Chapter 61 - Making Money with Two Things in One...
Fortunately, Lin Qingqing was easygoing and didn't ask any further questions. The group then carried their baskets and went off.
There's a lot of rain this season, and plenty of pig feed in the fields. They found a patch of land with lots of grass and quickly filled a basket with it.
After carrying the branches home, it was still early, so Lin Chunhe neatly broke off the branches that she had dragged back and left outside last time, and carried them into the yard.
Normally, the three sisters would wait for Lin Chuntao at home together and not feel that time was passing slowly. But today, she felt that time was passing very slowly when she was home alone. After waiting for a long time, she soaked the rice and steamed the rice before Lin Chuntao and the others came back.
"Sister, you're back!"
Lin Chuntao looked at her, then at the steamer on the stove, and at the clean and tidy courtyard. Lin Chuntao took the mutton pie out of the basket on her back.
"The meat patties I bought this morning are already cold. You can put them in a steamer to heat them up before eating."
Lin Chunhe took it and asked as she walked, "How is it? Are they all sold out?"
Before Lin Chuntao could speak, Lin Duo'er excitedly told Lin Chunhe.
"They're all sold out! We still don't have enough to go around!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Chunhe looked at Lin Chuntao in surprise, her eyes filled with joy, "Then should we make even more tomorrow to sell out?"
"No need, the number of people tomorrow will probably be about the same as today. Let's calculate the money later."
The rice in the steamer wasn't cooked yet. Pei Ying put down her basket, and Lin Chunxing eagerly poured the money from her lotus bud onto the table. Lin Chuntao glanced at the fence gate, which wasn't bolted, and said to Lin Duo'er, "Duo'er, go and bolt the gate."
Lin Duo'er hurriedly bolted the door and quickly ran back.
Looking at the pile of copper coins, Lin Chunhe exclaimed in amazement, "Is this what you earned in a day?"
"There's still money left over from shopping, isn't there?" Lin Chuntao said, pulling up a stool to sit down. Yesterday, she gave Lin Chunxing 350 coins. 150 coins were used to buy rice noodles, and the remaining 200 coins were used to buy meat pies and a clay pot, costing 86 coins. That left 114 coins. She counted out that part first, and then counted the rest, which amounted to 602 coins.
I spent 184 yuan on meat on the way back, so my total income for today is 786 yuan.
Lin Chunxing was overjoyed. This was just the money she earned in one day; if she sold every day from now on, she would surely earn even more.
Lin Chunhe and Lin Duo'er, who were standing nearby, didn't know how much money they had spent on shopping yesterday, but looking at this pile of things, they didn't care about anything else and were so happy that their heads were spinning.
Lin Chuntao was quite satisfied with today's situation. At least all the noodles she brought were sold out. The worst thing in the food business is not selling everything and having leftovers.
Selling stale food the next day is bad, but not selling it means not being able to finish it all – that's all money. So Lin Chuntao's philosophy is to rather sell less than have leftovers.
But let's calculate yesterday's costs: 25 catties of rice noodles cost 150 coins, the meat bought yesterday cost 90 coins, and the tomatoes and chives cost 58 coins. Add to that the soy sauce, oil, salt, firewood, land fees, and other miscellaneous expenses, and let's say 350 coins for now. After deducting all that, I got 436 coins.
This alone accounts for 45% of the cost, nearly half of it.
This is unlike picking mushrooms, which only requires a little time investment. You can pick them in the mountains and sell them quickly without spending most of the day in the county town.
Selling rice noodles meant going out before dawn, and after selling them, there was still work to be done in the fields. Since it was a business, making money was the only goal, and one had to earn some extra money in addition to their own hard-earned income.
Seeing Lin Chuntao silent and seemingly lost in thought, Lin Chunxing pursed her lips and softly called out, "Sister, we earned over four hundred coins today!"
Lin Chuntao turned to look at her. It was hard to save money in the countryside, and Lin Xinghua was satisfied with earning this much money in a day. She didn't feel tired at all about getting up in the middle of the night to sell noodles.
