The Zhang family's young couple started selling braised meat this time, half an hour earlier than the usual time they set up a stall to sell pork. When they arrived at the meat market, even the butchers living in the city had not arrived yet.
Zhang Fangyuan originally wanted Xu He to sell pork next to his stall, but Xu He was a particular person and loved cleanliness. The meat market is filled with the smell of raw meat. Now that the weather is getting warmer, it is prone to mosquitoes. Selling raw and cooked food together looks rather shabby.
Come to think of it, if it were me, I wouldn't want to buy cooked food from a pork stall with a layer of greasy blood on the chopping board, so I agreed to Xu He's request.
But then the two of them had to separate again.
"Go sell it along the alley at the entrance of Tianjie. There are many stalls and people eating and playing there, and there are often people from the government patrolling to maintain order. It is the safest place."
Xu He agreed. He had never been there before and only had a rough idea of what it was like. It would be a good opportunity to go over and check it out.
He put on his backpack and said to Zhang Fangyuan, "You better serve the customers well, or I may sell out before you do."
"You really don't want me to go with you?"
With Zhang Fangyuan by his side, he doesn't have to worry about anything, but he doesn't want to rely on Zhang Fangyuan for everything. It's not that he doesn't trust him, but since they are a couple, they both have to take responsibility for supporting the family.
"It's okay. I've been able to come to the city to sell things since I was ten, so I can handle it."
Zhang Fangyuan sighed slightly. Who told him to marry such a promising husband? "Okay. If you need anything, send someone to bring me a message."
Xu He then left the meat market. Zhang Fangyuan kept watching him until he could no longer be seen and then he packed up his stall.
After leaving the meat market, there are shops on both sides of the cobblestone street. At this time, all the people passing by are shop owners preparing to open their shops and yawning waiters, but there are few customers.
The morning light was shining brightly, the sky was light blue, and the morning breeze in the alley whistled past the wall. The smell was different from what he was used to smelling. In the past, it was the green grass, wild flowers and vegetable fields in the countryside, and in the city, it was freshly baked buns and noodles with chili oil...
The heavy weight on his back made Xu He feel that one day he would be able to easily take a bunch of keys to open the door and do some small business.
Why not?
At this time a few months ago, she was still digging the ground with a hoe, and cutting a basket of grass to go home for breakfast before the sun came out... Now she can go to the city and sell the food she made with her own hands, and get a promise from her husband, which is something she never thought of before.
What cannot be imagined can come true, let alone what is planned and thought of. He grasped the thick straps of the backpack, weighed the backpack upwards, and strode forward.
Tianjie is a main street, and the width of its two sides is comparable to that of the two narrow streets in Di. There are neatly arranged small stalls around it, selling all kinds of things.
Pancakes, fried cakes, sweet cakes and syrups, sugar paintings and candied haws... There were also stalls with larger areas, with two tables at the back, where they served boiled noodles to customers. These stalls opened much earlier than his.
Xu He rarely comes here. This place is just a place for fun and spending money. Farmers usually go to the city to buy household items and have no need to come here.
While he was looking around, he was also paying the money to the vendor who came up to collect it.
"I'll try setting up the stall for a day." Xu He did as Zhang Fangyuan asked, and paid ten cents for one day's stall fee.
The stall fee in Tianjie is higher than that in the meat market, and the shorter the rental period, the more expensive it is. If it weren't for testing the waters, he would have been reluctant to pay such an expensive stall fee.
"Okay, find a stall by yourself. Any single stall without a red stripe on it is fine." The stall manager gave me the money without even asking about the price. Thinking he was an experienced person, he didn't make any trouble by raising the price.
Xu He thanked the man. Since he had arrived early, there were more stalls to choose from. He immediately picked a conspicuous spot near the roadside and set up his stall quickly. Next to it is a chaos stall, so the items sold at the two stalls will not overlap, thus saving some trouble.
It was his first time selling, so Xu He didn’t prepare much. He braised half a pig’s head, a basket of pork intestines and pig’s heart. In addition, he also braised some ferns and bamboo shoots, as well as some black fungus that he had stored away previously. There aren't many in total, but the variety is quite rich.
He cut a little braised meat for tasting, and soon the stall was set up. The meat was placed on a long wooden tray and covered with mosquito netting, with half of it covered and half exposed. This not only kept the braised meat clean, but also allowed passers-by to see what was being sold.
There are many people coming and going in Tianjie, but the flow of people is not like that at the meat market and vegetable market. Generally, the morning market has the most people and the things that sell best are also the best. Since Tianjie is a place for entertainment, there are fewer customers if it's too early. Some of the customers are owners of nearby shops or employees doing their work.
The breakfast on the stall was selling well at this time, including noodle wontons sandwiched with tender and crispy vegetable leaves... At the wonton stall next to him, Xu He had already received three customers when he set up the stall.
No wonder many of the rented shops have not seen stall owners come to set up their stalls, it turns out that the time has not come yet. However, Xu He still felt that since the stall fee was so expensive, it would be better to set up the stall earlier and make more money earlier, so that he would not feel that the stall fee was too expensive.
"Little brother, how much is the braised meat? Cut a plate for me."
Xu He was sitting on a high stool behind the stall, watching over the stall, looking around at how the stalls with white steam coming out of them were attracting customers. This morning, he heard someone asking him a question.
He quickly got down from the stool and said, "Pig head meat is four cents an ounce, and pig heart is eight cents an ounce."
Xu He was quick-witted. The price of braised meat was high. If he directly said it was several dozen coins per pound, people would definitely be scared away. If he said it was twice as much, although it was less, it would be much easier to accept at first glance when they heard it was only a few coins.
The man was silent for a moment and took a sip of noodles.
