Chapter 57
When Chen Qing was cooking, he set aside a portion for Li the blacksmith and Niu Niu. Li the blacksmith was a rough man, and his cooking skills were about the same as Zhou Yuan's, but since they got married, Zhou Yuan's cooking skills had improved a lot.
After they finished eating, they took the leftovers to the Li family's house. In the afternoon, Zhou Yuan went to the Li family's house, but only Niu Niu was home. He said that Li the blacksmith had gone to the shop, so he took Niu Niu to the shop.
When Li the blacksmith learned that Zhang Yin could be cured, he cried very hard. This tough and upright man cried like a child. When he cried, Niu Niu also cried. In the end, the two of them hugged each other and cried. Zhou Yuan shook his head helplessly.
At this moment, Chen Qing watched as Niu Niu ate his vegetables and cornbread with relish, and Li the blacksmith's eyes were also red. He pulled Chen Qing aside and told him about what had happened in Yunxi Town.
"Don't worry too much. When we left, Aunt Yin was much better." Chen Qing had always been a little afraid of Li the blacksmith, but seeing him cry like this for Aunt Yin, he suddenly felt that Li the blacksmith wasn't so scary after all.
"Thank you, thank you so much." Li the blacksmith wiped his tears with his sleeve again, then remembered something, ran back into the house, and came out with a purse. "This is the money I've earned recently. Give it all to them so they don't suffer."
Zhou Yuan saw the purse he took out, which contained loose silver and copper coins, probably all of which he had earned recently.
Zhou Yuan pressed his hand down: "Keep these for Niu Niu. Your godmother and the others don't have many expenses over there, and they haven't even used up the money you gave them before."
Li the blacksmith insisted on giving him the purse: "I can still earn money, don't worry about it, just take it to them."
Left with no other choice, Zhou Yuan could only leave with Chen Qing, carrying the purse.
Chen Qing looked at the purse in his hand with a helpless expression.
“He’ll feel bad if we don’t accept his money,” Zhou Yuan sighed. “When we come back later, we’ll buy some snacks for Niu Niu and some things for the family.”
After they finished their trip, it got dark. Zhou Yuan lit the lamp, and Chen Qing made the bed. After all, they had been away for almost a month. Although Aunt Sun often came to clean, the room still smelled of dust.
Chen Qing lay on the bed making the bed, while Zhou Yuan boiled water in the kitchen. Now that they were home, they should relax. There was a large bathtub in the house, which he had asked a carpenter to make after he got married, and now it was finally coming in handy.
The water in the bathtub slowly cooled down, and Chen Qing's face was flushed. His body also turned rosy pink from being soaked in hot water. Zhou Yuan, who had given up, couldn't resist when he saw him like this.
He dried Chen Qing with a cloth and placed him on the bed, then wiped himself off haphazardly and pressed Chen Qing down onto the bed again.
This night was far too long.
Before Chen Qing fainted, he thought, "Sure enough, Zhou Yuan was really holding back."
Perhaps because he was back in familiar surroundings and had been exhausted the night before, Chen Qing woke up a little late this morning. Zhou Yuan decided to let him sleep a little longer, and they would go to the county town this afternoon, stay there tonight, and sell their goods tomorrow.
After Chen Qing woke up, he kicked Zhou Yuan, who grinned and showed his white teeth. Then he kissed Chen Qing's toes.
Chen Qing rested in bed all day, and only went to town with Zhou Yuan in the afternoon. After they arrived in town, Meng Qi finally couldn't help but circle around Zhou Yuan and ask, "What is this? Is it edible?"
Meng Qi was practically craving food last night. He stayed by the two carts of food all night, his mouth watering at the aroma. He had never smelled anything so delicious before, and he got up several times, but in the end he didn't dare to reach out and take some.
"Try one." Zhou Yuan lifted the felt cloth, took out a red persimmon, and handed it to him.
Meng Qi swallowed hard: "Really? You want to eat it?"
"Eat up," Chen Qing said with a smile, "It's delicious."
Meng Qi stopped being reserved and finished the whole thing in a few bites. He wasn't well-educated and didn't know how to describe the taste. It was very peculiar; it wasn't sweet like a fruit, and he didn't know how to eat it like a vegetable.
