Princess of the 19th Century Department Store - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Everyone knew that haggling was a long and delicate art of speech, and Fred was very patient.

He honestly did as his daughter instructed and waited outside the liquor shop, keeping an eye on what was happening inside through the display window.

He had no idea what Daisy was saying, but he could see that she seemed to be locked in a battle of words with the liquor merchant for quite some time.

Daisy had her back to the street. At first, the merchant frowned as he listened to her, but little by little, his brows eased, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

In the end, the merchant nodded, as if he had relented.

Before long, Daisy went to the counter and counted out a handful of gold coins. The merchant immediately wrote out a receipt.

When Fred saw Daisy come out, he pulled the door open for her, scratched his head, and asked, “How did it go?”

Daisy looked certain, and a rare trace of anticipation slipped into her gaze.

“No difficulty whatsoever.”

She handed the receipt to Fred to look over. The wholesale quantity written on it was one hundred bottles, priced at ten pounds.

Fred knew the market price for this kind of rum. It was about three shillings a bottle.

Yet the price Daisy had gotten was two shillings a bottle. It seemed she had already cut away every bit of profit the merchant could possibly make.

What kind of sales pitch could make a wholesaler give up his own profit?

Fred followed behind Daisy as they walked, feeling an inexplicable chill toward his own daughter.

Thankfully, he was Daisy’s father and not her competitor. Otherwise, he probably would not even be able to afford pickles.

Their next destination was a cigar shop, where they prepared to buy a gift for the sanitary inspector.

Near noon, Daisy and Fred returned to the grocery store with the ingredients Mary needed.

Mr. Nash, Fred, and Daisy exchanged a glance, and then the two men went out again to continue delivering milk.

Daisy took over the counter and continued receiving customers and minding the business.

In the kitchen, Mary received the almonds and immediately ducked back inside, busying herself with making almond chocolates, which would also be sold at three farthings a bag.

After receiving customers all noon, Daisy counted the takings while she waited.

At around three or four in the afternoon, a very clean and respectable freight carriage stopped outside, with no trademarks or lettering anywhere on it.

Sure enough, the liquor merchant had delivered the goods in accordance with her strange request.

Daisy walked out and made several trips beside the carriage, carrying the liquor into the shop and stacking it in the empty space behind the counter.

Only after she signed for it did the driver leave.

One hundred bottles of rum looked impressive, but in truth, they did not take up much space.

She cleared out the place where the liquor had originally been displayed, put the rum there, and moved the rest into the storage room.

Then she went outside, took down the blackboard, returned indoors, and used chalk to write a conspicuous line of large words above the prepared food.

Jamaican Rum promotion. Limited quantity. First come, first served.

She had calculated it exactly. If all one hundred bottles were sold at a discount, they would lose five pounds.

If she wanted to discount them without taking a loss, she could also sell them as a bundle.

For example, only customers who bought at least three shillings’ worth of groceries would qualify to buy a bottle of liquor for one shilling.

But then people probably would not believe that the cost of her liquor was far lower than any price available through proper channels.

Only by going this far would the fish be certain to bite.

Mary came out carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies and noticed the rum on the counter.

She was a little puzzled as to why Daisy had suddenly started selling liquor, but she did not pay it much mind and soon returned to the kitchen to keep working.

The fifteen pounds of Diamond Cookies and coffee biscuits baked today had all sold out.

However, tomorrow was another payday, and they still needed to prepare a large amount of ready-made food in advance that evening.

At minimum, five pounds of Diamond Cookies, ten pounds of coffee-flavored biscuits, fifty pounds of bread, two pots of meat pudding, and one pot of jam.

Mary was truly busy beyond belief.

Still, today’s takings had easily broken past one thousand pence, and tomorrow would only bring in more.

That evening, Penny came home. Mr. Nash and Fred also returned pushing their carts, while Nash Grocery remained open.

Many people passed through Clark Street in the evening, intending to go to the tavern for a bit of leisure.

Just as these people were about to enter Clark Street, they caught sight of the sign across the way at Nash Grocery.

Rum on promotion?

Then why would they go to a tavern?

Curious, these people stepped into Nash Grocery, where Fred and Mr. Nash were in charge of serving them.

When these drunkards learned that the rum was priced as low as one shilling, they bought it without another word.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Penny were in the kitchen, wrapping cookies by hand while peeking outside through the curtain.