"We've spent a bit too much on groceries; we need to see where we can cut back."
Lin Chunxing swallowed hard, looking at Lin Chuntao in disbelief: "Sister, we've earned more than half, isn't that enough?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "You would complain about having too much money?"
Lin Chunxing chuckled foolishly, "That's definitely not the case."
Since she was trying to come up with a solution, Lin Chunxing paused for a moment and asked, "Sister, did we sell it too low?"
Lin Chuntao shook her head. "A large bowl of mutton rice noodles is only twelve coins. In people's minds, mutton is much more expensive than pork. If it were priced higher than mutton rice noodles, many people would prefer mutton rice noodles. Besides, they sell breakfast and lunch, and people are not willing to spend too much money on breakfast."
Lin Chunxing was troubled by these words; she had been so happy collecting money that morning—
If the price can't be set high, then should we offer different sizes of bowls? Or should we reduce the amount of filling?
She thought about it and then spoke up. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Let me think about it. Let's cook first."
She told Lin Chunxing to put the money away. Pei Ying got up and took out the vegetables and meat from the basket to dry. The meat was bought to make minced meat. Today, everyone at the butcher shop was dividing up large bones. Pei Ying took two shoulder blades and a few marrow bones. Watching Pei Ying tidy up the bones, Lin Chuntao had a sudden idea.
"Do you have a lot of these large bones left over every day?"
“Mm.” Pei Ying nodded.
Lin Chuntao suddenly smiled. People in Yizhou don't like to drink bone broth. Bone broth without any spices has a fishy smell. Adding spices to stew it? The bones are not as valuable as the spices. It's better to buy a piece of meat, cook it, and eat the meat directly.
"How much do these bones cost?" Lin Chuntao asked again. Pei Ying replied, "I saw Manager He send someone to buy them. They cost four coins a pound, but the meat on the bones was removed cleanly and the bones are very smooth."
Lin Chuntao looked at Pei Ying and said, "Give me these bones, I'll see if we can reduce the cost."
Pei Ying smiled and said, "Then I'll take it to wash now?"
Lin Chuntao nodded, and Lin Chunxing went to cook. After Pei Ying finished washing the bones, Lin Chuntao asked him to chop the large bones and tap them. While waiting for the vegetables to cook, Lin Chunxing put all the bones into the iron pot. She added some dried ginger and spices, and waited for the bone broth to simmer. Lin Chuntao tasted it and found that it didn't have a fishy smell and could be drunk directly.
She quickly scooped up some oil, stir-fried the sauce, and poured it in. Half a pot of bright red soup was filled with oil, and the aroma of sauce and meat blended together. The taste was somewhat familiar. Lin Chuntao called Lin Chunxing over: "Chunxing, come and scoop some out and cook a bowl of noodles."
Lin Chunxing brought over an earthenware pot, scooped in two spoonfuls of soup, added rice noodles, tomatoes, and chives. The cooked rice noodles tasted pretty much the same as before, and she was shocked after taking a bite.
"Sis, this one seems okay too."
Lin Chuntao picked up a piece with her chopsticks. It was a bit more meaty than before. Lin Chuntao cooked it herself. She scooped up some soup and added a little water. The taste was more like yesterday's, except that it lacked meat filling.
"Sis, the taste is okay, but what about the minced meat? Are you not going to add it?"
Seeing that it was going to work, Lin Chuntao smiled slightly: "We definitely have to add it, but all we need to do is cook the soup noodles and scoop in a spoonful of it."
Lin Chunxing pursed her lips: "What should we say if the guests who ate there yesterday ask?"
"Just say we changed the soup base, replacing the water with meat broth, which is more oily and tastes better."
Lin Chunxing nodded. "Then should we make less meat sauce?"
Before dawn the next day, Lin Chuntao got up, and Lin Chunxing followed suit. After washing up, the sisters quickly started frying the minced meat and packing it up.
Just as the hour of Yin arrived, the system announced that they were going to pick mushrooms. The group set off together, and Lin Chuntao went into the mountains to pick mushrooms, while Pei Ying took Lin Chunxing and Lin Duo'er to the county town.
