The people living in the area all knew that the new young lady was a good cook, otherwise the food she cooked all day wouldn't be so delicious.
When he heard the young lady's call in the alley, he guessed that it was the young lady with great cooking skills. He saw her pushing a cart to the dock for breakfast in the morning, but the roujiamo was too expensive, eight cents each, which was only enough for the child to satisfy his craving. How could he bear to spend it? When he heard the young lady's call, he couldn't help but be moved.
But if you listen carefully, it’s braised herring?
Fish? Fish has a strong earthy smell. Sometimes they buy fish when they have nothing else to eat at home. It's indeed cheap, cheaper than beans and grains, but it's also not tasty. It smells fishy when cooked and makes you sick. Children don't want to eat it at all, preferring boiled vegetables. That's why adults are reluctant to buy it either.
As soon as the young lady said it was fish, everyone couldn't help but wonder, can it be delicious?
But the aroma was no different from the roujiamo I had that morning, and the kids at home were also making noises, “Mom, mom, I want to eat, I want to eat.”
Everyone can only come out and take a look.
As soon as they came out, they saw the thin young lady pushing the strange cart from the morning and selling things, with the good-looking man beside her.
On the chopping board on the cart were a casserole and an iron pot, steam coming out of them.
Xu Qinyu even moved out the iron pot. The braised green fish would easily get mixed with other flavors if placed in a wooden basin. The big casserole was the one used to braise the pork intestines, and it was not easy to put them in other containers.
Seeing someone coming out, Xu Qinyu started selling again.
Someone came over with a child and asked, "My dear, is your fish delicious?"
Xu Qinyu stopped pushing the cart and smiled, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, it will definitely be delicious. If it doesn't taste good, I won't charge you. If you don't like it, you can come to me for a refund. This fish is fresh out of the pot, fresh and tender, and there are not many bones in the black carp. It is nutritious and is the best for children to nourish their bodies. However, you must be careful to pick out the bones when feeding it to children. It is best to give the fish belly and the meat on the head to the children. A fish weighs two or three pounds. A small one costs five cents, and a big one costs eight cents. After you buy it, put it in a clay pot on the stove and cook it. Add water and an appropriate amount of salt. Then you can add cabbage, tofu, radish, bean sprouts, etc. to the pot. The black carp is fat, so you don't need to add any animal oil. Just boil it and you can eat it."
This is also the most economical way of eating she came up with. It is delicious and nutritious. A casserole plus side dishes is enough for several people in the family.
The child next to him was already drooling with greed and pulling hard at his mother's clothes.
"Mom, mom, I want to eat, I want to eat."
The sister-in-law was also very tempted when she heard this. She said that buying a smaller fish would only cost five cents, and adding some other dishes would be enough for the whole family's dinner. Moreover, the young lady also said that if they bought the fish back and it smelled fishy, she would give them a refund.
"Okay, give me one."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, go back and get the pot, and I'll help you pick one."
The woman came back quickly with a casserole and asked Xu Qinyu to put the fish in it. The black carp was scooped up, its skin looked browned and covered with sauce-colored soup, which looked delicious.
The woman took the fish, paid for it, and took her child home.
Someone here bought it, and others were also tempted.
There are about a dozen households living in Guihua Lane, and any sound can be heard in the lane, so we know that someone has bought this braised green fish.
Many people gathered around and talked at once.
Someone else asked, "Miss, if it doesn't taste good, will you really give me your money back?"
Xu Qinyu nodded, "Really retreat."
Of course, the fish she cooked was always fried first, making the skin crispy, and then stewed in water until the juice was absorbed, but the inside was extremely tender and delicious. If anyone said that the fish she stewed was not delicious and asked her to return the money, that would be pure trouble. She would never sell her food to that person again.
When everyone heard this, they all went home and brought pots to buy fish. Some chose big ones, and some chose smaller ones.
Xu Qinyu also told them over and over again how to eat the fish. The fish was still hot and they could eat it directly when they got home. They could put it in a pot, add some salt, hot water, and side dishes. She also carefully warned them that they must be careful if there were children at home.
One of the old ladies stared at the fish spinning in the pot and asked Xu Qinyu, "Young lady, if you don't even let me taste the fish, how can I know if it's really delicious? What if it's not delicious and you don't give me a refund?"
"Don't worry, auntie." Xu Qinyu glanced at the old woman. "It's really not tasty. Once you taste it, the whole fish will look bad. We're selling it cheap anyway, so we won't make much money."
The old woman stared at Xu Qinyu for a few seconds, and seeing that she spoke softly, she smiled and said, "Okay, then give me a big one."
Seeing this, the others looked at the young lady and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
In the end, he didn't say it and just watched the young lady sell the fish to the old woman.
