The next day, Fu Wan got up very early, but Li Chunhua and Liang Guifen were even earlier, with basins full of washed shrimp.
Fu Wan quickly washed her face, then carried the shrimp into the kitchen to blanch them. Li Chunhua tended the fire, while Chen Guifang helped and learned from the side.
Fu Wan taught diligently, and Chen Guifang and the other woman learned diligently as well. Due to limited time today, they only made one pot of garlic sauce and one pot of spicy sauce.
Once the shrimp were cooked, they were placed in a porcelain basin. Li Chunhua then covered them with a cloth used for steaming buns at home, and then pushed the shrimp to the market in a wheelbarrow.
Shen Lingling and Ye Xiaofeng woke up and insisted on going too. Fu Wan helped them brush their teeth, and then she and Chen Guifang each took one of their hands and hurried to the market.
Qingshan Village has a large population and a wide area, and there are quite a few people at the market at this time.
Besides the pork stalls, there were a few scattered vegetable and fish vendors, and even a young man selling steamed buns on a bicycle.
"Hello, how much are the steamed buns?"
Fu Wan led Chen Lingling forward. The young man selling steamed buns was about the same age as Fu Ming. He gestured with his hands and said that vegetable buns cost one mao and meat buns cost two mao.
The price was quite good. Fu Wan ordered five vegetable buns and five meat buns. After paying, she realized that the young man could only gesture and couldn't speak.
They are all poor souls struggling to make a living!
Chen Guifang took out one yuan and fifty cents from her pocket to give to Fu Wan, but Fu Wan pushed it back.
"Sister-in-law, don't argue with me about this little bit of money."
After saying that, he took two meat buns and gave them to the two children, and then gave one meat bun to Chen Guifang.
She ate a vegetable bun herself, as she didn't really want to eat meat that early in the morning.
Chen Guifang couldn't eat it. Her cousin was eating vegetable buns while she was being offered meat buns. Even her own sister wouldn't treat her this well!
"I'll eat vegetables too!"
Fu Wan assumed that she just didn't like eating meat, so she didn't worry about it and changed her dish.
Just as the group reached Li Chunhua, she had finished unloading her belongings from the car.
Seeing that Fu Wan had bought steamed buns, he grumbled with heartache, "You've spent money before you've even earned any."
Fu Wan smiled and said, "Auntie, you can only make money if you spend it. Now that the lobsters are sold, you can buy a few basins of steamed buns if you want!"
These words made Li Chunhua laugh out loud. She took a vegetable bun and ate it herself, and then started calling out to customers.
Fu Wan's crayfish dishes are particularly meticulous in terms of color, aroma, and taste. The crayfish are cooked to a bright red color, and are sprinkled with green scallions for garnish. In addition, because they are hot, the aroma can be smelled from afar.
"Aren't these mantis shrimps that nobody wants in the fields? They have little meat and don't taste good!"
A few passersby came over out of curiosity, but were somewhat disappointed when they saw that it was a mantis shrimp.
Fu Wan quickly picked one up with her chopsticks. "Uncle, please try it. These mantis shrimp are really flavorful. If you don't like them, you don't have to buy them!"
The fact that they could sample things for free when they bought them, and that Fu Wan had specially picked out a larger crayfish, made the passerby feel a little embarrassed.
He really didn't think before he spoke. He was trying to sabotage someone else's crayfish business. Isn't that offensive?
He then didn't stand on ceremony and threw the crayfish into his mouth and chewed it. Fu Wan quickly called him back.
"Uncle, you have to remove the shell from these crayfish and only eat the meat underneath!"
The middle-aged man on the street was a little embarrassed, but the domineering tone in his mouth was already evident.
His eyes lit up, and he gave a thumbs up repeatedly.
How much are these shrimp?
Li Chunhua quickly replied, "Five cents a pound."
"This is almost as expensive as meat!"
An auntie nearby was holding back her restless grandson; this was no better than buying pork.
Fu Wan, quick-witted, immediately chimed in, "Auntie, you'll have to use firewood and seasonings to cook this meat, but we've already cooked the shrimp and it's still hot!"
That's true; the uncle who tried the crayfish earlier actually finished the whole shrimp.
With a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Weigh out five jin for me!"
It's only two yuan and fifty cents, he'll buy it and it'll be a meat dish!
Chen Guifang quickly found a bag to pack it for him. There were no takeout boxes available, so she could only use a clean plastic bag.
"If you live nearby, you can bring your own bowl to buy it, so you don't have to empty it all the way back!"
While greeting customers, Fu Wan also suggested to a few uncles that they should take the food home and pair it with some wine for an even better taste!
Once the first customer was there, a second one followed. Fu Wan would also enthusiastically pick one out for any customer who wanted to try it.
Shen Lingling and Ye Xiaofeng knew that the adults were busy, so even if they wanted to go out and play, they obediently stood by the stall and waited.
Shen Lingling would occasionally join Fu Wan in shouting, "Selling lobsters! Big and delicious lobsters!"
The child's unique voice drew the attention of passersby. "A child can sell things? That's amazing!"
Seeing that Chen Lingling had been praised, Ye Xiaofeng was no longer shy. The two children took turns praising her, shouting happily.
In less than an hour, before the sun was even directly overhead, the large basins in front of Fu Wan and the others were all empty.
Li Chunhua stood to the side, touching her small cloth bag filled with money, her eyes crinkling with laughter.
"Grandma, can we buy meat to eat if we earn money?"
Ye Xiaofeng finished the meat buns in small bites, but felt that the meat flavor had already disappeared before she had finished eating them.
But she also knew that she had to take some back to her cousin's house for her brother and the others to try, and seeing that Li Chunhua was happy, she didn't hold back her thoughts.
Li Chunhua also knew that the family hadn't bought pork in a long time. Although they occasionally ate some wild game, the children's longing for pork remained unchanged.
"purchase!"
Li Chunhua was happy because he made money today. He waved his hand and ran to the pork vendor to buy a full five jin of meat.
With a large family and Fu Wan and the others in tow, she had to treat them well.
Seeing how generous Li Chunhua was, the butcher gave her a big pork bone as a gift, which made her so happy that her eyebrows almost flew off.
Chen Guifang pushed the wheelbarrow back, and Chen Lingling and Ye Xiaofeng sat on the crossbar of the wheelbarrow together, their silvery laughter ringing out all the way.
"Ah Wan, I think this mantis shrimp business can do well for a while."
In previous years, crayfish in the fields would disappear by the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it's only August now, so they can catch them for another month.
Fu Wan wasn't quite sure about this, and only said, "Auntie, you can go back and discuss it with Uncle. Even if the crayfish business is over, we can still do some other business."
The family's private plot of land was full of crops, but farming was too tiring, and Fu Wan thought they could think of other ways.
Li Chunhua seemed thoughtful. "You taught us how to make lobster. I'll give you thirty yuan later, consider it as buying the recipe."
Fu Wan initially wanted to refuse, but fearing that Li Chunhua would be unhappy, she simply didn't really decline.
It was already eleven o'clock when they got home. Fu Ming and Bai Qianzhou had made several snares to catch wild animals.
"Ah Wan, let's go up the mountain this afternoon! We have to go home tomorrow!"
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