Chapter 59 Chapter 59-Two in One (Change one price) Give...
After buying some noodles and carrying them back, Helan looked at the amount and asked in surprise, "Madam Lin, are you guys treating us?"
Lin Chuntao saw her eyes fall on the backpack, then she smiled and realized what was going on.
"No, my sister wants to learn how to cook noodles and set up a small food stall. I bought some extra so she can learn how to cook."
Helan looked surprised and asked with a smile, "But the one that Xiao Pei brought last time, the people in the shop were really greedy for it."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Yes, that's it."
Helan looked at her. Lin Chuntao's smile was very gentle and approachable. If she came to do business, it would definitely be good.
"I remember Xiao Pei said it was your craftsmanship. Why didn't Madam Lin do it herself?"
"It's not really a special recipe, it's just a snack I made myself that anyone can make. There are a lot of mushrooms in the mountains lately, and I want to pick more."
Helan nodded when he heard this. There are gains and losses in business, but as long as he picks up mushrooms and carries them back, he will make some money.
Pei Ying has been working in the shop for a while. He is very efficient at his job, but he is rather dull and doesn't talk much, so it is difficult to figure out what he is thinking.
In Helan's eyes, Lin Chuntao is a little similar to her, they must both love making money.
Helan just thought about this. If he said it out loud, others would definitely say that everyone loves money, but there are actually differences.
"If you want to set up a food stall, now's a good time. There are more people in the county town recently. Madam Lin, do you want to rent a shop or set up a stall outside?"
Lin Chuntao: "Let's set up a stall first. Renting a shop is expensive."
Helan asked, "How big a plot of land do you want? Why not set it up next to our butcher shop? This plot of land is empty anyway."
Helan took the initiative to invite her, and Lin Chuntao was of course not happy, but she still had to make it clear.
"Thank you, Shopkeeper He. However, we know how to make fire. Will it affect the meat stall?"
Helan waved his hand: "It's not cooked under the butcher's stall, so it won't have any impact."
At this point, Lin Chuntao continued to ask what was needed to set up a stall. Helan smiled and said, "You need a fixed location and do it long-term. You have to go to the market to pay the land fee and sign a deed. The rest is pretty much it."
After saying that, Helan added, "There's no rush. You can come and sign a day in advance."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Thank you, Shopkeeper He. I'll get ready first and bother you again when I'm ready to sign."
Let’s wait for Lin Chunxing to cook it and see how it tastes.
The noodles had to be cooked fresh, using at least two or three fires. Burning wood in a stove didn't produce much ash, but burning wood in a small stove would easily cause ash to fly out, which would be bad if it landed in the bowl. There were also bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs—there was a lot more to prepare.
Although Lin Chunxing was very interested, she didn't know if she could do it, so she decided to wait and see.
Pei Ying and the others were still busy, so Lin Chuntao went around for a while. She also looked at the copper pot, which was very expensive. She also looked at the big ceramic pot and asked about the price. She would calculate the money after returning.
When she came back after shopping, Pei Ying and the others were already packing up their stall.
Since the sauce was ready last night and they had agreed to buy noodles today, Lin Chunxing had been looking forward to it early. She quickly cut the grass for the pigs and came back. Thinking about the last time she made it, she put tomatoes and leeks in it. She also washed the leeks and tomatoes and put them aside. Then she left the hospital and waited for Lin Chuntao and the others on the roadside outside.
Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying met Meng Yun and Meng Yue at the entrance of the village. Meng Yun was holding a hoe and Meng Yue was holding several alpine rhododendrons.
They had met each other before, and Meng Yun greeted her in a familiar manner when she saw her.
"You are Chuntao, right? My name is Mengyun."
They took the initiative to greet her. Although she disliked Lin Jialang and the others, this had nothing to do with Meng Yun and the others. Lin Chuntao nodded slightly and replied, "I am. What are you doing?"
Meng Yun smiled and said, "We divided the land a few days ago, and we thought about turning it over to see if we could grow some vegetables or something. Did you just come back from the county town?"
Lin Chuntao nodded.
