The people living in the sweet-scented osmanthus village all knew that the new young lady who had moved in was a great cook, otherwise the food she cooked all day long would not have smelled so good.

When I heard the young lady's shout in the alley, I guessed that it was the young lady with great cooking skills. I saw her pushing a cart to the dock for breakfast in the morning, but the meat bun was too expensive, eight cents each, which was only enough for the children to fill their stomachs. How could she bear it? When I heard the young lady shouting like that, I couldn't help but be moved.

But listen carefully, braised herring?

Fish? Fish has a strong earthy smell. Sometimes they buy fish when they have nothing to eat at home. It is indeed cheap, cheaper than beans and grains, but it is also not delicious. It tastes fishy when cooked and makes people feel sick. Children don't want to eat it at all. They would rather eat boiled vegetables, so adults are not willing to buy it either.

As soon as the young lady said it was fish, everyone couldn't help but wonder, can it be delicious?

But the smell was no different from the meat bun I had in the morning. The children at home were also making noises, "Mom, mom, I want to eat, I want to eat."

Everyone can only come out and take a look.

As soon as they came out, they saw the skinny young lady pushing the strange cart from the morning and hawking her wares, with the good-looking man beside her.

On the chopping board on the cart were a casserole and an iron pot, steam coming out of them.

Xu Qinyu even moved out the iron pot. The braised herrings would easily have a smell if placed in a wooden basin, and the large casserole was the one with the salinated pork intestines, so it was not easy to put them in other containers.

Seeing someone coming out, Xu Qinyu started to sell again.

Someone came over with a child and asked, "My dear, is your fish delicious?"

Xu Qinyu stopped pushing the cart and smiled, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, it will definitely taste good. If it doesn't taste good, you don't have to pay me. If it doesn't taste good, you can come to me to get a refund. This fish is fresh out of the pot, fresh and tender, and herring doesn't have many bones. It's nutritious, and it's the best for children to supplement their bodies. But you must be careful to pick out the bones when feeding it to children. It's best to give children the meat on the belly and the head of the fish. A fish weighs two or three pounds. A small one costs five cents, and a big one costs eight cents. After you buy it back, put a clay pot on the stove and cook it. Add water and an appropriate amount of salt. Then you can add cabbage, tofu, radish, bean sprouts, etc. to the pot. The herring is fat, so you don't need to add oil. You can eat it after it boils."

This is also the most economical way of eating she came up with. It is delicious and nutritious. One casserole plus side dishes is enough for a family of several people.

The kid next to him was already drooling with envy and trying hard to pull at his mother's clothes.

"Mom, mom, I want to eat, I want to eat."

The sister-in-law was also very tempted when she heard this. A small fish only cost five cents, and with some other dishes, it would be enough for the whole family to have dinner. Moreover, the young lady also said that if the fish they bought back smelled fishy, ​​she would give them a refund.

"Okay, give me one."

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, go back and get the pot, and I'll help you pick one."

The woman came back quickly with a casserole and asked Xu Qinyu to put the fish in it. The herring was scooped out, its skin looked browned and covered with soy sauce, it looked delicious.

The woman took the fish, paid for it, and went home with her child.

Some people here bought it, and others were also tempted.

There are about a dozen families living in Guihua Lane. Any sound can be heard in the lane, so we know that someone has bought the braised herring.

Many people gathered around and talked at once.

Someone else asked, "Young lady, if it doesn't taste good, will you really give me a refund?"

Xu Qinyu nodded, "Really retreat."

Of course, the fish she cooked was always fried first to make the skin crispy, then stewed in water until the juice was absorbed, but the inside was very tender and delicious. If someone really said that the fish she stewed was not delicious and asked her to return the money, then that was just looking for trouble. She would never sell her own food to that person again.

When everyone heard this, they all went home and brought pots to buy fish. Some chose big ones, while others chose smaller ones.

Xu Qinyu also told them again and again how to eat the fish. The fish was still hot and they could eat it directly when they got home. They could put it in a pot, add some salt, hot water and side dishes. She also warned them carefully that those with children at home must be careful.

One of the old ladies stared at the fish spinning in the pot and asked Xu Qinyu, "Young lady, if you don't even let me taste the fish, how can I know if it's really delicious? What if it's not delicious and you don't give me a refund?"

"Don't worry, auntie." Xu Qinyu glanced at the old woman, "It's really not tasty. Once you taste it, the whole fish will look bad. It's sold cheaply and you won't make much money."

The old woman stared at Xu Qinyu for a few seconds, and seeing that she spoke softly, she smiled and said, "Okay, then give me a big one."

When the others saw this, they looked at the young lady and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

In the end, he didn't say anything and just watched the young lady sell the fish to the old woman.

