I woke up to the sounds of street vendors hawking their wares in the morning. After washing up, my sister and I went out for breakfast.

In this area, ordinary people don't usually cook in the morning. There are many breakfast stalls, and they usually stop selling breakfast around lunchtime.

After walking a few steps, we arrived at Ma Xing Street and called the shopkeeper for a bowl of sweet and fragrant soy milk.

Paired with fried dough twists made from flour, salt, water, and honey, soak the twists in soy milk until soft, then take a bite. The twists, soaked in the broth, leave a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth.

After dinner, I went with Sister Ying to take a boat on the Wei River and first went to the outer city to have a good time.

We found an old man on the Wei River and shared a boat with everyone. Then we joined a group of girls to play Cuju (ancient Chinese football). Before we knew it, it was afternoon, and we only realized we were hungry when we got back to the boat and went to find a Cuju shop to eat.

Order a plate of seafood. Today's choice is sliced ​​fish, which is eaten with salt, ginger, vinegar, chives, and other seasonings. It's fresh, tender, and delicious.

This foot shop also displays a wine flag, indicating it's qualified to sell wine. It just wholesaled two vats of fresh coconut wine from Fengchunlou, one of the 72 official wine shops.

This wine is crystal clear, sweet and refreshing, and is made using natural fermentation of coconut milk.

Although it's called alcohol, it's more like a thirst-quenching beverage, somewhat resembling fermented vegetable juice.

Yingjie also got a small portion, and the two of them secretly had a couple of drinks. The leftovers were given to an old man who was also eating next to them.

Save your appetite for a fruit drink later.

Then, each person gets a bowl of smooth noodles, which is a modern version of hand-pulled noodles. It's topped with sesame sauce, almond sauce, fried meat, cucumber shreds, and salted bamboo shoots. After mixing it slightly with chopsticks, you can start eating.

After finishing our meal, we went to Huang Ji Fruit Drinks to buy a cup of lychee syrup. Each of us had a cup of cold lychee syrup, and then we strolled leisurely to Grandpa Hu's storytelling stall in the open-air alley on the left side of the main street to listen to some stories.

Before I knew it, it was getting late, and it was time to go home.

The two reluctantly started walking home. Along the Wei River, many elderly women were selling flowers from baskets. They bought a hibiscus flower and tucked it into their hair.

When they got home, they couldn't even eat dinner. However, Aunt Wang had already guessed that they would eat out, so she didn't cook dinner for them.

We had a great day laughing and joking, and went out to play again the next day. This time, we went to a foot massage parlor to try some rice dishes.

The same routine was followed: I went to Ma Xing Street to have a bowl of fresh soup noodles, and after that, I went to Qingfeng Chess Club to play chess until noon.

The rise of water transport broke the monopoly of rice in the south and noodles in the north. Today, Wang Yan ordered a chrysanthemum rice dish, which is made by steaming chrysanthemums and rice together, and serving it with spicy pickled mustard greens, roasted mutton, and perilla shrimp.

In the afternoon, Wang Ying would take her out to play, to a teahouse to watch a tea performance.

Wang Yan shook her head and said she wouldn't go for now. She'd been slacking off for days, hehe.

It was time to go back and discuss reorganizing the shop. She didn't want to go, so Wang Ying let her be, and the two of them went home together to find Aunt Wang.

It's settled! We'll be selling large bowls of dishes with rice. The dishes will be Mapo Tofu, braised tofu, and stir-fried vegetables. The price will be 15 cents per serving.

Rice is inexpensive, about one ounce per shi (石), which is 132 jin (斤). Tofu costs 100 qian (钱) for a 20-jin (斤) bucket. These vegetables are easy to cook and inexpensive.

She's settled things here, and Aunt Wang has cleaned up the shop. All she needs to do is build a stove and buy two tables.

Even Aunt Wang felt that there was no need to buy a table, since they did business on the shore and people would just go back to the boat to eat after buying their food.

But at least this is a foot massage parlor, so why not buy a couple of tables and put them in there to match the atmosphere?

Then the group started experimenting with the dishes at home. They cut the tofu into small pieces, blanched them briefly in boiling water, and then immediately took them out.

Pour some oil into the pot, heat it up, add ginger and garlic and sauté until fragrant, then add some minced meat and stir-fry until golden brown. Add the tofu.

Add fermented black beans, soy sauce, and finally a spoonful of chili powder. Pour in an appropriate amount of water, thicken with cornstarch slurry, and simmer over low heat until thickened. Turn off the heat and remove from the pot. Sprinkle some Sichuan peppercorn powder on top.

For the braised tofu, cut it into small cubes, fry it in oil until golden brown, then remove the tofu cubes. Fry it again, following the same steps.

Add light soy sauce, honey, salt, and cornstarch to a pot and simmer until the sauce thickens and bubbles. Then, simply dip the tofu in the sauce and let it cook briefly.

Although both dishes were cooked in a large pot, they tasted absolutely delicious, and Aunt Wang nodded repeatedly after tasting them.

…………………………………………………………

Three days later, as dawn was breaking and it was still half-dark, a small shop on the banks of the Wei River opened its doors, along with dozens of other small shops on both sides of the river.

People lit firewood early, set up their stoves and pots, some cooking porridge, others making pancakes.

This little shop is quite strange. An older woman with two girls calmly opened the shop early in the morning.

They didn't have any pots or stoves, and it didn't look like they sold sweets or candies. Of course, with such a big stove at the entrance, they must be making hot food.

Wang Yan was so sleepy she was practically swaying back and forth; I don't know why she came so early.

Aunt Wang glanced at her and asked, "What are you doing here? The vegetable and tofu vendors will be here soon."

