Chapter 134: Hearts in One
Someone happened to pass by the door, and he stuck his head in and said loudly, "I can also give you some advice, Boss Sui, can I help you?"
Sui Yu only heard the voice but did not see anyone in the room. She also said loudly: "Yes, you come in."
A tall and thin man walked in. He knew what was good for him and was worried that if someone else came, it would make things difficult for Sui Yu, so he closed the door and bolted it.
Zhao Xiaomi brought in half a basin of cold water. She stood in front of the stove and watched Sui Yu's actions.
When the noodles were cooked, Sui Yu swirled them around in the steamer with her long chopsticks, scooping out the bubbling noodles and throwing them into a basin of cold water. She said to Zhao Xiaomi, "Go get two more scoops of water."
After rinsing the hot noodles twice, Sui Yu also put the bean sprouts in a pot of hot water and boiled them twice, then rinsed them with cold water. She placed the noodles on a plate and drained the excess water. Sui Yu then cut two sections of cucumber and pickled radish, arranging the cucumber and pickled radish shreds on top of the cold noodles. She also added the drained bean sprouts, drizzled them with garlic oil, poured vinegar, sprinkled with salt, and mixed thoroughly. Before serving, Sui Yu took a chopstick-sized portion of noodles from each plate.
One plate of cold noodles was topped with garlic oil fried in lard oil, and the other plate of cold noodles was topped with garlic oil fried in camel oil. The garlic oil was hot, and the noodles were also a little warm in the mouth. Sui Yu felt that the cold oil might taste better.
"How does it taste?" she asked the two people who were trying the food. "Don't just eat in silence, give us some feedback."
"Look at us like this, how can you have any objections?" The old bald man laughed, "It's quite good. I taste the flavor of peppercorns and leeks, a little spicy and a bit sour. This cold noodle suits my appetite, it's much more refreshing than the braised soup noodles."
The other man nodded. What the bald old man said was what he wanted to say, and he had nothing more to say.
"Boss Sui, you're going to make a fortune again." The old bald man sighed, "Where do you get so many ideas? You'll make more money than you can spend."
Sui Yu chuckled and said, "I've earned a mountain of gold and silver, and I still can't spend it all."
The old bald man smiled and said nothing more.
Lard has a slightly greasy texture, making the cold noodles appear more greasy and smooth. Camel oil is thicker, but thankfully, Sichuan peppercorns, chives, garlic leaves, and garlic grains mitigate the greasy flavor, making it taste similar to lard. Sui Yu decided to use camel oil in his future garlic oil production, as it would offset the cost of Sichuan peppercorns, saving him from having to raise the price of his cold noodles.
Someone knocked on the door, Zhao Xiaomi went to open it, and outside was Sui Liang and A Shui. The smell of frying peppers was strong before, so Sui Liang took A Shui out to play.
"Why is the door closed?" Sui Liang asked.
"It's okay." Zhao Xiaomi flicked Ah Shui's chubby cheek and said, "What are you chewing? Liang Ge'er, did you take her to buy food?"
"No, it's a bunch of radish balls given to me by Aunt Erhua at the end of the alley."
After the two diners in the shop finished their plates of noodles, the bald old man asked, "How much is it?"
"It's free, I'll just treat you to a meal. If you come again tomorrow, you'll have to pay," said Sui Yu.
"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow with your aunt." The bald old man stood up and said, "The caravan will probably be back soon, and by then your business will be booming again."
"When the caravan comes back, you all make money, everyone makes money." Sui Yu said casually.
"I can't compare to you." The bald old man stood in the yard and looked around before walking out.
Another diner handed Sui Liang two plates stacked together. Before leaving, he glanced at Sui Yu and said vaguely, "A bald man can't stand people with lots of hair. Your business is booming."
Sui Yu looked up and saw that the tall and thin man had already left.
"Third sister-in-law, what is he saying? It doesn't make sense." Zhao Xiaomi frowned.
"Old Baldy wants to raise the rent." Sui Yu looked at the yard next door. Old Baldy mentioned her making money several times. She didn't understand it the first or second time, but she figured it out today. Old Baldy probably saw that her business was so good and thought the rent was too low, so he was worried about it every day.
"We don't just pay him rent. When there are many caravans, he makes a lot of money selling braised eggs." Zhao Xiaomi was upset. She rolled her eyes and said, "I think we're getting a loss. We might as well just give him 10 or 20 coins in rent."
"Without the braised egg business, Old Baldy could kick us out at any time. He's thinking about it now but hasn't mentioned it yet. Isn't it because he's worried that we won't rent his house and stop handing over the braised egg business to him?" Sui Yu explained to her, "Although we may make less money, we'll have fewer worries."
Sui Liang was listening outside the door and whispered, "Uncle Lao Tu doesn't seem like that kind of person. He often comes to eat."
"I'm not saying he's a bad person, but he's a businessman, and businessmen tend to worry about money. He's not short of money, he just cares about every penny of profit, whether he makes a profit or a loss." Sui Yu explained, "You might not understand if I tell you now, but maybe you will understand when you grow up."
"I understand," Zhao Xiaomi said. "It's just like we don't need the little money we make from selling braised eggs, but I still feel like we're losing out by giving this free money business to Uncle Baldy."
Sui Yu nodded appreciatively, "That's what I mean."
Sui Liang also nodded, he understood now.
"What if the old bald uncle wants to raise the rent?" he asked.
Sui Yu pointed north and said, "We'll move there when autumn comes. We'll open an inn and not a restaurant."
