Chapter 91: Little Stingy
In one hour, she made 150 buns, enough to steam five baskets. Sui Yu stopped for a while and sat comfortably in a chair to bask in the sun.
Zhao Xiaomi was a little anxious. It took her half a day to sell a basket of buns. The dough and stuffing in the basin could make hundreds more buns. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to sell them all.
"Third sister-in-law, there's no one on this street. How about we go somewhere else?"
"Don't worry, it's not time for dinner yet. Business requires patience." Sui Yu handed her the bucket and said, "I'll give you some work. Go back and fetch half a bucket of water."
Zhao Xiaomi looked around and waited for a cup of tea, but still no one showed up. She had no choice but to run away with the bucket.
Sui Yu sat down to rest for a while. She made herself a bowl of oil tea to moisten her throat. When the sun was about to rise above her head, she pulled herself together and stood up.
Hu Shang came out and smelled the aroma of tea oil as he approached. He said, "It's not too hot to sit outside in the sun at this time."
"It's still a bit hot at noon. The clouds are too thin. It would be more comfortable if they were thicker." Sui Yu pointed to the sky and said, "It's time to eat. Are you going back?"
Hu Shang saw the chair she was sitting on. He lifted the wooden board to look at it, then sat down to try it out. He said, "Make me a bowl of oil tea and pick up a plate of buns for me."
"Okay."
The fire in the stove was lit again. Sui Yu opened the steamer, picked up four vegetable buns, put them in a bowl and handed it to him, saying, "Eat first. The water will boil in two seconds."
The Hu merchant untied a bamboo tube from his waist and said, "I have ghee, but you won't give me lard."
"Okay."
The owner of the oil shop next door passed by and looked at Sui Yu twice. Sui Yu called out, "Shopkeeper Long, are you going back to eat?"
"It's you! I stared at you for a long time but didn't recognize you." Shopkeeper Long smelled the aroma of ghee, slowed down his pace, and said, "You made oil tea with ghee? Give me a bowl."
"It's the ghee from Shopkeeper Ali. I wonder if he sells ghee in his shop."
The Hu merchant waved his hand, saying that ghee was hard to come by and it was difficult to find migrating herders. Besides, the herders were reluctant to sell and he would not get much ghee.
"Please have some oil tea, Shopkeeper Long." Hu Shang dragged over another chair and said, "Have a seat. This thing is quite comfortable. I'll get a couple of these for my shop when I get home."
Sui Yu stirred another bowl of oil tea, also using Hu Shang's ghee. The aroma of flour mixed with the aroma of milk made her feel that the sunlight around her was fragrant, making her feel very comfortable.
"Give me a bowl of buns too, with radish filling?" asked the oil shop owner.
"No, the radish is rotten. We have to wait a month before we can eat fresh radish. There are shepherd's purse and egg fillings and lard and bitter vegetable fillings. They taste very good, especially the shepherd's purse, which is very fresh."
"Two of each, please."
Hu Shang had a big appetite. He ate four buns and asked Sui Yu to put four more in his bowl.
The shop owners passing by were getting ready to go home for lunch when Sui Yu called out, "Steamed buns with lard and bitter herbs and shepherd's purse and eggs are here. They're three cents each. Shop owners, buy one or two to try. If you like them, come by when you open your shop in the morning and buy a bowl of oil tea and two steamed buns to fill your stomach."
The hawking sounded so familiar that people in twos and threes on the street looked over. The bamboo craftsman said in surprise, "It's you! I didn't recognize you before."
He was talking about Sui Yu asking him to make a bow arm out of rattan last year.
"Dad, did you eat the magic pill? You look better now." The female shopkeeper selling shoes joked.
"I didn't eat the elixir, but I ate a lot of buns." Sui Yu smiled.
"Okay, I'll buy a few when I go back tonight and see if I can become more beautiful."
"That requires continuous consumption every day. It took me a year to grow into this shape." Sui Yu joked.
"I'd like to trade tofu with you. Do you want to?" asked the tofu seller.
"Okay, give me a bowl of tofu and I'll give you two buns." Sui Yu planned to make sauerkraut stewed with tofu in the evening.
"Give me two too, but I don't have any money on me. I'll bring you some money this afternoon." The female shoe shop owner extended her hand and jokingly said, "If I didn't look like you, I'd go to your house and cause trouble."
"Okay." Sui Yu agreed readily, "If you want to look like me, you have to eat as I tell you."
"Shopkeeper Yao, you might as well eat her." Shopkeeper Long laughed.
Everyone else laughed.
Zhao Xiaomi came over with the water and saw this scene. She was delighted. Sure enough, business was good at lunchtime. She walked over and put down the bucket. She saw the steaming buns in the pot and squatted down to light the fire.
Hu Shang and Manager Long did not leave after eating. They sat on one side and talked slowly.
