After returning home, Niu Qingshan remembered the bamboo root bowl that Pei Yao had bought from another stall that day. He then remembered that his grandfather could also make it, and that there was plenty of bamboo in the mountains. So he went to talk to his grandfather about it.
Upon hearing that it could save Pei Yao money, Uncle Niu Er immediately picked up a saw and went up the mountain, cutting down the most abundant green bamboo in the mountain and sawing it into sections according to the bamboo nodes to make bamboo cups.
Although this method doesn't produce as aesthetically pleasing bowls as bamboo root bowls, it's faster to make them; a few saw cuts are all it takes to complete one.
It's perfectly adequate if you're just using it to temporarily pack frozen jelly.
When Niu Qingshan was at the stall today, he noticed that many people who originally wanted to buy two portions ended up only buying one bowl to drink on the spot in order to save ten coins for the takeaway fee.
That's why Niu Qingshan thought of coming back to ask her grandfather to make this bamboo cup, so she could take it to Pei Yao to see if she needed it.
The Pei family had helped the Niu family a great deal, and they had always wanted to repay that kindness. So, Uncle Niu was very willing to help make some bamboo cups.
Niu Qingshan held the bamboo cup, glanced at the sky. It had only just gotten dark. He was thinking of showing it to Pei Yao tomorrow, but then he worried that Pei Yao wouldn't have time by then.
In short, when Niu Qingshan came to find Pei Yao, Pei Yao's family had just finished eating and were preparing the ice jelly they would use for their stall the next day.
Niu Qingshan glanced at the few people busy working in the courtyard by burning oil lamps.
"Auntie, are you still busy?"
When Yunniang, who was closest to him, saw him arrive, she brought him a stool: "Qingshan, you've come. Sit down for a bit, and I'll get you a glass of water."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Niu Qingshan quickly called out to her, "Auntie, no need to trouble yourself. I came here to see Yao Mei about something. I have to go back after I'm done."
Upon hearing Niu Qingshan say he had come to see her, Pei Yao assumed he had something to say, so she put down what she was holding, stood up, and asked him, "What's wrong?"
Niu Qingshan took out the cup from his arms and gave it to her: "Yaomei, there were a lot of customers at the stall who wanted to take it away today, so when I got back I thought I'd ask my grandpa to make these bamboo cups. They can be used to hold ice jelly. Do you think that's okay? Anyway, there's plenty of bamboo in the mountains, so it's easy to make. If you can use them, we'll make more later."
Pei Yao took the cup and examined it carefully. The emerald green bamboo cup was very pleasing to the eye. The sharp edges of the rim had been smoothed out, so there was no fear of being poked by the bamboo fibers. Uncle Niu had even thoughtfully made a simple bamboo spoon to go with it.
It's clear that it was made with care.
Pei Yao's eyes lit up when she saw the bamboo cup. It looked just like the milk tea cups used at many popular photo spots in her time, except that their bamboo cups had the current place name on them.
However, Uncle Niu's cup did not have this feature, but if you flip the cup over, you can see a small "Pei" character engraved on the back.
"Brother Qingshan, I want to ask, does it take Grandpa Niu a long time to make this cup? Is it strenuous? Or is it difficult to make this cup?"
Pei Yao was quite fond of the cup. Why hadn't she thought of using this bamboo cup to hold the ice jelly? It was much more aesthetically pleasing than using bamboo roots.
The bright green cup paired with the crystal-clear ice jelly is simply perfect!
"It's not difficult, it takes about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea." Niu Qingshan explained that making a bamboo cup doesn't take much time because the bamboo is relatively fresh, so carving words on the bamboo skin is also not difficult.
"Brother Qingshan, are you selling this cup?" Pei Yao asked in a good mood.
Niu Qingshan shook his head: "No, I'm not selling them. My grandfather specially made these bamboo tubes to give to you. You've helped me with the work these past few days, and renting my carriage has made our family's life much better. We haven't thought of how to thank you yet, so these bamboo tubes are just a small token of our gratitude."
My grandpa started making them as soon as I got back, and he's made quite a few. I'll bring them to you tomorrow morning."
Niu Qingshan's words came from the bottom of his heart, and he did indeed make these cups as a gift for Pei Yao.
It was also to express his gratitude to her. To be honest, Niu Qingshan felt that such an ordinary bamboo cup was far from enough compared to the help Pei Yao had given their family.
However, Pei Yao was not about to take advantage of others for nothing. One thing at a time, this bamboo cup was really well made. She planned to try it out tomorrow. If the ice jelly was served in a cup, it would sell even better, and there would definitely be a large demand.
So Pei Yao told Niu Qingshan about her idea. When Niu Qingshan was making the cup, he was only thinking about helping Pei Yao and hadn't thought about it that much. So after hearing Pei Yao's idea, he was stunned for a moment and still thought it was a bit unrealistic: "Is it really that important?"
Pei Yao nodded. With the bamboo cups, those who didn't have time to stop at the shop to eat could simply take them and drink as they walked, which would greatly increase the success rate of their purchases.
However, Niu Qingshan still insisted on not accepting the money, saying that they would talk about it later if it was really useful, and that this batch was originally intended to be given to Pei Yao.
Pei Yao had no choice but to accept it after hearing what he said.
......
It rained last night, and Pei Yao slept soundly to the sound of the rain. Perhaps she was also tired during the day, because she slept without any dreams and woke up the next day.
Everyone woke up looking satisfied, except for Liu Tie, who probably hadn't slept well. He spent the whole night worrying that he would oversleep the next day and barely dared to close his eyes.
So Liu Tie set off in his oxcart before dawn.
He didn't know where the Pei family was located in Liangshui Village, but he knew where Niu Qingshan's house was, so he went to wait at the entrance of the Niu family's house. When he arrived, the gate of the Niu family's courtyard was still tightly closed.
It must be because he arrived too early; the Niu family members were still asleep.
So he led the old ox and squatted at the door to wait.
Recently, Deyun Restaurant's business has been getting better and better, and the number of orders every day has been increasing. The Pei family courtyard has been busy all morning and has hardly stopped. They didn't even have time to eat breakfast. Pei Yao could only grab two pancakes that she had made last night when she went out.
Pei Yichen also wanted to go along today. Previously, Pei Yao hadn't let him come because there wasn't enough room on the oxcart. But today there was an extra oxcart, so there was room for everyone.
And so, the group set off for town in a grand procession.
Liu Tie's oxcart was mainly loaded with goods from Deyun Restaurant.
Upon arriving in town, to save time, the group decided to split into two groups. Chen Fang took Liu Tie's oxcart to deliver goods to Deyun Restaurant, while Pei Yao took Niu Qingshan and Pei Yichen to set up a stall at the dock.
When the group arrived at the dock, it was packed with people, even more than the day before, almost filling the entire dock.
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