"It's still good to have my own house." Zhao Xiaomi was a little happy. "With a house, I don't have to worry about the landlord evicting me or raising the rent. Even though I can afford it, I still feel angry."
"Guests are coming." Ah Shui called out in a childish voice, "Sister-in-law, guests are coming."
The three people in the room fell silent, and Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang ran out quickly.
"A little kid, yet he's so busy! Your shop really doesn't keep idle people." The old woman laughed and walked in and asked, "I smell something. What's for dinner?"
"Cold noodles, but not much. Ten plates at most. We officially start selling them tomorrow." Sui Yu cut a piece of noodles from the basin and asked, "Would you like to try them first? Ten coins a plate."
"Cheaper than braised soup noodles? Okay, give me a plate."
Sui Yu then started to roll out, cut and cook the noodles.
…
The aroma wafting out in the afternoon was really attractive, and diners who came to eat in the evening asked about it one after another. Especially since only eleven or twelve people had tasted it and the others hadn't, this made everyone even more curious about this cold water noodle.
The real time when people crave for food is at night. When you are lying in bed, you suddenly smell the overbearing aroma of oil. First, it is the smell of refined animal oil, which is already tempting. Before you get greasy, you smell the refreshing aroma of pepper and chives, and finally the rich aroma of garlic, which is different from the garlic in your own cooking.
Gan Da noticed someone coming to the door, and he stood up and said, "It's time to close, and there's no more food."
"You've kept us awake, and now you're saying there's no food? That won't do." Someone outside came in and shouted, "Boss Sui, hurry up and get us four plates of cold noodles."
Only then did Gan Da realize that there were four people standing outside the door. He wanted to call the male host out, but after taking two steps, he found that Zhao Xiping had already come out. He squatted down by the water tank and continued to wash the dishes with noodle soup.
"There's no noodles or vegetables. It's going to take a while for me to get some cold noodles." Zhao Xiping walked out of the house and said, "Come back tomorrow. Not only you, but I haven't tasted any cold noodles either."
"Just get something to eat. We probably won't be able to sleep tonight if we don't have anything to eat."
"There are steaming buns in the pot. Why don't you four wait a little longer? When the buns are ready, you can eat them with garlic oil?" Sui Yu suggested.
The four people had no more objections.
The camel fat and pork fat bought this afternoon were refined into oil. The lard was put into the lard jar, and the camel fat was made into garlic oil and put into the jar. After the jar was full, there was still some left. Sui Yu used a small wooden spoon to scoop four spoonfuls into another bowl and asked Sui Liang to bring it to them.
When the buns were cooked, Zhao Xiping brought twelve buns over and said, "This is stuffed with fried oil residue. It was originally eaten by our family. I'll give you half a basket."
"Still three cents a piece?" a man asked.
"Well, I won't charge much. At this point, I don't plan to make any money," said Zhao Xiping.
"You guys are always generous in doing business. I like to eat here. It's comfortable." said the old man with graying temples.
Zhao Xiping smiled and said, "Then come more often in the future."
"I will definitely come. I will come tomorrow."
The second pot of buns was steamed, and the four diners who broke in in the dark were also satisfied. As Sui Yu locked the door, they walked back.
Zhao Xiping, holding a basket of fried sauerkraut dumplings, reminded them, "Keep your feet high. Don't trip over the dirt and fall."
A group of seven people walked home with their feet held high. Because they had another way to make money, the four members of the host family were very happy.
Late at night, Sui Yu was huddled beside the oil lamp, keeping track of his accounts. He had bought a lot of things today, and his income was equal to his expenditure.
"Today is a day without money." She crossed out the board and said, "Next month, I will make more money."
A wooden box suddenly caught his eye. Sui Yu looked up and asked in confusion, "What?"
"Open it and take a look."
Sui Yulu smiled and asked sweetly, "A gift for me?"
Zhao Xiping looked at her expression and realized that he had neglected something for three or four years. Sui Yu gave him a bow and arrow, a woolen vest and a cowhide vest, made dumplings when she went out and cooked soup noodles when she came home. He remembered these surprises, but he couldn't remember what surprise he had given her.
"Wow, so much money! Where did you get it?" Sui Yu was surprised.
"I earned seventy-two cents from selling wild animals for three consecutive days. I got two fat rabbits, seven or eight field mice, a pheasant and five birds." Zhao Xiping no longer wanted to be praised and explained in a calm tone.
Sui Yu put down the money box and stood up. She kicked off her shoes, stood on the chair, put her arms around the man's neck, kissed him twice, and said with a smile, "Not bad, Captain Zhao, your head is getting more and more flexible."
Zhao Xiping raised his head and kissed her smooth neck. He carried her to the bed and said, "I learned all this from Boss Sui. My wife, you taught me well."
Sui Yu threw herself on the mattress and laughed.
When the oil in the lamp burned out and the sky outside turned blue, the hardworking family members rushed to make money.
The cold noodles were a big hit, not only was the business in the shop good, but the delivery business was also extremely prosperous. Some people didn't want to go out because it was too hot, so those who had servants asked them to do their bidding, and those who didn't had servants asked errand boys to do their bidding. The cold noodles had no soup and didn't need to be kept warm, so the errand boys carried their loads and ran quickly through the streets and alleys. When they saw people, they didn't forget to solicit business. Sui Yu's food shop benefited again.
After a busy day, it was early June. Sui Yu gave the whole family a day off. He closed the shop and went to see the inn which had already been built.
A month ago, this place was still a wasteland covered with weeds. Now, high walls have been erected on the ground, and houses are built next to each other in a row from east to west, which is more imposing than the government offices in the city.
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