Before you know it, winter is coming. Xichun has already earned three taels of silver from medicinal herbs. Money is a person's confidence, especially in this era.
After carefully counting the silver coins and confirming the amount, she put them away separately.
Just as you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, the same applies to money. Recently, some people have noticed that she goes to town from time to time, and they are subtly inquiring whether she has found a way to make money.
With the keen observation of those who were observant, they came to the conclusion that Xichun was digging up dandelions to sell. They realized that these things could actually be sold for money.
Villages can't keep many secrets, so everyone discovered that she was selling it at a pharmacy. Some people even went to dig it up and took it to the pharmacy, where they were pleasantly surprised.
Although their products weren't very good, Dr. Xu still accepted them.
This caused quite a stir, and a rush to dig for medicinal herbs swept through the village. However, they didn't notice the other medicinal herbs that Xichun was digging for, so they dug up dandelions wherever they could find them, almost driving them to extinction.
"Hey, Xichun, are you heading to town again?" Aunt Wu, a neighbor who also lives in Xichun's house, asked curiously when she saw her carrying a basket out again.
"Aunt Wu, I have something to do in town." Xi Chun said with a smile and headed towards town. The weather was getting cold, and she was going to buy winter clothes and some other things to start her business.
"Look, Xichun is going to town again. Tell me how much money she makes every day, going to town every few days?" Aunt Wu said to her daughter after watching her walk away.
"Who knows? But Xichun is really something. I heard that her family can sometimes afford to eat dark-colored steamed buns. She even gave one to Aunt Zhang the other day."
Xi Chun couldn't hear their whispers behind her back. After observing the town for so many days, she had already decided which business she could start. The medicinal herb business was not easy to do now. In winter, most of the medicinal herbs in the mountains dried up and died, and they would only grow back next year.
She dared not sit idly by and live off her savings, so once the vegetables in her own yard started growing, Xichun already had an idea.
Today she came to town to buy grain and pots and pans, and she also needs a stove to start a fire.
The town had a fairly complete selection of these items, and she quickly bought them all. The handcart she had ordered earlier also arrived. Fortunately, she was quite strong, so it was easy for her to push all these things back to the village.
"Xichun, why did you buy so much stuff? You live alone, don't you have enough things at home? Why are you wasting money like this? Do you think money is easy to earn?"
Aunt Zhang watched as she struggled back with her handcart, which was piled high with things. She thought to herself that this girl didn't know how to manage her money. She had only earned a little money and was already buying so many things. So she wanted to persuade her.
"Aunt Zhang, this isn't for my own use; I have other plans. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who wastes things." Xi Chun's basket still contained meat, but she didn't dare to take it out in public.
"You'd better be careful, those people are watching your every move." Aunt Zhang glanced meaningfully at the houses next door.
"I understand, thank you for reminding me, Aunt Zhang." Xi Chun naturally knew what she meant.
Back home, Xichun cleaned all the utensils and planned to wash all the vegetables that evening. She also planned to cut the meat into small portions.
Yes, Xichun was planning to make mala tang (a spicy hot pot dish). Originally, she wanted to make chuan chuan xiang (skewered hot pot) to make it easier to calculate prices, but she found that having so many signatures was difficult and time-consuming, so she gave up for the time being.
She worked late into the night before finally lying in bed to plan for tomorrow. This time, she hadn't prepared much; besides the vegetables from her garden, she had only spent money on meat.
Moreover, as the weather gets colder, there aren't many vegetables that can be grown in the fields, so she's thinking of gathering more firewood to build a kang (heated brick bed), sprout some beans, and grow some fresh vegetables, which would make her even more competitive.
As dawn broke, Xichun was already pushing her cart out into the world. Winter had arrived, and there wasn't much work to do in the fields, unlike before when it was busier. So most people would sleep until daybreak before getting up. However, some people were used to getting up early and were now going up the mountain to chop firewood.
By the time Xichun pushed her cart into town, it was already broad daylight. She quickly and efficiently arranged everything.
This is the most bustling part of town, and all the town's residents pass through here.
Once the fire was lit and the pot was heated, she poured in the broth that had been prepared in advance, and then separated the vegetables, meat, and eggs into different baskets. She was very glad that people at this time had already learned to use chili peppers.
"Little girl, what are you selling?" After Xichun kept calling out her wares, someone finally stopped in front of her stall and asked.
"Auntie, this is mala tang. You can choose your own ingredients, cook them in it, and then you can eat it. It's cold outside, but after eating a bowl, I guarantee you'll feel warm all over."
These vegetables are one cent per serving, and this plate of meat is three cents. You can try our dish first; I'll cook some for you.
Xi Chun loudly introduced her spicy hot pot, this was her first customer. She didn't have the money to hire people to act as shills, so she had to try her best to keep every curious customer calm.
"Mala Tang, that name sounds interesting. The soup looks red too. By the way, is it free to try it?" The auntie became curious as soon as she saw what the pot looked like.
"These samples are free, of course, but the quantity is limited. I'm just running a small business, so I can only offer vegetables for tasting. But don't worry, these vegetables are very fragrant. Would you like to try some?"
Xichun deftly handed over a small bowl, and the aunt took a bite.
"Mmm, delicious. I didn't expect the flavor here to be so strong. It's really good. Young lady, could you give me another serving of vegetables? Also, could you give me a plate of meat?"
"Okay, just a moment, I'll heat it up for you right away." Seeing how decisive she was, Xichun immediately started working.
Before long, people noticed what was happening. They were also curious about what it smelled like. As soon as they went outside, the north wind howled, and their faces were chilled to the bone.
"Auntie, I have three kinds of vegetables here: cabbage, spinach, and pea shoots. Including the meat, it'll cost six coins." Xichun smiled as she handed the items to the auntie.
"Okay, I'll eat here then, it smells delicious."
Xi Chun's soup base is made with a secret recipe of seasonings from a modern grandmother, so of course it's delicious.
When she was in school, besides going up the mountain to collect herbs and earning money with others, she also helped her grandmother sell snacks. To take care of her, her grandmother always set up a stall at the school gate to sell skewers, which the students or parents passing by liked to eat.
Unfortunately, Grandma was in poor health, so she stopped selling them after Grandma started high school.
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