In the past two days, Pei Yao also asked Liu Yu to make her a rectangular wooden basin and a bunch of bamboo skewers of different lengths.
A long bamboo skewer can be used to pierce kudzu worms, while a short one can be used to pick out snail meat that is difficult to suck out.
Liu Yu's craftsmanship is still quite rudimentary, and the wooden basin he made was rather ugly.
However, it does not affect its use.
Pei Yao used yellow mud and water to build a small barbecue grill in the very center of the basin.
The shape is the same as the one she built in front of the earthen stove before, except that this one is built on top of a wooden basin, so it can be moved at any time by simply picking up the basin.
When you finish cooking, just throw in a few pieces of charcoal to dry them.
The night before, I went up the mountain to cut a lot of bulging kudzu vines, which I then tied up and put in my basket.
......
The day of the market finally arrived, and Pei Yao got up at the end of Yin hour (5 a.m.).
To be precise, she was so excited last night that she didn't sleep at all.
After all, this was her first time experiencing doing business and making money since coming to this world, so she was a little nervous.
She tends to have trouble sleeping when she's nervous, just like before. Whenever she goes on a long trip, she can't sleep all night before.
Pei Yao got up very quietly; she needed to prepare materials.
Spicy snails are not good to keep overnight. Seafood in general should not be eaten after being left overnight because it will produce protein degradation products that can damage liver and kidney function.
Therefore, it is best to prepare and sell the food on the same day.
In Lingnan, it gets light early; it's already getting a little light around the end of the Yin hour (3-5 AM).
When Pei Yao woke up, she thought she was the first one up, but it turned out that everyone in the house was awake except for Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan, who were still sleeping.
Yunniang and Chen Fang were by the well in the courtyard. One was carefully washing snails, and the other was carefully smashing the snails' tails with a stone.
They were afraid of disturbing the other people who were still sleeping in the room.
As Pei Yao made a soft sound as she opened the door, the two men quickly looked toward her. Pei Yao turned her head and met their wide, dark, and shiny eyes.
I was so scared I almost screamed.
Fortunately, she quickly realized what had happened and Pei Yao patted her chest in relief.
"Mother, Aunt, why are you both awake so early?"
Yunniang explained softly, "We just woke up a little while ago too."
Chen Fang rubbed her hands together: "Yao girl, I'm so excited about going into business that I can't sleep."
Pei Yao: "......"
To be honest, I'm the same way!
So the three of them, each with dark circles under their eyes, got busy in the yard, each taking on their own tasks.
Yunniang was meticulous, so she washed the snails; Chen Fang was strong enough, so she smashed the snail tails; Pei Yao had good knife skills, so she chopped the side dishes and prepared the secret spicy snail dipping sauce.
Some of the ingredients could be prepared in advance, and Pei Yao had already chopped them up the night before.
If it can't be done in advance, it's still not too late to cut it now.
The first bucket of spicy snails was ready very quickly.
The second bucket is ready too.
The third bucket is ready too.
Making spicy snails isn't difficult; the challenge lies in preparing the seasonings.
If Pei Yao hadn't eaten so much in her past life and hadn't been a food blogger who had researched these things, she wouldn't have been able to make such a good sauce all at once.
It would be even better with soy sauce; it would elevate the flavor to another level.
Pei Yao had finished all this by 7 a.m. Chen Fang looked at the three buckets full of snails and suddenly felt a little uneasy.
She looked at Pei Yao: "Yao girl, can we really sell them?"
Pei Yao nodded confidently: "Auntie, the spicy snails we made are so delicious, there's definitely no problem."
Yunniang was also a little worried: "The officials said that if we wanted to ransom people, it would be twenty taels a year per person, one hundred taels in five years, and two hundred taels in five years for two people. Can we really earn that much money by selling snails...?"
Pei Yao was speechless. She glanced at the two of them and pretended to be unhappy: "Do you two have so little faith in me?"
After all, she felt that when it came to making money, regardless of whether she could make it today, she couldn't lose face.
After all, if you don't even have confidence in yourself, who else will?
Upon hearing this, Yunniang and Chen Fang shook their heads vigorously, like rattles.
They didn't lack confidence in Pei Yao, but rather in themselves.
Chen Fang glanced at Pei Yao, then at Yun Niang, and looked up into the distance: "Yao girl, we believe in you. Trust is the most important thing in a family. I believe that one day our family will be reunited."
Yunniang also took Pei Yao's hand and said, "Yao'er, you've worked hard."
......
Pei Yao and the others moved their things to the doorway and waited for Niu Qingshan to come and pick them up.
Before setting off, Pei Yao went to the kitchen again and brought along the earthenware pot she had used to smother the charcoal.
I almost forgot about this most important thing.
The market here is busiest in the morning, and there are hardly any people in the afternoon.
So Niu Qingshan's oxcart also took the villagers to town early in the morning.
In those days, not many people owned oxcarts, and many people were willing to spend two coins to ride in an oxcart to save themselves a few steps when going to the market in town.
There aren't many people in Liangshui Village, so Niu Qingshan has to go to the villages ahead and pick up a few more villagers from other villages to go with him, otherwise it won't be worth the trip.
However, Niu Qingshan would also bring a few buckets of seafood to the market to sell at this time of year.
Pei Yao talked to Niu Qingshan yesterday and said that she thought it was okay to hitch a ride since she was the only one on the road, and that she would repay the favor when she had time in the future.
But today I'm alone, and I've added three large buckets of snails to the truck.
Oh, and Chen Fang too. She was worried about Pei Yao, a young girl, doing business, so she was determined to go with her. That would be two people plus three buckets.
Pei Yao would never dare to shamelessly hitch a ride.
So last night, Pei Yao talked to Niu Qingshan about it, and she would give him the fare once she earned the money.
On weekdays, villagers would pay two coins to take an oxcart to town, and four coins for a round trip. Many people would choose to take the oxcart early in the morning and walk back.
Pei Yao has so many things, so naturally she can't just give her two coins.
However, Pei Yao hadn't made any money yet, so she didn't dare promise Niu Qingshan much. She only told him that she would give him ten coins for the journey fee after she sold these things and made money.
Pei Yao didn't know if the price was reasonable, but Niu Qingshan absolutely refused to accept it.
His lips twitched when he glanced at Pei Yao's three large buckets of snails...
These snails are unwanted even when given away. If there were no other food available, who would want to eat such a big-shelled, little-meat creature?
Most importantly, it has a poor texture; it becomes very difficult to chew after being cooked for even a short time.
However, the snails that Pei Yao and her family had seemed to have a faint, pleasant fragrance, which was different from the snails of others.
But even if they are different, it doesn't change the fact that this thing has a large shell, little meat, and a poor taste.
Niu Qingshan helped Pei Yao load all the snails onto the truck.
Chen Fang sat on the oxcart, holding a wooden barbecue grill, with Pei Yao sitting next to her.
The oxcart has officially started its journey to Meilin Town!
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