Chapter 94 Long-term business
Sui Yu kept repeating to herself, "I can't look at the bald old man's bald head." When she saw a bald old man tying an iron bucket to a camel, she subconsciously lowered her eyes.
"Uncle, a bodyguard with a mole on the end of his eyebrow instructed me to come to you. I dried thirty kilograms of vegetables at home and braised a hundred eggs. Please try them and see if you can take them with you on the road." As he said that, Sui Yu handed over a soaked egg that had changed color.
Upon hearing this, the old bald man took the eggs. He was used to seeing many people selling food and clothing to the caravan.
Sui Yu handed him another handful of dried vegetables and said, "They are all picked and washed repeatedly before being dried in the sun. You don't need to wash them when you stew the meat. Just wring them twice and throw them into the pot to stew directly."
The bald old man nodded, the few sparse hairs left on his head trembling in the wind. He picked up a piece of dried bitter herbs, chewed it, and spat it out. He said, "Not bad. How much is it?"
"Dried vegetables are two cents per pound, and braised eggs are three cents each. The prices are not expensive." Sui Yu said with his eyes lowered.
"Okay, give them all to me."
Sui Yu waved to Sui Liang, and the brother and sister squatted on the ground, picked up the eggs in the basket and put them one by one into the bucket beside the old bald man's legs.
Eggs cost eight cents per pound. The eggs were big, and there were four or five in a pound. Sui Yu cooked a pot of them with soybean paste and pepper leaves, and then sold them. She made one cent for each egg, and that was her hard-earned money.
"Uncle, there are ninety-eight eggs in total, and thirty kilograms of dried vegetables. Just give me three hundred and fifty-four coins."
The old baldy gave her three hundred and fifty-seven coins, and he paid for the egg he ate.
Sui Yu collected the money and walked to the roadside to count it. When he was counting the copper coins, he heard the ringing of camel bells. The camel caravan, loaded with goods, was heading west.
A man who had just finished shaving his beard and had blood on his chin came out from behind a low wall. He reached out to high-five the old bald man, led the camel carrying kitchen utensils and food, and strode to catch up with the caravan.
Sui Yu immediately stuffed a string of copper coins into Sui Liang's pocket and walked over to ask, "Uncle, you are responsible for preparing food for all the caravans coming and going? I thought you were traveling with the caravans. What do you think of my eggs and dried vegetables? I can supply them to you if you need them."
The old bald man smacked his lips and said, "The eggs are a little bland. Merchants on the road sweat a lot and have a strong taste, so they like salty food."
"I'll go back and revise the recipe. I'll send over another hundred eggs tomorrow. Would you like to try them?"
The old bald man sneered inwardly. Adding an extra spoonful of salt was just a change in the recipe in her mouth. She was quite good at promoting herself.
"Okay, you can deliver it the day after tomorrow. A caravan will leave the day after tomorrow."
Sui Yu was delighted. She followed the old bald man into the door and continued to ask, "Will a hundred eggs be enough? How many kilograms of dried vegetables do you need? Just tell me the number and I'll go back and prepare it."
"Don't use too much dried vegetables, fifty kilograms at most."
"Okay, okay."
Sui Yu happily agreed and watched the old bald man return to the house. She carried the empty basket and walked back with Sui Liang.
"Come on, I'll go back with you. You take the pigs, sheep, and camels out to graze, and I'll go look for Sister Lamei... Let's go from here. This way is closer."
The alley where the caravan lived was on the west side of Nanshui Street. Two long alleys away was the spacious Dinghu Lane, where dignitaries lived. It was not far from Nanshui Street, but when walking in this alley, you could not hear the hawking sounds from the street.
Sui Liang walked holding Sui Yu's clothes, but he didn't look at the road. His eyes looked around. Suddenly, he saw A Shui crawling out from behind a stone statue.
"Sister, do you think that's Ah Shui?"
"Where?" Sui Yu turned her head and looked in the direction Sui Liang pointed. The child who was trying to stand up by holding on to the stone statue looked very similar to A Shui.