A little girl about seven or eight years old came over with a rice grater in her hand, and said on tiptoe, "Sister, I want to buy ten buns."
"Why buy so much? Just wait a little while, and the buns in the pot will be cooked. They taste best right after they come out of the pot." Sui Yu was washing dishes. She thought of Sui Liang and asked, "Xiaomi, was Liang Ge back when you left?"
"Not yet, and the cat isn't home."
The buns in the pot were steamed. Zhao Xiaomi gave ten buns to the little girl, took the copper coins, counted them and threw them into the cash box.
"Sister." Sui Liang came running over, "I'm hungry."
"Freshly steamed buns! You've arrived just in time." Zhao Xiaomi put two in his bowl and asked, "Would you like some oil tea? I'll make you a bowl."
Sui Liang nodded. He came to Sui Yu with the bowl in his hand and said, "The pigs, sheep, and camels are all full. I also cut a basket of grass and brought it back. I'll come over this afternoon to light the fire for you."
Sui Yu wiped the sweat off his face and praised him, "My brother is really capable."
Sui Liang smiled and felt happy.
After that, he sold another forty-three buns. After noon, there were few people on the street and no customers came.
Until sunset, more people appeared on the street and the sounds of hawking could be heard everywhere.
The shouts of vegetable vendors, the sound of the old firewood seller knocking on the wooden clappers as he walked through the streets, and Sui Yu's hawking voice were among them.
She is good-looking and has a clear voice, and most people who come to see her are attracted by her voice. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi greet the customers at two ends. The two sisters-in-law are so enthusiastic that they treat the people in front of the stall more warmly than their own relatives.
The aunt who went to the oil shop to buy lamp oil, the sisters-in-law and brothers who went to the grocery store to buy needles and thread, pottery pots and bowls, oil lamps, and hemp ropes, the old uncle who carried a grain jar from the other end of the street... These people with copper coins on them were the targets of Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi whenever they passed by.
The remaining 160 buns were sold out, and the sun had just set, filling the sky with rosy clouds.
"Brother Liang, go back and lead the camel. Your sister Xiaomi and I will pack up." Sui Yu ordered.
Sui Liang responded and ran home.
"Are the buns sold out?" a man with his shirt open came over and asked.
Sui Yu noticed that he had walked back and forth three times. She said expressionlessly, "Yes, it's sold out."
"Want to clean up the pot? I'll help you." He said and was about to start.
"I don't need you." Sui Yu stared at him coldly, "Who are you?"
"Here's some help." The man smiled at her.
"No need. If you want to do good deeds, you might as well build the Great Wall." Sui Yu poured water from the iron pot, and the boiling water splashed out. The man took two steps back quickly.
He refused to leave and stood there watching hesitantly. He tried to take action several times but was always stopped by Sui Yu.
Sui Liang came with a camel. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi carried the unloaded wooden boards and table legs and tied them to the camel's back. She asked Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang to go back while she stayed here to guard the things.
Zhao Xiaomi looked at the man who was still lingering beside her. She was so angry that she wanted to pick up a stick to fight him.
"Go back quickly, I'll wait for you here." Sui Yu pushed her.
Zhao Xiaomi stamped her feet in anger. The man laughed when he saw this. He pulled at his wide-open collar and scratched his dark chest.
Sui Yu didn't even look at him. She thought it would be a compliment to look at such a rotten crotch. After Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang left, her expression turned completely cold, and she made no secret of her disgust for this scoundrel.
If she was afraid, timid or spoke sweetly, this man could still flatter her. But as soon as Sui Yu put on airs, this scoundrel looked at her and gradually felt inferior. He stood there awkwardly for a while, then gradually felt that there was no point, so he left.
Zhao Xiaomi and Sui Liang came running over with their camels. Seeing that only Sui Yu was there, she asked in surprise, "Has that rascal left?"
"Well, don't take this kind of person seriously. Except when you meet him while doing business on the street, you have nothing to do with him at other times. Just treat him as a bug and ignore him. Don't get angry, it's not worth it." Sui Yu said while busying himself.
"I'm just so angry. If my third brother were at home, I would punch him to death." Zhao Xiaomi hooked his fist in hatred.
Sui Yu smiled. She squatted down and used a stick to pick up the ashes. She said, "You can't beat your third brother even if he's at home. He's just a stinkbug. If he touches you, you'll stink for days. Why bother?"
The ashes were put into a basin and taken away. Sui Yu held the basin and said, "Let's go home and cook."
For the next five days, when there were many people around, that rascal would come, and Sui Yu treated him like a dog.
Zhao Xiaomi chased the man away, but she found that the angrier she was, the more excited the rascal became. So she simply followed Sui Yu's example and ignored him, or just treated him as a stray dog who came to help watch the stall.