Mary was still kneading dough. Somewhat puzzled, she asked, “Where did you get rum that cheap?
“The black market? Could that be dangerous?”

Mary deftly divided the dough into portions and added, “After that case a while back, the underground black market has gotten so secretive. How did you find a seller?”

Daisy smiled and shook her head. “We ran into them by chance. News is all over the place right now, and everyone is lying low, so the sellers are anxious to get rid of their stock.

“We only have these hundred bottles. They’ll sell out soon, and we won’t go buy more. Nothing will happen.”

Mary nodded, still puzzled.

She spent all day at home and had no idea whether things were really tense outside or not. Whatever Daisy said, she took as true, and she went back to kneading the dough, working a piece of butter into it.

She trusted Daisy completely. If Daisy said so, then it must be reliable.

In the tiny grocery store, the rum sold at one shilling a bottle, and a fifth of it was gone in no time.

One person told ten, and ten told a hundred.

The neighbors in the alley, the taverns nearby, and several grocery stores all heard the news.

After nine that night, Fred went out, climbed a ladder, and took down the gas lamp hanging under the eaves. Then he removed the blackboard from outside the door.

After that, he sealed all the window shutters and shut the front door tight, making it look as though they had closed for the night.

Immediately afterward, Mr. Lobit appeared at the end of the alley, wearing a pitch-black felt hat.

He looked around, passed by Nash Grocery, stared for a few moments at the light leaking through the cracks in the window, then headed toward the basement tavern with a dark expression.

The basement tavern was still open for business and would not close until midnight.

Lobit held the railing as he walked underground. A sharp reek of alcohol hit him in the face. He took two more steps down in disgust, sweeping his gaze around the cramped tavern.

There were not many customers today. Nathan was behind the bar, polishing glasses.

Lobit walked straight to the counter. Nathan looked up, not surprised in the slightest to see him.

“Mr. Lobit, what a rare guest. What would you like to drink? Rum?”

Lobit clicked his tongue. “Don’t mock me. What’s going on across the street? How did their family suddenly get hold of that liquor?”

Nathan’s boss was not around. He kept polishing the glass in his hands and said slowly, “How would I know?”

“Everyone knows how that rum got out. It was already hard to get before, and now the deals are probably even more hidden.”

Lobit thought for a moment, then took several shillings from his pocket and stuffed them into Nathan’s hand.

“Don’t think I don’t know. Your tavern sold this rum before too. Smuggled goods, wasn’t it?”

Nathan accepted the money. The corner of his mouth lifted, and he nodded, but he still reminded him, “So what if it was? Do you know why we stopped selling it?

“Back then, when those policemen went to the Nash family to ask Lisa about clues for the case, they brought up smuggling outside.

“Selling this liquor now is far too risky. I advise you not to get greedy.”

After hearing that, Lobit really did start thinking. He was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, “That unsolved case is complicated as hell. It involves so many lawsuits. What policeman could possibly sort it all out?

“If they had that kind of ability, Whitechapel wouldn’t have a black market.

“The Nash family has dealt with the police. Maybe they know the police won’t keep investigating, so they said that just to fool you. Now they’re the ones doing this business instead.”

“I know there’s risk, but I can’t just not know where this liquor came from. You tell me that much, and I’ll handle the rest myself.”

Since Lobit had put it that way, Nathan had no choice but to take out a note and hand it to him.

“In all of Whitechapel, this batch of goods has only one source.”

Lobit took it and looked. Written on it in bold letters was “Delta Kitchenware Store.”

…

The next day, the sky was overcast, and a long line began forming outside Nash Grocery the moment it opened.

The customers were all wrapped in coats, bleary-eyed, ready to buy something for breakfast while also coming to take a look at the rum.

Penny was home on holiday, and Daisy dragged her out of bed early. After washing up and hastily eating a couple of bites, she started bustling behind the counter.

Penny was in charge of bringing bread out from the kitchen and pouring milk for customers. Daisy handled sales pitches and payments, while Mary prepared the cooked food in the kitchen.

They were so busy they could hardly catch their breath, serving at least several dozen customers in a single morning.

After the morning rush passed, quite a few individual customers still came from late morning to noon specifically for the rum.

At the same time, Mr. Nash and Fred slowly delivered milk along Dorothy Street.

They could easily see that every grocery store and tavern on Dorothy Street was deserted today, with only a few scattered passersby stopping in.

All the residents from the nearby lanes and alleys were gathered outside their store.

