Food and lodging are usually provided on merchant ships, but the food is not good, just some naan bread and the like. The weather has been abnormal recently, and it snowed heavily in early winter. The merchant ship had to dock at the pier, but there was no food on the ship. The boss gave each person 20 cents a day for food, and the rest could be kept by themselves. If it was not enough, they had to make up for it themselves.

The only things that this merchant ship was most frugal with were piles and black eggs. They would often go to the stalls at the pier to eat vegetarian wontons, or buy two steamed buns with vegetarian vegetables to make up for it.

Unlike them, they could go to the nearby restaurants to have a meal every day. Even if they asked Chuangzi Heidan to go with them, they would not go. In fact, if several people went together, each person could contribute a few dozen cents to have wine and meat. Therefore, the people on the boat were dissatisfied with Chuangzi Heidan. They thought that the two of them were stubborn and why were they so harsh on themselves.

After the few people got off the boat, the aroma of the meat-filled bun that Qiaozi Heidan was eating became even stronger, and it was pure meat aroma. No, it was more fragrant than any meat they had ever eaten, and it made people drool.

They also saw at a glance the young lady that Qiaozi Heidan had mentioned. Her face was frozen red and she was thin. She was followed by a man who looked very much like the nobleman they had seen in the capital, with a face as white as jade, handsome and noble. They had originally planned to go to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, but the aroma was so tempting that they walked towards the young lady's stall involuntarily as if their feet had taken root.

Since they were already here, they could only ask, "Young lady, are the pork buns made from pig offal really delicious? How much is one?"

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Eight cents each, the cake is big and the food is delicious. The guests should try it first."

Just now, Qiaozi Heidan did not tell them the price of the pork buns made from offal. They thought that because pork offal was cheap, the pork buns were sold cheaply. Qiaozi Heidan pretended that the cheap food he bought was delicious.

Now when I hear the price, I am a little surprised.

Zhuozi and Heidan are stingy when it comes to food, and they would never spend eight cents to buy a bad-tasting pork bun.

Besides, the smell can’t deceive.

One of them was so attracted by the aroma that he couldn't help but said, "Girl, give me a pork bun."

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "This is a meat bun."

"Okay, give me a meat bun. If it doesn't taste good, don't blame me for being rude."

After this person finished speaking, he felt the cold man next to the young lady look at them expressionlessly. They had been living on the edge of a knife for a long time, and being looked at like this by the cold man, they subconsciously felt a little scared.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "If it doesn't taste good, I can return the money to you."

She quickly made a meat bun, wrapped it in oil paper and handed it to the man.

This man took the Roujiamo and took a bite. His expression was similar to that of Qiaozi and Heidan. He opened his eyes wide and without saying a word, he ate the Roujiamo clean in three or four big bites. After he finished eating, he wiped his mouth and said, "My dear, give me two more. No, give me three more!" If he wants to eat, he will eat it all in one go.

Others saw this and couldn't help asking, "Seventh Brother, this pig offal is really delicious?"

Lao Qi nodded, "It's delicious, even better than the brine at the most famous brine stall in the capital. This brine has no fishy smell at all, it's a little smelly, but very, very fragrant, chewy, greasy but not greasy. I don't know how to describe it to you, but it's better than anything I've ever eaten. I want to eat more after eating it. There are also enough dishes inside, which is much more cost-effective than the pork buns that cost five cents each."

"Is it really that delicious? But it's made from pig's offal after all. Even with a fried egg on it, it shouldn't be worth eight cents."

Most of them come from poor families and know about commodity prices. They know that when pig offal is cheap, it only costs one cent per pound, which is equivalent to no cost. Only the bread and eggs cost a little more, and the other two dishes are also very cheap.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "My friends, I won't hide it from you. I didn't make much money from this meat bun. There are spices in this pot of brine. Otherwise, how do you think such smelly offal can taste so good?"

"spices?"

It was the first time for them to know that spices can be added to dishes as seasonings.

If it really has spices added, it wouldn't be expensive, because spices are really expensive.

"Young lady, give me one first." The others were also tempted by the way Lao Qi ate, and decided to have a try first.

Xu Qinyu said no more and concentrated on cutting the fatty intestines and side dishes.