In the end, the dozen or so fish were all bought by people in Guihua Lane.

This time the stall was cleared even faster, and Xu Qinyu even kept two larger fish for herself, one for herself and one for the Xia family.

Not long after returning home, Zhuzi came over. Xu Qinyu gave him the braised herring, told him how to eat it, and also gave him some leftover fish balls.

After Zhuzi left, Wen had not returned yet.

It was completely dark and past dinner time, but Wen still hadn't returned.

Xu Qinyu was a little restless, and even Pei Jianing couldn't help looking towards the gate of the courtyard.

Xu Qinyu was getting a little impatient, "Fourth brother, Jianing, I'm going to go out and see why mom hasn't come back yet."

"I'll go with you."

Pei Weixuan also stood up.

The two asked Pei Jianing to look after the children at home and walked towards the door.

Just as he reached the entrance of the yard, Pei Weixuan stopped and said, "Mom is back."

Xu Qinyu was puzzled. The snow outside was thick, and if someone walked on it, they would hear a creaking sound. However, she didn't hear any footsteps at all. When she opened the gate and looked towards the entrance of the alley, she actually found a figure at the entrance of the alley. It looked like Wen.

"Fourth brother, you are really amazing."

Xu Qinyu was amazed. Could it be that her cheap husband had internal strength, lightness skills, and martial arts? He must be the legendary martial arts master!

Pei Weixuan glanced at her, and seeing that her eyes were wide open, he felt a little helpless.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Wen came back.

Wen was a little absent-minded when she entered the yard. When she saw her son and daughter-in-law waiting for her at the door, she smiled a little, "It's getting dark. Haven't you eaten your evening meal yet? You don't have to wait for me in the future. If I come back late, you can eat first."

Xu Qinyu shook her head. "That won't work. We must wait for mom to come back and eat together."

When I entered the kitchen, the pot was already bubbling with steam, and the house was filled with fragrance.

Xu Qinyu added some crushed cornel pepper and lard to the pot of fish, which made it taste spicy and appetizing.

The whole family sweated a little while eating, and felt warm and comfortable.

After dinner, no one was in a hurry to clean up the kitchen. Wen took out her purse and poured out dozens of copper coins. She said that she had found a landlord in the west of the city today and paid more money than others. She earned thirty coins by washing clothes for the landlord.

It was indeed not bad to earn thirty cents a day by washing clothes for others. You should know that the daily expenses of an ordinary family here might not even amount to thirty cents, and a strong laborer in an ordinary family might only earn thirty or forty cents a day. For other women, earning ten or so cents a day by washing clothes for others was considered good.

Xu Qinyu couldn't help but persuade Wen, saying that she could help at home and didn't have to go out to wash clothes for others, which was too hard work.

Wen shook her head, "Yu Niang, just let me do it."

Otherwise, she would feel guilty if the burden of the whole family fell on Yu Niang.

Not to mention the owner...

Wen clenched his fists.

Seeing that Wen Shi insisted, Xu Qinyu could not persuade her any further. Only Pei Weixuan looked at his mother.

Wen counted the money he had earned today, and Xu Qinyu also took out the wallet and started counting the money.

Today I sold forty-four meat buns and sixteen fish. Each meat bun was eight cents, so I made a total of three hundred and fifty-two cents.

The cost of a roujiamo is about four cents, and the cost of pig offal can be ignored. The main costs are flour, eggs and spices. The net profit of a roujiamo is about three cents. The net profit of these more than 40 roujiamo is about 150 cents. The cost can be reduced further when we go to the village to collect eggs and vegetables.

The cost of the fish is low, but she sells it at a low price.

I make about one cent per pound of fish. Today I sold sixteen fish, making a profit of about thirty cents.

This means that today's net profit is about 180 cents.

Today is just a trial operation. If the meat buns and braised fish sell well, we will definitely increase the quantity in the future.

In fact, the profit of roujiamo is definitely much higher than that of fish. Why doesn't Mushi go to the pier to continue selling roujiamo? Xu Qinyu has her own plans. When she opens a restaurant in the future, she plans to continue selling this kind of braised whole fish. The price will not increase much, and it can become a promotional tool for the restaurant.

Of course, she also had her own selfish motives. She just felt that those children were so pitiful.

She herself came from an orphanage and knew very well what it was like for the children to go hungry and drink little.

Mrs. Wen never thought that her daughter-in-law could earn 180 coins a day.

By this calculation, he would have more than five taels of silver a month, which was almost as much as the salary of an official of the sixth or seventh rank.

Of course, making a living is definitely hard. It is no comparison with being an official. Among the four classes of people, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the lowest class is the merchant.