Chen Qing recalled what Manager Tian had told him earlier: "Shouldn't we set an example for everyone first, so they know how to eat these things?"
Zhou Yuan nodded. He had already thought it through yesterday, so when he went to see Li the blacksmith yesterday, he got a small stove from him. Now all he needed to do was buy some charcoal, and he could cook for them on the spot while they were shopping.
Zhou Yuan looked at Chen Qing and said, "I can't cook, so I can only ask Qing for help."
Chen Qing was shocked that he was being asked to stir-fry vegetables in front of everyone.
He shook his head: "I can't, I can't, I can't do it."
"But neither Meng Qi nor I know how to do it, so what should we do?" Zhou Yuan was very distressed. It seemed that he didn't want to train Chen Qing as before, but he really had no other choice.
Chen Qing looked at him, then at Meng Qi, and finally at the two trucks behind him carrying the things they had worked so hard to bring back from Yunxi Town.
"Alright then, I'll go with you guys tomorrow."
Zhou Yuan held his hand and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here with you. I'll say whatever you need to say. Just think of it as cooking at home."
Chen Qing felt he couldn't do it, but he also couldn't just watch their money go down the drain.
Chen Qing didn't sleep well that night, but he didn't wake up. He just kept hearing other noises.
They rested briefly in the small house for one night, and the next day they took the two carts of goods to the market in the county town. On one side of the market were stalls that had paid fixed stall fees, and on the other side were individual vendors who only needed to pay ten coins a day to set up a stall temporarily.
Zhou Yuan pulled over two carts, covering the goods completely with felt. Many of the vendors here were curious, because it was rare for small vendors like them to sell so much stuff.
The morning market in the county town opens very early, and people have already started to come and buy things. Seeing that it was almost time, Zhou Yuan untied the felt cloth covering the two vehicles, and soon people gathered around.
"What kind of fruit is this? I've never seen it before."
"The red color is very festive, but I don't know what it is?"
"It smells quite nice to me."
Someone else pointed to the cucumbers on the side and asked, "What's this?"
Someone reached out and touched it, and could still feel some small thorns on the melon: "It looks so strange, can we eat it?"
Once everyone had gathered around, Zhou Yuan began to speak: "These are products we brought from Xixin Prefecture. They are local specialties of Xixin Prefecture. This one is called a red persimmon, and the green one is called a cucumber."
"This persimmon is a rare delicacy, whether you eat it on its own, stir-fry it, or mix it with honey."
As he spoke, Zhou Yuan took a red persimmon out of the car, cut it open with the knife he carried with him, and saw that the red skin of the persimmon was covered with glistening flesh.
Zhou Yuan cut the piece open and had the people gathered in front of him divide it up; those who liked it should buy it immediately.
Zhou Yuan then said, "Because we transported them back from Xixin Prefecture, the price will definitely be higher. The first twenty will only cost thirty coins per catty, and the rest will cost thirty-five coins."
Thirty-five coins a pound is really not cheap; even lean meat is only twenty coins a pound.
"I'll buy first, I want to try something new." The person selected a few items, and Meng Qi weighed them neatly and efficiently.
Soon, many people came to buy it, after all, it was a new product and everyone was willing to try it.
Some people who didn't like eating it plain were still observing. At this time, Chen Qing's charcoal fire was also lit, and the pot was now glowing red. Zhou Yuan moved aside a little so that everyone could see him.
Chen Qing knew that many people were watching him, and his face turned red. Then Zhou Yuan said, "If you don't like eating it plain, just add an egg and a little salt."
After he finished speaking, everyone watched as Chen Qing stir-fried eggs with persimmons. Just the sight of those red persimmons filling the pan was enough to release a wonderful aroma. When the eggs were ready, Chen Qing had only added a little salt. Putting everything else aside, the dish looked delicious and made people very hungry.
After tasting Chen Qing's stir-fried persimmons, even more people bought them. Meng Qi and Zhou Yuan were too busy to keep up, so Chen Qing quietly came over to help.
They also sold a lot of the cucumbers and peppers they brought back. Some of the husbands were a little afraid of Zhou Yuan, so they asked Chen Qing, "How should we eat this?"
