It's been raining a lot in Lingnan lately, and the Pei family's stall hasn't been able to set up shop at the dock for several days.
The dock is open-air, so it's not suitable to set up a stall when it's windy or rainy.
Pei Yao had actually considered this issue before, since his family's stall had gained a reputation and they had saved up some money.
If we could take over a shop at this time, that would be even better.
During this time, Pei Yao often inquired about vacant shops in town, but she hadn't found a suitable one yet.
As for what kind of shop to open, she actually prefers to stick to her old business of selling ice jelly.
Because ice jelly is unique to the Pei family and cannot be replicated by other families for the time being, Pei Yao is definitely making money by making this.
However, one thing is that ice jelly only sells well in the hot summer; it's not suitable to eat it when it's cold.
Pei Yao went to ask Uncle Niu Er about it. In Lingnan, summers are long and winters are short. It only gets cold from mid-November to early March, but the cold period is not long.
So Lingnan is actually very suitable for opening an ice jelly shop. If you sell it together with lychee wine, it won't be monotonous or anything.
However, she hasn't found a suitable shop yet. Pei Yao wants to find a larger shop so that customers can sit down and eat leisurely.
It would be even better if we added some seasonal pastries then.
During this period, Pei Yao not only inquired about vacant shops herself, but Manager Qian of Deyun Restaurant also helped Pei Yao inquire.
Manager Qian has been doing business in town for so long that he knows the area better than Pei Yao. Asking him to inquire would definitely be faster than Pei Yao asking on her own.
...
Today, because it has been raining for some time, the Pei family did not set up their stall. The three men of the Pei family went to the Shen family to find Shen Jing early in the morning.
The group planned to discuss the matter of opening a school in the future.
So only the women in the house were left chatting in the courtyard. The rain stopped, and the sun broke through the clouds to reveal the blue sky.
Pei Yao was sitting on a small stool in the yard, eating sunflower seeds and chatting with her family about the latest gossip in the village.
They were talking about a family surnamed Li who had recently moved back to the village.
According to Yunniang, they were originally relatives of Aunt Fang's family. A few years ago, in order to make a living, the whole family moved to the town to work for others.
However, finding work in town wasn't easy, and the family hadn't been able to save much money over the years.
A few days ago, when Aunt Fang went to the market in town, she happened to run into Zhang, the daughter-in-law of the Li family.
Aunt Fang's family were all hardworking. Every day, they could earn a lot of money just by collecting seafood and picking thunder fruit seeds in the mountains. This wealth nourished them, and once people had money, their faces became rounder.
Zhang was immediately envious and asked Aunt Fang for details.
Aunt Fang and Zhang were originally good friends. Seeing that Zhang was not doing well, she did not hide what had happened in the village during this period.
When Zhang heard that such a kind person had appeared in the village, actually buying up unwanted seafood and mountain products, she immediately went home and discussed it with her husband and children.
Li Erniu was an honest and hardworking man who had been doing the most menial labor for years in the home of a wealthy family in town.
After hearing what his wife said, he thought it would be good to go back.
The family of four has had a tough time in town these past few years and has long missed the days back home.
Li Erniu's house was built right next to Aunt Fang's house. Although the whole family made a living in the town, they would come back for holidays, so the house was not too desolate.
After a little tidying up, it'll be ready to move in.
Halfway through their conversation, two familiar figures appeared at the door.
Chen Fang immediately recognized that the people standing at the door were Liu's second daughter-in-law Chunlin and third daughter-in-law Su Tao.
"Sister Chunlin, Sister Sutao, what's wrong? Why are you standing at the gate? Come in and sit down for a while." Chen Fang put down the melon seeds in her hand, got up and walked towards the two of them.
The two exchanged a glance and entered the Pei family's courtyard.
Yunniang also brought them stools, while Pei Yao and Pei Xuan went inside to get some pumpkin seeds and jujube cakes.
Chunlin said somewhat shyly, "Yao girl, you don't need to be so polite..."
Pei Yao smiled and said, "It's alright, Auntie. It's not anything valuable. These pumpkin seeds are ones I saved from when we ate pumpkin earlier and roasted myself."
On rainy days or when she's free, Pei Yao always likes to gossip. And what's gossip without some melon seeds?
Many villagers grow pumpkins, so the Pei family often receives pumpkins as gifts from them.
This pumpkin is a treasure trove; not only can its leaves and flowers be stir-fried and eaten, but even the pumpkin itself and its seeds are edible.
So after eating the pumpkin, Pei Yao dug out the pumpkin seeds, dried them, and roasted them. They tasted delicious.
Chunlin and Su Tao handed the eggs and a plump old hen they had brought to Chen Fang, saying, "Fangmei, these are for your family..."
Chen Fang and Yun Niang were stunned when they saw this, looking at the two of them with some confusion.
"This is?"
Seeing that the two women were stunned, Chunlin had no choice but to put the things down on a clean spot nearby: "Fang, Yunniang, to be honest, we've come today to ask you for a favor..."
Yunniang, Chen Fang, and Pei Yao were all bewildered, but they still asked the two to sit down and talk slowly instead of standing.
After Chunlin and Sutao sat down, they revealed the main purpose of their visit.
It turned out that the Liu family had also saved some money during this period. They were a large family and worked very hard. Almost every day at dawn, they would carry baskets up the mountain to collect thunderbolt seeds, then dry them and sell them to the Pei family.
A few days ago, Liu Yan learned how to make jujube cake from Pei Yao. She is skillful, and the jujube cake she makes tastes almost exactly like Pei Yao's.
After asking Pei Yao, she learned that she had also made some jujube cakes to sell at the dock. Jujube cakes were novel and were placed next to Pei's stall, so they were naturally in high demand.
So Liu Yan also saved up some money.
Chunlin said that the three Liu brothers plus Old Master Liu make a total of four people, and they are still working at the salt field.
When the men from the Pei and Shen families returned earlier, the Liu family members were also anxious.
After all, the men from both families had returned injured in such a short time, so the women of the Liu family were uneasy, probably thinking that their own men were also having a hard time.
The three men in the family are fine, but the old man is a different story.
The old man is getting on in years, and having been exiled all the way from the capital, his health is probably even worse.
Chunlin had wanted to inquire about this when the Pei and Shen families returned earlier.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com