Xu An had another purpose for going to the market early today: besides selling vegetables, he wanted to see if he could find another way to make a living.

The vegetable garden has a limited daily yield, and today's yield is considered high. On less productive days, there might only be a few tomatoes, just enough for one meal for our family.

Even if I produced this much every day, I'd only earn less than sixty yuan a day, and at most 1,800 yuan a month. That's less than what I'd earn doing odd jobs on a construction site. Eighty yuan a day, that's 2,400 yuan a month, six hundred more than selling vegetables.

He looked at each stall, and a series of thoughts floated through his mind, only to be quickly rejected by Xu An.

The main problem was that he only had less than a hundred yuan in start-up capital, so he had to reject all the popular student-made grilled sausages, egg pancakes, and egg waffles that required electrical equipment.

The remaining options are limited to prepared foods like sandwiches and braised dishes that can be made at home and sold directly at the market.

But in town, sandwiches, a bourgeois food, are not popular. Two slices of bread with some vegetables and meat in between are quickly digested by people who have to work in the fields or go to work in the fields, and they don't fill them up at all.

Braised dishes are worth considering; they have a rich aroma and taste good. Just chop them up, plate them, and they become a dish on the table.

However, after checking the price of the frozen food, Xu An took his leave.

Frozen chicken feet are 15 yuan a pound, frozen chicken wings are 18 yuan a pound, and frozen chicken legs are a bit cheaper at 8 yuan a pound. The price of offal and other miscellaneous items is even higher than that of pork, and beef is unthinkable.

Aside from spices, the remaining money can only buy three or four pounds at most, and that's enough for one person to have a taste before it's all gone.

After looking around, I feel that doing odd jobs on a construction site is the most reliable option. After being reborn, I've become stronger, and I can easily carry things weighing over a hundred pounds. The construction site is my final destination.

I'll find some time in a couple of days to visit some construction sites in the city and see what the temporary workers are paid like. Their wages shouldn't be lower than those of apprentices.

After strolling around the market, when Xu Guoqiang returned to his stall, he had already sold most of the vegetables.

Seeing that there weren't many vegetables left, Xu An went back and helped sell them. After explaining a few different ways to cook the vegetables on the stall, they were quickly sold out.

Several people even asked Xu An to set out some other vegetables next time and to tell them a few more recipes.

These days, everyone can cook, but most people's meals are just to fill their stomachs; they're hardly delicious. In the past, being able to eat your fill and have meat at every meal, regardless of the taste, was a good life.

However, with economic development and people having more disposable income, they have developed a greater pursuit of the taste of food.

Back then, the internet wasn't as developed as it is now. If you wanted to cook something, you could just search online and find all sorts of different recipes from all over the country. Even in today's highly developed internet age, most people who are good at using mobile phones are young people.

The recipes dictated by Xu An seem commonplace to later generations, but they offer a fresh perspective today, making the dishes sound delicious.

With Xu An's help today, Xu Guoqiang arrived home almost an hour earlier than usual.

Second Aunt was overjoyed to see that Xu Guoqiang had sold out all the vegetables so quickly. While handing him a change of clothes, she said happily, "The cabbage and green beans are so popular today. Pick more tomorrow and sell as much as you can while they're selling well."

Xu Guoqiang's child is already in college, so it's just the two of them at home. Xu Guoqiang changed into clean clothes in the yard and put the clothes that were covered in mud next to the well.

"It's not that the dishes were popular today, it's that Anzi has an amazing tongue."

"What's wrong with Anzi again?" Second Aunt sat down by the well, pumped some water up, and started washing clothes.

“He also set up a vegetable stall at the market today, right next to mine. He’s so good at talking, he managed to get a bunch of people to buy all the vegetables on his stall as soon as he opened his mouth. I got lucky because of him and sold out early to go home.”

"That's amazing! Grandma Qi used to be the one who set up the stall. I never knew he had this skill."

"He's a pretty good kid. I'll get up early tomorrow morning and pick a lot to sell at the market."

"Didn't you say you got all this benefit from Anzi's help today?"

"We'll still set up our stalls next to each other tomorrow," Xu Guoqiang said smugly.

When Xu An returned home, he could hear the deafening cries of his two little ones from a great distance, completely drowning out his grandmother's voice.

"Why are there two crybabies in the house? They cry so loudly, they're almost making my brother deaf!"

"elder brother!"

"Wow, big brother!"

The two stopped talking immediately upon hearing Xu An's voice, broke free from Grandma Xu's hand, and ran towards the courtyard gate.

As soon as Xu An opened the courtyard gate, the two of them grabbed his legs from either side, their tears and snot smearing his legs.

Luckily I was wearing shorts, otherwise I would have had to change into a different pair of pants.

"Hold on tight, we're taking off!"

Upon hearing this, the two plopped down on Xu An's muddy feet, clinging tightly to his calves. Well, now they'd have to wash two pairs of pants.

After shaking for a moment and sensing that the two were seated, Xu An strode forward, while Xu Kang and Xu Le let out joyful screams.

After playing around for a while, I sent the two of them to play in the sand under the tree.

Looking at the sky, it was clear and cloudless, and the morning was relatively cool.

Xu An carried Grandma Xu out and laid her down on the rocking chair under the longan tree. Then he went to prepare lunch.

They lifted the stone covering the well and pulled up a rope from the side of the well. The end of the rope was tied to a plastic bag containing more than half a pound of pork left over from yesterday.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!