It was not until lunchtime that the line gradually disappeared.

At noon, Mr. Nash and Fred returned to the shop to help out.
Daisy carried a drawerful of penny change behind the curtain and went into the kitchen to count the money.

Yesterday’s sales had come to 1,009 pence, about four pounds and four shillings.

From early morning until noon today, they had served a full one or two hundred customers. The rum had sold out long ago.

It had drawn nearly every resident in the neighborhood to rush in and buy. Some had even come to blows over the last bottle.

Even right up until closing, people were still coming by to ask about it.

As long as someone stepped through the door, Daisy would not let them leave empty-handed, even if they could not get the item they wanted.

Under her precise control, the shop’s turnover reached just over twelve pounds. After subtracting the fixed loss on the liquor, everything remained within her expectations.

Night fell over Clark Alley. Wearing a newsboy cap, George darted across the middle of the street and returned to Lobit Grocery.

Lobit could no longer sit still.

He immediately rose from behind the counter, strode to the entrance, and viciously dragged George inside for questioning.

“Did you find the goods?”

“I found them, but they refused to reveal anything about any other buyers. Do we still want to buy?”

“What’s the price?”

“Six pence a bottle. They still have plenty in stock.”

Once George finished speaking, Lobit began pacing back and forth inside the shop. As if thinking of the cash register that had sat empty all day, he finally made up his mind.

“Fortune favors the bold, and cowards starve. If they dare do it, then so can I.”

After running a grocery here for so many years, Lobit believed this was hardly the first time he had encountered such a thing.

George stood to one side, not daring to speak, much less offer advice.

In his eyes, his boss had likely gone mad. Lobit was obsessed with fighting the Nash family and had clearly lost all reason, daring even to take such a risk.

Still, as a hired hand, George felt there was really no need for him to try persuading this miserly old mule.

He nodded. “The seller said trades can only happen during the morning market now. You can go in person tomorrow morning.”

…

Late that night, in the attic of the Nash family home, Daisy stood behind the window with a slip of paper in her hand. She reached out, pulled aside the yellowed lace curtain, and looked outside.

The night was pitch-black, the starry sky completely hidden behind thick clouds.

In the dark alley, only a few neighbors still had their gas lamps lit, giving off a faint glow.

Penny lay sprawled on the bed, sound asleep, her face peaceful and comfortable. Every now and then, she kicked at the blanket.

Daisy remained behind the window, idly tapping the rolled-up paper in her hand against the table.

Her eyes lowered slightly as her mind searched through old memories, recalling the original setting of this world.

In the original work, England during this period was filled with countless mutually contradictory groups.

If she sorted them from top to bottom, there were regions, political parties, ethnicities, and classes. No matter where one looked, everything was tangled, mutually exclusive, and rife with opposition.

Every crime in the original work had sprouted from this naturally fertile soil.

The bill of lading fraud case was a complicated affair that involved lawsuits, murder, and the underground black market.

Most news reports focused on the killer’s cruel methods and the many rounds of maneuvering in the lawsuits over liability.

Some even described the murderer as a member of the Fenian Brotherhood.

Yet almost no one seemed to pay attention to the root of the matter.

The food merchant whose business had suffered a blow, and the shipment of imported food he had entrusted to a shipping company to carry into port.

Was there really only food inside?

…

:

———————-

Recommending a friend’s upcoming novel:

The Young Lady Only Wants to Retire [Infinite] by Chen Xu

Orientation: Female protagonist, no CP

Synopsis:

Ying Cixi, heir to the Ying Financial Group, was raised under strict discipline from childhood. Her upbringing was practically a living hell, and just after coming of age, she was tricked into taking control of the conglomerate. There was no joy in her life to speak of.

Her parents promised that as long as she earned one billion, they would end their round-the-world trip and return Ying Cixi her freedom and happiness.

For the sake of her dream of early retirement, Miss Ying acted with lightning speed and iron resolve, leaving no way out when she made decisions. In the end, she drew the hatred of her rivals, who hired someone to kill her.

Was death not another form of retirement? Miss Ying passed on peacefully. But when she regained consciousness, she discovered she had been dragged into an infinite world.

Unable to even die properly, Ying Cixi completely gave up trying.

Until she heard that the first player to obtain one billion points could return to the real world, and could exchange all their points for an equal amount of money.

When the other players met her again, they discovered:

Ying Cixi had gone mad…

…