Meng Yun smiled and said, "I never knew before, the flowers in Yizhou are so beautiful."
Lin Chuntao pointed in the direction of the bamboo forest and said, "That bamboo forest is ownerless. We can get a few bamboo tubes. These flowers can be placed in water and bloom for several more days."
Meng Yun looked at the flower with joy. "Is that so? I'll put it in the flower box when I get home."
The two chatted for a few words and then walked over. Lin Jialang was at the door. He greeted Lin Chuntao as usual. Lin Chuntao walked away directly as before. Watching Lin Chuntao walk away, he looked at Meng Yun: "Aunt, did you come back with Sister Chuntao?"
Meng Yun hummed a sound, and Lin Jialang pursed his lips. He wanted to ask Meng Yun if Lin Chuntao would pay any attention to her. But she thought about Lin Chuntao's personality and knew that she would definitely ignore Meng Yun and the others.
In fact, they were also implicated by him. He said softly, "I'm sorry for getting you into trouble."
Meng Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, knowing the truth but pretending not to know: "What are you doing to implicate us?"
"Your cousin?" Meng Yun paused. Lin Jialang remained silent, and then Meng Yun said, "I spoke to her, and she paid attention to me. It's just that we're not familiar with each other, so it was a bit awkward not knowing what to say."
Lin Jialang felt relieved after hearing what Meng Yun said, but he also felt a little uncomfortable. Lin Chuntao ignored strangers and ignored them.
After spending a few days together, she felt that Lin Jialang and the others were quite well behaved. The grudges between adults and children were not something that could be resolved overnight. She then tried to comfort Lin Jialang, "Your cousin is older than me, right? Think about it, the adults treated her badly for years. You think it's unrealistic to expect her to treat you like a real brother in just a few days or months."
Meng Yun's summary as an adult was to save face for Lin Jialang.
Nothing can be hidden in this village. In fact, she knew everything. Lin Jialang's biological mother relied on the fact that she was the younger daughter-in-law and teamed up with the old lady to bully Lin Chuntao's seriously ill mother. It would be strange if Lin Chuntao did not hold a grudge for such a thing.
Lin Jialang listened to Meng Yun's words and nodded slightly, "I took it for granted."
Meng Yun smiled and said, "Don't worry, just treat her like a sister. Time will tell."
Lin Jialang nodded, and Meng Yun asked with a smile, "Do you have any bamboo tubes at home? Your sister Chuntao said that these flowers can bloom for several days if they are inserted into a tube. Can you help me find a few?"
Lin Jialang looked at the flowers in Meng Yue's arms, smiled and ran to the backyard, found two old bamboo tubes, washed them in the yard and then handed them to Meng Yun.
Lin Chunxing and the others saw Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying from afar and hurried home to light the stove.
When Lin Chuntao walked out of the yard, she saw a wisp of green smoke coming out of the chimney. The yard was quiet. She gently pushed open the gate and saw Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer jumping out.
"You two childish ghosts, someone just started a fire, and before any sound was made, I thought you were hiding..."
Lin Duoer chuckled, "I can't scare you."
Lin Chuntao said, "If you really scare me, you'll be beaten."
"Hehe, sister, I was wrong."
Lin Chuntao touched her head, put her arm around her shoulders and walked into the house together.
After Pei Ying put down the backpack, Lin Chunxing and the others gathered around her and asked, "Sister, did you buy some noodles?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Chuntao took out the noodles from her backpack and handed them to Lin Chunxing: "Here, I bought them. Is this enough?"
Lin Chunxing quickly reached out to take it. She was stunned by the amount of powder in her arms.
“Why buy so much?”
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "What if we don't succeed the first time? We'll have to eat it anyway, and it won't go bad in a day or two." She then took out the meat and told Lin Chunxing, "Put it on the table. Let's make lunch first."
Lin Chunxing took the noodles and put them on the table, then went to get a clay pot to put the meat in.
Lin Chuntao cut off half of the more than two pounds of fat and lean meat, took it to the yard to wash it, and brought it back to chop it all into minced meat.
