Chapter 104 Food Shop Opening
Every step she took on the snow made a crackling sound. Sui Yu walked in places where no one had ever stepped on, and looked back from time to time at the footprints she left behind.
Zhao Xiping would stop every few steps to wait for her. When he saw the birds looking around on the branches, he felt itchy and wanted to go hunting.
"It's so cold." Sui Yu quickly walked behind him, pushed him and said, "Go ahead and block the wind for me."
The whole family wore waistcoats made of rat skin and rabbit fur, and four layers of thin clothes on the outside. They didn't feel cold when they were kneading dough by the stove, but when they left the fire and walked in the cold wind for a while, the heat in their bodies dissipated, and the cold air coming up from the soles of their feet made them shiver all over.
Zhao Xiping held her hand and walked quickly, walked out of the east-west Nanshui Street, and turned into the alleys lined with earthen walls. Without the biting cold wind, it was much more comfortable to walk in.
It was snowing heavily, and every household had their doors closed. There was no one on the streets except for birds looking for food.
Sui Yu covered her neck to block the wind. She looked up and muttered, "No one is outside. How can I ask about the house?"
"Didn't you say you were going to look for Old Baldy?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"I want to look at a few more." Sui Yu looked at the houses along the road. She was a little skeptical about her decision to open a shop in a small alley. With everyone staying indoors, would customers come to the shop if she opened? Or would she be providing door-to-door service?
Passing by a house with two vermilion wooden doors, she heard voices from inside. Sui Yu knocked on the door and explained her reason first: "Excuse me, I heard there's a vacant room for rent here, but I don't know where to ask. Could you please show me the way?"
The man in the dog-skin hat opened the door. He looked at the couple outside curiously and asked, "Where are you from?"
"We are locals and live in a military village. We want to rent two empty houses to start a small food business." Sui Yu said with a smile.
The man looked at her, turned around and shouted into the house: "Sanmu, do you want to rent your house?"
The short man who had been warming himself by the fire in the woodshed came out panting. When he saw Sui Yu, his eyes lit up and his attitude immediately changed. He said enthusiastically, "You want to rent a house? You want to come live here? I have a few empty houses. I'll take you there."
Sui Yu frowned and looked at Zhao Xiping. With him by her side, she had nothing to fear, so she followed Sanmutou westward.
Sanmutou's house was at the corner of the alley, with its door facing south and the road. It had a good location, but the yard was in a bad condition. After the caravan that had lived there before left, no one had come to clean it up. The house was smelly, and something had leaked under the eaves, sticking to the ground in a black mass.
"What's the price? I only want to rent it for four or five months." Sui Yu asked as he walked out the door.
"It's just right. You can move out before the caravan arrives. I won't ask for a high price. I only charge you eight coins a month for this courtyard and three rooms."
Sui Yu shook her head, "I just want to rent one or two rooms. I'll take a look."
"I have two more rooms, but they're not on the road. I'll show you two." Sanmu pointed down the alley and said, "There's a smaller one I'll rent to you for five cents. That's only in the winter when there are no customers. If there were a caravan coming, I wouldn't rent it to you for that price."
Sui Yu waved her hand, pulled Zhao Xiping and continued walking, saying, "Let's ask again."
Sanmutou muttered a few words and watched Sui Yu walk away. He walked back with his neck hunched. It was so cold, but it was still comfortable to warm himself by the fire.
"Where else are we going?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"Go find Old Baldy."
"You could have come directly here just now." Zhao Xiping held her hand. Because of the delay, her hand was as cold as a lump of snow, without any warmth.
"When it comes to money, I need to have a clear mind to avoid being fooled."
He walked to the door of Lao Tu's house as if he was familiar with the place. He heard loud voices from inside. Sui Yu knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was an acquaintance, one of the merchants who went to buy braised soup noodles in the morning.
"Nanshi, you finally showed up." Chen Wu laughed. "Come in quickly. We were just talking about you and were just about to go over for a hot meal."