Yesterday, Lin Chuntao added water to dilute the bone broth to achieve the perfect flavor, and this morning Pei Ying helped carry it to the broth in a bucket.
Lin Chuntao was not there, so Lin Chunxing and Lin Duo'er moved the things out and arranged them all as they had the day before. They went to the noodle shop to get the noodles and then started a fire.
The butcher's assistants wanted more food, so Lin Chunxing started cooking for them. She remembered Lin Chuntao saying that these people were acquaintances with Pei Ying because they worked together, so she could add more rice noodles when cooking them. She cooked the same amount as yesterday.
Just as I finished cooking for them, a familiar face appeared at the stall.
He was the owner of the mutton rice noodle shop, and he stood in front of the stall, carefully examining it.
"Lin's Rice Noodles, were you the ones who sold braised pork rice noodles yesterday?"
Lin Chunxing nodded. She sensed the man's tone was unpleasant, and she couldn't quite manage a smile. Was this man causing trouble because he'd stolen her business? Her mind raced, wondering what Lin Chuntao would do if she were there. Before she could figure it out, Lin Duo'er, standing beside her, asked with a smile, "Uncle, would you like to try our soup noodles? They're delicious! Just as good as your mutton noodles!"
Feng Guan looked at Lin Duo'er standing in front of the stall, a thin little girl with little flesh on her face, and said indifferently, "Alright, call your parents over and cook a bowl!"
"Let me try it and see if your braised pork rice noodles are as delicious as my mutton rice noodles!"
Lin Chunxing quickly agreed, "I'll cook it for you right away, please wait a moment." After she finished speaking, she skillfully ladled soup and added noodles to start cooking. He stood in front of the stall with his hands behind his back, frowning slightly: "Is this stall just for you two sisters to run?"
Lin Chunxing nodded. "Yes, my sister will be here in a bit."
While waiting for the noodles to cook, Feng Guan got bored and asked again, "Where are my parents?"
“Our mother passed away a long time ago, and our father just died a few days ago.”
Feng Guan remained silent upon hearing this. Lin Chunxing, having cooked the noodles, added a small spoonful of minced meat as instructed by Lin Chuntao and placed it on the table.
"Please enjoy your meal, shopkeeper."
Feng Guan smelled the aroma and it was indeed quite different, but he quickly figured out the key: the sauce had a unique flavor. Without the sauce, the noodles wouldn't taste right.
No wonder this little stall was able to steal his business.
He was a little unhappy that his business had been taken away, but when he saw that it was two little girls who didn't even have parents, his anger subsided a bit.
Where did you buy this sauce?
Lin Chunxing didn't know what Feng Guan meant, so she replied softly, "My sister made it herself."
Feng Guan frowned. "Your sister made it herself? Has she ever worked in a soy sauce factory?"
"No, I just figured it out myself at home."
After Feng Guan finished eating and paid, he looked at the simple stall and said to Lin Chunxing, "With such a sauce recipe, why are you selling rice noodles? Sell the sauce recipe to a sauce factory, and you'll be set for life."
The two sisters were stunned by Feng Guan's words. After he left, Lin Duo'er came to her senses and tugged at Lin Chunxing's sleeve, "Second sister, what did he just say? That selling sauce recipes would ensure we'd have enough to eat and drink for the rest of our lives?"
Lin Chunxing nodded.
Lin Duo'er's eyes widened, and she asked in a low voice, "How much will it cost?"
Lin Chunxing patted her on the shoulder, "What are you thinking? That was made by your older sister."
Just as Lin Chuntao said, the neighbors wouldn't come to buy today like they did yesterday. They waited until dawn, when the market got busier, before they finally cooked a few bowls and sold them.
Lin Chuntao found a basket full of green-headed mushrooms and pine mushrooms today. She was a little worried about Lin Chunxing and Lin Duo'er, so after picking them at the places indicated by the system, she carried them directly to the county town.
