The Chai family was humiliated, and Chai Tinglian was utterly humiliated. She happened to see Shen Yu'an, who, although uneducated, was at least quite handsome.
I've heard that Shen Yushu is destined to be a top scholar. If she can marry into the Shen family, even if it's Shen Yu'an, she'll benefit from his success.
She cried and begged to marry Shen Yu'an. The two elders of the Chai family had three sons and only this one daughter, so they doted on Chai Tinglian from the bottom of their hearts.
So they asked Matchmaker Wang to propose marriage again, this time with Shen Yu'an.
Initially, Madam Chen also disagreed. She never intended to marry off her grandsons from the second branch of the family, as the family didn't have that much spare money.
The matchmaker, Wang, said that the Chai family didn't want a dowry and would even provide a bride price, which finally made them agree.
Shen Yu'an was a diligent person. After the engagement, he would often go to the Chai family to help with farm work. The two elders of the Chai family were increasingly satisfied with Shen Yu'an.
“Mother, Lingzi, who married into Shangqing Village next door, told me that the Shen family kicked Shen Yu’an’s family out. They have no food to eat now and are digging up konjac from the mountain to eat every day. I don’t want to eat that every day after I marry into the family.”
Chai Tinglian's eyes reddened as she spoke.
Upon hearing this, Chai's mother realized that the engagement really had to be called off; she couldn't bear to let her youngest son suffer.
“My dear son, don’t be sad. Your mother would never let you eat this. I’ll find a way to get the Shen family to break off the engagement.”
Shen Yu'an was unaware that Chai Tinglian wanted to break off the engagement. On his way back from town, he stopped by a stall and bought a hair accessory.
He thought that Tinglian would look beautiful wearing this hair accessory.
Although Chai Tinglian was from the countryside, she had been pampered since childhood and had never done any farm work. Her skin was fair and tender, never sunburned.
With her decent features, Shen Yu'an took a liking to her at first sight.
He dreamed of marrying Chai Tinglian.
Before they separated their households, they were worried about not having a place to live. Now that they've left the Shen family, as long as they work hard, they'll build a house and marry Tinglian one day.
He carefully wrapped the hair ornament in a handkerchief, intending to deliver it to Tinglian at the Chai family's house when he had time.
Shen Danru is currently researching how to make konjac rolls. Although the konjac rolls she made before were delicious, they were still somewhat different from the pre-packaged konjac rolls she bought in modern times.
She wanted to try another method.
First, she needed to solve the problem of the konjac oxidizing and turning black quickly after being cut. Seeing that her parents had already peeled and washed the konjac, she took a few konjacs into the kitchen and soaked them in coarse salt.
After soaking for half an hour, the konjac really did turn white.
She sliced all the konjac into pieces and took them out to dry in the sun.
Fortunately, the sun was strong enough that the konjac dried konjac was ready after two days of drying.
Shen Cheng borrowed a small stone mill from the village and helped grind the dried konjac into powder. He then used a sieve to sift out the large pieces, leaving only the finest konjac powder.
After grinding more than ten kilograms of konjac into powder, only two kilograms remained.
I used one point to buy five kilograms of tapioca starch. I mixed two kilograms of tapioca starch with two kilograms of konjac powder and made forty kilograms of konjac tofu.
After rinsing them in cold water, they felt squishy.
Shen Danru picked up the konjac tofu and steamed it. After steaming, it was indeed less watery and more elastic.
She scooped some into the bowl, poured the seasoning on top, and mixed it. Sure enough, it tasted just as good as modern konjac noodles.
A surge of joy welled up inside me; I really do have a talent for cooking.
I took it out for everyone to try, and sure enough, they all praised it as even tastier.
Shen Danru plans to go to the market tomorrow and buy two different items, depending on personal preference.
Sure enough, the second product sold better the next day.
They brought fifty jin with them this time, twenty-five jin each of the first and second types, which were carried by Shen Cheng and Shen Yu'an.
Since I promised Manager Yuan, we're selling it for eight copper coins a serving, weighing two ounces. If you buy two servings, you get one ounce free.
Many people who tried it couldn't resist buying two servings.
"Weigh out ten jin for me."
When a major client arrived, Shen Danru couldn't help but look up.
"Are you a waiter at Yipin Moke?"
Cong Nan chuckled and said, "Miss, my name is Cong Nan. You can just call me by my name from now on."
Shen Danru smiled back. This young man had helped her last time, so she should get a discount.
"Brother Nan, can you finish eating all this?"
When Nan heard that someone whom even the young master respected was calling a mere shop assistant "elder brother," he was quite startled.
"Please don't, young lady, just call me by my name."
He scratched his head and said, "How could I bear to part with it? I'm doing this for my master, and our young master loves to eat it."
Their master must have bought so much to support this girl's business, but how could he dare to tell the truth?
Shen Danru thought about it for a moment, and the impression came to mind.
It's that young master.
He's not short of money; he seems to be a young master from a wealthy family. Does he really like such coarse food?
"Alright then, which of these two would you like to buy?"
Looking at the south side, I was a bit hesitant, but in the end I decided to get five jin of each.
Shen Danru was somewhat embarrassed, as it was difficult to carry so many oil paper bags, so she could only arrange them one by one and put them into a wooden basin.
Fortunately, I brought two wooden basins with me.
"Thank you, young lady. I'll bring it to you later."
One tael of silver came from Nandi.
"Brother Nan, you don't need so much. It's not that expensive. It's the same price as what you'd give to a noodle shop. I'll give you 40 coins per jin, so 400 coins in total will be fine."
"No way, I've already inquired. The noodle shop sells it for ten coins a serving, and it's eighty coins a pound. Ten pounds would be eight hundred coins. The remaining two hundred coins are to make up for your service fee. I'm doing this for my master. If I don't get enough, he'll skin me alive when I get back."
He left the silver in the south and ran away.
Shen Danru had no choice but to accept it.
After leaving from the south, restaurant staff and other eatery staff came one after another, all ordering konjac rolls. They ordered five catties of each of the two kinds of konjac rolls. Some were afraid that if they were not delivered, they would just leave their deposits and run away.
Konjac noodles originated from Ruyi Noodle Shop, and everyone who tries them says they're delicious.
Several restaurant owners couldn't resist asking someone to buy two portions to try, and they found it to be a true delicacy.
It was also topped with lots of chili sauce. These days, chili peppers are so expensive, yet it only costs ten coins a serving—what a bargain!
But we don't know the cost price or whether there's any profit.
The shop assistant kept an eye on Ruyi Noodle Shop and finally ran into Shen Yu'an delivering goods. He was from Shangqing Village and would be setting up a stall at the market the next day.
The young men quickly went back to report to the boss.
That's why they all decided to order from the market.
Shen Danru noted that now, including Ruyi Noodle Shop, eight restaurants have placed orders. She wondered how much konjac jerky she had left at home, and whether it would be enough to make more.
Ruyi Noodle Shop also increased the quantity, ordering 10 jin (5 kg) each, plus 5 jin (2.5 kg) of each, for a total of 80 jin (40 kg).
Shen Yu'an was overjoyed. Eighty catties meant he could sell more than three taels of silver a day.
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