In the end, the dozen or so fish were all bought by people in Guihua Lane.
This time the stall was closed even faster. Xu Qinyu even kept two larger fish for herself, one for herself and one for the Xia family.
Not long after returning home, Zhuzi came over. Xu Qinyu gave him the braised herring, told him how to eat it, and also gave him some leftover fish balls.
When Zhuzi left, Wen had not returned yet.
It was completely dark and past dinner time, but Wen still hadn't returned.
Xu Qinyu was a little restless, and even Pei Jianing couldn't help looking towards the gate of the yard.
Xu Qinyu was getting a little impatient, "Fourth brother, Jianing, I'm going to go out and see why mother hasn't come back yet."
"I'll go with you."
Pei Weixuan also stood up.
The two asked Pei Jianing to look after the children at home and walked towards the door.
Just as he reached the entrance of the yard, Pei Weixuan stopped and said, "Mom is back."
Xu Qinyu was puzzled. The snow outside was so thick that if someone walked on it, they would hear a crunching sound. However, she didn't hear any footsteps at all. When she pushed open the gate and looked towards the entrance of the alley, she actually found a figure at the entrance of the alley. It looked like Wen.
"Fourth brother, you are really amazing."
Xu Qinyu was amazed. Could her cheap husband possess internal strength, Qinggong, and martial arts skills? He must be the legendary martial arts master!
Pei Weixuan glanced at her and saw that her eyes were wide open, feeling a little helpless.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Wen came back.
Wen was a little absent-minded when she entered the yard. Only when she saw her son and daughter-in-law waiting for her at the door did she smile a little. "It's getting dark. Haven't you had your evening meal yet? You don't have to wait for me in the future. If I come back late, you can eat first."
Xu Qinyu shook her head. "That won't work. We have to wait for mom to come back before we eat together."
When I entered the kitchen, the pot was already bubbling with steam, and the house was filled with fragrance.
Xu Qinyu added some crushed cornel pepper and lard to the pot of fish, making it spicy and appetizing.
The whole family sweated a little after eating, and felt warm and comfortable.
After dinner, no one was in a hurry to clean up the kitchen. Wen took out her purse and poured out dozens of copper coins. She said that she had found a landlord in the west of the city today and paid him more than others. She earned thirty cents by washing clothes for the landlord.
It is indeed good to earn thirty cents a day by washing clothes for others. You should know that the daily expenses of an ordinary family here may not even be thirty cents. The strong laborers of ordinary families may only earn thirty or forty cents a day. For other women, it is considered good if they can earn ten cents a day by washing clothes for others.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but persuade Wen, saying that she could help at home and didn't have to go out to wash clothes for others, which was too hard work.
But Wen shook her head, "Yu Niang, just let me do it."
Otherwise, she would feel guilty about putting the burden of the whole family on Yu Niang.
What's more, the landlord...
Wen clenched her fists.
Xu Qinyu saw that Wenshi insisted and it was not possible to persuade her any further. Only Pei Weixuan looked at his mother.
Wen counted the money she had earned today, and Xu Qinyu also took out the money box and began to count the money.
Today I sold forty-four roujiamo and sixteen fish. Each roujiamo cost eight cents, for a total of three hundred and fifty-two cents.
The cost of a roujiamo is about four wen, and the cost of pig offal can be ignored. The main costs are flour, eggs and spices. The net profit of a roujiamo is about three wen. The net profit of more than 40 roujiamo is about 150 wen. After going to the village to collect eggs and vegetables, the cost can be reduced further.
The cost of the fish is low, but she sells it at a low price.
I make about one cent per pound of fish. I sold sixteen today, making a profit of about thirty cents.
This means that today's net profit is about 180 coins.
Today is just a trial operation. If Roujiamo and braised fish sell well, we will definitely increase the quantity in the future.
In fact, the profit of Roujiamo is definitely much higher than that of fish. Why doesn't Mushi go to the dock to continue selling Roujiamo? Xu Qinyu has her own plans. When she opens a restaurant in the future, she plans to continue selling this kind of braised whole fish. The price will not increase much, and it can become a means of publicity for the restaurant.
Of course, she also had her own selfish motives. She just felt that those children were too pitiful.
She herself came from an orphanage and knew very well what it felt like for the children to be deprived of food and drink.
Mrs. Wen never expected that her daughter-in-law could earn 180 coins a day.
By this calculation, he could earn more than five taels of silver a month, which was equivalent to the salary of an official of the sixth or seventh rank.
Of course, making a living is definitely hard work. It is no comparison with being an official. Among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the lowest class is merchants.
Wen did not collect money for her daughter-in-law. She let her keep all the money for herself. Her daughter-in-law had the brains to make money, so why would she keep the money? Besides, it was all earned by her daughter-in-law herself.
