Chapter 34: Dumplings come in clear soup and spicy/sour varieties!

Lin Yao looked at the two people standing outside the door. The middle-aged woman, called Aunt Li, was about forty years old, and the boy beside her looked to be around fifteen. The woman's clothes were old and faded, and her face was weathered, but her hair was neatly combed. The boy beside her was the same; the fabric was faded from washing, but it was very clean, showing that its owner was a person who liked cleanliness.

Seeing that Lin Yao remained silent for a moment, Madam Liang was afraid that she was annoyed that she had brought too many people, making it seem like she was desperately trying to benefit her husband's family. She quickly explained, "Ayao, Xu'er came with Aunt Li. The child is worried about his mother."

Lin Yao carefully examined Liu Xu. He had a square face, bright and piercing eyes, and a sturdy build. Although he was about the same age as Lin Cheng, he was a head taller and much more robust. It seemed that Uncle Liu's family must have lived quite well when he was alive.

Liu Xu scratched his head and smiled sheepishly, "Sister Ayao, I came with Mother to take a look."

Lin Yao nodded slightly and stepped aside to let Liu Xu and his mother in. "Auntie, Brother Xu, please come in and sit down. It's windy outside."

Lin Yao handed the tea to Madam Li and Liu Xu, "Aunt Li, we'd like to hire you to work at our food stall. Lunch is included, and it's eight coins a day. What do you think?"

Although Li Shi didn't interact much with others in the village, she had heard about Lin Yao's food business because of Liu Dazhuang. She hadn't expected the wages to be so generous; her son Liu Xu only sold a pheasant for thirty coins, but now she could earn that much in just a few days of work. This way, A-Xu wouldn't have to risk going up the mountain every day, and she wouldn't have to live in constant fear. Li Shi nodded eagerly, "Good, good! Just tell me what kind of work you need!"

Liu Xu, restless and eager, had been planning to find work at the docks after the Ghost Festival to pay respects to his father. While working as a long-term laborer at the docks was hard and tiring, the pay was good, his life was safe, and it would put his mother's mind at ease. He had heard that the simple work at the dock stalls could earn eight coins a day. If he could work for A Yao, with his strength, he figured the pay wouldn't be bad. However, he had come with his mother, and asking now might offend her.

Lin Yao had been keeping an eye on Liu Xu, so she noticed his unusual behavior. "Brother Xu, do you feel something is wrong?" He quickly shook his head. "No, no, it's just..." Liu Xu pursed his lips. "Sister Yao, do you still need someone to do the work? I'm strong, I can do anything. I can skip lunch, and it's fine if you don't need it."

In fact, the moment Lin Yao saw the mother and son, she thought of hiring them both to work for her. Although the mother and son were poor, they were clean and efficient, making them suitable candidates for the catering business. "Brother Xu, there's no need for that. We already have enough manpower at the dock stalls."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xu's face instantly turned bright red, his entire face a dark red tinged with darkness, looking somewhat comical. He stammered, "Then... I was being presumptuous."

Lin Yao hadn't expected Liu Xu's strong reaction, and quickly added, "But the stalls in town are still short-handed. Brother Xu can come with us to the stalls in town; lunch will be provided, and it'll cost ten coins a day." With Liang Shi assigned to manage the crystal powder workshop, only she and Wang Xiaoyu, two young girls, were left at the stalls in town, which wasn't very safe. With Liu Xu joining, they would not only have an extra strong laborer, but their safety would also be more guaranteed.

Liu Xu hadn't expected such a good deal. Ten coins a day, that'd be three hundred coins a month—how many pheasants would he have to hunt to earn that? He grinned, revealing a set of neat teeth, and nodded hurriedly, "Thank you so much, Sister Ayao! If there's any dirty or tiring work, just let me know and I'll do it!"