Chen Qing gripped his sleeve and said, "This cucumber is delicious as long as you smash it and mix it with regular seasonings. If you can handle the spiciness, you can chop the chili pepper and mix it in with the cucumber."
"Then I'll buy some too."
After the initial sensation, fewer people came, but the two trucks still sold quite a lot of goods.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, only half of the goods remained on the two carts, and there weren't many people left on the street.
Chen Qing became somewhat anxious. Only half of the goods had been sold, so they would still lose money.
Zhou Yuan noticed his emotions and squeezed his hand: "Don't worry, trust me."
Chen Qing had no choice but to nod.
The sun was too strong, and Zhou Yuan didn't want Chen Qing to be exposed to the sun, so they parked their car and prepared to return to their lodgings.
They hadn't gone far when they were stopped.
All of this seemed to be within Zhou Yuan's expectations. The visitor was the manager of a restaurant in the county town, whom Zhou Yuan had met before.
"Young man, have you sold out of these rare items?" The manager craned his neck to look, but the felt cloth covered him completely, so he couldn't see anything.
"Of course there are more. May I ask who you are?" Zhou Yuan asked, neither humble nor arrogant.
"I am the manager of Cyclamen Restaurant. I heard today that you have some rare items here, so the manager specifically asked me to come and take a look. Please come inside the shop so we can talk more?"
Zhou Yuan glanced at Chen Qing, then led them to the shopkeeper.
When they arrived at the backyard of the cyclamen restaurant, the manager was already waiting. He glanced at Zhou Yuan and knew that he was the one who could make decisions.
"May I ask how many of these novelties you have left? We'd like to buy them all," the shopkeeper said bluntly.
Zhou Yuan had been waiting for this opportunity. Last night, after Chen Qing went to sleep, he and Meng Qi cleaned up the two cars again, removing the damaged ones and putting the larger, more attractive ones at the bottom.
Zhou Yuan then lifted the felt cloth, revealing that the animals underneath were all larger.
The shopkeeper immediately understood: they were selling small items in the market, and the big items were waiting for them to come.
“We only have this much left, and we won’t have any more for a while. Has the shopkeeper made up his mind?” Zhou Yuan said.
The shopkeeper confirmed with him again: "Are you sure this is the last bit left?"
“Yes, after all, Yunxi Town is far away, and the goods are not inanimate objects, they are easily damaged. We may only make this trip once a year.” Zhou Yuan calmed down. “Shopkeeper, you don’t need to worry about us selling to you and then selling to someone else.”
"Alright, let's settle the accounts." The shopkeeper was very satisfied. As long as his shop had something that only he could produce, he wouldn't have to worry about not making money.
Since the shopkeeper had already shown his sincerity, Zhou Yuan naturally didn't put on airs and even had Chen Qing explain to them how to cook chili peppers and how to dry them to make seasonings.
I also introduced the seasonings I brought back to the shopkeeper.
"Just grill it over an open flame and sprinkle on some seasonings, and it's an absolute gem."
But they didn't bring many seasonings, only about ten kilograms.
The shopkeeper looked troubled: "Some are too few."
Zhou Yuan laughed and said, "Shopkeeper, if it's always been available, then it's not surprising, don't you think?"
The shopkeeper suddenly realized.
They sold the rest of their food to Cyclamen Restaurant. In the afternoon, a few of them even grilled meat in Cyclamen Restaurant's backyard. No matter what kind of meat it was, as long as it was grilled over charcoal and sprinkled with these seasonings, it became an exquisite delicacy.
They brought him out of Xiankelai. Meng Qi's mind was still blank. Looking at Zhou Yuan's tall figure, he knew that following Zhou Yuan to work was definitely the right thing to do.
They went back inside, and everything was sold. Now they had a chance to see how much they had earned.
The box containing the money had always been on Zhou Yuan's person, and Chen Qing and Meng Qi hadn't had time to look at it. Now that they were back with an empty cart, Meng Qi's eyes were shining as he waited to see it.
Zhou Yuan emptied the money box, and after the three of them counted the money, they realized that they had already made back the cost of the goods at Cyclamen. The retail sales in the morning were their pure profit.
These items sold for ninety taels, meaning they made forty taels from this trip!
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