Competitors emerge
Yang Xiu pulled up her scarf to cover her face, then went over and asked, "How much is the fried dough twist?"
The man selling fried dough twists was a middle-aged man with a strange face: "Three cents for one, four for one dollar."
"Other stalls at the market fry their food freshly. When did you fry this? It looks cold..." Yang Xiu complained.
"They are a small stall, but ours comes from a dim sum shop, so the taste is absolutely amazing. It's freshly cooked this morning, so you can buy it with confidence..."
"Oh, it's sold in the store. I have to try it. What flavor do you have?"
"At present, there are soft fried dough twists and traditional fried dough twists. Sister, try my soft fried dough twists, which are the first in Yang County..."
"Okay, give me two dollars."
"Okay, it's two dollars."
Yang Xiu paid the money, took the fried dough twist, turned around with a slightly gloomy expression.
The two lost interest in shopping and hurried home carrying their things.
*
Seeing the two of them coming back so quickly, Hu Yufeng wondered, "You came back so soon, why don't you go shopping a little more?"
Seeing that Yang Xiu looked unhappy, he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Yang Xiu handed the fried dough twist to Hu Yufeng: "Mom, there are people selling soft fried dough twist at the market. They are so arrogant, saying that they are the best in Yang County..."
Hu Yufeng took it and took a look. It looked similar to her own.
She asked back: "You haven't tried it yet, right? Why don't you try what others make first?"
Yang Xiu was anxious, but seeing how calm her mother-in-law looked, she could only calm herself down and reached out to take a twisted dough stick.
"It's just so-so. I don't think it's as delicious as ours..." Hu Yufeng took a bite and had some ideas in mind.
Yang Xiu tasted it and said, "It has a faint choking smell. Their oil is definitely not as good as ours."
Yang Xiu chewed it, and his expression gradually warmed up.
"Look how anxious you are. Remember what I said before? There are thousands of things to sell in the world. We just need to try our best to do our best and leave the rest to the customers to judge."
Hu Yufeng said calmly, "If this fried dough twist shop doesn't exist, there are others. Our competitors are not just others, but ourselves. As long as we maintain our previous standards, we won't have to worry about lack of business."
Yang Xiu also relaxed his expression, feeling a little ashamed at this moment: "Mom is right, I was anxious..."
"It's my own business, it's not right for you not to be anxious. By the way, what's the price of this one?"
"30 cents a stick, 1 dollar for four sticks, 1 cent cheaper than ours.
Oh, by the way, mom, this guy said they are from a dim sum shop..."
Dim sum shop? Hu Yufeng was still thinking, Qin Wenli said: "Lao Fang brought me here to buy the formula."
The woman's face instantly appeared in Hu Yufeng's mind. She had thought at the beginning that this person must have a backup plan, and it turned out he was waiting here.
"It doesn't matter. We are open for business, so why don't we let people buy from us? Just ask her to learn. It all depends on her ability!"
"What about the price?" Yang Xiu was unsure.
"We'll still sell it at the original price. We fry it fresh, and the taste is different..."
"Mom is right, the price cannot be lowered. If we do, we will be led by the nose by others..." Qin Wenli also agreed to maintain the original price.
Seeing that both of them said this, Yang Xiu stopped talking.
"Mom, Xiu'er bought you a cotton vest, try it on..."
Qin Wenli came in with a bag and took out the things he bought for everyone:
"This is yours, this is my grandma's, and the shoes are my dad's..."
"Xiaoqin, this is for you. It's inconvenient to wear a big cotton-padded jacket at home, so your sister-in-law bought you a vest..." Qin Wenli handed the vest with pink flowers to Qin Xiaoqin.
Qin Xiaoqin was stunned for a moment, then took it without saying anything.
The whole family happily tried on the new vests and agreed that it was a good buy.
Qin Yu and Qin Shu were even more shameless and ran away in their leather cotton shoes.
In the afternoon, Qin Shengtian went home and tried on his new shoes, and was very happy. Hu Yufeng couldn't help but scold him: "Wen Li and his wife are thoughtful, and they still care about your frozen feet from herding sheep. You have to live up to the children's care. Don't talk nonsense when you talk to others, and don't brag about everything at home. You have to remember that you can only be well if your family is well. If your family has no money, you can't even afford a cigarette. Not to mention that you are still a decent person, and those old men don't care about you..."
Qin Shengtian nodded reluctantly.
*
In a blink of an eye, it was Laba Festival. At four o'clock in the morning, the whole yard was still dark, and Hu Yufeng got up.
She first poured water into the pot and lit the stove.
Then drain the various beans soaked the night before and put them into the pot.
Then wash the corn bran, millet, yellow rice, sorghum rice, and wheat kernels and put them into the pot.
The stove fire was red hot and soon steam was bubbling out of the pot.
Hu Yufeng picked up some firewood and cooked it slowly over low heat.
She sat on a low stool and stared at the red flames in a daze. Although he advised Yang Xiu not to be anxious, how could he not be anxious when there was a competitor?
Especially that bitch started a price war.
The most important thing at the moment is to maintain our own ingredients and taste. As long as old customers don't waver, our business will be stable for the time being. As for the future, we still need to enrich our product categories to attract customers with different hobbies.
Let’s not mention this to Yang Xiu for now. It was a very cold day and the child was so anxious that bubbles appeared on the corners of her mouth. After I told her, she felt even more stressed.
You still have to go out and take a look. You can't just stay at home and work in isolation.
