"Xichun, tell us what we can do to help," the village chief said after they looked at each other.

“Village chief, as you have seen, my business in town has been doing well lately, and I have a stable customer base. However, there is a problem: I can only make a little money. I don’t have the energy to make big money, and the population in town is fixed, so I can’t make much money in a short time, and it won’t help the village much. So I have an idea: if you are willing to make this kind of money, I am willing to teach you.”

"Ah, so if you teach us, will you still be able to make money yourself?" No one expected Xichun to say that.

"Of course, there is another way, which is that I will teach you how to make this soup base and how to sell it. You will each give me 20% of the net profit you earn. I will also need to hire people myself. You can work with me or go it alone."

"Where will you sell Xichun? If everyone is in the same place, won't it become a situation where several companies are competing for business?" Uncle Zhang asked.

The village chief was somewhat tempted by this, but given his family's situation, he still had to serve as the village chief, so he often had to stay in the village and couldn't go out to work. That meant only his wife could go out, and he was really worried about her running the business alone.

"I plan to work in the county town. As for the other two towns, it depends on what you guys think and whether you're willing to go. Also, besides these, I need manpower to help me prepare ingredients. I want to go to the county town to sell skewers and hot pot."

"Skewered hot pot?" Nobody had ever heard of this term before.

"In short, it's about skewering the food onto a stick, pricing each stick, and then counting the sticks to know how much the customer has eaten. I'm planning to ask Taozi to help me count the sticks, it all depends on Taozi's opinion."

So these skewers need some help to be polished. We have bamboo in our village, so although it's not strenuous work, it does take time. Also, I plan to buy a lot of tofu. If any family in the village is willing to make tofu, I can order a few slabs each day according to the quantity needed.”

"Making tofu?" Upon hearing this, the village chief thought for a moment and realized that his family was best suited for this task. In fact, every household knows how to make tofu, but the most important thing is that someone has to buy it. If no one buys it, no matter how delicious it is, it's useless.

Moreover, making skewers is a job that can be done in the village, and he and his wife are both capable of doing it, so he was just thinking of taking on the job.

"Yes, as long as our business is good, the villagers can sell vegetables and raise pigs to sell to us. When the villagers live better lives, our lives will also improve."

"Xichun, is what you're saying really going to work? What if business doesn't go well?" Aunt Liu had been watching Xichun and her family work from dawn till dusk every day and guessed that their business was doing well. She had long been envious of them. However, Xichun had enough manpower and often bought vegetables from her family, so she felt embarrassed to make things difficult for Xichun.

She was really looking forward to selling things at home. Xichun's cooking was delicious, and if she could learn how to make it, she could probably earn some money.

They have four sons, and it will cost a lot of money for them to get married in the future. The couple is worried about this.

"Auntie, don't worry. I've already checked out the situation in the county town and rented a stall. Business in the town isn't as good as in the county town, but at least you can still make money. You have such a heavy burden, and you have several boys helping you. I think as long as you keep making the food taste good, the business should be pretty good."

Today is the eighth day of the lunar new year. The other day, Uncle Zhang's family went to the county town to send Qiangzi off, and Xichun went with them. She had felt that there wasn't enough room for maneuver in the town, and most importantly, after this theft incident, she was worried about the security in the town and village, and was also afraid that those people would deliberately retaliate. That's why she decided to go to the county town. At least the houses there are close together, and if there really is a theft, the surrounding people will be mobilized more often. The walls are also higher, so the security is better.

“Xichun, our family wants to go to town with you to work. Anyway, you’re short-handed.” Aunt Zhang and Uncle Zhang had thought about this before. They thought that instead of doing business on their own, it would be better to go with Xichun and broaden their horizons.

"Then let's go back to business. To be honest, I've been envious of your business in town before," Aunt Liu said after discussing it with Uncle Liu.

“Then I’ll make skewers and tofu in the village. If your business is good, Xichun, please buy us a few more slabs of tofu. My children are still young, and I also have to take care of village affairs, so I really don’t have time to do business.”

After the village chief's family also made their decision, Xichun finally settled the matter.

Spring will arrive after the New Year, but it's not something that can be confirmed in a short time. Everyone except Xichun still needs to do spring plowing. Xichun decided to turn over the vegetable garden in her backyard and replant some vegetables. When she has free time, she will rent a house in the county town. The county town is three hours away from the village, and she can't go home every day.

During this time, Xichun also taught Aunt Liu's family how to make the soup base. Xichun even asked the village chief to draw up a contract stating that the recipe belonged to Xichun and that Aunt Liu's family could not tell anyone else. If they found out, they would have to pay ten taels of silver in compensation.

As soon as spring plowing began, Xichun and her friends noticed that there were far fewer people setting up stalls in town. Only people like her, who didn't own land, had nothing to do. So, she would occasionally take Aunt Liu around town and introduce her to the diners, so that Aunt Liu would take over her business in town.

When she had some free time, Xichun went to the county town. She was there to rent a house. She had previously investigated the area and found that the main area where ordinary people gathered was in the west of the county town, where the rent was cheaper, but the environment was better than in the north.

The sanitation in the northern part of the city was even worse. When Xichun saw the sewage flowing all over the road, she instantly lost her mood.

She asked Manager Zhu to help introduce her to a middleman, and finally found a small courtyard with three rooms and a small side building, which was mainly a kitchen for cooking and a place for washing up.

There was also a shed on the other side, which must have been built by the previous tenants who had many children.

Xi Chun looked around and found that the environment was relatively quiet, and there were houses all around. Children often played in the alleys, so it was safe to let her child play outside. This meant that the safety level here was not low.

"The rent for this house is three hundred cash a month, which is a bit more expensive than in the north of the city, but it's safer. My family lives nearby too, so there's no need to worry." The middleman, seeing Xichun's expression, guessed that she was satisfied, so he offered many more tempting conditions.