When Li and her son left the second branch of the Lin family, their steps were light and airy. Li had never imagined that she could earn eight copper coins a day, and with her son's ten copper coins a day, the two of them could earn eighteen copper coins a day. If word got out, countless people in the village would envy them. She instructed her son, "Axu, your sister Ayao is kind-hearted and helped us. If anyone asks, don't reveal the wages. Wealth should not be flaunted, lest it cause trouble for Ayao."

Liu Xu nodded obediently, "Mother, I know."

After seeing off the Li family, Lin Yao began to ponder the menus of the town's stalls. Hot and sour noodles alone weren't enough; Lin Yao decided to add wontons, which in ancient times were essentially modern-day dumplings. While most wontons on the market today were in clear broth, which were certainly delicious, there was no one selling red oil wontons or hot and sour wontons.

Besides wontons, Lin Yao also planned to make "Ants Climbing a Tree" (a Sichuan dish). This was her favorite dish made with sweet potato starch, second only to hot and sour noodles. However, eating "Ants Climbing a Tree" on its own wasn't quite enough; it needed to be served with rice. But making only this one dish would be too monotonous. How about… making boxed lunches! In modern times, Northeastern-style boxed lunches are both economical and affordable. Lin Yao perked up at this thought. The key to boxed lunches is large portions, affordability, and a variety of dishes, satisfying the tastes of different people.

Lin Yao set different prices for the boxed meals: one meat and one vegetable dish cost eight coins, two meat and one vegetable dish cost thirteen coins, and three meat and one vegetable dish cost twenty coins. A bowl of soup was given away with every purchase.

Having made up her mind, Lin Yao immediately got to work. Since it was her first time making boxed lunches, she needed to make a name for herself. Since the "Ants Climbing a Tree" (a Sichuan dish) was spicy, she'd also make a sweet braised pork belly, a savory minced pork and eggplant dish, plus a stir-fried cabbage, and a pork bone broth. Even though the butcher had cleaned the pork bones thoroughly, the broth would still retain a meaty flavor. Besides, the broth was free, which should attract many people.

~

With the addition of boxed lunches, the workload increased significantly. Lin Yao and Lin Cheng got up half an hour earlier than usual, and Wang Xiaoyu also arrived earlier than usual. Before dawn, the group was already bustling about in the kitchen.

The three of them had just finished preparing the ingredients for the day when there was a knock at the door. Lin Yao opened the door and saw Liu Xu standing outside. She had arranged to come to work at dawn, and there were still a quarters of an hour before that. "Brother Xu, why are you here so early?"

Liu Xu smiled sheepishly and said, "It's not early, it's not early. I usually get up even earlier when I go hunting in the mountains. I've come to see if there's anything I can do to help."

Lin Yao led him into the house and introduced him to Wang Xiaoyu, saying, "Ayu, this is Brother Dazhuang's younger brother, Brother Liu Xu. He'll be helping us set up a stall in town from now on." She then turned to Liu Xu and introduced Wang Xiaoyu, saying, "This is my apprentice, Brother Xu, you can call her Ayu." Thus, the two became acquainted.

Liu Xu arrived early, so he was given the task of washing the dishes. In order to sell boxed lunches and crystal noodles in town, Lin Cheng went to town to buy twenty large bowls and three sets of tables and chairs, so that he wouldn't have to trouble Liu Dazhuang's family to lend them their own tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks.

Lin Yao and Wang Xiaoyu began loading the donkey cart with the items they would be using to set up their stall in town that day. Lin Yao patted Xiao Hui's head, thankful they had bought the donkey cart, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to transport so much stuff to town.

After everything was packed, Lin Yao led Wang Xiaoyu and Liu Xu to the town. Along the way, they encountered many people carrying loads on shoulder poles. It happened to be market day①, and many people were bringing their saved eggs, dried vegetables, and hunted pheasants and rabbits to sell, making the market much busier than usual. When the three of them arrived in town, the spot they had taken last time was still empty. Lin Yao told Liu Xu to stop the donkey cart, "This will do."