What Nanshi? Zhao Xiping glanced at Sui Yu.
An old bald man wearing a wolfskin came out of a door. Seeing Sui Yu, he asked in a gruff voice, "What are you doing here at this hour?"
"Isn't the courtyard next door still empty? The proprietress sells food and she wants to rent an empty house." Chen Wu said on behalf of Sui Yu.
Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping walked in and saw the situation inside the courtyard clearly. It was similar to the layout of a siheyuan, with about a dozen rooms in the yard. The room with clothes hanging outside should be occupied by tenants. This was the predecessor of the inn.
Sui Yu retracted his gaze and looked at Lao Tu and said, "It's cold to set up a stall in winter. I want to rent one or two rooms as a shop. I'll rent it for three or four months first. Uncle, do you think it's possible?"
Lao Tu went into the house to get the key, and he took Sui Yu out and walked next door.
The door opened, and Sui Yu had an idea in his mind as he stood at the door. This small courtyard should be a dormitory with a large house. The house was large and the yard was small. There was a toilet but no kitchen. The doors and windows were old and covered with a layer of dust, but the house should have been cleaned and there was no foul smell like Sanmutou's house.
"Uncle, if I only rent one room, how much does it cost per month?" Sui Yu asked. The houses here are spacious and one room is enough.
The bald old man didn't say anything for a while. He was a little hesitant. Cooking would produce a lot of smoke and it would cause a lot of fumes. He was afraid that the smoke would destroy his house.
"You want to rent for three or four months? I can rent it to you, but let me be frank with you. You have to pay two more months' rent. If the walls and beams in the house are blackened, I won't refund you the two months' rent." said the bald old man.
"How much is the rent?" Sui Yu asked.
The old bald man gestured and said, "Eight cents of silver."
Sui Yu shook his head. "Uncle, you're being disingenuous. I'm only renting one room, but you're asking me to rent the entire yard. The house at the end of the alley, with three rooms and a large yard, only costs eight coins."
"You mean Sanmu's house? It's dirty and shabby, and he's always taking advantage of people. You won't get anything good from renting his house." The old bald man looked around his own house. To be honest, his house was old. He changed his tone and said, "Forget the six cents of silver. You don't live here, and your things won't get lost. I'll live next door and get up if there's any noise."
Sui Yu held up four fingers and said, "I'll clean the house inside and out before moving out."
The bald old man waved his hand and said four taels of silver was too low.
"Five cents of silver, how about that? You both take a step back." Zhao Xiping said, "In the middle of winter, no one's living here. We'll rent it for a few months, and you can pick up the rent for a few months. If you agree, we won't bother looking for another house."
"Forget it, forget it. Five cents is five cents. You have to move out before the end of April." The bald old man thought that by opening a food store here, he would have a place to eat even if he didn't want to cook in the future, so he stopped talking.
Sui Yu nodded in agreement, but she didn't have much money on her, so she agreed to come over tomorrow to pay the rent.
After getting the keys, Zhao Xiping stayed to clean the house, while Sui Yu hurried to Nanshui Street to prepare the buns to be sold in the evening.
It gets dark early in winter. Less than two hours after lunch, it was dark. The cold wind became fierce, blowing up the snow on the ground. Snowflakes flew all over the sky, making it difficult to tell whether it was snowing again.
Business in the evening is not as good as that at noon. A few customers come out against the wind, quickly buy a basket or half a basket of buns and run away, with no intention of eating soup noodles in the cold and snow.
The owner of the oil shop and the Hu merchant were both closing their shops. At the grain shop not far away, the clerk stood on the road, took a few looks, and was also preparing to close the shop and go home.
"It's time to go back. No one is coming out." said the bamboo craftsman's wife.
"We've been waiting for you. Do you want to buy anything? If not, we'll close the stall." Sui Yu asked.
"I want to buy a few." Hu Shang came over and said, "What buns are left? Give me seven or eight."
