Although Xichun defeated the two, she still needed to be vigilant. They had come to her door today, but it would be bad if they came to raid her home one day.
So she plans to buy a good lock tomorrow and lock the front door and the room doors. Although the villagers also lock their doors, those locks are mainly for keeping out honest people, not thieves. She can't be sure that those people won't dare to do anything.
They worked late into the night again, and everyone had already gone to bed to save on lamp oil.
Xichun pulled the cart out again, and this time, several people saw it.
"They say Xichun doesn't do anything productive, but I think there aren't many men in our village as hardworking as her. She takes her vegetables to town before dawn." Someone saw the vegetables in Xichun's basket and assumed she was going to sell them, since many families in the village would go to town to sell vegetables at the market.
“I heard that Xichun was selling food in town yesterday, and it seems quite a few people bought from her. That girl is really bold.”
Ignoring their discussion, Xichun had just set the items out when people immediately came to buy them.
"Young lady, your hot pot is really good, and the soup is delicious too. Look, I even brought a bowl with me today, because I wanted to take it home for my family to try it as well." Yesterday's customer came over with a bowl.
"Okay, then I'll make you more soup. By the way, do you have any noodles at home? If you cook noodles and put them in, they'll absorb the flavor of the soup and taste even better." Xichun naturally welcomed this, as it would save her time washing the dishes.
"Really? I've never tried eating it like this before. Do you have any noodles? Would you like me to try some first?"
"I haven't started selling noodles yet. I'll start selling them after a while when business is more stable." Xi Chun naturally had this idea, but she didn't have enough manpower right now. Hiring people to do the work wouldn't be cost-effective at this early stage.
"Okay, I'll try it when I get home."
Soon, people who hadn't tried it yesterday came forward and bought some.
"Hey, this stuff is really delicious, but it's a bit too spicy. I can't handle this kind of spiciness," someone watching from the side said with regret.
"Then I'll prepare another fire another day, specifically for making clear soup. Uncle, please remember to come." It's good that someone has offered suggestions; she also needs to gradually figure out the tastes of these diners.
Just as noon approached, Xichun heard a commotion nearby.
"What's going on over there? Why is it so noisy?" Someone asked Xichun, puzzled.
"You don't know? The county constables have come to collect the stall fees. I heard that this is a rule set by the county magistrate who came at the beginning of the year. Everyone who sets up a stall has to pay a stall fee."
"Oh, I wonder how the stall fee is collected?" Upon hearing this, Xi Chun realized that she had just started setting up her stall and had never heard of the stall fee before. She also wondered what kind of county magistrate he was and whether he charged high fees.
“We don’t know either. They’ll be here soon. You should ask them and pay the stall fee as soon as possible, otherwise you might run into trouble,” a kind customer advised her.
"Okay, thank you." Xi Chun naturally wouldn't confront those people, and judging from the state of the town, the stall fee should be reasonable; otherwise, their goods would definitely be much more expensive.
A short while later, the constable Guo that everyone was talking about indeed arrived with another constable.
"Is this a newly opened stall?" Guo, the head constable, had a knife hanging from his waist and was quite burly. When he saw Xichun, a young woman, setting up a stall, he stepped forward and asked.
"Greetings, officers. I only started setting up my stall yesterday and I'm not familiar with the stall fee. Could you tell me how much I should pay?" Xi Chun smiled and invited the two officers to sit on the stools to the side.
“I won’t sit here. Since you’re opening a new stall, then just like the one next door, it’ll be one hundred coins a month.” Officer Guo was a stern and businesslike person.
"Alright, alright, I'll give it to the two officers right away." Xi Chun felt relieved when he heard that the price he quoted was the same as that of another vendor next to him.
"Officers, this is spicy hot pot. You two officers have come all the way from the county, you must be tired. Come, come, have some spicy hot pot from my stall to warm up." Xi Chun picked up some vegetables and meat to cook the vegetables.
"No need to trouble yourself. It's not easy for you business people. Sell whatever you can. We're leaving now." Seeing that she was so understanding, Officer Guo led the other officer to inspect another shop.
"This Constable Guo is a good person, don't worry. Originally, our stall fee was eighty coins a month, but who knew that the new magistrate would change it after he came. Sigh, business is not easy. Originally, everyone was discussing raising prices, but a few stalls were unwilling to do so, worried that they would lose business if they raised prices. Others also dared not raise prices easily."
The woman who owned the steamed bun stall next door came over. Her family was the same one the constable had mentioned. They were also from the village, but because her husband had worked as an apprentice at a steamed bun shop and learned how to make steamed buns, the couple came to town to make a living.
"Sister-in-law, do those mobile stalls charge money?" Xichun was still a little puzzled by her tone.
"Yes, I heard that starting next month, each person setting up a stall at the market will be charged three coins, which is only a little cheaper than the fixed price here."
"That's really not easy to do." Xi Chun heard that even setting up a stall at the market has to cost money, which is really hard to say, since the market times in each town and village within the surrounding area are different.
Peach Blossom Town holds a market every seven days. On market days, there are many people coming to buy and sell things. The market days in other towns are also staggered, so some business families have to take turns going to the market every seven days. They may have one or two days off every seven days, and spend the rest of the time moving between different towns. Therefore, this kind of itinerant business rarely pays stall fees.
Xi Chun couldn't care less about what those people thought. Her business was pretty good today, and before long, all the vegetables and meat she brought were sold out.
Xi Chun looked around and found that there were still too few kinds of vegetables. If there were more varieties, there would probably be more people who would like them. There was also another business opportunity, which was tofu. Fried tofu puffs were placed inside and soaked up the soup, which tasted delicious.
So after closing up shop, she bought some more meat and tofu. Business isn't very good now, and making tofu herself takes even more time; she can't manage it all by herself.
Back home, after preparing the tofu and meat, Xichun cooked three bowls of spicy hot pot with meat and vegetables, and took them to Aunt Zhang and Aunt Liu's house.
Yesterday, the two men showed her kindness and were unwilling to take advantage of her family. In any case, the fact that she was doing business in town would eventually reach the villagers' mouths, so she might as well use this opportunity to tell the villagers that she was doing business legitimately in town.
There was also a bowl of Xichun soup that I was going to take to the village chief's house. The village chief had a lot of prestige in the village. As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding," and even in modern times, such social etiquette is still essential.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