After chopping the minced meat, Lin Chuntao began to stir-fry it. She added some peppercorns and pepper powder as seasoning. After the minced meat was cooked, she scooped the sauce into it. In the moment when she stir-fried it with the spatula, the whole minced meat in the pot turned red, even the oil turned red. The aroma of the meat and the sauce blended together and filled the entire yard.
Looking at the greasy pot of meat filling, Lin Chuntao asked Lin Chunhe to bring out the salt jar.
She added salt, stir-fried it evenly and served it.
"If I were to sell this noodle, I definitely wouldn't be able to fry the meat filling once for each serving. That would be too slow. I would have to fry all the meat filling in advance."
It was time for dinner and everyone was hungry, so Lin Chuntao quickly made a pot.
Last time I didn’t add the base of chili oil and tomatoes, so the soup was relatively clear and the taste was not strong enough.
This time it’s different. The delicate sauce makes the soup not only redder but also richer. The noodles are cooked for a while and then taken out, and the taste is even more fragrant.
Lin Chunxing and the others thought that what they had last time was delicious, but they didn't expect it to be even better this time.
Pei Ying breathed a sigh of satisfaction after finishing the meal. He was sure that many people would like the taste.
Lin Chuntao also smiled. This was the taste she had always wanted, and with this sauce, it would be just what she wanted.
Lin Chunxing and the others were busy slurping the noodles, and from time to time they would hold the bowl and drink a sip of soup.
"Sister, this is so delicious! It's hard to believe. Just a little more sauce would make a huge difference."
At this moment, Lin Chunxing was full of confidence. The reason why the food tasted so good was all because of the sauce inside. This sauce was made by themselves, and no one else had it. Even if someone wanted to steal their business, they would not be able to make the same taste.
She said excitedly, "Sister, I'll cook tonight."
Lin Chuntao nodded.
The minced meat fried on the stove had cooled down by the evening, but due to the temperature, the lard in the minced meat had not solidified.
It was agreed that Lin Chunxing would do it in the evening.
After the fire was lit, Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer stood beside the stove and watched.
Lin Chuntao gently patted Lin Chunxing beside her and said, "I fried the meat filling this morning. You can cook it. Since most people who come here buy one portion, you need to know how much water to put in each bowl of noodles and how much noodles to put in each bowl. Do you need me to repeat the steps for you?"
Lin Chunxing shook her head slightly. She asked Lin Chuntao, "Sister, can I cook the noodles and vegetables before scooping the meat filling in?"
Lin Chuntao frowned slightly: "You can try it. The taste is almost the same anyway, and it will be faster this way."
Lin Chunxing was a little nervous and started to do it.
She recalled the steps Lin Chuntao had taken that morning. They seemed simple, but now she was at a loss as to where to start, struggling to figure out what to do first. Suddenly, she didn't know how much water to add or how much noodles to cook. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Make a bowl for yourself first, and then add the soup for the noodles. Don't add too much. You have to think about the noodles, soup, and vegetables, and finally put them all in this bowl."
Lin Chunxing nodded. She had an idea in her mind after hearing this. She scooped the water into a bowl and then poured the water into the pot. When she took the powder, she paused again. She glanced at Lin Chuntao and then ran into the house to get the scale.
She quickly weighed out a pound of the flour.
"Sister, how many bowls can you make with this pound?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Try making three bowls."
Lin Chunxing nodded and quickly divided it into three portions. After dividing it, she weighed it and found that the weight was about the same. Then she started to cook. The tomatoes and leeks were washed but not cut. Lin Chuntao went to get them, cut them and put them on the chopping board. Lin Chunxing was thinking about putting the vegetables and meat filling in.
After it was cooked, Lin Chunxing poured it out. This one-third amount was too much for a small bowl to hold, so it filled a large ceramic bowl.
Lin Chuntao looked at the bowl and thought it looked very good. She smiled and said, "Chun Xing, I want to order. I want a small bowl and an extra serving of tomatoes."
Lin Chunxing smiled and nodded, then began to cook for Lin Chuntao. She was not very skilled and cooked a little slowly, but she still managed to cook it.