She was busy kneading dough, picking and cutting vegetables, washing dishes and making fire, and making money.
Half a month later, Zhao Xiaomi found that the ruffian had not been seen for several days.
"If you meet someone like him again, first, don't be afraid of him, and second, ignore him. Treat him like a speck of dust. He'll just go away after a while." Sui Yu was counting coins, muttering to herself, "No one can stand being truly ignored."
Zhao Xiaomi nodded, not quite understanding.
“How much money did we make?” she asked.
"We can make thirty to thirty-five copper coins from a pot of buns. Most of the time, we can sell six pots a day, so we can make at least one hundred and eighty copper coins. Add in a few bowls of oil tea here and there, and we can make about two cents." Sui Yu tied a knot in the hemp rope in his hand and said, "That's thirty cents in half a month."
"Three strings of cash, that's six strings a month!" Zhao Xiaomi was overjoyed. "What about a year? How much is that in a year?"
"It's getting hotter day by day, and we can only sell a few buns. We'll wait until the weather cools down and it's time for the autumn harvest, but we'll also be busy during the autumn harvest. After the autumn harvest, it will snow, and the buns will sell better. I estimate I can make ten strings of cash a month by then." Sui Yu put the copper coins in the money box. She planned to take a day off tomorrow and exchange the copper coins for silver. Another thing was that the vegetables in the vegetable garden were gone, and she had to replant them and buy vegetables from other families.
"Do you want to buy something? Should I give you this month's salary in advance, or half of it?" Sui Yu asked.
Zhao Xiaomi thought for a moment and said, "I want to make a pink silk dress. Otherwise, standing next to you, I'll look as gray as a fire-burning girl."
Sui Yu handed her a copper coin and said, "It's all yours. You earned it yourself, so buy whatever you want."
Zhao Xiaomi was happy. She held a coin and hung it around her neck, laughing so hard that she couldn't cover her teeth.
"Come on, Liang'er, I'll take you to buy some candy." She waved her hand proudly.
Sui Yu counted out another hundred coins and handed them over, saying, "Brother Liang, this is yours."
Sui Liang didn't want it, he was reluctant to spend her money.
"Sister Xiaomi treated me to candy without asking me to spend any money." He smiled cunningly, "Sister, wait at home, I'll bring you some candy."
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll treat Liang Ge to some candy and he doesn't have to spend any money." Zhao Xiaomi didn't see what he was thinking and ran away happily with him.
"You little stingy guy." Sui Yu spat.
She moved the cash box into the woodshed and hid it in the firewood pile. Then she went out to find Sister Lamei and asked her to buy vegetables from her. Sister Lamei happily agreed.
"Don't worry, sister. I will make sure to clean it for you."
"Sui Yu, there are vegetables in my garden, and the radishes are almost ready to eat. Do you want to buy some?" The neighboring family also heard the voice through the wall.
"Okay, you keep the radish. I'll pick it when it's ready. If there aren't enough vegetables, I'll go to your house to buy some. I'll offer the same price as on the street," said Sui Yu.
"Sui Yu, I also have vegetables in my vegetable garden. My radishes were planted early and are ready to eat." said the person next door.
"Are the radishes ready to eat? I'll go buy a basket of them first. Two pounds for one penny. Are you willing to sell them?"
"Two pounds is two pounds. Wait a minute, I'll take you to the vegetable garden."
Sui Yu went back to get the basket, locked the door, and went to the vegetable garden with Dongzi's mother to pick radishes.
"People in the alley say every day that you have made money, and it seems that you have made money." Dongzi's mother said.
"It's a lie to say I don't make money. No one would do something that doesn't make money. I earn my hard-earned money and help you earn some snack money." Sui Yu walked into the vegetable garden and said, "If I can keep doing this, I'll buy vegetables from you if I don't have enough, and I'll buy eggs from you too."
"That's possible. I've raised twenty chicks this year. They'll be laying eggs in a month." Dongzi's mother's attitude changed immediately. She squatted down to help pull out the radishes, twisted off the stalks and put them aside. She said, "You have a lot of sheep and camels at home. These radish stalks are old. You can take them back to feed the sheep later."
"Okay, thank you very much, sister-in-law."
"It's not your fault, so why thank me? By the way, I still have some food at home. Do you want to buy some?" Dongzi's mother asked.
Sui Yu raised his head and said, "Do you still have wheat for sale? But I only want to buy flour. Zhao Xiping is not at home, so I can't push the mill."
"My parents-in-law passed away. They left behind a lot of land and some stored grain. If you want to buy it, I'll ask Dongzi's father to carry the wheat to grind flour tomorrow."
"Okay, but I won't buy it because it's too rough. I'm buying it for business and I can't let myself lose money." Sui Yu said the ugly words first.
"Okay, I'll go back and tell him."
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