry, young man . My scales are very accurate,” said the old man with a nod . Then, he waited silently by the door .

Yuan Zhou did not need to go far . He went to the second floor and get a huge basket that seemed sufficient to store even 45 catties without problem .

“Here, put them in here,” Yuan Zhou said .

“Ok . I’ll be weighing them now,” said the old man with a smile .

“Ok,” Yuan Zhou nodded . He poured the bowl of broth into the dog’s bowl before he raised his head to look at the old man .

“This basket is 20 . 5 catties while the other is 17 . 5 catties . In total, they are 38 catties . You can calculate the price . I’m getting old . I won’t be able to calculate them manually,” said the old man, somewhat embarrassed .

“240 RMB in total,” Yuan Zhou said .

“240? Ok . I’ll give you a discount . 200 will do,” said the old man with a wide smile .

“That won’t do . I’ll pay for the full price,” Yuan Zhou said firmly and handed over 240 RMB in cash .

“Thank you, thank you, young man,” said the old man with a wide smile .

“Don’t worry about it . By the way, why are you using the alley?” Yuan Zhou asked while the old man was filling Yuan Zhou’s basket with the mulberries .

That’s an understandable question . The old man was obviously a mulberry seller . But why would he be walking in this deserted alley? Nobody would use this alley, and thus, he would not get any business here .

“I was not allowed to set up stall anywhere on the front street . I have been carrying them for an entire day but still couldn’t sell them off . So I thought I should try some place with fewer people so as to not disrupt anyone’s business,” the old man slowly explained .

“You planned them for selling?” Yuan Zhou did not say much and asked for something else instead .

“Not really . I have two old mulberry trees at home and since we couldn’t finish them all, I decided to sell them for some extra money,” said the old man .

“If you have more, feel free to deliver them to me,” said Yuan Zhou .

“That won’t do . I can’t trouble you,” said the old man as he repeatedly shook his head .

“Don’t worry . What about this, if you can’t sell them anywhere else, just try walking around here . I might need them again,” said Yuan Zhou .

“Thank you for your kindness, young man . If you like it, I will gift you some next time,” said the old man cheerfully .

“It’s fine . I’m a business owner as well . Money should always go two ways to maintain a healthy business,” said Yuan Zhou earnestly .

“Thank you, young man,” said the old man with a nod .

“You’re welcome,” Yuan Zhou said .

While filling the basket with mulberries, the old man thanked Yuan Zhou several times . Each time, Yuan Zhou would tell him to not worry about it since he indeed was in need of mulberries .

The old man stood up after all the mulberries have been filled into the basket .

“Thank you,” said Yuan Zhou .

“Don’t worry . I should be thanking you instead . I don’t use any agricultural chemicals on my mulberries so you can eat them directly after rinsing them with water,” said the old man .

Yuan Zhou did not say anything . He nodded, then watched on as the old man left .

Yuan Zhou had good eyesight . Even though the alley was dark, he could still see that the old man’s back was not stooped as low anymore . That was because he was carrying empty baskets now and was relieved of the weight .

And after the old man left, Yuan Zhou found himself stunned .

“Oh, so 38 catties of mulberries are actually this many?” Yuan Zhou muttered as he looked at the full basket . His head was starting to ache .

He could not finish them himself, and even if he wanted to gift them to others, fresh mulberries had a short expiration date . They would probably be spoiled before he could give them all away .

“That was stupid of me,” Yuan Zhou muttered as he gazed at the mulberries .

“Forget it . Since I already bought them, I might as well make some jam as practice,” Yuan Zhou said as he picked up the basket and walked towards the courtyard of the pub .

After he stored the basket, he grabbed a handful of mulberries and rinsed them with water . Then, he went to the back door .

“Here, these are for you . Since I used you as an excuse, I need to reward you . But it is unhealthy to eat too much . So I’m only giving you a handful,” said Yuan Zhou as he placed the mulberries into Broth’s bowl .

“Woof,” Broth barked before lowering his head and started eating the mulberries . Of course, he did not forget to face Yuan Zhou with his butt .

He was probably dissatisfied with the little number of mulberries Yuan Zhou had given him .

Since this purchase of mulberries had been totally random, Yuan Zhou spent the night washing the mulberries .

“Looks like it’s possible to make some jam with them,” said Yuan Zhou as he estimated how much jam he could make with these mulberries .

Since there were too many mulberries, Yuan Zhou took out several baskets to leave the washed mulberries drying . With that, he could directly use them to make jam the next day .

And thus, after breakfast time the next day, Yuan Zhou quickly went to the market to buy some sugar .

Since the sugar provided by the system was not allowed to be gifted to others, Yuan Zhou was forced to buy his own sugar .

Yuan Zhou returned, dragging a cart with 20 catties of sugar on it . But when he reached his restaurant, he saw two people waiting outside .

“Little Yuan, you went shopping?” asked Carpenter Lian .

“I am really sorry for making you wait, Carpenter Lian,” Yuan Zhou said .

“Don’t worry about it . We did not agree on a time anyway . I came at this time as I reckon you should be free at this time,” said Carpenter Lian .

The middle-aged man beside Carpenter Lian was gazing at Yuan Zhou in astonishment .

Although they had just arrived, but generally, anyone that dared to make Carpenter Lian wait for even a minute would not get the furniture he wished for .

But Carpenter Lian did not mind waiting for Yuan Zhou at all . And thus, that person was looking at Yuan Zhou in astonishment .

“I’ll be troubling you, Carpenter Lian,” Yuan Zhou said as he opened the door .