Chapter 2

"Uncle Li, we want to go to the county town." At the entrance of the village, Gu Xiangrong said to a man sleeping under a big tree, and handed him the eggs in his hand.

This was what Gu Xinxin had calculated. The fare to the county town was four copper coins, which was eight for two people. One copper coin was two eggs, which was exactly the number of eggs they had left.

Uncle Li took a look and was a little dissatisfied: "Are they all cooked?"

It's still warm to the touch, but raw eggs are never warm unless they're freshly laid.

Gu Xiangrong was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to answer, so he turned to look at Gu Xinxin.

Gu Xinxin's mouth twitched, and she smiled and said, "I'm quite ill, and I want to go to the county town to see a doctor..."

Changing the subject, Uncle Li didn't intend to get to the bottom of the matter and simply asked, "Do you have money to see a doctor?"

Without waiting for Gu Xinxin to answer, he waved his hand again: "Forget it, forget it, I'll just send you there anyway, do you want to come back today?"

Gu Xinxin shook her head, and Uncle Li pointed to the wooden cart nearby. Gu Xiangrong helped Gu Xinxin over. Since it was just the two of them, they could either lie down or sit down, as there was plenty of room anyway. Uncle Li pulled the grazing cow over, whipped it in the air, and the wooden cart began to move forward.

When they arrived at the gate of the county town, Uncle Li didn't go in - he still wanted to wait at the gate to see if there was anyone going back. Even if it was just one person, it was better than going back with an empty cart.

"Go and ask which is the largest dim sum shop in the county." Gu Xinxin couldn't walk. She had been ill for a long time and hadn't recovered yet. The few eggs she had just eaten must have been digested after such a long time.

She came to the county town with only one purpose, to make money.

She had to get this done today. With money, the rest of the journey would be easier, and she and Gu Xiangrong would have a better life. Otherwise, she would have to stay at home, eating only a bowl of porridge a day and being beaten and scolded by her stepmother from time to time. She couldn't survive a single day like this.

Gu Xiangrong hesitated a little: "Sister, do you want to have some snacks? We don't have any money... How about this, I'll go ask around and find some work, I'll go and work for a day or two..."

He paused, then continued, "I've heard there are people who carry heavy bags in the county. I'll go ask them..."

Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "No, I told you to go find out, so just go and find out. Don't say too much."

If Gu Xiangrong didn't move and went to inquire, would he leave his elder sister here alone?

Gu Xinxin poked him: "Hurry up, I have a way to exchange money. Whether we can live a good life in the future depends on this time. I'll sit on the ground over there and wait, you go and come back quickly."

Gu Xiangrong didn't quite believe her, but he couldn't resist, so he nodded: "Okay, I'll go, you just wait here, don't run around."

He was a young man with quick legs and he left as soon as he said he would. Except for looking back after the first three or two steps, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xinxin didn't wait there. She walked slowly along the streets on both sides. Coincidentally, there were many stalls on the main street coming from the city gate.

Some sell snacks, some sell tea, and some sell umbrellas and wooden hairpins.

She only looked at snacks, wontons, steamed dumplings, fried dough sticks, braised noodles, fried rice, fried pancakes, and roujiamo, which are all available. So it is difficult to make money in the catering industry.

Besides, her cooking skills are just average. If possible, she can find someone with good skills in the future. Even if she doesn't do business, it would be good enough to just eat by herself.

I didn’t dare to go far, so I just turned around and came back.

Gu Xiangrong also came back: "I found out that the largest dim sum shop in the county belongs to the Su family, and it's called Su Ji Dim Sum."

Gu Xinxin nodded: "Take me there."

Although Gu Xiangrong didn't know what she was going to do, it had come to this point and he had to go whether he wanted to or not.

The brother and sister entered the shop, and the waiter was polite: "What do you want to buy?"

Gu Xinxin didn't say anything. She held Gu Xiangrong's arm and walked in front of the counter, looking back and forth - all the classic dim sum were there, such as mung bean cakes, red bean cakes, chestnut cakes, etc.

Gu Xinxin looked at the clerk and said, "I want to see your boss."

The clerk remained silent, so Gu Xinxin spoke again, "I have a business deal I'd like to discuss with your boss, but I'm afraid you can't make the decision."

The waiter smiled and said, "Are you buying a lot of snacks? Is there something important happening at home? Please tell me how many kilograms you want to buy."

Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "It's not buying, it's selling. I have a secret recipe. The snacks made from it are suitable for men, women, young and old. If your family doesn't want it, I will ask other families. If you want this secret recipe, then it will be an exclusive business."

The guy was a little hesitant, mainly because the clothes worn by the brother and sister were really shabby. Although there were not many patches on them, they did not look well, with pale faces and thin bodies.

But this girl spoke with authority, and she didn't look like an ordinary poor girl who always kept her head down when she went out.

"Even if your boss doesn't buy, he won't lose anything. Business is all about negotiation, right?" Gu Xinxin asked. The clerk nodded, "Okay, please wait a moment."