"Why is Ah Shui here? I'll go check it out." Sui Yu turned and walked over, her eyes meeting the little girl's. The child's eyes curved with a smile. She quickened her pace and muttered, "It really is you! Who brought you here? Where are your parents?"
As he was speaking, footsteps were heard from the stone statue, and Tong Huaer came over. When she saw Sui Yu, her expression changed drastically, and she lowered her head in panic to hug A Shui.
"You are here. I saw her here alone and didn't dare to recognize her at first." Sui Yu walked over and took a look. Behind the stone statue was the Duwei Mansion. Under the plaque, the door was closed and no one was seen.
Sui Yu looked back at Tong Huaer. She had some suspicions in her mind and asked indirectly, "How did you and Ah Shui get here? This place is not that close to the military settlement."
"I was just wandering around, looking for a place to use the restroom. The moment I turned my back, the kid had already disappeared." Tong Huaer regained her composure. She stroked her hair and smiled, saying, "A Shui likes to look at these two stone lions. There are no other places like them, so I'll bring her there when I have some free time. What brought you two siblings here? How's business? I was thinking of going over to take a look."
Sui Yu walked back and said, "It's past breakfast time and there aren't many customers at the stall. Liang Ge'er and I will go back and drive the pigs, sheep, and camels out to graze."
Seeing that Sui Yu seemed to believe her, Tong Huaer followed him back, saying, "You guys don't have to worry about your family when you set up your stall to do business. There are people in the alley every day. Lao Niu and I also go there from time to time."
Sui Yu thanked her sincerely.
After entering the military settlement, the four of them went their separate ways. Sui Liang looked back and saw A Shui craning her neck to point at the birds in the sky, while her mother had her head down, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Sister, does Sui Ling live in the Duwei Mansion?" he asked.
"I think so, you still remember." Sui Yu didn't care much. Seeing someone in the alley, she greeted him with a smile.
"It's not even noon yet, why are you back at this time?" asked Aunt Sun, who was picking leeks in the shadow under the wall.
"Come back and drive the pigs and sheep to graze. By the way, Auntie, how many eggs have you saved these days? Sell them to me." Sui Yu said.
"I've saved up about twenty more. If you want to buy one, I'll sell it to you."
"I'll come and weigh it when I get back from closing up shop in the evening."
When they got home, Sui Liang opened the door and went to drive the pigs and sheep. When Sui Yu entered, he glanced at the door. There were no footprints. It seemed that the person who had kicked the door before had never come again.
After putting the basket down, Sui Yu walked out and said, "I'm going to Sister Lamei's house. Lock the door when you go out. I won't be back. I'll go straight to the street later."
"good."
Sister Lamei was drying vegetables. There were several rows of long sticks in her yard, with dripping bitter vegetables hanging on the sticks.
"Sister-in-law, prepare 50 kilograms of dried vegetables for me in the next two days." Sui Yu didn't enter the house and said, "I came here to talk about this. If you are busy, I will go too."
"good."
Dong Zi's mother heard the noise and asked in surprise, "You use so many dried vegetables every day? Or are you storing them for autumn?"
Sui Yu smiled mysteriously and said, "I won't tell you."
Sui Liang drove the pigs, sheep and camels over, and the cat official followed behind. When it saw people, it tilted its head and meowed.
Sui Yu meowed back.
The sheep bleated twice, and Sui Yu also bleated twice.
The black pig came over with its butt twisted, grunted twice, and drove the sheep away.
The camels walking behind her poked their heads out. Sui Yu raised her hand and touched them twice. After greeting each of them, she went to the street.
"Have they all been sold?" Zhao Xiaomi asked.
Sui Yu nodded, "I've sold them all and found a long-term business."
She sat down on a chair to rest, scooping a ladle of water to wash her hands. She said, "I can sell forty to fifty kilograms of dried vegetables and about a hundred eggs every two or three days. The amount may increase when the weather gets colder. Anyway, I can make at least one or two taels of silver a month. I don't have to spend money on dried vegetables for stuffing. This business is worth doing."