Lin Chunhe and Lin Duoer also imitated Lin Chuntao's smile and said, "Second sister, I want a small bowl too. I want an extra spoonful of meat filling."
Pei Ying smiled and said, "Chun Xing, I want a big bowl with more flour."
Lin Chunxing looked up at them, smiled and nodded, then began to cook one by one. After all the noodles were cooked, Lin Chuntao and the others started to eat.
Because the meat filling was added later, the soup base looks clearer. The taste is not much different after taking a sip of the soup. The vegetables are also refreshing, and the noodles are about the same softness and hardness, which is okay.
Lin Chunxing took a bite of the food she cooked and frowned as she finished. It's over. This tastes different from what Lin Chuntao made this morning.
She looked at Lin Chuntao and Lin Chunhe and asked, "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Lin Duoer and Lin Chunhe both nodded, and Pei Ying also said, "It's delicious."
Before Lin Chuntao could say anything, Lin Chunxing knew that it might have to be cooked again.
"Sister, what do you think?"
Lin Chuntao took a sip of the soup and said softly, "It's delicious, but I think the flavor isn't long enough and lacks a little fragrance."
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, Lin Chunxing said, "Sister, I'll try making another bowl."
"Um."
As soon as Lin Chuntao finished speaking, Lin Chunxing hurriedly got up and ran to the stove.
She added some firewood to the stove, cleaned the pot, and brought in the meat filling from the morning. She first boiled water, scooped out the water, then scooped the meat filling in and stir-fried it, then added tomatoes and continued to stir-fry. After stir-frying, she added the boiled water. After the water boiled, she added the flour, leeks, and a few pieces of tomatoes.
This time, after cooking for a short time, the soup started to thicken just like it did this morning. Lin Chuntao watched from the side and said with a smile, "It should be done."
Lin Chunxing breathed a sigh of relief and went to get the dishes and chopsticks with a smile.
Everyone is ready to take a bite with chopsticks.
Lin Duoer went first. After taking a bite, she tilted her head and looked at Lin Chuntao. She pursed her lips and asked in confusion, "Why does this seem to taste better?"
Lin Chunxing looked at Lin Chunhe with a smile: "Third brother, try it and see."
Lin Chunhe took a bite and nodded.
"I feel like this is more like what my sister cooked this morning. It's more fragrant than the bowl just now."
Seeing Lin Chunhe also said so, Lin Chunxing looked at Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying: "Sister, brother-in-law, how about you try it?"
After she finished speaking, Lin Chuntao and Pei Ying each picked up a piece of food with their chopsticks.
Lin Chunxing stared at her and Pei Ying closely, waiting for feedback. Lin Chuntao nodded, and after a long moment, she said, "That's the taste."
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, Lin Chunxing breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect that the same meat and vegetables would taste so different when cooked in different orders. She decided to follow this step in the future, trying to adjust the amount of water, flour and meat filling just right to make the taste more accurate.
Lin Duoer next to her looked at Lin Chuntao with anticipation.
"Sister, can my second sister go into business now?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Let's do it again and get ready."
Lin Chunxing nodded, and Lin Duoer asked, "Can I go with my second sister? I can add more firewood."
Lin Chuntao looked at her. This little girl wanted to do everything, but her personality was a little erratic. Lin Chuntao was a little unsure whether she would be helpful or detrimental if she went there.
"We'll talk about this after we decide to go."
After dinner, Lin Chuntao picked up a burnt branch and wrote and drew in the yard.
Lin Duo'er was watching at the side at first, but when she couldn't understand it, she went to play. Lin Chunxing watched for a long time but still didn't understand. She asked Lin Chuntao, "Sister, are you settling accounts?"
Lin Chuntao raised her eyes and looked at her, humming, "I was just looking at how much we need to prepare."
Lin Chunxing only thought about cooking noodles and selling them, but she hadn't thought about anything else. In fact, it wasn't that she didn't want to, but that she couldn't think of anything else.
Setting up a stall wasn't easy, especially with an open flame. She asked Lin Chunxing, "Boiling water and cooking like we did just now is a complicated process and too slow. Don't we have to have a fire nearby to keep the water warm?"