Maybe he's from a poor family? If he's really poor, it's normal for him to have some secret recipes.

Just like what the girl said, there is nothing to lose by meeting and talking.

The shopkeeper was a chubby middle-aged man. He came in from the back and greeted Gu Xinxin with a smile: "My buddy said you have a secret recipe to sell?"

"Yes, this secret recipe is absolutely unavailable in the world today. Not only in this county, but also in the entire prefecture and the imperial court, it is unique. You are a businessman, so you know how this unique business is without me telling you, right?"

Meng Ying asked with a smile. The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and said, "How do I know if this thing is unique?"

"You're well-informed, aren't you? Why don't you see it for yourself and taste it yourself? However, I need to borrow your kitchen stove to make you a portion first. If you're satisfied, we can continue our business. If not, forget it."

Gu Xinxin said that if the environment at the Gu family was not so bad, she should have brought samples with her to discuss the matter.

If you go door-to-door to sell something without any samples, what nonsense are you talking about, right?

There is no other way. The conditions are really limited, so I can only go ahead with it with a thick skin.

The shopkeeper frowned, and Gu Xinxin said, "How about this, if you are not satisfied with the food, I will compensate for the loss in the kitchen."

Gu Xiangrong wanted to speak, but Gu Xinxin pinched his arm, so he had to shut up.

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and asked, "What do you need?"

"Eggs, six eggs, a pound of flour, and half an ounce of sugar." Gu Xinxin said, pausing, "And three pounds of dry firewood. I need to use your oven."

Any dim sum business must have an oven. The oven can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. Since this dynasty had wontons and roujiamo, it must have had ovens as well.

Moreover, she just saw the puff pastries at the counter. Eight out of ten puff pastries were baked, otherwise they would not be able to rise.

The shopkeeper probably calculated the cost of the ingredients in his mind, then nodded and agreed to let Gu Xinxin go to the kitchen to try it.

Because it was a secret recipe, only the brother and sister entered the kitchen.

Gu Xiangrong couldn't hold back as soon as he entered the kitchen: "Sister, my dear sister, where did we get the secret recipe? Could it be that you weren't full just now and still wanted to eat eggs, so you thought of a way to coax someone to give you eggs?"

Gu Xinxin said with a stern face: "Follow my instructions. Crack the eggs and separate the egg whites with a spoon."

Gu Xiangrong wanted to say something, but after a moment, looking at Gu Xinxin's expression, he stamped his feet and went to get the eggs first. There was no other way. Since he was already here, if his sister really couldn't make some secret recipe snack, the worst that could happen was that he would sell himself!

Anyway, I won’t have enough food to eat if I stay in the Gu family. At least if I sell myself as a slave, I can get a few eggs for my sister to eat.

Gu Xiangrong resigned himself to Gu Xinxin's instructions, beating the egg whites and then the egg yolks with chopsticks. He was so busy that his arms almost felt tired. But when he thought that slaves had to work like this, he comforted himself in his heart - just think of it as adapting in advance.

But after pouring the fermented dough into a bowl and putting it into the oven, he didn't even realize that his thoughts had changed. He looked at Gu Xinxin with sparkling eyes: "Is this all right? Is it really okay? Can it make a snack? It looks a bit like baking sesame cakes."

Gu Xinxin ignored him.

The aroma of egg cake is very overbearing, especially when it is freshly made, the smell is simply overwhelming.

Even the shopkeeper couldn't help but sniff at the door: "Is it done? It smells... quite fragrant."

Gu Xinxin nodded: "Not only does it smell good, it tastes good too. There's still a quarter of an hour left."

It has been almost an hour from the beginning to now - it needs to be fermented in the middle, and then baked, so it takes about an hour to make a pot.

After the oven was opened, Gu Xiangrong took out the egg cakes one by one from the bowl under the instruction of Gu Xinxin. The shopkeeper didn't care about the heat and took one directly, first looking at the color of the outside, then broke it open to see the texture inside.

Then comes the tasting.

A good snack must have good color, aroma and taste, and can be sold at a high price. If any of these aspects is missing, it can only be sold to a few people and you won’t make a lot of money.

After just one bite, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up: "Especially for children and the elderly, it's easy to eat and tastes good. Is it just made of eggs and flour? Oh, and there's sugar too."

Only the price of sugar will be higher, but six eggs and a pound of flour can make more than ten.

The shopkeeper quickly calculated in his mind that if he sold a piece of egg cake for four copper coins, he would make a profit, or even double the profit.

"I want this secret recipe." The shopkeeper nodded immediately: "You name the price."

"If the shopkeeper is sincere, I won't say anything empty. There are two ways. One is that I will give you this recipe. In the future, you can give me a copper coin for every egg cake you sell. I will pay you as long as you sell it. The other is that after I sell it to you, this recipe is yours and has nothing to do with me. I will never sell it to anyone else except for my own consumption."