Chapter 8 Pig Trotter Rice

Cut the lean meat into strips, add sweet potato starch, soy sauce, and cooking wine, and marinate for a while.

During this time, Qiao Mianmian cut green peppers into thin strips, and then cut lotus root and meat slices to make soup.

With the Lin family around, Qiao's family's food couldn't undergo a dramatic transformation, but it's still pretty good today.

Qiao Mianmian specially saved a bowl of braised pork offal for herself, and after stir-frying green peppers and shredded pork, it was time to eat.

The bright green bell peppers contrasted beautifully with the dark brown shredded pork, which was glistening with oil. After one bite, Qiao Jiaxing exclaimed again, "Fifth Sister, if you set up a food stall, your cooking skills would definitely be a huge success!"

Lin Xiahe nodded in agreement, "A lady from the embroidery workshop brought me some fried pork from Fumanlou before, but I didn't think it was as good as Fifth Sister's. Mother, Fifth Sister's cooking is so good, why don't we set up a stall for her at home? I won't go to the embroidery workshop anymore; it'll definitely be more comfortable helping out at home."

She worked as a cleaner in the embroidery room because she wanted to learn some skills. Sometimes when her master taught her, she would stand and listen for a while. But in private, many people laughed at her for not being able to see herself clearly and said that she was like a toad trying to steal the master's skills.

However, she didn't tell her family about these things.

Madam Lin smiled, "Your fifth sister is still too young to run a stall and be a head chef. I'm more than satisfied with the business we have now." She felt sweet inside, so when the family ate meat again, she only glared at her husband and didn't scold him.

Qiao Mianmian's goal is to set up a small food stall. Right now, she's using her dad's stall and can't do dine-in service, so her income isn't much, and she's far from getting rich.

However, her mother definitely won't agree now; she'll have to earn more money before she can persuade her mother.

After the family finished eating, Mrs. Lin took a packet of tea to the matchmaker to discuss Lin Xiahe's marriage.

Although Zhang was not Lin Xiahe's biological grandmother, she had watched Lin Xiahe grow up and knew that the marriage was only one step away from completion. She pulled Lin Xiahe into the house.

She took out a silver ring. "I gave Wangchun one when she got married. You sisters grew up in our family, so you're like our children. Since both families have agreed, here you go."

"Grandmother, I..."

"Don't cry, getting married is a good thing." Zhang reached out to wipe away her granddaughter's tears and patted her hand, saying, "Your mother is a good person. She saved every penny for the sake of her five children. Just now at dinner, she wouldn't have picked up any meat for herself if Mianmian hadn't put it on her plate. Xiahe, no matter what, you must remember your mother. She had a hard life."

“I know my grandmother.” Lin Xiahe’s nose twitched.

Zhang's eyes were also a little moist. "Alright, go wash up quickly, we still have work to do tomorrow."

Lin Xiahe agreed, and after she returned to her room, she sat down next to her younger sister and leaned her head over. "Mianmian, I will definitely earn lots and lots of money in the future!" She didn't want to see her family struggling financially anymore.

"Me too." Qiao Mianmian had already braised the pork offal and vegetables. There would be no discounts tomorrow, so business at the market might not be as good. Fortunately, she had reached a cooperation agreement with Chunxilou.

She slept soundly until dawn. Qiao Jiawang went to deliver braised pork offal, while Qiao Mianmian and Lin Shi carried the load to the market together.

Today, Qiao Mancang was selling meat, and Lin put down her load and took the pig offal that Qiao Mancang had collected to the river to wash.

Qiao Mianmian sold her braised pork offal for three consecutive days. Many people knew that her braised pork offal was delicious. After half a day, half of her customers were regulars and the other half were new customers. Seeing that she had sold out, she packed up her stall and prepared to go home.

For three consecutive days, Qiao Mianmian set up her stall and sold out before noon each day.

On the day when it was time to discuss the follow-up with the manager of Chunxi Restaurant, Qiao Mianmian, after selling her braised pork offal, took her older brother and father to Chunxi Restaurant.

