Chapter 10, The Person Eating Noodles at the Tenth Inn
"Breakfast?" A deep, steady male voice came from inside, and Yunyin could still detect a hint of confusion in it.
Yunyin coughed lightly and said, "Sorry, I didn't explain clearly. I run a food stall nearby and just happened to run into you, so I came over to see if you wanted to eat."
The man glanced at the spot Yunyin was pointing to, raised an eyebrow slightly, and said, "Young lady, you know kung fu? Why are you running a food stall here?"
The man still looked wary, and Yunyin said helplessly, "He does know some martial arts, but as for running a food stall, it's just to make a living."
The man didn't reply, but Yunyin could still see disbelief in his eyes. She glanced at their group of more than a dozen people and realized that such a good business deal was probably off. This man was too wary.
Yunyin shrugged and said, "Yes, if you want to eat breakfast, you can go to our Yunji Restaurant. We have plain noodles and scallion oil noodles for breakfast."
Before the man could speak, a man ran up behind him, sniffed the aroma in the air, and said, "Boss, why don't we eat here before we leave? I can smell the bone broth."
The man glanced at the person who spoke, then looked at Yunyin who was alone and said, "You have a good nose. Well, brothers, you've worked hard too. Let's eat before we go."
When Yunyin saw that they intended to stay for a meal, she immediately smiled and led them to the stall, explaining as they walked, "Our food stall has just opened, so we don't have many options yet; we only have noodles available."
"Would you like plain noodles or scallion oil noodles?"
The man arranged for someone to watch the goods and horses, then led the other brothers to follow Yunyin to the stall and sat down. He glanced at the still bubbling bone broth, thought for a moment, and said, "Give each of us a bowl of one of the two kinds of noodles."
Yunyin nodded and told Zhang Lin to greet the guests. She washed her hands and began to stretch and cook the noodles.
She pulled noodles incredibly fast, her hands flying across the surface, quickly pulling out a large lump of dough. She tossed several lumps of dough into the broth and waited for it to boil.
When the noodles were almost cooked, Yunyin poured cold water into the large pot. Once the water boiled again, she picked them up, put them in a bowl, added a spoonful of scallion oil, and finally sprinkled chopped scallions on top.
Zhang Lin quickly brought over the mixed noodles and said to them, "Gentlemen, eat the mixed noodles first, and the plain noodles will be served later."
"By the way, gentlemen, would you like an egg added to your plain noodles? It'll cost two extra coins if you do."
Fu Wang took a bite of the scallion oil noodles and was so impressed by the simple yet delicious food that it whetted his appetite. When he heard Zhang Lin's question, he nodded and said, "Put two eggs in each bowl of noodles."
Upon hearing this, Yunyin quickly finished making the noodles. She then took out another pot and started frying eggs while cooking the plain noodles. Once the noodles were cooked, she placed two golden eggs in each bowl.
After Yunyin and everyone else had eaten, they sat down to rest for a bit.
She sat by the stove, glancing at the group of pedestrians carrying knives out of the corner of her eye, wondering where they came from and what they did.
"How should I address you, my lord?"
After the man finished eating, Yunyin got up, poured him a glass of water, and asked him.
The man took the water, sniffed it lightly, took a sip, and said, "My name is Fu Wang. May I ask how you are, young lady?"
Yunyin smiled and said, "My name is Yunyin. I apologize for making you laugh just now, Master Fu. I was just overreacting because I noticed that your demeanor was different from that of ordinary merchants."
Fu Wang looked Yun Yin up and down carefully and said, "Miss Yun, what are you saying? I was being too cautious."
"However, it's only right for you to be careful, madam. We heard that there are bandits around here, so we were a little worried when we saw you alone by the roadside, thinking there might be a trap."
Fu Wang looked at the simple food stall and said, "I wonder why Lady Yun chose to open a food stall here?"
"With your skills, you'd be better off opening a restaurant in the county or the prefecture than here."
Yunyin didn't know how he could come to such a conclusion after only eating a bowl of noodles. She shook her head and said, "This place is not bad either. It's near mountains and water, so we don't have to worry about food and drink. Moreover, it's close to the main road, so merchants pass by from time to time, and we can make a living by selling some food."
Fu Wang gazed at her intently and said, "Miss Yun should understand what I mean."
Yunyin said she didn't understand, and she didn't dwell on the question, changing the subject by saying, "I don't think you're a merchant, I wonder what you do."
She pursed her lips and said, "Of course, if you feel uncomfortable answering, you don't have to tell me. I'm just a little curious."
Fu Wang shook his head and said, "There's nothing to hide. My brothers and I are escorting goods; we're just passing through this area."
Yunyin suddenly realized that he was a镖师 (bodyguard/escort). No wonder he gave her a different feeling than other merchants; they had a kind of soldierly, murderous aura about them.
It's no wonder she was wary of him when she saw him before, almost causing a misunderstanding.
Fu Wang put down his water cup and said, "Miss Yun, I know you know some martial arts, but you still have to be careful. Recently, there have been bandits appearing on this road to Long'an County. I only found out about it not long ago when I rescued a merchant caravan."
Yunyin looked puzzled and said, "But we've seen caravans passing by from time to time these past few days, and we haven't heard anyone mention it."