*
At around five o'clock, Hu Yufeng picked up the largest cowpea and squeezed it, but it was rotten.
Then we can go down.
The dough has different shapes and is made by the family the night before. There are the delicate horse troughs made by Yang Xiu, the bird heads made by Qin Wenli, the ingots made by Hu Yufeng, and the peanut dumplings and coin dumplings made by Qin Yu.
"It's time for dinner..." Hu Yufeng shouted towards the yard.
There were rustling sounds coming from each room, and then the lights came on, and people came out of the rooms one by one with sleepy eyes.
"Aunt, it's not even six o'clock yet, what are we going to eat..." Xizi yawned.
"Laba Festival is a time to grab blessings. Whoever eats it first will have the best life in the coming year. Didn't your mother tell you this?" Hu Yufeng couldn't understand why some people in their twenties didn't know the customs here.
"I didn't say that. I don't know..."
"Our family must be the first to arrive this year. Hurry up and take the bowl. This is the first blessing..." Hu Yufeng was very proud.
"Aunt, do you get the first blessing every year?" Xizi asked.
"Of course..." I am not good at cooking, but it is my turn to grab blessings on Laba Festival. No one in the entire Xiaogou Village can rob me.
"Then why was your family so poor in the past few years?"
Hu Yufeng: ...
"Eat your food, why are you talking so much..."
Xizi and Yang Xiu looked at each other and smiled.
Yang Xiu took the spoon from her mother-in-law's hand and scooped the rice. Qin Wenli carried the plate to the main room, and everyone followed him like wandering souls, each holding a bowl of rice.
Qin Xiaoqin pulled up the quilt and covered her head: "I'm so annoyed. What kind of meal is this before dawn? You guys eat, I won't..."
Hu Yufeng gritted her teeth and said, "Forget it. You are married now and you are enjoying the blessing of the Wang family. You can eat it or not..."
The rest of the people picked up their bowls silently.
Hu Yufeng and Yang Xiu each hugged a child who couldn't even open his eyes: "Be good, eat quickly, you will have money to spend next year..."
"Huh? What is this, a coin?" Qin Shengtian felt a prick in the tooth and reached out to take out a coin.
"Oh, the first blessing was taken by you, uncle, let me see if there is anything in my bowl..." Xizi shouted.
Qin Xiaoqin, who was lying on the kang, was so annoyed that she kicked her legs.
Qin Yu woke up instantly after hearing this: "Grandma, I'll eat it myself. I also want to eat the blessing..."
Qin Shu also struggled to eat by himself.
“I ate it…”
“I ate it too…”
The two cheered.
Qin Xiaoqin stood up irritably: "Mom, I want to eat too..."
The whole family finished dinner at 6:30 and it was not even dawn yet. What were we doing? It is impossible to continue sleeping, and the adults have to find work even if they have nothing to do. Only Qin Xiaoqin and the two children fell asleep without any worries.
*
After Laba Festival, things start to become more busy at home.
Changing bedding, cleaning the house, slaughtering pigs and chickens, as long as you are willing to work, you will never be done.
When the weather is good, Lao Qin's stall continues to be set up.
Hu Yufeng even went to take a look at the stall and saw quite a few people surrounding it.
Most of the customers at my stall are old customers, and business is still booming.
The audience is different, but as long as you maintain your own customers, you don’t have to worry about being outdone. Thinking of this, Yang Xiu felt much more relieved, and even the blisters at the corners of his mouth didn't hurt so much anymore.
When people relax, time passes quickly and it is already the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.
There is no market today, so the Qin family made an appointment with a butcher to come and slaughter the pig in advance.
The chief surgeon was still Yang Yidao.
Yang Xu also came early in the morning. He came to pick up Qin Xiaoqin and to help the Yue family pick pork legs. Of course, pulling the pig's legs was just an excuse, but the main thing was to carry some pork back.
Because he had something to ask for, the boy became particularly active. He helped his father-in-law to cook and went into the pen to catch pigs. In the end, he didn't really go in. Yang Yidao saw that he was delicate and tender, so he sent him aside to watch.
Yang Xu breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't really want to go in. To be honest, the Yue family’s pigpen is quite big and the pigs can run quite fast. If I get kicked and fall flat on my face, where would I put my face?
*
Killing pigs every year is like a major event, and there is a sense of joy inside and outside the yard, and this year is no exception.
When the pig was being slaughtered, the two children were so scared that they hid in the house. As soon as the pig fell, they called their friends to watch the fun.
In the kitchen, Yang Xiu and Xizi were washing and cutting, and the delicious dishes were put into the pot one after another.
There were two pieces of fat pork on the table in the yard. Qin Xiaoqin was touching and looking at them left and right, trying to choose the one that suited her best.
Considering that she was pregnant and hadn't done anything naughty recently, Hu Yufeng planned to let her choose first.
Yang Xu was a little hesitant. Last year's incident was too embarrassing and the memory was too vivid. At this moment, he was a little afraid to take action.
"Let's just take this hind leg. I also want some spareribs, Yang Xu loves them..."
Before he could figure out the answer, Qin Xiaoqin had already made her choice and pulled him out.
What could Yang Xu do but smile awkwardly at his mother-in-law.
"Okay, after we finish killing them, let your brother chop them off." Hu Yufeng agreed readily.
When the steaming pig-killing dishes came out of the pot, the people who helped put aside their fatigue, gathered around the table chatting loudly, eating meat and drinking wine with big mouthfuls.
Just two words: enjoyable!
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