Chapter 24 Guests

The next day, Chen Ergou from next door went out early again. Fan Xiaoxiao looked at the weather and saw that it was a little stuffy. After thinking for a moment, she took advantage of Old Zhao's inattention and handed the prepared things to Uncle Wang.

"Uncle, you know what to do, right?"

Uncle Wang took the strange-looking things, nodded, and said, "I understand. I've remembered everything you said yesterday, so don't worry."

Hearing this, Fan Xiaoxiao nodded slightly and took out another jar, saying, "This is the braised pork offal prepared for Hou San. You should give it to him as I said, and remember to tell him that we gave Zhu Er two portions of braised pork offal on the day we opened."

Uncle Wang nodded and wrote everything down. Only then did Fan Xiaoxiao lead Aunt Wang and Madam Fan out to the dock to set up their stall.

Today they introduced some new products. In addition to the braised pork, she asked Aunt Wang to bake some flatbread, which is used to make roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).

"Selling braised pork offal and meat-filled sesame seed cakes!"

As soon as the vendor's call rang out, many people who had eaten at Fan Xiaoxiao's stall the day before gathered around. The disguised shadow guard ran to the front, and after quickly selling a bowl of braised pork, he looked at the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) next to him and asked curiously, "Young lady, is this a new dish? How much is it?"

"Oh, this is a meat-filled sesame seed cake. It's eight coins each. Would you like one, sir?"

The guard stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then took out sixteen copper coins and handed them over, saying, "Take two, please put them away for me."

Fan Xiaoxiao responded and quickly wrapped two roujiamo (Chinese meat sandwiches) in banana leaves and handed them over.

The man behind the guards urged, "Hurry up! The people behind us are waiting! Hey! Young lady! Give me two bowls of braised pork!"

After the guard received the meat-filled sesame seed cake, he was pushed out by the surging crowd. He carefully protected the food in his hands, sweating profusely from the jostling. Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were a bit overwhelmed, while Aunt Wang was filling the bowls with braised offal. In no time, their bowls were empty.

"Girl! We don't have enough bowls! What are we going to do!"

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned. She really hadn't expected business to be so booming today. Seeing that many of the customers were from out of town, she thought for a moment, then tapped two ladles together and called out to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen! We've run out of bowls. If you bring your own bowls and chopsticks and buy two bowls, we'll give you a one-cent discount! If you buy three bowls, we'll give you a two-cent discount!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately ran towards their homes. The customers who had just paid their bills were initially somewhat dissatisfied, but Fan Xiaoxiao's suggestion to give them two extra pieces of fatty intestine immediately eased their emotions.

Half an hour later, Fan Xiaoxiao and the others had finished the braised pork. The three of them were so exhausted that they collapsed under the tree, fanning themselves.

Looking at the small amount of braised pork left, Madam Fan felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. She smiled at Fan Xiaoxiao and said, "Er Ya! You're really amazing! You sold so much in one go!"

Fan Xiaoxiao wasn't so happy. Although they had sold quite a few braised pork offal by the end of the morning, they had only sold two or three meat-filled sesame cakes. Thinking of this, she sighed, "I don't think we can sell the braised pork offal for more than a few days. There's only that butcher Zhang in this town who sells pork. If he doesn't give us offal, our business will be ruined."

"Huh? No way, does that butcher Zhang not do any business at all?"

"It's hard to say."

The two chatted casually when a young man walked over to the stall. Wang Da Niang immediately got up to greet him.

"Sir, what would you like to order?"

The young man, dressed in fine clothes, looked Fan Xiaoxiao and her group up and down. When he saw a small stack of sesame flatbreads, he paused and asked, "Are those meat-filled sesame flatbreads sold at your stall?"

Yes! It's sold here!

The young man nodded, a smile appearing on his face, and said, "Then I'll trouble the shopkeeper to pack four of those meat-filled sesame cakes for me!"

When Aunt Wang heard that the young man had ordered four meat-filled sesame cakes, an excited smile immediately appeared on her face, and she replied repeatedly, "Okay!"

After saying that, Wang Danian chopped some pork belly, mixed it with some green peppers, and added it to the center of the opened flatbread. His movements were incredibly swift. The young man looked at the green peppers mixed in with the meat and asked with some confusion, "What's this?"

Seeing that the young man seemed interested in green peppers, Fan Xiaoxiao quickly got up and went over, smiling as she replied, "These are called chili peppers. They're grown in our countryside. They're a bit spicy, but they're especially good at cutting through greasiness."

"I see!"

The young man smiled and nodded, paid, took the meat-filled sesame seed cake, thanked him, and left the dock.

After leaving the market, the young man, carrying a meat-filled sesame seed cake, turned several corners and entered a grand, vermilion-lacquered house. The doorman, seeing him return, quickly stepped forward and said, "Sanlang, you're back! Madam has been looking for you for a long time."

"Why is Mother looking for me?"

"The Huang family has arrived, insisting that your eldest daughter-in-law be married to you. This has made you so angry that you've had a headache all morning."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yushu frowned, a hint of displeasure in his voice: "Since Father's death, we have been much more tolerant of the Huang family! How can they still be so shameless!"

"That's right! The lady was so angry that she locked herself in her room!"

Ji Yushu nodded with a stern expression and strode towards the backyard.

"mother!"

Hearing her son's cries from inside her room, Madam Ji opened the door, frowned, and scolded, "What are you shouting for! Your mother is annoyed with you!"

Ignoring his mother's displeased expression, Ji Yushu stepped forward and continued, "Mother! The Huang family has sent people again?"

Hearing her son's question, Madam Ji felt her head was getting bigger again. She rubbed her temples and sighed, "Yes! They want you to be the perfect husband for their eldest daughter. That eldest daughter of the Huang family, every few days she sees a handsome young man in town and shouts that she wants to marry him."

This isn't the first time, but why is he being so stubborn this time, coming over and over again! I'm getting so annoyed! I really don't know where that old bastard Huang Yuan gets the nerve to ask me for a thing!

"The Huang family is going too far! They're just relying on their wealth! How dare they humiliate my Ji family like this! No way! I'm going to confront them!"

Madam Ji was startled by Ji Yushu's posture and quickly grabbed him, saying, "Hey, hey, hey, don't go! If you go, what if his eldest daughter clings to me again? What will I do then? The Huang family will say that our Ji family has insulted his daughter's reputation! Please shut up! I've been so angry all morning that I haven't even had a sip of water!"

Hearing this, Ji Yushu paused slightly, suddenly remembering why he had come back. He quickly handed what he was carrying to his mother: "Oh, right! Mother, I went to the market this morning, and there was a long line at a stall selling braised pork and sesame flatbread! A friend of mine shared this flatbread with me! It's a bit spicy, but it's delicious. You should try it! I think it might be able to help us revive Linjianglou!"

(End of this chapter)