The Qiao family father and son were both tall and strong. Qiao Mianmian brought them along to create an impression, making her family appear large and brave.

"Father, elder brother, when you meet the person, just let me talk to them," Qiao Mianmian instructed before entering Chunxi Tower.

Manager Sun of Chunxi Restaurant was already waiting. "Miss Qiao, you've finally arrived! Come in and have some tea."

For the past three days, Qiao's braised pork offal has been in high demand and short supply, but he knows that scarcity drives up prices. He learned from Qiao Mianmian's tactics and announced that the first three days would be a special offer with limited quantities of new dishes, and that the official sale would begin tomorrow. Many regular customers are looking forward to it.

"Shopkeeper, business is booming!" Qiao Mianmian sat down and took a sip of tea.

"It's all thanks to you. Your family's cooking is truly excellent. Since you're here today, let's sign a contract." Manager Sun said, taking out a contract. "Here's the deal: from now on, if you deliver eighty bowls of braised pork offal every day, I'll charge you eleven coins per bowl, but you can only supply our family. How about that?"

He plans to sell a bowl for 45 coins tomorrow. He won't need to make the braising himself, saving on labor and stove costs, and the profit will be substantial.

“I agree to supply only your store, but this disrupts our original plan. We originally intended to offer such a low price because of our strategy of small profits but high sales volume, but by supplying only your store, we won’t make much money.”

Qiao Mianmian spoke with a smile, "I heard you're raising prices tomorrow. If the cost is eleven coins, you'll make at least thirty coins a bowl. Of course, your restaurant is big, and the staff needs wages, so I can't ask for too much. Just like the price we sell in the market, fifteen coins a bowl. We'll make a profit, and you'll make even more. It's a win-win situation."

Manager Sun was prepared for Qiao Mianmian to raise the price, but he was only prepared to add one or two coins. When the price suddenly increased by four coins, he frowned slightly.

"Manager Sun, you've seen how well my braised pork offal sells over the past three days. Our whole family works hard all day just to put food on the table. I'm a decisive person. If it's okay, we can cooperate happily. If not, I'll have to look at other places." Qiao Mianmian said, standing up.

"Young lady, why are you in such a hurry?" Manager Sun quickly asked Qiao Mianmian to sit down. Even if it was fifteen coins a bowl, he could still make a lot of money. After thinking for a moment, he agreed to Qiao Mianmian's request, "Then it's settled. I had someone draft a contract, and we'll sign it for six months first. If we need to increase the quantity later, we'll sign a new contract. Do you think that's acceptable?"

Qiao Mianmian agreed, but Qiao Mancang, being more cautious, whispered to his daughter that they couldn't read.

Qiao Mianmian said, "Take it back and let Xu Tongsheng take a look." They helped Madam Xu, so Xu Mingxuan should repay them.

Qiao Mancang thought it was a good idea and walked back with the contract on his feet. However, before going to the Xu family, he went home and got a crucian carp. "It's not good to ask for help empty-handed. Madam Xu is not feeling well, so I'll take this to help her recover. Jiawang, you go with Mianmian. I'll go to the river to help your mother get some pig offal."

The three of them split up. Qiao Mianmian and her older brother went to the Xu family home, but Xu Mingxuan wasn't home. Fortunately, Madam Xu was literate, so she helped check and said there was no problem.

"Thank you for your help, Auntie. My dad said that crucian carp soup is good for your health." Qiao Mianmian smiled as she folded the contract. "But could you please keep this a secret for our family?"

Madam Xu looked puzzled.

Qiao Mianmian explained, "When it comes to business, the more people know about it, the more trouble there is." She didn't explain it very clearly, but Madam Xu understood immediately.

"Don't worry, I understand." Madam Xu watched Qiao Mianmian leave happily and suddenly felt that Qiao Mianmian was quite good too. She was eloquent and looked to be in good health, unlike her... who was frail.

Her eldest son died of illness, and she herself is in such poor health. If something happens to her, who can her younger son rely on in the future?