Fu Wang sighed and said, "That's because Miss Yun doesn't know. In the past, many caravans passed through this road every day, but look how many caravans have passed through every day recently?"
“Those bandits have knives, and those are military-made, different from the swords we use. There are hardly any people around here, and it's just the two of you, Lady Yun, so you should be extra careful.”
Yunyin nodded and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Young Master Fu. I will be careful."
Seeing that they were about to leave after finishing their meal, she called out to Fu Wang, "Young Master Fu, if you have a long journey ahead, why not take some of my mushroom sauce with you? It would be nice to eat it with your dry rations."
Fu Wang stopped and met those expectant eyes. He paused for a moment before sitting down and saying, "In that case, I'll give it a try."
Yunyin quickly brought out two dishes of mushroom sauce, one vegetarian and one meat, and handed him a pair of chopsticks so he could taste it.
Fu Wang sniffed the fragrant sauce, which tasted completely different from the bean sauce he had eaten before. He took a bite and then called the other brothers over to try it. Seeing that they were all satisfied, he nodded and said, "The taste is indeed very good. I wonder what the price is?"
Before Yunyin could answer, the man with the keen sense of smell said, "Boss, buy more, buy more. I'm tired of eating dry rations."
"I finally managed to eat a few bowls of noodles today, and I was thinking that I would never be able to eat them again. Now that I have this sauce, the days ahead won't be so hard to bear."
Fu Wang glanced at him and said, "Wang Shitou, have I mistreated you?"
"The boss hasn't treated us badly, but after being on the road for so long, our mouths are really getting dry. I'm doing this for the brothers' own good."
Yunyin watched them bicker, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up. Fu Wang noticed that she had watched the commotion, so he quickly coughed and said, "Could you please give us thirty bottles, Madam Yun?"
"The vegetarian mushroom sauce retails for sixty coins, and the meat mushroom sauce retails for eighty coins, but if you buy in bulk, you'll get a discount," Yunyin replied while carrying the sauces. "I'll give you a ten-coin discount per bottle. Which sauce do you want?"
Yunyin had agreed on this price with Luoman, and that was also the retail price there. However, she had also told Luoman that if others bought in bulk, the price would be the same as hers.
Luo Man had no objection to the price. The sauce had already found a market in the county school and there was no worry about it not selling.
However, the number of students at the county school is small, and Yunyin cannot rely solely on Luoman's side; she also needs to find someone to sell her products.
Today, seeing that Fu Wang treated his brother quite well, she wanted to ask him if he needed anything, and sure enough, he immediately offered thirty bottles.
Fu Wang stepped forward to help her carry the sauce, saying, "Miss Yun, just give us meat and mushroom sauce. They're all a bunch of meat lovers."
Yunyin nodded and said, "Young Master Fu, please rest. I'll have Zhang Lin help you move things in a bit."
Just then, Zhang Lin, who had finished tidying up the dishes, heard Yun Yin calling him and quickly ran over, saying, "Young Master Fu, let me do it. How can I let you, a guest, do such a thing?"
Zhang Lin pulled Fu Wang aside and helped Yun Yin carry out the thirty jars of sauce and put them on the table.
Yunyin clapped her hands and said, "Alright, that's thirty jars in total. I'll charge you two thousand four hundred coins."
Fu Wang nodded and said, "I only have silver here. Is it alright to give you silver?"
They were constantly on the move, so it was inconvenient for them to carry heavy copper coins, which Yunyin understood. However, she also knew that there were different kinds of silver; the best was definitely official silver, while other silver, if of poor quality, might not even be worth 1,000 coins per tael.
Yunyin took the silver he handed her and asked, "Is this official silver?"
She noticed that this silver ingot looked very similar to the one Luo Man had given her before, but she wasn't sure, so she asked.
“It is indeed official silver,” Fu Wang explained to her. “When traveling, official silver is the easiest to sell. Other silver may be counterfeited, so we generally only use official silver.”
"Only when there is absolutely no official silver will other types of silver be used."
Yunyin took the change from the cash box, handed it to him, and said, "I understand. Thank you for patronizing our shop, Mr. Fu. I hope you will come again next time."
"Next time you come, I'll definitely have even more food for you to eat here."
Wang Shitou heard this as he put the sauce back in the car and returned. He quickly agreed before Fu Wang could, saying, "Okay, okay, if we pass by Yun Niangzi's shop next time, we'll definitely come again."
"It's a pity we have to keep on our journey today, otherwise we could have tried the pickled fish that Brother Zhang mentioned."
Fu Wang glared at the talkative Wang Shitou, then nodded to Yun Yin and said, "Lady Yun, farewell."
Yunyin smiled and nodded, "Take care on your journey."
After seeing them off, Yunyin sat down at the table to tally up her earnings for the day.
The mushroom sauce earned them 2,400 coins, and after deducting costs, they could make a profit of 900 coins. As for the noodles, they were cheap, and even if each person ate several bowls, they would only make a profit of a little over 300 coins.
It would be difficult to earn 10 strings of cash by selling noodles. Fortunately, the mushroom sauce sells well, but it's not mushroom season yet, so we can only continue to buy dried mushrooms from the villagers.
Yunyin wondered if she could grow straw mushrooms herself, so she wouldn't have to worry about not having enough mushrooms. She remembered that she had a complete guide to mushroom cultivation hidden away, so perhaps she could look for it there.
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