She plans to focus on making pork kidney soup and stir-fried chives.
This is cheap; a dish and soup cost ten coins, and steamed buns are still one coin each. Ah Mian had calculated that a meal for a strong young man would cost twelve coins, while for those who were poorer, two people could share a meal, and each person would only need to pay six coins.
I plan to pair it with an expensive option, which includes extra chicken gizzards and oysters, but in smaller quantities, costing 30 coins per bowl.
I estimate we sell about five servings a day.
However, since it was her first time making it, she learned by trial and error, drawing on the advice of the vendors and the experience she had gained from working at the fish soup shop.
The first thing to process is the pork kidneys. They are sliced open from the middle, the white kidney fat is removed, and then they are cut into decorative shapes and soaked in clean water.
Next, she washed the oysters. Ah Mian thought to herself, "How amazing it is that there are living creatures like this in the world, both soft and hard!" After playing with them for a while, she put the oysters back into clean water, added a drop of sesame oil, and let them expel the sand. Once the water became cloudy, she used a knife to pry open the shells, took out the meat, and washed it again.
Since it's made for family members, it can't just be a basic model. Besides, it will also be the first test subject for Ah Mian's business this time.
Chicken kidneys are the easiest to use; just wash them and make a few cuts on the surface.
Ah Mian couldn't bear to kill a chicken to make broth, so she chose to stew pork bones to make the soup base.
"What is she doing?" Meng Chijian asked when he returned to find the kitchen occupied.
Meng Jing was writing large characters with smelly ink when she heard this and shook her head: "I don't know, it seems that A-Mian bought a lot of vegetables that I've never seen before. She's been acting mysteriously since she came back."
In the kitchen, Ah Mian boiled water, added scallions, ginger, and Shaoxing wine, and blanched all the ingredients one by one. Then she put the pork kidneys and chicken gizzards into the pork bone broth and simmered them for about the time it takes to burn two incense sticks. Next, she added the oyster meat and cooked it until done.
Finally, sprinkle with a little salt and chopped green onions.
A-Mian placed the drink in front of Meng Chijian and said with a smile, "Drink it."
"……What's this?"
"This is something specially made to nourish your body, um... let's call it 'Three Delicacies Nourishing Stew,' no one else can drink it." Ah Mian urged, "Drink it quickly, and tell me how it tastes after you finish."
She quickly stir-fried some chives and eggs and called everyone to come and have dinner.
Meng Chijian held the soup spoon, utterly puzzled. He almost wanted to argue, but it seemed like he was only making things worse. After calming down for a moment, he asked, "Who taught you to make this?"
"Dr. Wen."
"..." Meng Chijian smiled slowly, but for some reason, A Mian felt a chill.
"Well... I'm thinking of selling food to those who do corvée labor. If this bowl costs thirty coins, would you buy it if you didn't know me? If there are no oysters or chicken gizzards, and a bowl only costs ten coins, would it sell?"
Meng Chijian then realized what she was thinking. After tasting a few bites, he nodded: "The taste is good, without any fishy smell. The soup is also very delicious... These have a great texture, with a springy feel. Everyone should like them. However, with so many ingredients, your selling price isn't high. This is also a bit troublesome to make, so in the end, you might only earn a meager profit."
Ah Mian started eating her meal, saying, "I'm not afraid of hard work."
"It'll be snowing outside by then, and if you get sick from overwork, you won't even have enough money for medicine." Meng Chijian wasn't too keen on it. He picked up an oyster and put it in A Mian's bowl. "Have you eaten any yourself?"
Amian shook her head. "Dr. Wen said this is for men."
"...Women can eat these too. These things are very nutritious, you know?"
Ah Mian tried them all and found that she loved them too; she ate almost half of what was in Meng Chijian's bowl.
When it was time to go to bed at night, Ah Mian, as usual, crawled into the quilt with a hot water bottle tucked in, but waited and waited and no one came, so she simply went to sleep by herself.
That night, A-Mian had a strange dream.
She dreamt of a monster relentlessly pursuing her through a valley, driving her to a desperate situation.
Seeing that she couldn't escape, the monster began biting her neck, shoulders, and mouth. But it didn't hurt; the monster seemed to be made of maltose and couldn't harm her in the slightest.
Ah Mian had a dream all night. When she woke up in a daze, she found that the bedding next to her was not spread out.
This means that the person did not sleep in the room last night.
She recalled the dream, yawned, and went out to see Meng Chijian coming out of the woodshed—in such cold weather, he was still wearing only a single layer of clothing.
Aren't you cold?
Meng Chijian let her touch his palm; it was still very hot.
A-Mian awkwardly withdrew her hand, took a step back, and glanced at the person in front of her.
His sleeves were rolled up to the cuffs, and his collar remained impeccably clean. He held an axe in his hand, heading to the yard to chop firewood. Firewood was consumed quickly in winter, and during the day, the main source of warmth was the brazier in Meng's mother's room. The others would stay there to keep warm, as heating a kang (a heated brick bed) was not common practice here.
"It's nothing, well... I'll go make breakfast."
Ah Mian sneaked into the kitchen, but she was very distracted and secretly watched from behind the window.
I never seemed to have noticed it before.
Several dark blue veins ran along his arms, and his hands were large. He swiftly and cleanly chopped the firewood apart. A-Mian blinked, her gaze traveling from his shoulders along his body to his waist…
"What are you peeking at?" Meng Chijian suddenly said, "Why don't you come and take a look?"
Ah Mian quickly pulled her head back, only to realize that the porridge was about to overflow. She frantically tried to lift the lid, but was burned as soon as she touched it and pulled her hand back. Then she realized that she needed to use a damp cloth and finally managed to lift the lid.
She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she felt a little sweaty and absentmindedly finished cooking the slightly burnt food.
On the other hand, Meng Jing also felt that something was strange about the house today.
Normally, after Ah Mian finished eating, she would brazenly order Meng San to rub her stomach, but now she goes for a stroll in the backyard by herself.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