Lin Chunxing nodded, "I think it is necessary."
"That means you need at least two fires, one to warm the water and one to boil the powder."
They need to have small stalls in the market, small tables and chairs, and buy bowls and chopsticks. Although they all think the food tastes good, the success of the business still needs to be verified by the market, so they try to save costs as much as possible when they first start.
I learned how to make it at Lin Chunxing's for two days, and when the taste stabilized, I decided to go.
Lin Chuntao walked around the village and saw every household buying beans. The villagers were very curious: "Chuntao, what delicious food are you going to make with all these beans?"
Lin Chuntao did not hide it and said with a smile: "Auntie, I'll cover it up."
"You're using beans to cover the sauce? Won't the beans become rancid?"
"Probably not. I'll figure it out first."
"I'll just pick some red peppers and chop them up in a few days. It would be a shame to spoil the beans."
Everyone was talking at once, but Lin Chuntao just smiled.
Aunt Guizhi, Sun, and Chen Dongniang had already tasted the sauce she made, and they thought it was even better than the ones they bought at the county town sauce shop. Chen Dongniang had originally asked Sun to ask Lin Chuntao for the ingredients, and they offered her the ingredients and asked her to help make a jar, but Sun refused. What's the difference between this and asking Lin Chuntao for the recipe?
Seeing Lin Chuntao buying beans in the village and preparing to cook again, Sun said with a smile: "Chuntao, make more this time. When you are done, you can sell a can to Grandma."
Hearing this, Lin Chuntao agreed immediately. When Aunt Guizhi met her, she also asked for a can, which surprised the woman who had just said that the beans had gone bad.
"Sister-in-law Guizhi, have you and your aunt eaten yet?"
The two looked at Lin Chuntao and said with a smile, "We've eaten it. It tastes better than the chopped peppers we made."
Everyone looked at Lin Chuntao with half belief and half doubt. They were not sure either. They just wanted to wait until Aunt Guizhi and Sun got the sauce, then they would go and get some to taste it.
Lin Chuntao bought beans and went to the county town to buy dried chilies and a large jar of sauce. This time she made more. The steaming and covering of the beans were all fine, but the pounding in the stone mortar was a bit slow. After the jar was covered, they went to sell the flour and came back to see. If the business was good and she could make sauce often in the future, she would buy a stone mill, which would make it more convenient to grind the beans.
The sauce was dried for a few days. Lin Chuntao estimated that the remaining sauce in the jar would be enough to make new sauce. Then Lin Chuntao took Lin Chunxing to the county town to buy utensils for setting up a stall.
Bowls and chopsticks, large and small clay pots, tables and chairs, and two portable clay stoves were all purchased. Just these things cost her eight hundred coins. Lin Chuntao also bought two baskets of charcoal, spending over a hundred coins. She still had to buy noodles and meat. Having already spent so much money, she swallowed and asked Lin Chuntao nervously, "Sister, is there anything else you need to buy? We've already spent a lot of money today."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I still have to go to the Fangsi to pay the land fee."
"Land fee?"
“Well, it’s actually the rent for the stall.”
Lin Chunxing had never thought about these expenses. When Lin Chuntao said this, she was stunned.
"Sister, how much do I have to pay?"
"I don't know yet. I need to go over and ask. Once we finish these things, we can officially start setting up the stall tomorrow."
Lin Chunxing nodded, but her face was visibly nervous. Lin Chuntao said, "It's okay. I'll accompany you tomorrow."
"Really?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "If I wasn't picking mushrooms, I would have come with you. Picking mushrooms would have been a bit late, so I'll try to be here before the market opens."
After hearing this, Lin Chunxing breathed a sigh of relief.
Their stall was in front of Helan's house, so she went to find Helan first. It would be very inconvenient for them to carry the pots, pans, and other things back and forth, so Lin Chuntao took the opportunity to talk to Helan and asked her to give her some rent and keep the things at her house.
Helan agreed directly and did not ask for rent. Lin Chuntao felt that it was inappropriate to let her go every day without paying, so she agreed on a price with her. After putting the things away, Helan took them to the market and paid the land fee, which was ninety cents a month.