Soon, four meat buns were ready and handed to the customer. The man who ordered one took a big bite and his eyes widened. "Mmm, delicious, really delicious, ma'am, give me three more!"

The tongue cannot deceive you. If it tastes good, it tastes good.

When the others heard this, they knew it must be really delicious.

They all wanted to try it immediately.

After tasting it, they did the same as the two companions before them and immediately ordered two or three more. Some of them, who had a bigger appetite, ordered five. In total, they bought twenty-one roujiamo.

A few people returned to the boat, still holding the meat buns in their hands, and their mouths were bulging.

Zhuozi and Heidan had already finished their roujiamo and were now sitting there savoring the taste of the roujiamo.

Seeing the meat buns in these people's hands, the two of them grinned.

Those people scratched their heads in embarrassment, and then began to tell other people on the merchant ship how delicious the roujiamo was.

Some people even reluctantly gave some to their good friends, and the friends went off the boat to buy without saying a word.

After doing this for a while, Xu Qinyu's meat buns were sold cleanly in a short while.

The portions she made were just right, with no leftovers, not even the broth left over, which she poured into the meat-filled steamed buns.

The brine she used was not special brine for making brine, the recipe of brine was also different. The soup of that kind was basically inedible, but brine could be reused. Hers was considered a sauce brine, the soup could be used to mix with rice, there were not many spices in it, in order to save spices, she fried the spices until dry and ground them into powder, so that only a small amount was needed to bring out the flavor. Although she spent several taels of silver on the spices, these spices were enough for her to use for more than two months.

This time, fifty-five roujiamo were prepared. Eleven were eaten by my family and the Xia family, leaving forty-four, which were all sold to the merchant ship. Some people hadn't bought any yet, but they tasted one from their friends and were amazed. They were so greedy that they asked Xu Qinyu if she could come over to sell them in the evening so that she could prepare more.

Xu Qinyu shook her head, "I don't plan to do this tonight."

She wanted to do something else in the evening and had some plans of her own.

The merchant ship's crew was very sorry and asked, "Will the young lady open the stall tomorrow morning?"

"Of course." Xu Qinyu smiled, "I come here to sell breakfast recently."

When they heard that the young lady would be back tomorrow, everyone felt relieved.

When the people on the other two official ships saw them snatching the meat-stuffed buns here, and heard that they were made from pig offal, they all looked down on them and laughed at the people on these merchant ships for having never eaten good food.

All the people on the official ships were government servants, transporting iron ore and coal. They had plenty of money and no shortage of food or drink. Even though they were trapped in the canal, they would go to the better restaurants on East Street and West Street to eat and drink every day, and would never even look at the stalls by the pier.

…

After selling all the things, the two planned to return to Guihuaxiang. When leaving, Pei Weixuan glanced at the two official ships with a slightly cold look.

Xu Qinyu and Pei Weixuan were pushing the cart back. When they passed by the small market on South Street, she planned to buy some vegetables to take back.

There are many small markets like this in the town, all located in wider alleys. Most of them sell vegetables. There are not many stalls, only about ten. The weather is too cold, so there are only four or five stalls left selling vegetables.

I’ll need some ingredients to make meat buns tomorrow, so I’ll go buy some offal from the butcher.

The butcher obviously still remembered Xu Qinyu. There were not many people on South Street who could buy several pounds of pork ribs and pork belly in one go. When he learned that Xu Qinyu still wanted to buy pork offal, he paid her the same price of thirty cents as before, which was less than two cents per pound. Xu Qinyu made an appointment with the butcher to continue buying at this time tomorrow, and said that she would come to buy every day from then on.

The butcher was very happy. Although the offal was priced at two cents per pound, in reality few people were willing to buy it at even one cent, and most of the time it could not be sold.

Even though I only sell it for a penny now, I still make a little profit.

After buying the fish, Xu Qinyu saw a fish stall in front of her. They were all grass carp, each weighing about two to three kilograms, and there were about ten of them.

The fish seller was an old man who looked to be in his fifties with somewhat gray hair. He squatted there, his face a little stiff from being frozen. He kept rubbing his hands and staring at the customers passing by.

Seeing this, Xu Qinyu stopped and asked about the price of the fish.