When she arrived at the market, there were few people. Lin Chunxing was cooking rice noodles. When they saw her, their faces immediately lit up with smiles.
"Sister, you're here."
Lin Chuntao put the basket down, scooped some water to wash her hands, and then came over.
"How's it going? How many bowls did you sell?"
Lin Duo'er replied to Lin Chuntao quickly and directly.
"Thirteen bowls, even the uncle who sells mutton rice noodles came and had a bowl."
Lin Chuntao raised an eyebrow slightly. "Did he come here specifically to eat noodles?"
Lin Chunxing shook her head. "It shouldn't be. He came here and looked at our stall. Then he asked if the braised pork rice noodles from yesterday were sold by us. It was Duo'er. She said our rice noodles were just as delicious as her mutton rice noodles. She asked him if he wanted some, and he ordered a bowl."
"And then, what else did he say?"
"While he was eating, he asked us where we bought the sauce. I told him truthfully that my sister made it."
As Lin Chunxing spoke, she kept staring at Lin Chuntao. She wasn't sure if she had said something wrong. During a moment of silence, Lin Duo'er said, "Sister, the shopkeeper also said that we could sell sauce recipes. He said that if we sold one sauce recipe, we would be set for life."
"How much is our sauce recipe worth?"
Lin Chuntao didn't know how much it was worth, but if it was as popular as the sauces in the market, it would definitely be very valuable.
“Even if it’s valuable, I wouldn’t sell the fruit. Wouldn’t it be better to sell the sauce?” Lin Chuntao said calmly.
Lin Duo'er stuck out her tongue, and Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Chunxing: "Don't worry, this powder can't be sold by just one store. Anyone can sell it, it just depends on which store the customers prefer."
Lin Chunxing nodded, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Having picked mushrooms today, Lin Chuntao was worried that people who wanted to buy mushrooms would be waiting for her there, so around the appointed time, she went over with her basket on her back.
After selling the mushrooms, she casually mentioned the new location, telling them to go to the butcher shop area from now on, as she wouldn't be coming here anymore.
Lin Chunxing called out the same way Lin Chuntao had done yesterday, and quite a few customers came. However, she didn't see many of the regular customers from yesterday. After she finished her work, she saw some familiar people buying meat nearby, carrying rice noodles and a small jar of soy sauce.
Did they eat their noodles and find them delicious, so they bought them to cook at home?
When Lin Chuntao returned, Lin Chunxing told her about it.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "That's normal. Buy some meat and a pound of rice noodles, and you can cook enough for many people in the family. If you can cook something delicious yourself, why not save money?"
"Will they come back to eat it when they can't make it taste the same?"
Lin Chunxing was a little uncertain. Lin Chuntao said, "It might be possible, or it might not. That's how it is with food. Someone might come for ten days in a row, but when she gets tired of it, she'll go for a bowl of mutton. You need to have new customers every day."
"I see."
Business was good today, and many people who wanted to try it came to eat. However, it wasn't as crowded as it was yesterday. As we were about to close up shop, two women came running up, each carrying an earthenware pot. Before they even reached the stall, they asked, "Hey, noodle shop owner, do you have any more?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There's more, Auntie, would you like one?"
"I want three servings." He then pointed to the woman next to him: "She wants three servings too."
Lin Chuntao collected the money while Lin Chunxing started ladling soup for them to cook.
Yesterday, the neighbor's child bought some. Their child took a bite and insisted on eating it. So, the neighbors bought meat and rice noodles early in the morning to cook it. But when it was cooked, those brats refused to eat it and made a fuss, saying the taste was different. They threw a tantrum in the yard, making it seem like the neighbors were reluctant to buy a bowl for the child.
Aren't they all just cooked with sauce and minced meat? They bought the sauce too, so what's the difference?
The two stood in front of the stall, watching Lin Chunxing scoop up the soup, add the noodles and vegetables directly, and finally scoop in a spoonful of stir-fried minced meat. The aroma was irresistible. Why did it feel like the sauce tasted different?
"Shopkeeper, did you buy your sauce from that sauce shop over there?"
