Zhou Sui first introduced two snacks: Oden and Malatang.
To achieve the best flavor, the Zhou family ate oden and mala tang for lunch and dinner for several days in a row, except for breakfast.
While everyone else was thoroughly enjoying the food, Zhou Sui finally felt satisfied with the taste.
The next morning, Zhou Sui and Zhou Xu each carried a bucket of soup base and skewered ingredients, and took a bus to town.
"Sis, why are you carrying so much stuff when I go to school?"
Once in the car, Zhou Xu frowned as he looked at all the things around him. He had no idea how Zhou Sui could carry them all by herself.
Zhou Sui was also worried. "Let's wait a couple of days and see what the price of a tricycle is. Then we can buy one and have Dad take us to town."
Now, Zhang Cui and Li Qiuju, as a large family, travel together, one selling clothes and the other selling popcorn.
If you can't afford a car now, having a tricycle will be much more convenient.
"Or we could look for a storefront; if there's a cheap one, we could rent one to use for now."
She also placed the food cart she ordered in town. Sister Wang, who bought clothes from her, lives on the first floor and happens to have a yard.
Zhou Sui gave her some money and placed the food cart in Sister Wang's yard.
"Dad's at the brick factory, how can I get you there?"
Zhou Xu thought that if it really didn't work out, he would stop staying at the dormitory. He could drop his family off in town on his way to school in the morning and help them bring their things back in the evening.
“Dad is coming back tomorrow, and I’m thinking of asking him to stop going to work at the brick factory.”
Working in the brick factory was too tiring and hot, and the wages weren't high. It would be better for the family to run a business together, where they could earn just as much as they did at the brick factory.
"That's fine too. We'll tell Dad together when he gets back tomorrow."
Zhou Xu also felt sorry for his father, but there was nothing he could do before. Now that there was a better way, he naturally wanted to make his father suffer less.
After getting off the bus, the siblings went directly to Sister Wang's house. The adults were out, so only the two children were at home.
After Zhou Sui greeted everyone, she pushed the food cart towards the east side of the town, where all the town's factories were located, and the flow of people was no less than that of the residential buildings.
Moreover, there are always people there, whether it's morning, noon, or night, because the factory has morning, noon, and night shifts, and they can catch the middle shift workers getting off work when they go there now.
By the time the siblings arrived, people were already selling things there.
Zhou Sui had visited before; they sell steamed buns, porridge, soy milk, noodles, and dumplings.
"Wow, even clothing stores are selling here now?"
Zhou Sui saw a row of clothes laid out on the ground from afar and was surprised that someone had such good taste in finding such a good place.
Upon closer inspection, she felt that the way the clothes were arranged looked somewhat familiar.
Isn't this what she taught her second aunt?
"Sui Sui, A Xu?"
Just as she wished, Zhang Cui greeted them with a smile.
“I told your mom that those two kids looked a bit like you, and it turns out they really do.”
"My mom?" Zhou Sui asked, puzzled.
Zhang Cui pointed ahead, "Yes, your mother came with me and is selling popcorn up ahead."
Looking in the direction she pointed, several young girls in work clothes were gathered around Li Qiuju's large plastic bag, tasting popcorn.
Seeing Zhang Cui was surprising enough, but seeing Li Qiuju and Zhou Sui was even more surprising.
But she didn't have time to ask now. Seeing that the people inside were about to come out, Zhou Sui hurriedly parked the car and began to make preparations.
Underneath the food cart was the stove. Zhou Sui used honeycomb briquettes, but she had switched to a burning coal briquette when she left Sister Wang's house. The fire had been burning brightly all the way here.
The broth was poured into a large pot. The broth was kept in a thermos and was still steaming when it was poured out.
Place grid-like items in the pot, and then put the dishes into the grids one by one.
She prepared a lot of dishes, but they were mainly vegetarian, as meat dishes were too expensive and she was afraid they wouldn't sell.
On her first day setting up her stall, she wanted to see how things went before deciding how to adjust the menu.
The stove at the bottom of the pot was burning very hot, with flames shooting out, and the steam from the soup was getting stronger and stronger, carrying the aroma out with it.
As people began to emerge from the factory, Zhou Sui started calling out to them.
"Hot oden and mala tang are delicious and inexpensive."
The name she called out was one that no one else had ever heard of, and the curiosity of passersby made them stop and look over.
There were two large pots, one containing clear broth and the other containing spicy broth.
The clear broth makes you want to have a bowl right away, while the spicy oil floating on top of the red broth whets your appetite.
"Boss, how much are these?"
"Vegetarian skewers are three for one yuan, and meat skewers are two for one yuan," Zhou Sui said as she scooped a few skewers of potatoes from the pot and put them into a bowl.
"Come on, everyone, try it first. If you think it's good, then you can buy it."
Although these two items are novel, most people wouldn't buy them if they didn't know what they taste like.
Now that there's a free sample available, everyone is naturally willing to try it.
"Mmm, these potatoes are so soft and flavorful."
"The taste is good, but these three skewers don't seem like much. I'm worried they won't be enough to fill you up."
Zhou Sui said with a smile, "Sister, we still have soup here. With soup and skewers, I reckon three or five skewers will be enough for you."
“Each of my skewers is quite large, you can see.”
"Alright, little sister, give me two skewers of potatoes, one skewer of radish, and two skewers of tofu, and lots of soup too."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Sui had already efficiently packed the dishes the guests had ordered.
"Little sister, can I have a little bit of each of your two pots?"
"But I want the clear broth."
Some people want to eat spicy food but can't handle it, so they resort to this as a last resort.
Zhou Sui readily agreed.
"Boss, just give me one yuan's worth, and make me a few more trips?"
An older woman squeezed in with a dollar in her hand and ordered a skewer of cabbage, a skewer of potatoes, and a skewer of radishes, but when she got the soup, she ordered a full bowl of soup.
Zhou Xu was somewhat unhappy, but remembering his sister's instructions, he held back and didn't say anything.
At lunchtime, besides people getting off work, there were also people coming out to eat. Perhaps they were tired of the food in the cafeteria and the food from the surrounding stalls, so they all flocked to Zhou Sui's food cart.
They were so busy that even Li Qiuju and Zhang Cui would come over to lend a hand from time to time.
On the contrary, the other stalls next to her looked rather deserted, and several stall owners kept glancing at Zhou Sui, curious about what strange things she was selling.
After 1:30 p.m., the crowd finally dispersed, and Zhou Sui had sold almost everything she brought.
Especially the broth of the oden, it was almost empty, with only a few scattered skewers of vegetables leaning precariously against the side of the pot.
As soon as everyone left, Zhou Xu couldn't help but complain.
"Sister, that old lady went too far. She bought a skewer for one yuan, ate and drank it all, and then brought a bowl over and asked me to get her a bowl of soup."
"She ate her fill for just one yuan; how could she be so clever?"
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