Ye Caiping, however, was very easygoing. While adding chili oil to the hot and sour soup, she chatted and laughed:
"It's okay. Everyone has their own preferences. As long as the taste is right and it's cheap there, I would also choose a different place to eat."
The customers laughed when they heard this: "The proprietress is so generous."
Ye Caiping handed the hot and sour soup to the customer.
The newly opened stalls over there attracted most of the people, some because they were looking for cheap deals and others because they wanted to try something new.
After finishing this busy period, Grandma Ye looked worried: "Caiping... what should we do? Most of our business has been taken away..."
"Today is just the first one, and there might be a second or third one later..." Ye Jin'er said.
Ye Caiping said calmly, "A market without competition isn't a market. It's just a small matter, no rush."
She wasn't worried at all.
Even in modern times, amidst fierce competition from established brands, her spicy soup would stand out, let alone here.
Just then, the old man who loved their spicy soup the most walked over from the new stall and whispered:
"Boss, you wouldn't believe it, their soup... oh my! I just went over and checked it out. Hehe, this is something I specially packed up for you guys to try."
The old man was holding a bowl of spicy soup; it was across from him.
Ye Caiping choked for a moment; this old man was still as conspicuous as ever!
Last time, I waited here before dawn just to get some hot and sour soup, and now I've become their spy!
"Thank you, sir," Ye Caiping said.
"Try it! Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory!"
Ye Caiping wasn't afraid of the other party at all, but she couldn't resist the old man's enthusiasm!
The ingredients in that bowl of spicy soup were similar to theirs, but it lacked gluten, was a lighter color, and had more water than ingredients, especially meat. It took me a while to find a single piece of meat.
Ye Caiping scooped some soup with a spoon; the broth wasn't thick enough, she'd added too little starch.
Ye Caiping took a bite and frowned.
Ye Jin'er also tried it: "Huh, they didn't amplify it... they didn't have our secret recipe."
She wanted to reveal the secret recipe, but fearing others would overhear, she changed it to a secret formula.
Although she didn't know what the "big news" was, she figured she should just be cautious.
Grandma Ye and Huan'er also took a bite and breathed a sigh of relief; it wasn't fragrant!
Ye Caiping said, "Thank you, sir. By the way, may I ask your surname..."
"My surname is Xu, and I sell shoes in Liuer Lane up ahead."
"Oh. I'll definitely come to your store next time I buy shoes. Grandpa, let me scoop you a big bowl, it's my treat today."
"Okay, hahaha."
At this moment, a disturbance broke out at the new stall, and a hot-tempered man threw down his spoon:
"Pah, what is this? This is just wood ear mushroom, daylily, and peanut paste, no, it's not even paste! It doesn't have any spicy flavor. I even bought a large portion, what a waste of five coins."
The customers, already resentful that they had paid money only to receive soulless spicy soup, joined in with their sarcastic remarks after this man took the lead.
"Others can find meat with just one scoop, but you... I've been looking for ages and can't find a single piece of meat."
"It doesn't have that rich aroma, yet it's called Hu spicy soup? It's not authentic at all."
The stall owner quickly smiled apologetically: "Look, there are carrots and chili peppers! Isn't this just hot and sour soup?"
The customers hesitated for a moment, then said, "Fine, if you insist on explaining it this way... it's not impossible."
"But the spiciness of other people isn't from adding chili peppers. It has a very unique flavor... And your chili oil isn't good either. It only has chili peppers, no oil, and oh right, not even sesame seeds."
The customers were full of resentment and regret, finally understanding what it means to get what you pay for.
Their spicy soup is made with plenty of meat, and their chili oil is made with real oil.
Thinking about it this way, people who used to think that spicy soup was a bit pricey now feel that it's worth the money.
Those who missed out on buying anything due to the queue felt a surge of relief and quickly returned to Ye Caiping's stall.
Upon seeing this, Grandma Ye beamed with joy and happily got to work.
Although business has returned, the stalls across the street are still having some impact on them.
Today's three large buckets sold for half an hour longer than yesterday's.
Ye Caiping stretched and asked, "Mom, what time is it?"
Ye Caiping doesn't look at the sun or the shadow of the bamboo pole.
Grandma Ye glanced at it and said, "It's noon. This time, Bajin is going to take the villagers back. Let's wait a little longer."
"How about we find a place to eat? We can ask the chubby lady next door to watch our things."
Because the spicy soup boosted the business of the steamed bun stall, Aunt Pang made twice as many steamed buns as usual today, and they've sold out almost all of them, but there's still a lot of porridge left.
Aunt Pang heard this and stepped forward with a smile: "Go ahead, go ahead, I'll watch your things for you."
"Okay, thank you, big sister."
"Everyone in the neighborhood calls me Fatty Hong, but you can just call me Sister Fatty."
“My name is Ye Caiping, you can just call me by my name. Oh, by the way, in the future, there may be more copycat spicy soups appearing, which will affect our business. Sister, you shouldn’t make so many buns.”
Aunt Pang had also observed the situation today and nodded, "I understand."
Ye Caiping disassembled the table and stacked it against the wall along with wooden barrels and other objects.
"Let's go. Oh, Jin'er? Where's Jin'er?" Ye Caiping looked around and saw that Grandma Ye and Huan'er were in front of her, but Ye Jin'er was nowhere to be seen.
I was so busy that I didn't even notice Ye Jin'er's movements.
Ye Huan'er said, "When the spicy soup was almost sold out, she said she needed to pee. She probably asked a resident to let her use the restroom."
Grandma Ye frowned: "It's been almost 45 minutes since we packed up, and she still left before we finished packing up... Did she run into a flower seller?"
As they spoke, both Old Madam Ye and Ye Huan'er's expressions changed.
Ye Caiping's vision went black, because what she was thinking about wasn't the flower seeds, but ginseng!
Ye Jin'er had always been thinking about that ginseng.
But things didn't go as planned, and unexpected situations kept happening, preventing her from digging.
Today is the day the female lead, Li Jiaojiao, discovers the ginseng, but it's also the day she and Jin'er face their demise.
She originally planned to sell the spicy soup, eat in town, and then stroll around a bit. By the time she got home, the ginseng had already been dug up by Li Jiaojiao.
Jin'er will no longer think about it.
Now……
Clearly, the girl realized that she wasn't interested in the ginseng, so she took it upon herself to run back to the village!
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