She asked the question, but then felt a little embarrassed, as if she were asking for someone's secret recipe. Lin Chuntao smiled at her and said, "No, this sauce is homemade."
"You made it yourself?"
The woman was somewhat skeptical. If someone could make a sauce with such a unique flavor, why would they sell this powder? They wouldn't earn much money at all.
Seeing her disbelieving expression, Lin Chuntao remained silent. The woman then said, "Why don't you sell sauces too? A small jar of sauce can cost quite a bit of money."
Lin Chuntao laughed and said, "Uncle, we have thought about it, but that soy sauce shop is too big. We don't even dare to go in. We don't know how much the soy sauce costs per pound or how it's sold. We only earn a couple of coins from this rice noodle!"
Upon hearing this, the woman sized them up. They were still wearing straw sandals and were several young maids. Following Lin Chuntao's words, she said, "That soy sauce shop looks big, but everyone can go in and buy soy sauce. The shopkeeper is very polite. There are many kinds of soy sauce, some costing ten or twenty coins, while the fragrant bean sauce costs twenty-two coins per pound."
Lin Chuntao feigned surprise upon hearing this, widening her eyes, "So expensive?"
The woman said, "Isn't that right? That's why you'd be better off selling sauce than rice noodles, my lady."
Lin Chuntao nodded. "If that's what you say, Auntie, I'll have to think about it."
Upon hearing this, the woman continued, "That's right, shopkeeper, your sauce smells so good, it's sure to sell very well."
They cooked the noodles in two pots together, and the six bowls were quickly cooked and poured into their pots. After receiving payment, the two women carried the noodles away. Even after they had gone far away, Lin Chuntao could still faintly hear the two women saying, "I want to see what kind of divine flavor this is. How come it's different? They say they made their own sauce, but I don't believe it. It must have been bought from a sauce shop. They just won't tell us which kind they bought."
Lin Chunxing: "..."
Hearing the woman's words, Lin Chuntao couldn't help but burst out laughing. So that's why she was being urged to sell sauce; it turns out she thought the woman didn't have any sauce.
"Sis, are you really considering selling sauce?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Let's take a look first. Aren't we selling rice noodles? We should have confidence in our little rice noodle stall."
"Besides, the sauce is our own, so we can sell it if we want."
After the two women left, there weren't many noodles left. Lin Chunxing watched over the sale, while Lin Chuntao went to buy vegetables. She had been buying from the same person for several days in a row. Lin Chuntao bargained a bit, making it cheaper than the previous two days. When she returned, Lin Chunxing and the others had sold two more bowls, and that was it for today. The group packed up their stall and went home with their things.
Lin Chuntao only used half of the meat she bought yesterday, and today she bought two more catties. She told Helan about the large bones, and Helan only charged her three coins per catty, and she also took five catties of large bones.
After returning home today and doing the math, they found that they had cut a lot of costs by reducing the amount of meat and tomatoes. They had also slightly adjusted the amount of noodles they used. The total income was 875 coins, and the cost was controlled at around 35%. Lin Chuntao took a deep breath. This way, she could still earn some hard-earned money, and the money in her hands could circulate and she could save some.
Lin Chunxing was genuinely happy that the noodle stall could continue operating.
During lunch, Lin Chunhe said to Lin Chunxing, "Second sister, I forgot to tell you, yesterday when Qingqing asked where we went, I didn't say, I just said that you and my sister went to the county town."
Lin Chunxing nodded, then looked at Lin Qingqing: "Sister, can I talk to Qingqing?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Whether you tell or not is your business. We've been doing this for a while now, and the villagers will definitely find out eventually."
Lin Chunxing nodded. After lunch, she simmered some pork bone soup and then went to find Lin Qingqing to cut pig feed.
After they arrived at the field, Lin Chunxing told them about her plan to set up a stall in the county town. Lin Qingqing and Lin Jiaye both stared wide-eyed.
Are you alone? What are you selling?
Lin Chunxing shook her head, "Selling soup noodles, my sister comes with me, I wouldn't dare to do it alone."