When the old man heard someone asking about the price, he immediately said, "If you want it, it's one penny per pound."

The price of fish was low, and it was cold, so few people wanted to eat it. He set up his stall for the whole morning but didn't sell a single fish.

Xu Qinyu said, "Okay, weigh all of these for me."

These fish are still fresh. Although they are not jumping around, they died this morning.

Hearing that the young lady in front of him wanted them all, the old man was stunned for a moment, "Young lady, you want them all?"

Xu Qinyu nodded. "If you still have fish at home, you can send them all here at this time tomorrow morning. I will continue to order tomorrow."

The old man was surprised. He didn't expect that someone would buy so many fish. He nodded immediately and said, "Okay, don't worry, young lady. I will come again tomorrow."

There were a total of 40 pounds of fish, 18 fish, which were all placed in a wooden basin by the two men and stuffed under the cart. In the end, they paid the old man 40 cents.

I bought a lot of radish, cabbage and eggs before, so I don’t need to buy more for now.

When we returned to Osmanthus Lane, the snow had lessened a bit.

Xu Qinyu was a little worried, as she always felt that the weather was abnormally severe.

It's still early winter, why is it snowing so heavily? I hope nothing disaster happens.

If there had been a natural disaster in ancient times, there would have been corpses everywhere.

Mrs. Wen was not at home. Pei Jianing stayed in the main room with the two children. She was teaching Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er to read.

Xu Qinyu asked, "Sister Ning, where is mother?"

Pei Jianing said listlessly, "Mother said she would go to the east and west of the city to look for work washing clothes, or embroidery workshops or something."

Xu Qinyu said nothing. She did not support Wen doing laundry and embroidery. Wen's eldest son, grandson and daughter-in-law had all died, and she had been in tears almost every day during her exile. Embroidery was also harmful to the eyes. She had seen Wen several times that she had to get close to see things. If she went to embroider again, would she still have eyes?

There is also the job of pulping and washing clothes for others, which is the dirtiest and most tiring job. Most people would not help others to pulp and wash clothes unless they are starving to death at home.

Wen had to clean the house every day, help wash the kitchen utensils, and do the laundry for the whole family.

She felt that the Wen family was better, and if she really wanted to find a job, she could find something easier.

Forget it, I’ll tell her when Mrs. Wen comes back.

It's only noon now.

Xu Qinyu did not delay and began to pack the herring she had bought by the well.

Pei Weixuan also went over to help. There was only one kitchen knife, which was used by Xu Qinyu, so he picked up a few thin tiles and started to help scrape the fish scales.

Xu Qinyu turned around and called out, "Sister Ning, come and help too."

Pei Jianing hesitated, "Fourth sister-in-law, but I can't."

"It's okay. I'll teach you."

Pei Jianing bit her lip, told Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er to stay in the main room and not move, and she went to the well.

Xu Qinyu picked up a tile and handed it to her, "Just help me scrape the scales. Grab the fish tail and start scraping from the tail to the head."

Pei Jianing had no choice but to try it. After working for a while, she found that this job was not difficult.

Xu Qinyu prepared these fishes with the intention of braising them and then selling them in Guihua Lane. Those skinny little children looked quite pitiful.

So she didn't plan to sell these fish at a high price. One weighing about two pounds was five cents, and one weighing about three pounds was eight cents. She could still make some money, but it would definitely not be much.

It can also attract customers. Don’t underestimate low-income customers. If done well, it can also be an industrial chain.

Furthermore, it is also important to maintain good neighborly relations.

After cleaning all the fish, cut them into pieces, sprinkle a little salt and ginger slices on them and marinate them slightly.

The pot is a bit small, so I have to split it into three pots.

When I make money in the future, I will buy a big iron pot.

…

It was not yet time for dinner, but bursts of delicious aroma wafted from Osmanthus Lane, making every household a little worried. It was not that they complained about others preparing delicious food all day long, but it was so tempting that the adults could still resist it, but the children could not. At this moment, the children started to make trouble with them again.

Just when everyone was about to coax their children, a young lady's voice came from the alley, "Delicious and cheap braised herring, small one is five cents, big one is eight cents, the quantity is limited, the price is affordable, first come first served, it will be gone when it's sold out."