Mu Yang fell silent, as if he understood something…
Before returning home, Qin Qing bought a new cart and gave one tael of silver to Granny Wang as compensation. Looking at the ten taels of silver, he was overjoyed.
That night, she took out flour, chives, and eggs to make dumplings, while Mu Yang took Xiao Mu Yue and Xiao Mu Xing to catch locusts in the yard!
Today is the Lantern Festival. In ancient times, there wasn't much emphasis on it. Coupled with drought and locust plagues, the people already had little food, so this year was destined to be anything but lively.
The family ate dumplings happily together. Qin Qing took out some chocolate, packed some dumplings, and headed towards Aunt Wang's door.
Seeing that Granny Wang was tending the fire, Qin Qing walked right in and said with a smile!
"Auntie, I made dumplings today and brought you some. Come and have a taste!"
Aunt Wang turned around and saw that she had already walked in. She snorted coldly and said with dissatisfaction!
"What's wrong with you, girl? Didn't I tell you not to come into my house unless it's absolutely necessary? This old woman isn't starving to death!"
Qin Qing felt helpless when she heard that Wang Da Niang was unappreciative. She clearly meant well, but Wang Da Niang just liked to act unreasonable and annoying.
"Alright, alright, consider it me being nosy. Anyway, I've left it here. You can throw it away if you don't want to eat it, but remember to give me back the plate!"
Having said that, she walked out without waiting for Granny Wang to chase her away.
Inside the house, Aunt Wang watched her retreating figure, but didn't continue speaking. Instead, she looked at the steaming dumplings on the table…
It was early February, and the weather was still not warm. Ordinary families could only eat dumplings once a year. As she was thinking this, she looked at the white, tender, and delicious dumplings on the table and couldn't help but take a bite.
The salty and savory flavor fills your mouth, and the chives inside are bright green and translucent, exuding a rich aroma!
Delicious! So delicious…
In just two days, she was almost completely won over by Mu Qinshi's culinary skills! The spicy and tempting locusts, the refreshing and glistening dumplings…
At that moment, a warm feeling welled up in her heart, and she couldn't help but smile!
For years, since the death of her eldest son and the tragic death of her husband, she hadn't felt this kind of warmth.
Qin Qing had no idea what had happened; all she saw was her granddaughter, who was catching locusts in the yard, shouting with delight!
"Grandma, come quick! There are so many bugs here, Yueyue wants to eat stir-fried bugs tomorrow!"
Qin Qing smiled, finally experiencing the happiness of being a grandmother.
The next day, Qin Qing pushed the cart to the market again, this time with Mu Xing and Zhang He. Mu Yang stayed home reading. Fortunately, the original owner had sent Mu Yang to primary school, so he still knew the most basic characters.
Upon arriving at the market, the bustling scene, just like yesterday, made Zhang He a little reserved. Qin Qing, however, didn't care about such things. After finding a spot, she started stir-frying locusts without saying a word. Perhaps because she had met some acquaintances yesterday, small groups of people came over.
Watching her light the prepared charcoal and add firewood, the fire quickly grew into a raging blaze…
Using the same efficient method as yesterday, sauté the base ingredients until fragrant, then divide the locusts into several portions, add them in and stir-fry, finally flatten and serve.
The aroma spread far and wide, quickly attracting a crowd of onlookers. Once the first serving was sold, customers flocked to the store.
Zhang He collected the money one by one and handed it over. After a while, she got used to it. Xiao Muxing watched them curiously from the side. Her grandmother wouldn't let her move, so she didn't dare to run around.
An hour later, half of the products had been sold. A man with a small mustache walked over and looked at Qin Qing with a gentle expression.
"Grandma, do you still remember me?"
Qin Qing looked up and immediately remembered the handsome young man from yesterday! She spoke in surprise.
"City management officer? I thought you weren't coming today!"
The city management officer smiled!
"Not at all, my young master instructed me to take it back!"
Qin Qing nodded, quickly cooked the food in the pan, wrapped it in oil paper, and handed it to him with a smile!
"This is a large portion. Please tell the young master that he thanks him for tasting it yesterday!"
The city manager nodded, smelling the rich aroma; he himself wanted to try it! At that moment, Qin Qing handed him another small package!
"This is for you to eat. Please put in a good word for me with the young master, since I can't keep selling things at this stall forever... right?"
The city management officer was taken aback, then laughed heartily, never expecting this old lady to be so farsighted.
"That's right, that's right!"
After he left, Qin Qing looked at the long queue in front of her and shouted loudly.
"Please understand, everyone. There are only about ten servings left, and only thirty servings per day from now on. First come, first served!"
Upon hearing this, a chorus of complaints arose from the long queue, but soon more than half of them dispersed. Those at the front of the line breathed a sigh of relief, glad they had arrived early.
Qin Qing quickly finished the rest, and it was around 3 p.m. when she finally got everything done.
Days passed in a cycle until Qin Qing pushed the cart over again this time, only to find that two or three shops selling stir-fried locusts had opened nearby, with long lines of people outside each shop, clearly indicating that someone had seen a business opportunity.
Zhang He came with her today and looked somewhat worried upon seeing the situation.
"Mother, what should we do? We've only been selling for four days, and we already have competitors. Besides, that young master of the Fang family hasn't shown up again. What will happen next..."
This was exactly what Qin Qing was wondering about. She knew she lacked business acumen, and if she continued like this, she would definitely be overtaken by others. Even if her broth was tastier, without marketing strategies, she certainly wouldn't last long.
"Don't worry, we rely on top-secret ingredients that no one else can learn. Even without Young Master Fang, there are still other restaurants and inns!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang He finally suppressed her anxiety. She knew that her mother was so eager to sell the transformed locusts in order to get on the good side of Young Master Fang and get a recommendation for Mu Yang to enter the academy!
Soon, when Qin Qing finished stir-frying the locusts, the familiar and tempting aroma wafted over, and people queuing at other stalls rushed over. Qin Qing and his team got busy again, which made the surrounding vendors dissatisfied.
Just as they finished selling and were packing up, an older woman spoke up in a chilling tone.
"Wow, people are just different! Look at them, they sold out and packed up early. Compared to us, we can't even compare!"
Qin Qing pretended not to hear; business competition is normal!
Perhaps because she remained silent, the older sister-in-law spoke up even louder!
"Stop pretending to be high and mighty! She's just selling locusts like us, but we're not that greedy. We sell a serving of locusts for fifty coins! I have no idea how poor she is!"
Zhang He couldn't stand it anymore and was about to speak when Qin Qing stopped her!
"It's just envy, don't worry about it!"
Seeing that her words had no effect, the woman glanced at another vendor.
Seeing this, the vendor also spoke up!
"That's right, locusts are everywhere, they cost nothing at all. How heartless must someone be? Fifty coins? That's half a month's living expenses for an average family!"
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