Lin Qingqing and the others were extremely surprised to see Lin Jiaye; they simply couldn't believe it.
"Do you make a lot of money every day?" Lin Qingqing blurted out in her excitement, then smiled awkwardly after realizing what she had said. "Pah, I got too excited. Is business good every day?"
Lin Chunxing said, "We just went yesterday, so it's only been two days including today, and it doesn't count yet. Yesterday we came back and did the math, and my sister said we were going to lose money. We spent half the day yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to tell you yet."
"Why should we lose money?" Lin Jiaye asked.
Lin Chunxing replied, "Because we have to buy meat, vegetables, and rice noodles, which are all very expensive. If we make and sell them, we won't make much money and will lose money."
Lin Qingqing didn't really understand either, but she still nodded. She was so shocked that she looked at Lin Chunxing with eyes full of admiration.
"Chunxing, you're amazing! You've even learned how to do business."
Lin Chunxing blushed slightly after being praised. "I do everything following my sister's instructions. She makes the noodles we sell and taught me how to make them."
Lin Jiaye leaned against the edge of the ground and laughed, "Sister Chuntao is amazing! Does she even pick mushrooms to sell?"
Sometimes you find them, sometimes you don't.
After Lin Chuntao finished speaking, she said to the two of them, "Don't tell outsiders yet, we don't know if we can continue doing this."
The two nodded. "You'll definitely be able to make more money."
Lin Chunxing nodded slightly and said, "We just want to save money to build a house. We can't keep living in Grandma's old house forever. People will talk about it if we stay there too long."
Lin Qingqing said, "I'll definitely be able to save enough soon."
Lin Chunxing pursed her lips, a hint of unease on her face. Lin Jiaye raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong?"
Seeing the two men's concerned eyes, Lin Chunxing said, "We're not feeling well. Last time my sister had a fever, my brother-in-law carried her to the clinic. The doctor prescribed medicine for her, and she's been taking it ever since. Each dose costs over thirty coins. She also took me and the third and fourth brothers to the clinic, and the doctor said we had to take it too. The four of us have to take medicine for seventy or eighty coins a day..."
"Wow!" Lin Qingqing exclaimed, "So many!"
Lin Chunxing nodded, "That's why we really want to do something to make money and save money, but saving money is still very difficult."
Lin Qingqing patted her gently, "It's okay, once you're better, you'll be able to save money faster. Where are you feeling unwell?"
Lin Chunxing said, "The doctor said that we are deficient internally and need to recuperate first, otherwise no matter how much good food we eat, it will be useless."
Thinking of their past, Lin Qingqing and Lin Jiaye sighed in unison.
After running the stall for a few days, Lin Chunxing gradually became more skilled. Even when Lin Chuntao wasn't around, she could still greet customers, collect money, and cook noodles with practiced ease. She also slowly learned to be like Lin Chuntao, with a friendly smile appearing on her lips.
She often woke up in the middle of the night, but after a few days, she couldn't get up anymore.
Lin Chunhe went with them twice, but she had to take care of her family so she stopped going.
Every day, Lin Chunxing would go first to prepare, and Lin Chuntao would pick the mushrooms before going to sell them. It wouldn't take long to sell the mushrooms, and after that, she would start working at the stall with Lin Chunxing.
In just a few days, Lin's Rice Noodle Soup became known to many people. Many of the customers who came later were familiar faces. They would jokingly ask Lin Chuntao what kind of sauce it was and why they couldn't make the same taste as the sauce they bought from the sauce shop.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "This is naturally my exclusive recipe. If you like to come often, Auntie, I will cook it for you myself."
The people asking at these stalls were alright, but some people ended up asking about the soy sauce factory.
The people felt that eating mutton rice noodles was not something they could afford often because mutton was expensive, but a bowl of noodles costing ten or twelve coins, along with a large bowl of soup, was considered a treat.
But the rice noodle soup that Lin Chuntao and the others made was just pork filling. They thought they could make it themselves by simply chopping and stir-frying it.
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