"I only have lard and radish buns." Sui Yu lent him two bowls for the buns. After collecting the money, she called the resident and said, "Shopkeeper Ali, this month is over. I won't be setting up the stall next month."
Hu Shang frowned, nodded and said, "That's right. It's too hard to set up a stall in such cold weather. Come back in the spring and I'll keep the stall for you."
"I plan to move the stall to Minxiang and rent a shop. When the time comes, if you want to buy buns or eat braised soup noodles, you can go there. There are tables and chairs in the shop, so you don't have to suffer from the cold when you come to eat." Sui Yu said.
"Okay, I live over there, and I'll go and take care of your business when the time comes," said the oil shop owner.
Hu Shang nodded. He also lived in that area. He asked where Sui Yu's shop was.
"You guys know Old Baldy, right? I rented his house."
"Yes, it's him. It's not far from my home." The oil shop owner walked to the end of the street and said, "You should move there as soon as possible. Then I will bring my family over to eat soup noodles."
"I'll give you an extra braised egg if you come over," Sui Yu promised, "as a thank you for taking care of my business."
"If you say so, I'm really going over there." The female shoe shop owner passed by and laughed, "I'm going back first. You guys should go back quickly too. It's getting dark."
The camel drivers arrived, and Zhao Xiping came over to unload the tables and chairs. He handed them two wolf skins and a sheepskin coat, asking them to put them on before going back.
There was no conversation along the way. When we got home, Zhao Xiping said, "Everything has been cleaned. I'll go find some old door panels in the next couple of days and stack them up to make tables. I'll also make a few shorter long tables to put on the ground for people to sit on."
"The shorter one is called a bench, and the taller one is called a table." Sui Yu corrected.
It’s just a bench, it means the same thing. Zhao Xiping didn’t care. He took the steamer to the kitchen.
The buns were not sold out, so Sui Yu lit a fire to cook half a pot of porridge and steamed twenty more buns. They were salty for lunch, but light for dinner.
Over the next two days, the weather got even colder, and there were few people on the streets. Business was bad, so Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi went out to set up stalls, but they packed up before dark and went back. They took the unsold buns to the military village and sold them along the alleys.
By November, the shops in Minxiang were tidied up. Three stoves were placed near the door of the house, which was ten feet long and eight feet wide, and two long tables were placed in the remaining space for people to sit.
It was a sunny day on the opening day. The snow on the eaves melted and dripped down along the gutters. People who were hiding at home went out to clean the gutters to prevent the snow from flooding the base of the walls.
Taking advantage of the crowds outside, Sui Yu brought out the stove and started cooking a stew outside. The broth was a mixture of bone broth simmered overnight, with bird meat, radish, tofu, and soybeans in the mix. As the broth boiled, its aroma drifted through the streets and alleys on the chill wind, then quickly seeped into the warm house through the cracks in the doors and windows.
"What's that smell? Who's cooking meat?"
"Dad, it smells so good. I want to eat meat too."
The people who walked out of the door asked each other, but to no avail. They followed the direction of the smell, and the closer they got, the stronger the fragrance became.
A clay pot stood in front of the door, and the white mist wafting from the pot was conspicuous. What's more, the person lighting the fire was a pretty woman with a smile on her face. People who came here to taste the food couldn't help but slow down their pace.
"This is a newly opened snack shop. We used to have a stall on Nanshui Street, but we just moved here today. Everyone come in and sit down. We sell lard and radish buns, egg and dried vegetable buns, and tofu and bean sprout buns. They're three cents each and come with lots of fillings. We also have steaming hot braised soup noodles with braised eggs, tofu, radish, and bean sprouts." Sui Yu scooped up a spoonful of the braised vegetables and said, "A bowl of noodles, a braised egg, and a spoonful of the braised vegetables. Bring your own bowl for only eleven cents. If you don't want to go out, we can deliver the food to your door for only thirteen cents."
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