Wang Xiaoyu looked at the spot at the back, then at the large open space in front, and asked, "Master, there's no one in front yet, why don't we move forward?"

As Lin Yao untied the tables and chairs from the donkey cart and helped Liu Xu unload the goods, she explained, "Last time, Sister Liang and I set up our stall here. If any of our customers from last time come, they'll spot us immediately. Besides, there are noodle stalls all across the street, which are similar to the types of food we sell. Most people who come here want to eat noodles, so it's easy to promote our products."

Wang Xiaoyu moved the food from the donkey cart to the stall and nodded, "I see."

By the time they finished packing up their stall, it was already broad daylight, and the town was gradually filling up with people. Lin Yao laid out the finished wontons on the stall and began to call out, "Come and take a look! Fresh wontons and crystal noodles, some in clear broth! And some in hot and sour! I guarantee you'll never forget them after you try them!"

Lin Yao had thought about it carefully yesterday. Nowadays, most wontons are cooked in clear broth, and no one has tried wontons with chili oil or hot and sour flavors yet. At first glance, the market seems huge, but it's hard to guarantee that people won't accept such stimulating flavors all at once. So she plans to proceed gradually, adapting to local customs first, and then slowly opening up the market.

Lin Yao first served two bowls of spicy wontons to Wang Xiaoyu and Liu Xu. The two had arrived at the house early in the morning to help out and probably hadn't had breakfast yet. Liu Xu was a little embarrassed when he took the bowl, which was overflowing with wontons—clearly twice the amount of Wang Xiaoyu's—Wang Xiaoyu smiled and said, "I have a small appetite, Brother Xu, eat more. You haven't seen Master's skills yet. We'll be busy later!"

Liu Xu nodded, picked up a freshly cooked wonton, took a sip of the spicy broth, and instantly felt refreshed. He picked up a wonton, blew on it, and popped it into his mouth. The wonton wrapper was soaked with the subtle spiciness of the red oil broth; biting through the thin, chewy wrapper revealed a fragrant pork filling. The soup in the bowl was still steaming, but he had already lost patience with the aroma, eating wonton after wonton until he was sweating profusely.

Hunter Wu was selling his pheasant in town when he smelled a rich aroma. Following the scent, he arrived at Lin Yao's stall. Seeing the young man eating so heartily, his stomach rumbled, and he asked, "Young lady, how much are your dumplings?"

Lin Yao hurriedly explained, "A bowl of plain wontons costs five dollars, while wontons with crystal noodles cost eight dollars. They come in clear soup, hot and sour, or spicy oil flavors. You can choose according to your preference."

Hunter Wu pointed to Liu Xu, who was engrossed in eating, and said, "What flavor is this young man eating? I want the same as him."

"This one's in chili oil, I'll make it for you right away!" Lin Yao replied. Just as Lin Yao put the dumplings into the pot and handed the strainer to Wang Xiaoyu, she heard a familiar voice: "Miss Lin, why have you opened a stall in town?"

Lin Yao looked up upon hearing the voice and said, "Dr. Chen! I've made a new dish and wanted to try my luck in town. Please have a seat."

Upon hearing about the new food, Chen Qianyuan immediately became interested. "Oh? New dishes? Tell me what they are."

Lin Yao began reciting the menu: "For breakfast, we have wontons and crystal noodles, which can be ordered individually or as a set, and come in clear soup, chili oil, and hot and sour flavors. For lunch, we have boxed meals, including ants climbing a tree, braised pork, eggplant with minced meat, stir-fried cabbage, and pork bone soup."

Chen Qianyuan was slightly surprised. This young girl looked quite young, but she was quite capable. He said, "Hey, there are quite a few dishes. I'll start with some wontons and crystal noodles, made in a hot and sour flavor. The taste is fresh."

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Author's Note: Since you've read this far, please add this to your favorites! I'm practically crawling on the floor begging for a favorite!