Chapter 16: Starting to Make Money by Setting Up a Small Stall!

The next day at daybreak, Shen Miao woke up.

Shen Miao instructed Hao Ji Ge'er and Xiang Jie'er to take good care of the house, then tidied up the table, stools, food, charcoal, and griddle, and carried two stoves. Together with Gu Tu Su, who had come to the door to wait for her early in the morning, she hurried towards Jinliang Bridge.

Gu Tusu pulled the cart, while Shen Miao quickly tied up everything on it, especially the seven or eight wooden food boxes she had spent a long time using to store ingredients, as well as the bottles and jars containing seasonings. If any of these were knocked over, she would be heartbroken and unable to breathe.

Shen Miao tied ropes around the cart. Seeing how quickly she moved, Gu Tusu felt a pang of emotion and heartache. Back then, when his eldest sister was at home, she had never struggled so hard to make a living. But there was no point in talking about it now.

Yangliu East Lane is very close to Jinliang Bridge, and we arrived in no time. The bridge was already crowded with vendors setting up stalls, parasols, and displaying their goods. Chen Miao's arrival was just in time.

As soon as she came over, the vendors on the bridge all quietly sized her up.

The vendors on Jinliang Bridge change frequently, and it's not unusual for new vendors to come and sell their goods, but a young and beautiful woman like Shen Miao is a first for me.

Many men stared at her, until the beautiful young woman passed by, and then a dark-skinned, tall man suddenly appeared behind her, helping her pull the cart. They quickly looked away.

Gu Tusu helped her unload and set up the stove and griddle, while Shen Miao brought over the small square table from home, which fit perfectly into the empty space of her stall. It was just a pity that Ji Ge'er and Xiang Jie'er had to stand by the stove to eat the steamed buns and fried cakes that she had kept warm in the pot in the morning.

"Then I'll go back to the shop to help out. When are you going back?" After settling her in, Gu Tusu pulled out a large oil-paper umbrella from under the cart, opened it for her, tied it to the stone block, and shook it to check if it was sturdy. He then turned around and asked, "I'll come back to pick you up."

Shen Miao waved her hands repeatedly: "I'll go back by myself after I've sold them all."

She only brought fifty pastry wrappers with her today, intending to sell them all and leave. She also wanted to find a school for Ji-ge'er, as staying cooped up in the house all day wasn't a long-term solution.

"How can you, a weak woman, carry all this?" Gu Tusu pointed to the items, then looked at the sky, and pushed the cart back up. "I'll come over around the right time. You wait for me."

He left without waiting for Shen Miao to refuse.

As soon as he left, the plump woman next door came over with a giggle and said, "Your husband looks rather intimidating, but he's incredibly considerate to you!"

Shen Miao felt awkward; she couldn't very well tell every person who asked that she was divorced and had two children, could she?

He could only shake his head: "He is not my husband."

The plump woman stared blankly at Shen Miao, who was dressed as a married woman. She then peeked at Gu Tusu, who was walking away, and lowered her voice to ask, "Is this your lover?"

Shen Miao: "..."

Seeing Shen Miao's speechless expression, the plump woman realized she had misspoke and quickly clapped her hands again: "I know, you're a widow, aren't you? Has that dark-faced young man taken a fancy to you and wants to marry you?"

Shen Miao: "...In short, he is not my husband, just a neighbor."

The plump woman looked incredulous and wanted to chat with Shen Miao, but then she saw a customer passing by and quickly turned around to call out: "The best tea! Jujube tea, perilla tea, salted black bean tea, twenty coins a pottery jar, two coins for one or two cups, three coins for two or two cups! The best tea that even the emperor loves to drink!"

The plump woman's bright voice attracted two young women who had come out to buy groceries together. They carried their shopping baskets, one ordering a bowl of jujube soup and the other ordering a bowl of old lady's soup.

Shen Miao looked at them. Wasn't this an essential part of the girls' outings in later generations: drinking milk tea?

And so, without realizing it, I started to laugh.

People in the Song Dynasty had a habit of having a bowl of "boiled soup, tea, and medicine" before and after breakfast. The tea and soup shops run by the fat lady were like milk tea shops in later times. They were the most common in this area besides restaurants and taverns, and could be said to be everywhere.

Although they contain the words "medicine" and "soup," not all of them have a medicinal taste; rather, some teas have special effects. For example, the "salted soybean soup" that the fat lady was just hawking can soothe the stomach and intestines, "perilla soup" can stop coughing and relieve asthma, and there is also a common "Er Chen Tang" that can sober you up and refresh you.

Of course, the young lady mostly liked to drink "plum soup", "papaya soup", "osmanthus soup", "jujube soup", "grandma's soup" and so on. The grandma's soup that the young lady bought was made by simmering roasted chestnuts, white sesame seeds, walnuts, olives and other ingredients, with a little bit of brown sugar added. It had a rich and mellow flavor.

Shen Miao seemed to be deep in thought: Because the Liao Kingdom was to the north of the Song Dynasty, it seems that the milk tea that the northern nomadic peoples loved to drink had not yet become popular in Bianjing... I wonder if anyone would like it if I made it?

While she was lost in thought, the plump woman had already put the two bowls of tea and four coins into the money jar. The crisp clinking of the coins immediately snapped Shen Miao out of her reverie—she should hurry up and make the pancakes!

***

The sky was already turning a pale white, and the lanterns of the shops on both sides of the street were gradually going out. In the morning mist, the tea stalls and food stalls on the bridge market had already opened, and everywhere was filled with steaming water vapor, with all kinds of aromas mixed in, making people unable to resist stopping and lingering.

