Before night had fully fallen, Meng Zhao and his group arrived at Guanshan Xiejie. It was not yet the official opening time, but the street was already bustling with activity. The street was much cleaner than usual, and most of the people walking around were well-dressed young men and women.

Since Shen Qinghe was present today, Meng Zhao did not allow Aunt Feng'e to come and set up the stall. After preparing the vegetables, she sent her back to rest.

After they found a stall and set up their goods, it gradually got dark, and shops and stalls along the street began to hang up their lanterns one after another.

Shen Qing first tied the two bamboo poles he brought from home to the legs of the cart with rope, then lit the candle with a flint, covered it with a lampshade, raised it above his head, and hung it on the hook at the top of the bamboo poles.

When Meng Zhao saw him hanging lanterns, she looked puzzled. "Mother, do you think Qinghe has grown quite a bit taller recently?"

Madam Gu also looked up and examined Shen Qinghe. "Indeed, Qinghe has grown quite a bit taller these days, and the hem of his clothes is getting too short. Take off your clothes later, and I'll give you some extra fabric."

Poor families don't make clothes that fit perfectly from the start. Instead, they cut extra fabric, sew it together beforehand, and then leave some extra fabric to wear the clothes when they become too small.

Hearing what the two said, Shen Qinghe looked down at the hem of his clothes and realized that recently, when he looked at his sister-in-law, he no longer had to look up to speak as before.

After hanging the lanterns, Meng Zhao hung the banner he had prepared in advance in front of the cart. The characters were large and dark, so that passersby could see it from afar.

Once everything was ready, the lid was lifted, and strings of braised skewers were laid out, piled up in a dazzling array that looked quite novel.

The street was already crowded with pedestrians, and as soon as the stall was set up, a young man stopped and asked, "Young lady, what kind of food are you selling?"

Meng Zhao replied, "This dish is called hot braised skewers. The ingredients are skewered and then braised in a secret sauce. It can be eaten hot or cold. If you like spicy food, I also have my secret chili oil here that I can drizzle on top for you."

The aroma of the braised skewers had already spread far and wide. The young man lowered his head slightly to smell them and exclaimed, "They smell so good! How much are these skewers?"

"All the skewers on my stall cost only one coin each."

The young man asked in surprise, "Is this meat also worth one coin?"

Meng Zhao smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's one coin whether it's meat or vegetables."

"Okay, okay, give me a few more skewers. What kind of meat is this?"

"This is rabbit meat."

"Give me three skewers first, and what are these meatballs made of?"

After Meng Zhao answered his questions one by one, the young man ordered three skewers of rabbit meat, two skewers each of fish tofu, beef balls, and sausage, and two skewers each of bean curd sheets, lotus root slices, green vegetables, potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms, for a total of 19 coins.

If costs are deducted, Meng Zhao can earn 10 coins from this order, of which 6 coins can be earned from the vegetarian dishes alone. That's right, in this hot braised skewers, the vegetarian dishes are more profitable than the meat dishes.

Meng Zhao could certainly price the meat dishes at two coins, but customers might associate that price with her stall.

Don't underestimate that one penny difference. It can change people's perception of a food from cheap and delicious to delicious and not too expensive. There's a big difference between the two.

Therefore, Meng Zhao set the price at one coin for both meat and vegetarian dishes. This would make it very easy to promote the product, and many people would be attracted by the low price of one coin.

Once they were drawn over, they would find that while the one-cent meat skewers were already a good deal, the vegetable dishes next to them were even more appealing. Each beef skewer only had two small slices, and the fish tofu only had three pieces, cut in half, while the potato and lotus root skewers next to them had several slices on each skewer.

The amount of bean curd sheets and dried bean curd is much more than that of the meat skewers next to them, so customers will subconsciously order a few more skewers of vegetables, feeling that they have gotten a good deal at this affordable stall, even though the actual cost of the vegetables is lower.

The young man took a large handful of skewers and started eating them right away.

The first thing I tried was the fish tofu. As soon as it entered my mouth, my eyes widened. It really tasted like fish, and it had a special aroma added to the freshness of the fish. It was also chewy and bouncy. I immediately ate the remaining two pieces. It was so delicious.

The rabbit meat was not dry at all; on the contrary, it was very tender. Because it had been soaked for a while, the braising sauce was very flavorful, and it had a slightly numbing taste, making you want to eat a few more skewers.

And that was indeed the case. After he finished all the skewers in his hand, he still really wanted to eat more, so he turned around and went back to buy a few more.

To his surprise, the stall was no longer the same as it had been when he first saw it. A crowd had gathered in front of it, and he almost couldn't squeeze in.

Meng Zhao kept serving skewers to the diners, while Shen Qinghe was settling the bills and calculating the amount.

Gu was shouting in the street with her two children.

"Selling skewers! Delicious hot braised skewers, one coin per skewer, both meat and vegetarian options available."

"Don't miss out! For just one penny, you won't lose out or be cheated. One bite of this braised food will leave you wanting more for a lifetime."

"Come and see, everyone from the south and the north! If you miss this opportunity, you'll never have another chance."

With the vendors calling out their wares and the aroma emanating from the hot and braised skewers, their stall kept making money non-stop.

It wasn't until the sound of gongs and drums at the street corner that the variety show troupe started their performance, and then the number of people in front of the stalls decreased.

After this group of people passed by, it seemed that about a third of the goods had been sold.

A rather burly man walked up to Meng Zhao's stall, glanced at the banner in front of the stall, and said, "Is your beef also one coin per skewer?"

Meng Zhao nodded. "Yes, it's one coin for both meat and vegetables."

"Give me five skewers of beef to try first." Meng Zhao picked up five skewers, dipped them in the braising liquid, drained them slightly, and handed them over.

The man took the skewer and devoured it in one bite. Not satisfied, he grabbed two more skewers before starting to chew. He swallowed them and then ate the other two skewers, smacking his lips as he said, "The taste is good, but it's a bit cold."

Meng Zhao quickly brought out the small stove she had brought with her. Although the skewers were delicious even when cold, she was worried that some people might not like them cold, so they had brought a small stove and pot with them to heat up the skewers.

"You like it hot, I can heat it up for you right now. What would you like to order?"

The man was even more pleased when he saw the pot. "Give me ten more beef skewers, five rabbit skewers, and five potato slice skewers."

"Okay." Seeing his physique, Meng Zhao knew that a big customer had arrived, so he quickly heated up the skewers for him.