After persuading her daughter Wei Zhu to quit her job, Song Xia bought a second-hand pushcart. She verbally agreed to let Wei Deng find a job as a dishwasher or supermarket shelf clerk, but in reality, she had already decided to set up a stall.

She noticed when she rented the room that day that there were many street vendors near the hospital selling snacks and fruits. After seeing Wei Deng off, she asked around and found out that people usually don't chase away those who set up their stalls here and there, as long as they don't block the main roads.

However, sometimes at the end of the month or when the city's appearance is being improved, the stalls may have to be shut down for a few days. In most cases, the city management officers are very friendly.

Song Xia was very confident in her skills, and setting up a stall was much better than working and having to put up with other people's attitudes. Especially at her age, the jobs she could find were all the kind that were hard work and low-paying, so it was better to do it herself.

After a day of surveying the market, she had a plan for what to sell at her stall. There were not only hospital patients and their families in the area, but also many ordinary office workers in the nearby buildings, so she decided to sell pancakes.

Fast food like meat patties and scallion pancakes, along with drinks like soy milk, can be sold. As the weather gets colder, depending on business, you can add lotus root starch or hot porridge. As long as the taste isn't too bad and the price is reasonable, the business will generally be pretty good.

After buying the second-hand cart, she immediately went to buy some oil pans, gas cylinders, and other items. That evening, she prepared the raw materials to sell the next day, which would make setting up her stall much faster the next day.

For dinner, she ate the meat patties and scallion pancakes she made herself. The meat patties were crispy, tender, and bursting with juice, while the scallion pancakes were fragrant. Even the soy milk was thick and silky. She nodded with satisfaction as she ate.

Little did she know that the aroma had tormented her neighbors for quite some time. Although the apartment she rented was larger than a typical one-bedroom, it was still an urban village, and the distance between buildings wasn't that great. Even though it was late, many office workers were still working overtime and returning home, already hungry. The smell of the aroma made them even more uncomfortable.

Song Xia ignored all of this and went to bed early. She got up early the next day. It was her first day setting up her stall, so she naturally had to be there early. By the time she had moved everything downstairs, it was still dark. However, when she pushed her things to the designated spot, there were already two other stalls there.

One was a man selling fried rice and noodles, whom Song Xia had seen last night. He seemed to set up his stall every morning and evening. The other was a young woman selling sandwiches. Not only did she sell sandwiches, but she also had a stand and a phone next to her, so she didn't know if she was live-streaming or recording a video.

Upon seeing her, a completely new face, the man showed no expression, while the young woman smiled at Song Xia.

Business had already started to pick up by then, mostly with regular customers who were men and young women. Song Xia quickly turned on the stove, poured in the oil, put the dough into the pancakes, and then took out the soy milk and placed it aside.

As the oil temperature rose, the aroma of the meat patties and scallion pancakes began to waft out, and Song Xia received her first order.

"Boss, what kind of pancake is this? How much is it?"

Song Xia smiled and said, "Meat pies are four yuan and fifty cents each, scallion pancakes are three yuan each, and soy milk is two yuan a cup. I personally chopped the fillings for these pancakes, and I also personally cooked the soy milk. Handsome, which one would you like?"

The working man didn't quite believe that she even made the soy milk herself. After all, most of the cup soy milk these days is sourced from small factories or made from soy milk powder. How could a small stall make its own soy milk?

However, the aunt was very kind, and since he was already there, he felt bad refusing, so he casually said, "One meat pie and one scallion pancake each, and a cup of soy milk too."

"Okay, that'll be nine yuan and fifty cents in total." At this moment, Song Xia finally realized that she had overlooked something: she hadn't made a price list. She couldn't possibly answer every customer who came in, could she? Besides, the city now regulates businesses and requires them to clearly display their prices. Oh well, there's no time for that now. She'll make one after she sells out.

The man who bought the pancakes was named Jiang Hong. He was a nursing assistant working at the hospital. He left early and returned late every day, and ate all three meals outside. Sometimes patients' families would bring him food, but most of the time, he ate at these small stalls or ordered takeout.

He checked the time and realized he had gotten up late today. He wondered if Grandpa Zhao, whom he was taking care of, had woken up yet. If he was late, Grandpa Zhao would make a fuss again. So he grabbed the pancakes and soy milk that Song Xia had packed and ran to the hospital.

After Jiang Hong left, Song Xia made more and more pancakes, and the aroma became more and more intense, attracting many people who originally did not plan to eat anything too greasy in the morning. It wasn't that they lacked self-discipline, but the pancakes were just so delicious!

With a try-it-out attitude, Song Xia's stall began to attract customers. Most people would buy a pancake and a cup of soy milk. Her pancakes were not very small, so female customers usually bought one pancake and a cup of soy milk, while male customers mostly bought two pancakes and a cup of soy milk.

Some people asked if we had tea eggs. Song Xia thought that we could add that product category tomorrow. The main thing is that making tea eggs is not much work, and we can easily bag them like soy milk when selling them.

Some customers weren't in a hurry, so they opened the pancake and started eating it as soon as they got it. Then they widened their eyes in surprise and said, "Boss, this pancake tastes pretty good!"

Another person nodded in agreement: "The soy milk is delicious too. I think it tastes even better than the soy milk I make at home."

Song Xia explained with a smile, "It's delicious, I'll come again next time. The soy milk is so good because when it's made, it contains not only soybeans, but also peanuts, millet, and rice, making it smoother and more fragrant than regular soy milk."

"No wonder! This is definitely not one of those semi-finished products you find outside."

After the customer said that, even those who weren't planning to buy soy milk ended up getting a cup. They put in a straw and took a sip, and it was indeed as delicious as the woman had said. The two yuan was well spent. I had thought the two people were shills. Luckily, I didn't confront them, or I would have been embarrassed. And embarrassment is a small matter. What if the boss doesn't sell to them in the future?

On the other side, after Jiang Hong brought breakfast to the ward, he found that Grandpa Zhao, who was taking care of him, was still asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief, then opened the bag of meat pies and started eating.

One bite and the juice almost overflowed from the pancake—it was so delicious!

He was so engrossed in the food that he didn't notice that Grandpa Zhao had already woken up, along with another patient in the ward. Both of them had been awakened by the aroma.

Grandpa Zhao looked at the pancake in his hand, then reached out and touched another one. "This kid, when did he become such a big eater?"

After the soy milk was also touched, Jiang Hong realized what had happened to his remaining breakfast.

Grandpa Zhao sipped his soy milk with relish: "One isn't enough. I'll give you the money, go buy a few more. You just ate a meat pie, right? Get two for Brother Lin too, and don't forget the soy milk."

Jiang Hong was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this: "Uncle Zhao, don't eat random things just because you're feeling a little better. What if you get sick?"

"What do you mean by bad or not? I've lived for so many years, I can tell just by tasting it that these pancakes and soy milk are made with good ingredients. Hurry up and go buy some, lest they run out."