Mrs. Wen did not collect money for her daughter-in-law. She let Yu Niang keep all the money herself. Her daughter-in-law had the brain to make money, so it was not right for her to keep the money, especially since it was all earned by her daughter-in-law herself.

She kept the money she earned for herself and could not ask her daughter-in-law for money everywhere.

After dinner, Wen helped clean up the kitchen and kitchen utensils, and Xu Qinyu began to cook salted and fatty intestines.

She had scrubbed these wastes clean in the afternoon and now she was just rubbing them.

Soon, the alley was filled with the aroma of salted pork intestines.

But the children living in Osmanthus Lane did not make any noise tonight because they also had delicious fish and vegetables to eat in the evening.

The children slept beside their mothers, and when they smelled the fragrance, they would just pull at their mothers' clothes and say, "Mom, the food that sister made is so delicious."

The woman held the child in her arms and said with a smile, "Are you still hungry?"

The child nodded and shook his head, "It's still hungry, but I ate a lot at night, so it's still hungry."

The children had never eaten such delicious dinner before. The fish sold by the sister was so delicious. Even the cabbage, radish, tofu and bean sprouts in it were much more flavorful.

"Mom, can we still eat fish tomorrow?" The child still wanted to eat.

The woman smiled and said, "Of course."

A fish costs five cents, and they can afford cheap dishes such as radish, turnip, and tofu. It only costs a little more than usual, but the whole family can eat well, especially the children can also nourish their bodies. Of course, they know that the young lady is kind-hearted and deliberately sells such delicious fish to them at a low price. Otherwise, with such craftsmanship and such delicious fish, the price would be dozens of times higher if sold in any restaurant or wine shop.

The people in Guihua Lane were all very grateful to Xu Qinyu, and they all hoped that if anything happened to the young lady's family in the future, they would go over to help.

…

The next morning, Xu Qinyu got up and fried eggs, made pancakes, and stir-fried cabbage.

This time, there were more than fifty meat-stuffed buns. When Zhuzi came to get food for Shao Ge'er, Xu Qinyu gave him a meat-stuffed bun and a bowl of porridge, which was Shao Ge'er's meal.

Yesterday we made some fresh food so that everyone in the Xia family could taste it, but today only Shao Ge'er got a share.

Seeing this, Zhuzi scratched his head and said, "Miss Xu, my husband said he also wants to buy some meat buns."

The main thing is that yesterday morning, my grandfather ate a meat bun and was not satisfied at all. He said that he had never eaten such delicious food in all the years he traveled around the country.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Of course, how many meat buns would you like, Mr. Xia?"

Zhuzi smiled and said, "I want seven."

The old man could eat four in one go, and the remaining three were each for him, Xiao Cui and his wife.

Xu Qinyu took the money and made seven meat-filled steamed buns for Zhuzi to take back.

She also went out to set up a stall with Pei Weixuan.

There were only forty roujiamo buns left, and Xu Qinyu guessed that there might not be enough to sell at the pier.

Sure enough, as soon as she arrived at the dock, the caravan members who had bought roujiamo from her yesterday came over immediately.

When they learned that there were only about 40 roujiamo, they immediately started lining up. Almost everyone on the merchant ship came, and each person wanted three or four roujiamo, which was enough for about ten people. Later, the men who didn't get any couldn't help crying, "Miss, can't you make more? We didn't get any."

Xu Qinyu touched her nose and said, "Then I'll prepare more tomorrow."

Moreover, these men have only eaten it for one day, so it must still be fresh. It will take at least ten days or half a month to finish it. It seems like we should prepare more for tomorrow.

The officers and soldiers on the two official ships just came down and saw this scene. They sneered and said, "What country folks are you? They think the offal eaten by dogs is a treasure."

After hearing this, the people on the merchant ship were angry but dared not say anything.

After the officers and soldiers finished their ridicule, they left together.

As a result, the group of soldiers had just taken a few steps forward when the officer who had just mocked the pig for being eaten by dogs suddenly fell face first onto the ground. He seemed to have been badly injured, and he howled miserably, with blood all over his face.

Xu Qinyu chuckled and looked at Pei Weixuan again. She knew that it was impossible for such a coincidence to happen. It must have been done by her cheap husband. Her cheap husband must have internal strength and martial arts.

Pei Weixuan lowered his eyes slightly, "Yu Niang, let's go back too."

"good."

Xu Qinyu's voice was cheerful.

The two of them pushed the cart to the market to buy pig offal and fish.

This time Xu Qinyu bought two pigs to go into the water, and the old man who sold fish yesterday also came, and he also sold about 40 kilograms of black carp.

After buying things, the two returned to Osmanthus Lane.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Pei Jianing sitting in the main room with red eyes, her hair a little messy, and her trousers seemed a little messy as well.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er were snuggling in Pei Jianing's arms with pale faces.