After coming out, Helan said: "Half of the land fee went into these people's pockets, but the little devil is difficult to deal with, so we have to pay it."
Lin Chuntao nodded. This is how business is. You will encounter some problems.
After these things are prepared, all that’s left is the meat, vegetables and noodles.
The meat must have been bought from Helan. Normally, Helan would give her a discount when she bought meat, just as if Pei Ying had bought it. It was a business deal. Although they didn't use much in the early stage, if the business was good later, they would definitely need more. She still had to talk to Helan in advance.
After hearing what Lin Chuntao said, Helan smiled and said, "As long as the price of our meat hasn't increased, the previous price will remain the same. If your business is booming in the future and you open a restaurant and charge more, we can negotiate the price."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Okay, then I'd like to thank Shopkeeper He."
The two chatted for a while before Lin Chuntao went to the noodle shop. She had bought noodles there several times, and the shopkeeper recognized her.
"Look, my lady, this powder is still fresh today. I'll weigh it for you."
Lin Chuntao looked at the powder in the bucket and asked with a smile, "Boss, if I need this powder every day, can you give me a discount?"
The shopkeeper looked at her again and asked, "Which restaurant are you buying for, ma'am?"
Lin Chuntao replied, "I'm planning to set up a small stall to sell noodles."
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Oh, so you are the shopkeeper. I wonder how much powder you need every day?"
"It's a first time for us to do this, and we don't know if it's enough."
The shopkeeper was very calm when she heard this number. She smiled and said, "My lady, what you asked for is a little too little. It probably won't be enough to sell. The place selling mutton noodles over there requires at least 30 kilograms every day."
Lin Chuntao looked at the shopkeeper in feigned surprise, "Is your business so prosperous? We'll try to make as much as you can every day. We're new here, so we're just starting a small business. We're not far from here, right next to Shopkeeper He. If you run out, I'll come get more."
The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Ten catties is a bit too little. I'll give you a discount of ten cents for fifteen catties."
Lin Chuntao quickly calculated that this was almost a 10% discount, averaging 6.4 cents per catty. The cheaper the better. Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "The shopkeeper is so straightforward. Why don't we make it even cheaper, just 6 cents per catty? It will be easier for us to calculate. With my skills, 10 catties is the minimum, but we will definitely order more than 15 catties."
Seeing this confident look, the shopkeeper took a deep breath and agreed readily.
"Then let's settle it. If it's less than 15 catties, it's 7 wen per catty. If it's more than 15 catties, it's 6 wen per catty."
Lin Chuntao nodded and then asked, "What time does the shopkeeper open in the morning? We won't take the powder home overnight and will come back to get it in the morning."
"It will open at the end of the Yin hour."
After the agreement was reached, Lin Chuntao pulled Lin Chunxing over and said to the shopkeeper, "This is my sister. We sisters work together. If I'm busy, she might be the one to get the powder."
Lin Chunxing greeted the shopkeeper and became acquainted with him.
After leaving the noodle shop, Lin Chuntao took Lin Chunxing to buy some leeks and tomatoes, and then went back to the butcher shop to buy some meat, and everything was finally done.
The butcher shop was not finished yet, so Lin Chuntao bought a load of water and washed all the pots, bowls, and chopsticks in the backyard of Helan's house so that they could be used the next day.
They waited until the butcher shop was done and Pei Ying could leave before they went home together.
Everything is ready, just waiting for tomorrow.
Lin Chunxing was excited and nervous, and a little afraid that she might not be able to do it well.
Lin Chuntao noticed her emotional changes, but did not try to comfort her. This was a first-time experience, so comforting her would not be of much use. After experiencing it again, she would be able to overcome it.
After returning home and having lunch, Lin Chunxing began to ask, "Sister, shall we start chopping the meat and frying the stuffing now?"
"There's no rush to stir-fry the minced meat," Lin Chuntao said, calling Lin Chunhe, Lin Duo'er, and the others over. She smiled and said, "We don't have a name for our stall yet. Let's think about it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com