Mixed Markets

Just outside the hole in a fence which I use as a gate out of school, stands, squats, or sits a man selling 地瓜 (sweet potatoes) out of a big rusty barrel filled with burning coals, mounted on a little cart.

Or at least he used to. But suddenly, the icy weather thawed, and people stopped buying nice, warming root vegetables.

"What to do?" he might have pondered to himself. "I know, I'll sell animals!" he probably answered in reply to his own question.

So Potato-Selling Man sold his Potato Barrel, and traded it in for a little cart, which he filled with fluffy little hamsters, cute little turtles, adorable rabbits, a litter of puppies in a tiny cage, and a kitten with poo in its fur.

The first time I walked past I found myself thinking, "How much per pound for puppy?" and "There can't be much meat on a gerbil. Better to get a rabbit."

As it turns out, people are buying them as pets, rather than tasty, tasty snackettes.

Today, Y-SM was down to a couple of rodents and his last puppy and kitten, which he'd stuffed into a single cage (evidently, rental charges on two separate cages weren't economic) which got me thinking? What would Y-SM sell next? Life Insurance? Some of these? Back to tubers? To be continued...!