"I saved for three years and didn't even manage to save a single ounce of silver." Zhao Xiaomi was a little angry and muttered, "We were both born by our mothers and raised by our fathers, so why is there such a big difference?"
Sui Yu smiled and said, "Mother is not a mother, and father is not a father."
Zhao Xiaomi snorted twice, crossed his arms, and said, "My three brothers have the same parents, but they're so different. Look at how lucky my third brother is. He gets food every month, a salary every year, and he even has a beautiful wife like you who makes money. I wish I could be him."
Sui Yu laughed without further explanation.
It was noon and there were more people on the street. The aunt and sister-in-law stopped chatting and started to attract passers-by.
"Today we have tofu and bean sprout buns, lard and radish buns, and a basket of egg and chive buns. Which one would you like?" An old customer came, and Sui Yu stood up to greet him.
"Two each," the aunt handed over the plate and said, "There are two more bun vendors at the end of the street. I heard Agui's wife say the buns at the one on the street are smaller and less oily. When I came over, I heard her shouting five cents for two. I looked at them and decided to buy from you."
Sui Yu paused, picked up a large bun and placed it on the plate, saying, "If there's not enough oil or water, the bun won't taste good, especially radish. Without it, the radish will taste watery and raw. I cook radish for pigs every day, and I'm tired of that smell. I can't cook anything without oil or water, otherwise I won't be able to eat it myself."
"Yes, yes, you're right. If the radish is too oily, it will be so pungent that it'll give you a headache when steamed." Auntie agreed. "If you sell it like this, we'll all come to you to buy it. People who buy buns to save trouble don't lack a penny or two."
The person behind me handed over a handful of copper coins and said, "Give me five egg and chive buns. I like this filling. How do you fry the chives? My mom makes these buns. When the buns come out of the pan, the chives are mushy and the buns are juicey when you bite into them."
Sui Yu smiled and shook his head: "I can't tell you how much money I make."
"Then I'll ask you again when you're done with this business."
"Okay." After handing over five buns, Sui Yu asked the next person, "Uncle, how many buns do you want to buy?"
"One, I just wanted to come see you."
Sui Yu choked, feeling a little bad about earning these three cents.
After noon, business at the stall slowed down again. Zhao Xiaomi couldn't help herself. She took off her apron and looked down the street. "Third sister-in-law, let me go over and take a look."
"Okay, go check it out." Sui Yu took two braised eggs out of the oven. The shells were burnt black. She peeled them off, brushed off the ash stuck to the egg whites, and sat in a chair, leisurely eating the eggs. It's true, the eggs were quite chewy after being roasted, and the flavor was even better.
She was wondering whether she should bake some eggs and send them over the day after tomorrow.
"What are you eating? Sell me one." Hu Shang smelled something and came out.
Sui Yu pointed at another egg on the table and said, "Try it. If you like it, I'll bring a few more tomorrow."
Hu Shang bit into half an egg and nodded, saying, "Bring a few more tomorrow. I'll buy them when they're roasted."
"Five cents each."
“Maybe not many people will buy it.”
"It's okay, I'm just selling it casually. If there are too many people buying, I won't be able to bake them all."
Zhao Xiaomi ran back, and Hu Shang dusted off his hands and left.
Zhao Xiaomi glared at him from behind, then sat over and said, "Third sister-in-law, I didn't see it. As soon as I went over, they covered the steamer and shamelessly rolled their eyes at me."
"Don't worry, they won't last long. At most, they'll either close down or move to another location in a month." Sui Yu was confident. She took the shovel and held it in front of her face, chuckling, "They're just blindly following the trend. When I wasn't doing it, they didn't set up stalls because it was such a good opportunity. Now that they see my business is booming, they want to follow suit. They're greedy and want to make more money, but they're reluctant to spend money on noodles and vegetables. How can they succeed? The people who pay for it are not fools."
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