If you arrive late and there's no tofu left today, how will you even open for business?

Before long, the old man carrying a load of tofu arrived, and the fruit and vegetable vendors also came, squatting in the circle behind the various foot shops along the Wei River.

Aunt Wang put down the needlework she was doing and rushed over on her feet.

I bought a basket, which weighed about 30 pounds. When I got home, I just cut the tofu into large pieces and didn't bother with the complicated cooking process!

If the quantity is large, just cut it into large pieces. Cutting it into small pieces? Isn't that just torture?

Wang Yan and her sister were cutting tofu here. They had built a table against the right wall, which served as their work surface.

While they were cutting tofu, Aunt Wang went out to buy other vegetables and fresh meat.

I only bought one pound of fresh meat, but I bought a lot of vegetables, so I bought a whole basket of them.

Pork was 40 coins per pound, and all the greens were 20 coins per basket. The most expensive ingredients so far were ginger and scallions; I bought two pieces of ginger and a bunch of scallions for 100 coins.

Wang Yan flipped through the items and thought the price of scallions was acceptable, but ginger was really expensive. She also bought a small bag of Sichuan peppercorn powder for 100 yuan.

The stove is located to the left of the entrance. After chopping, the ingredients are placed directly into the prepared wooden basin.

There was also a wooden bucket of rice on the far side, which Aunt Wang had steamed at home and several people had carried over.

We don't know if Aunt Wang was too excited, but she did so much work at home. Wang Yan thinks her mother must have gotten up at midnight to steam rice.

Mingming bought a shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice, most of which was delivered here. Wouldn't it be perfect to steam it fresh here?

She guessed right, and Aunt Wang was so excited she couldn't sleep at night, so she got up at midnight to steam rice.

At 10 a.m., the river surface became lively.

It's time to cook! Actually, at this point, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and all sorts of seasonings are readily available. With the development of shipping, almost everything is readily available.

People at that time mostly used vegetable oil, which was used for frying fried dough sticks (youtiao).

Ladle a spoonful of soybean oil into the pot, then add the various seasonings in turn.

Mapo tofu is a dish that is fragrant, spicy, fresh, hot, and numbing. As soon as it is released, its aroma can be smelled from miles away. The food from the five nearby shops on either side is overshadowed, and the air is filled with its pungent, spicy fragrance.

Soon, people came following the smell and asked what was going on. They learned that there were two kinds of tofu, 15 yuan a serving, and rice was included.

The person pointed and asked which one smelled so good?

"Ma Po Tofu."

"Then I'll take this one."

A bowl of rice, a large bowl with a generous spoonful of spicy tofu, and a spoonful of stir-fried vegetables.

Just as Wang Yan took a bite of food, she heard a series of coughs behind her.

"I forgot, I forgot," Wang Yan quickly grabbed a bamboo cup, scooped up a glass of water, and handed it over.

The old man coughed until tears came to his eyes, and after drinking the water, he couldn't catch his breath for a long time.

Thinking to myself, "What is this? It's making me choke like this."

After a while, he carefully ate a bite of rice, then scooped up half a piece of crumbled tofu and put it in his mouth.

...The stimulation from the tip of my tongue caused sweat to break out on my forehead, and I ate with great relish.

After finishing his meal, the uncle readily paid the money and then looked at another type of tofu in the pot.

Wang Yan replied with a smile, "Braised tofu, this is sweet."

The uncle nodded, planning to come and try this flavor tomorrow.

He'd already taken a step forward, then turned around and came back. "Want this to go?"

"Takeout is 16 yuan a serving. Bring your own bowl and plate for 15 yuan a serving."

The uncle nodded again, and this time he really left. However, after a while, he quickly returned.

As a boatman, how can he not have his own bowls and plates on the boat?

"Pack one of these to go, I'll eat it this afternoon."

Add a large spoonful of braised tofu and a large spoonful of greens, then top with a bowl of rice.

"Thank you for your patronage. Please take care."

After seeing off the first customer who had bought food, Wang Yan and the others sat down to rest for a while.

Then Aunt Wang told them to weigh out a few portions of tofu and deliver them to the neighbors.

Honestly, the shopkeepers next door have been peeking around and watching for ages.

Alright! After finishing their meals, each of them came over and gave a thumbs up.

Hehe! Wang Yan was initially a little worried that this chili pepper might not have a large appeal.

Because in the Marquis's mansion, apart from the first year when the spicy strips were made and were highly praised by everyone, the masters did not show much liking for them afterwards.

Seeing the reactions of her peers has given Wang Yan a lot of confidence.

The Hou Mansion probably had too many delicious foods, so spicy strips didn't stand out much.

The aroma was so strong and enticing that it quickly drew a steady stream of people to the door.

There were boatmen, passengers, and even two little girls from shops on the opposite bank.

After observing for a morning, Wang Yan discovered that not all of the dozens of shops along the river were foot massage parlors or restaurants.

There were shops selling tea, silk, porcelain, and other goods—basically anything transported by boat—on both sides of the river.

The two people opposite were selling silk fabrics, and they even gave Wang Yan and Wang Ying two silk flowers, which were the most fashionable style in Jiangnan.

When Wang Yan served them their food, she added an extra spoonful of Mapo Tofu.

The two happily carried their bowls and boarded the boat to return to the other side. Then, less than fifteen minutes later, another group of people rushed aboard and bought everything in the shop.

Wang Yan then believed that what the two little girls said was true. The first uncle who came to buy big bowls of vegetables rowed his boat and promoted a waterway.

By 1 p.m., everything was sold out, and today's task was accomplished.

Aunt Wang paused for a moment, then looked at the empty rice and vegetable bowls and grinned.