Xu He took the opportunity to say, "There are also stewed dishes, two cents per ounce."
Upon hearing this, the man put down his chopsticks again, and without telling the stall owner not to rush to clean up, he went straight to Xu He's stall. Xu He quickly lifted all the curtains to let the man see.
The cooled pig's head and heart turned deep red. You couldn't smell the fragrance from a distance, but if you got closer you could smell the aroma of the marinade. And if you got closer you could see that the pig's head was very clean, without any hair at all.
"Try it." The man was not polite and poked a little bit of the chopped braised meat with a skewer to test the taste. There was no meaty taste, but the aroma of the braised meat lingered in his mouth for a long time, making him even more greedy.
"Give me two ounces of pork head meat, and some braised dishes."
Xu He said: "Brother, we are a small business. If you buy a pound of pork head, I will give you some braised dishes."
"I just want to eat noodles, I can't afford that much. Well, just give me some vegetables and make up ten cents."
"Okay, do you want some chili?"
The man threw the money on the stall and raised his leg to reply: "No need."
Xu He was a little disappointed when he heard this. His chili was carefully seasoned, but Zhang Fangyuan didn't even give it to him when he wanted to eat it. It was amazing that this guy didn't know the value of the food. But it didn't matter if he didn't want it, it would save some money. For example, if you want to weigh half a catty or a catty, you have to look at the scale. It is not convenient to weigh things that are only one or two taels. Besides, men are not as meticulous as women and boys. They just order and don't care.
Although he brought a scale with him, Xu He knew how much one or two taels of food weighed. Seeing that the man was not the kind of person who would pay attention to details, he took the pork head and cut it into two taels according to the scale at home. It was not much and the number of slices could be counted. One ounce of meat is the size of an egg, and two ounces of meat is two eggs, so when cut into pieces, they can be made into a few slices.
Xu He put it on a small plate. There was not much meat. He deliberately picked up two more slices of braised bamboo shoots, so it looked like there was still a whole plate.
The man ate the braised pork with noodles, which was considered a luxurious noodle meal.
Xu He sold half a pound of braised pork in the morning. Everyone who came to ask about the price bought it. His prices for braised food were very reasonable. In total, pig head meat was 40 cents per pound. You should know that a pig's head is sold at six cents per pound in the market. A pig's head weighs about twenty pounds. After removing the bones, there are only seven or eight pounds of meat. In total, the pig's head costs fifteen cents per pound.
People with ordinary heads don't like to buy pig heads to eat because it is too expensive and not suitable for a main meal to satisfy your craving. Instead, it is more suitable as a special dish to entertain guests. The meat of pig head is fat but not greasy, and it is very elastic after braising and has an excellent taste, so our ancestors used pig head as a must-have for special braised dishes.
He fanned himself to keep mosquitoes away from his stall and looked carefully at the other stalls. There is an interesting stall selling mutton offal soup in front, it is also a single stall without tables and chairs. When customers want mutton offal soup, he puts it in a round bamboo tube, which can be used to hold soup and can be taken away. There are quite a few people coming and going to do business.
Those selling cakes in the distance wrap the cakes in oil paper so that customers can eat them while walking. Xu He thought that since everyone who came up to ask about the price would buy something, it meant that the taste and price were reasonable. But few people came up to ask, which must be because there was no seat at this end and they couldn't just take the food and eat it.
This area is not like the vegetable and meat market. The people coming and going are women and men carrying baskets and their own containers. Only the stall owners bring their own containers.
Xu He saw the clue and went to the nearest grocery store and bought a stack of waterproof kraft paper that had been glued together to form small pockets. The waterproofness was very good and it would not leak if it was soaked in water for a long time. However, the price was a bit expensive and one penny could only buy three.
But it is much cheaper than clay pots and ceramic bowls.
He immediately cut two taels of pork head meat into a mixing bowl, then added chili soy sauce, chopped green onion, coriander, and some garlic water, mixed well, put it into an oil paper bag, held it up and shouted, "Twelve cents for a portion of braised food!"
Sure enough, after a while of shouting, passers-by saw that some of them were neatly packed like pancakes, and soon came over to ask.
Xu He quickly distributed the marinated food to the people to taste, and the people who tasted it nodded one after another: "I want one portion."
"Two."
Xu He saw that they were all elegantly dressed young ladies and gentlemen who were generous with their money. While serving the meat, he was also promoting his two flavors of chili and braised dishes. Sui Lu Ke specifically ordered braised vegetarian dishes, one flavor each of spicy and numb, or a mixture of vegetables and meat.
He set the prices promptly, with braised dishes costing six cents and vegetables and meat mixed at eight cents. One serving weighs just over two taels, and there's no need to weigh it. After mixing, wrap it in paper and eat it with a bamboo stick. You can finish it before the oil paper is damaged by the sauce. It's very convenient.
Although the amount sold at one time is small, the profit is small but the sales volume is large, so many people buy it. There was originally only half a pig's head, weighing only four pounds. Yesterday, more than half a pound was cut off and sent to Uncle Zhang's house. Zhang Fangyuan tasted some of it himself, and the rest to sell was about three pounds. One pig heart weighed one pound, and the pig intestines weighed about three or four pounds.
He washed the pig intestines seven or eight times, making them very clean, and braised them until they were soft and fragrant. Unlike many stir-fried pig intestines, which are difficult to bite, passers-by who try the braised ones will buy them. He met a man who was going to have a drink at a tavern by the river, and bought the remaining pound of pig intestines to go with his wine.
Vegetarian dishes weigh about three or four pounds in total, are cheaper than meat, and the seasonings are appetizing. Children also buy them, so they sell well.
By noon, everything was sold out.
As Xu He was picking up the leftovers, he thought to himself: I lost the ten cents for the stall.
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