Chapter 109: Choosing a Stall
An Hao arrived at the neighboring village fair, where the crowd was bustling, filled with performers, vendors, and a street at the village entrance entirely occupied by them.
After enduring a whole winter, people had begun to switch to lighter spring attire, and An Hao noticed that young ladies and married women made up the majority of the crowd on the streets.
The liveliest stalls were those selling food and daily necessities.
It was already the mid-1980s, and people had started to nurture the idea of street vending, which was also encouraged by the state for the labor force to engage in commerce.
In the slightly wealthier villages, aside from the supply and marketing cooperatives, some villagers had set up their own small stores that were doing much better business than the cooperatives.
As An Hao walked along, looking for a place near the entrance of the street to set up a stall, she was stopped by a woman with a pockmarked face who was standing in front of her.
"Hey, are you thinking of setting up a stall here?"
An Hao nodded, "Yeah, big sister, can I set up here? I’ll just take up space for one person."
"No! This place has been paid for by us," the woman flatly refused.
"That can be worked out, big sister. If I occupy the space for one person, can I just cover the fee for one stall?" An Hao cautiously asked.
The woman with the pockmarked face replied coldly, "There’s no need. Don’t set up your stall here. It’s too crowded. Go to the east end of the street, nobody’s there."