She kept the money she earned for herself and couldn't ask her daughter-in-law for money all the time.
After dinner, Wen helped clean up the kitchen and kitchen utensils, and Xu Qinyu began to braise the pig intestines.
She had scrubbed all these offal thoroughly in the afternoon and was now braising them.
Soon, the alley was filled with the aroma of braised pork intestines.
But the children living in Guihua Lane did not make any more noise tonight because they also had delicious fish and vegetables to eat in the evening.
The children snuggled up to their mothers and slept. When they smelled the fragrance, they would just tug at their mothers' clothes and say, "Mom, the food that sister made is so delicious."
The woman held the child in her arms and said with a smile, "Are you still greedy?"
The child nodded and shook his head, "I'm still greedy, but I ate a lot at night, so I'm still greedy."
The children had never eaten such delicious dinner. The fish sold by the sister was delicious. Even the usual cabbage, radish, tofu and bean sprouts added to it were much more flavorful.
"Mom, can we still eat fish tomorrow?" The child still wanted to eat.
The woman smiled and said, "Of course."
A fish costs five cents, and they can also afford cheap dishes such as radish, turnip, and tofu. It only costs a little more than usual, but the whole family can eat well, especially the children can benefit from it. Of course, they know that the young lady is kind-hearted and deliberately sells such delicious fish to them at a low price. Otherwise, with such craftsmanship and such delicious fish, the price would be dozens of times higher if sold in any restaurant or hotel.
The people in Guihua Lane were all very grateful to Xu Qinyu, and they all thought that if there was any problem in the young lady's family in the future, they would definitely go to help and protect her.
…
The next morning, Xu Qinyu got up and fried eggs, made pancakes, and stir-fried cabbage.
This time, there were more than fifty roujiamo. When Zhuzi came to get food for Shao Ge'er, Xu Qinyu gave him a roujiamo and a bowl of porridge, which was Shao Ge'er's meal.
Yesterday we made some fresh food so that everyone in the Xia family could have a taste of it. Today, only Shao Ge’er will have a share.
Seeing this, Zhuzi scratched his head and said, "Miss Xu, my master said he also wants to buy roujiamo."
The main thing is that yesterday morning, the master ate a roujiamo and was not satisfied at all. He said that he had never eaten such delicious food in all the years he traveled around the country.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Of course. How many roujiamo would you like, Master Xia?"
Zhuzi smiled and said, "I want seven."
The master could eat four at a time, and the remaining three were given one each to him, Xiao Cui and his wife.
Xu Qinyu took the money and made seven roujiamo for Zhuzi to take back.
She also set up a stall with Pei Weixuan.
There were only forty roujiamo left, and Xu Qinyu guessed that there might not be enough to sell at the dock.
Sure enough, as soon as she arrived at the dock, the caravan guys who had bought roujiamo from her yesterday came over immediately.
When they learned there were only about forty roujiamo (Chinese roujiamo) left, they immediately started lining up. Almost everyone on the merchant ship showed up, and each ordered three or four roujiamo, which was enough for about ten people. The men who didn't get any couldn't help but wail, "Miss, can't you make more? We haven't gotten any yet."
Xu Qinyu touched her nose and said, "Then I'll prepare more tomorrow."
Moreover, these men have only eaten it for one day, so it must still be fresh. It will take at least ten days or half a month to eat it all. It seems that we should prepare more for tomorrow.
Just then, officers and soldiers from the two official ships came down and saw this scene. They sneered and said, "What country people are! They think the offal eaten by dogs is a treasure."
After hearing this, the people on the merchant ship were angry but dared not say anything.
After the officers and soldiers finished their mockery, they left together.
As a result, the group of soldiers had just taken a few steps forward when the officer who had just mocked pig offal as being food for dogs suddenly fell face first onto the ground. He seemed to have been hit hard, howled miserably, and his face was covered in blood.
Xu Qinyu chuckled and looked at Pei Weixuan again. She knew that it was impossible for such a coincidence. It must have been done by her cheap husband. Her cheap husband must have internal strength and martial arts skills.
Pei Weixuan lowered his eyes slightly, "Yu Niang, let's go back too."
"good."
Xu Qinyu's voice was cheerful.
The two of them pushed the cart to the market to buy pig offal and fish.
This time Xu Qinyu bought two pieces of pig offal, and the old man who sold fish yesterday also came, bringing with him about 40 kilograms of black carp.
After shopping, the two returned to Guihua Lane.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Pei Jianing sitting in the main room with red eyes, messy hair, and her jacket seemed a little messy as well.
Fengger and Yanjieer were snuggling in Pei Jianing's arms with pale faces.
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