Explore Chapter 23 of "牛天赐传" with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Tianci and Sihu had been living in the dilapidated temple for a few days. Sihu said, "We can't keep going on like this. We need to think of something." Tianci said, "I don't know how to do anything except study, but books aren't worth anything anymore." Sihu said, "Let's try some small business." Tianci asked, "What should we do?" Sihu replied, "Let's sell pears. It's just the season for pears to come to market." Tianci agreed, "All right, let's sell pears."
Sihu took out their savings and bought a basket of pears. Tianci wore his father's old gown, shouldered the carrying pole, and went to the countryside with Sihu. They hawked as they walked, but no one bought any. Later they met an old man. The old man said, "Selling pears like this won't work. You need to know how to hawk." The old man taught them a set of hawking calls. They learned to shout them, and indeed people came to buy. They sold some pears and earned a few dimes.
Tianci was very happy, feeling that selling pears wasn't difficult. But the next day, they ran into a few thugs who demanded protection money. Sihu refused to pay and got into a fight with them. Tianci also helped, but he was hit a few times. Finally they fled, and the pears scattered all over the ground. They picked up the remaining pears and continued selling. Later they met an old woman. The old woman bought quite a few pears and even gave them a bowl of water to drink.
With most of the pears sold, Tianci and Sihu settled accounts. After deducting the cost, they had only earned a few yuan. Tianci said, "Selling pears is too hard. Let's go to Beijing. There are more opportunities there." Sihu agreed. So they packed up, ready to go to Beijing.