Just across the street from Jinliang Bridge, in the West Bell and Drum Alley of Daxiangguo Temple, Xie Fu, with a falcon slung over his shoulder, took advantage of his father's absence at court early in the morning to lead his servants over the wall to go out and play.

The servant led the dog and went with him onto Jinliang Bridge to walk the dog and play with the birds by Jinming Pond.

Xie Fu, a playboy who spends all his time in the marketplace, knows everyone who does business on Jinliang Bridge: Wu Da's jerky is the most chewy and springy, Fat Liu's licorice-infused iced water is the most refreshing, and Butcher Zheng's venison is the freshest...

Huh? Xie Su suddenly smelled an irresistible aroma. Following the overflowing fragrance, he saw a young woman he had never seen before. She was fair-skinned and had delicate features with curved eyebrows. She was deftly making pancakes for a stall that had gathered a lot of people.

A small table was set up in front of her, with two neat rows of side dishes: cucumber strips cut to the length of a finger, spring greens torn into pieces, golden-fried pork chops, a basket of eggs, and several jars of sauce.

Two small clay stoves were lit on the left, with griddles on top and charcoal burning brightly below. The griddles were brushed with oil, and the prepared pancakes sizzled as they were fried, the aroma of wheat instantly intensified by the oil, and they quickly turned golden brown. She was cooking pancakes on both stoves at the same time, but she wasn't flustered at all, and even had time to respond to the customers in front of her.

"Sir, a vegetarian pancake costs three coins, one with meat costs five coins, and one with both egg and meat is called 'Double Happiness,' which costs two more coins." The young woman, with a blue floral apron around her waist, which was slender enough to be encircled with one hand, held a thin wooden shovel in her hand. She turned around and spoke gently, making the burly man blush with embarrassment, only able to say repeatedly, "Yes, yes!"

The woman deftly picked up a red-skinned egg, tapped it lightly on the edge of the griddle, and the golden-brown pancake was immediately coated with egg liquid. She used a small spatula to mix the yolk and egg liquid evenly, then lifted the pancake from the edge, flipped it over, and added two pieces of cucumber, two pieces of golden-fried chicken cutlet, two pieces of spring greens, and a piece of fried dough stick to the burly man's plate. She then asked him if he wanted bean paste or white sauce.

“This white sauce is homemade; no other place makes it. It’s the perfect accompaniment to your meat and egg pancakes, but adding this sauce will cost an extra coin,” Shen Miao explained with a smile.

The burly man waved his hand and shouted, "Add!"

Shen Miao scooped up a spoonful and spread it on top of the meat and vegetables. She then folded the two sides of the pancake inward and placed it into a pre-folded square oil paper package. She handed it to the big man and said, "Your top-quality egg and meat sauce family pancake is ready. Thank you for your patronage, sir. Enjoy!"

The big man didn't mind the heat; he opened his mouth and took a big bite, swallowing the fragrant pancake and meat and vegetables. Before he could even swallow, his eyes lit up and he took another bite.

After finishing it in two or three bites, he kept shouting, "Give me three more of the same!"

Seeing how he ate it with such relish, the crispy, crumbly texture and the rich, savory flavor, Xie Su couldn't help but feel a little envious.

And... this young lady is quite shrewd, she even made a lot of fun by making pancakes!

Xie Su came from a prominent family. Although the aristocratic families were no longer as prosperous as they were in the Tang Dynasty after the Huang Chao Rebellion, his father was now just a minor scribe in the Secretariat. However, his family had fertile fields passed down from their ancestors, and they had many servants and siblings. They never had to worry about food or drink.

After the burly man left, a peddler whose clothes and hat were covered with trinkets called out, "Lu Jiuzhu windmills, two for one coin." He happened to be passing by on the bridge and stopped, attracted by the aroma of the pancakes. The young woman seemed to recognize him and said with a smile, "We meet again. I bought your windmill before! What do you want? I'll make it for you."

He looked left and right, and finally only ordered a vegetarian dish. But judging from the way he ate it with his eyes squinted, it probably tasted pretty good.

Then a young matchmaker in a red dress and green skirt with flowers in her hair came along. She bought two of them and leaned against the bridge railing, leisurely enjoying them.

Xie Su couldn't help but be tempted. Since he hadn't eaten since he had sneaked out early that morning, he also sent his servant to buy the so-called "top-of-the-line family feast" with eggs.

"It looks fairly clean, so you can buy more and send some home. Especially don't forget to send some to Ninth Brother's room. Ever since he came back from Chenzhou, he's had a poor appetite and is feeling down. Sending him some fresh food will help whet his appetite." As he spoke, he sighed and said, "You can't blame Ninth Brother. He was swindled out of all his money on this trip, but that's nothing new. Who would have thought that even a perfectly good marriage would be called off like this? It's hard for anyone to feel this way."

He shook his head and sighed at his younger brother's tragic fate. He then instructed his servants to buy about twenty of them. He kept one for himself to try, sent most of them home to his parents, grandmother, and other siblings, and generously gave the rest to his servants.

Having grown accustomed to delicacies from land and sea, Xie Su was a regular at grand restaurants like Fanlou. He spent his days wandering around and had seen a lot, so he didn't think that such a street food stall could have any amazing flavors.

It's just that the woman is beautiful, has sweet words to attract customers, and knows how to use gimmicks!

A pancake filled with some vegetables and meat, it smells good, but how delicious can it really be... He's just trying it out of curiosity.

He took a bite with disdain.