Chapter 4 Good Wine Does Need A Bush

Weaving the vegetable baskets was by no means an easy task. The bamboo had to be prepared and sorted into yellow and green pieces. Preparing it alone was more than enough to tire out anyone. They had to be stripped further and divided into pieces with the same size. Then, the pieces would be used to make different bamboo products according to their different colors and sizes.

It was a very meticulous and tedious job that needed years of practice to perfect. Fortunately, Wendy had been working her trade for the past few years and at this point, it was child's play for her.

In the following three days, Wendy made nine delicate vegetable baskets and eighteen fruit plates. Celia just made some small pieces like birds and things of the like. In the mountain there were a few trees covered in fresh persimmons. Each of them picked a basket full of fruit and went to the city.

They were around forty miles away from the town so Celia and her mother had to get up early if they wanted to sell the bamboo products at the market in the town.

The items for farming work like sifters that they usually made were sold in the market only ten miles away from their home. After all, most city folk didn't need those items. Yet, the fruit plates and the baskets were much more useful to a city lifestyle.

It took Celia and her mother more than four and a half hours to get there. When they arrived at the town, it was almost 8 o'clock that morning.

"Celia, this town is enormous. I have no idea where anything is. Where should we sell all of this?" Wendy was flustered in the hustle and bustle of the city. She had no idea what to do with herself. She felt like a child, going out in public for the first time.

"The market! Surely there'll be a lot of people shopping for groceries there," Celia said confidently. She seemed to already concoct her plan.

"Celia, do you think anyone will like my baskets and plates?" Wendy sounded sheepish. It seemed that the longer she looked around, the more anxious she became.

"Mom, don't worry. We agreed that you'll just make them. Leave the selling to me, okay? All you need to do is to stand by and watch. I promise I will sell absolutely everything," Celia said, oozing confidence. She used to be the CEO of the world's top five hundred in her last life. If she couldn't sell products like that, she wouldn't have got that position.

The two of them found a relatively wide space in front of a large food market and then placed their vegetable baskets and fruits plates out on display. The walkway was packed with people with a nonstop flow of traffic.

The market was filled with everything you could possibly need. However, Celia and Wendy had an edge. They were the only ones selling bamboo baskets and fruit plates.

Initially they were having no luck. Most of the people came here to buy food in any case and they just shoved everything into their plastic bags. Very few people even gave their products a glance.

About ten minutes later, Wendy, who had been squatting next to Celia, got a little nervous. She said anxiously, "Celia, is this going to work? Maybe they're just not good enough for these people. What do you think? Should we just leave?"

Doubt shrouded Wendy's mind as she stared at the products laid out in front of her. Since none of them had been sold out, in her mind it was her fault. She thought that they weren't good enough and in turn, she wasn't good enough.

However, Celia kept her composure. She calmly said, "Mom, we just got here. It'll take some time. Besides, you've seen how many people have passed through. Someone is bound to love our products."

As she spoke, a little girl with two small pigtails came over and squatted in front of them. She stared at the bamboo birds that Celia wove and her face lit up.

Celia picked up a bird and asked softly, "Little sweetie, do you like it?"

"Yes," she said shyly, looking up at Celia with big adorable eyes.

"Okay, then it's yours." Celia immediately handed over the little toy. She was so proud that someone actually liked her work that she had no problem giving it away.

Taking the bamboo bird, the little girl smiled sweetly, thanked her and frolicked away.

Celia picked up a basket and a plate and marched towards the crowd at the entrance of the market. Much to her mother's surprise, she began charismatically tempting people one at a time to buy her things.

"Don't miss the chance. Pollution-free bamboo baskets and fruit plates sold at a low price. Everybody, come and have a look."

"This basket looks incredible. How much is it?" As Celia expected, contrary to the saying, good wine needs a bush after all. As soon as Celia began advertising, a large crowd instantly started to form. An elderly couple picked up the basket and carefully inspected it.

"Sir, madam, this basket is handmade by my mother. They are all made from superior bamboo and are pollution-free. If you really like it, just give me 4 dollars," Celia said like a true salesperson.

"Four dollars is too much. Can you lower the price for a little bit?" the woman asked kindly.

"The best I can do is five dollars and I'll throw in a fruit plate. Usually the fruit plate is two dollars alone," Celia said calmly as she handed the woman a fruit plate.

The couple agreed readily. They obviously liked her products. They carefully selected a plate and paid for it.

The beginning was tough, but once Celia got going, everything was sold in an hour.

Not only that, she sold the persimmons that they picked in the mountain as well.

As for the 12 birds she made, one was given free and the remaining were sold at five cents each.

In total, the nine baskets and fruit trays sold for forty five dollars all together, and the other nine fruit plates sold for eighteen dollars. Fifty five persimmons sold for five dollars and fifty cents, with eleven birds selling for the same. Their hard work during the past three days now turned to seventy four dollars.

They hadn't even dreamed of having such remarkable success in the city even though they upped their prices. Even if they sold the baskets for three dollars in the market of their hometown, few people would have bought them. The urban areas seemed to have a completely different response to their products though. Celia had a newfound hope.

In the end, looking at the stack of cash, Wendy was too excited to even speak. Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"I told you, you are such a good craftsman. There's a market for your products after all. Do you believe me now?" holding her mother's hand, Celia said excitedly.

"You know how to sell. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to sell these products. I never expected you to have such a talent!" Wendy looked spoke joyously with tears flooding her eyes.

Celia didn't know what to say and smiled lovingly at her mother.

To catch up time that morning, they didn't dare to waste time on breakfast. Just when Celia was thinking about buying something to eat, the little girl whom she gave the bird to came back. She was accompanied by a middle-aged man this time though.