With this in mind, Madam Xu made up her mind that when choosing a wife for her youngest son, the first thing to consider should be good health.

Qiao Mianmian took the contract and pressed her fingerprint on Manager Sun's hand. The contract stipulated that there would be eighty bowls a day, each bowl costing fifteen coins, with a daily interest of one tael of silver.

Manager Sun gave a deposit for half a month's rent. Qiao Mianmian felt the weight in her hand and was afraid that it would be stolen after leaving Chunxi Restaurant, so she asked her older brother to hold it.

It was the first time Qiao Jiawang had ever handled so much silver, and he was so nervous that he broke out in a sweat on the way back.

Once he got home, he dared to breathe heavily, but his voice trembled as he said, "Father, Mother, I...we've brought the money back."

"Wait a minute!" Madam Lin ran to close the door, then came back to weigh the silver. "Ten...eighteen taels! My goodness, this is the first time I've ever received so much silver at once. Mianmian, my good daughter, let your mother give you a kiss!"

Lin had been worrying every day about how to earn more money to buy a new house, but now that the family had such a large sum of money, buying a new house was just around the corner! She hugged her daughter and kissed her deeply, tears streaming down her face, "Husband, our family has hope now!"

Qiao Mancang was also very gratified; he never dared to imagine that his family would be where it is today.

The others were also very happy. Taking advantage of this moment, Qiao Jiaxing raised his hand and said, "Father, Mother, on such a wonderful day, shouldn't we have something nice to celebrate?"

"You child, you're the glutton!" Madam Lin said with a smile. "Your father is a liar. Knowing that he was doing business with Chunxi Restaurant today, he secretly kept a pig's trotter for me, and Mianmian has already stewed it."

If she hadn't smelled the aroma, she wouldn't have known that the father and daughter had kept pig's trotters.

"Oh, Mother, we earn money so that our family can live a better life." Qiao Mianmian now loves to act coquettishly with Lin Shi and the others. With the care of her family, she feels warm inside. "Otherwise, if we just work and don't have enough to eat, we won't have the energy to work. Don't be so frugal, our family is getting better and better now."

Mrs. Lin tapped her youngest daughter's forehead. "You're not in charge of the household, so you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. We live in the city, and even firewood costs money. Aunt Wu next door has to hire someone to carry her water. You two are so extravagant. I'll keep the money. Go wash up, it's getting late."

Seeing that the whole family was happy, she refrained from saying anything, took the silver back to her room and locked it up.

Qiao Mianmian went into the kitchen, where pig's feet were stewing in a pot. She gently poked them with her chopsticks, and the skin and meat slid off the bone. The pig's skin had a brownish-red sheen, and just looking at it made one's mouth water.

I left the pot uncovered for a while to reduce the broth until it thickened, then I took the pig's trotters out. The tender meat was then cut into small pieces with chopsticks and soaked in the broth.

"Dinner's ready!"

As soon as Qiao Mianmian finished speaking, Qiao Jiaxing quickly set out the bowls and chopsticks.

Rice is placed at the bottom of the bowl, and each person picks up a piece of braised pig's trotter. Qiao Mianmian likes it to be a mix of lean and fatty meat, so she drizzles a spoonful of broth over it and mixes it with the rice. With one bite, the chewy texture of the rice and the oily richness of the broth make you want to eat one bite after another until the bowl is empty.

"Burp." Qiao Jiaxing rubbed his belly contentedly after eating until it was round. "Ever since Mianmian started cooking, our meals have been so much better."

Qiao Mianmian let out a burp, the oily aroma of the braised pork trotters still lingering in her mouth. She took a big gulp of her herbal tea and went to the door to rinse her mouth.

Just as I stood still, I saw a disheveled man with a slovenly beard and tattered clothes knocking on Aunt Wu's door.

Qiao Mianmian did not recognize the other person.

After a while, she was stunned when she saw Aunt Wu open the door, then cried out, "My son, you're finally back!"