Chapter 90 Chapter 90 Setting up a stall
The next morning, Miao Ying went with Huo Xing to the place Qin Qiang mentioned to buy starch. He was so anxious that he walked faster than usual.
The place Qin Qiang mentioned had to pass through the town. After passing the town and walking west for about half an hour, they finally saw the house Qin Qiang mentioned. At this moment, Miao Ying was already lying on Huo Xing's back.
When he arrived, Miao Ying was still wondering how to buy it. Unexpectedly, he just asked and the person told him the price. He asked how much it cost, weighed it and paid for it. The whole process took two minutes.
Miao Ying held the starch in the oil-paper bag and felt like he was dreaming.
Miao Ying couldn't hold back, so he went home and started thinking about the sauce for his fried skewers. He laid out everything he had, including cumin, sesame seeds, and the thirteen spices he had found from Wang the peddler.
He looked at the entire kitchen and thought that he could make some garlic sauce and then use it as a sauce for fried skewers.
He called Xiaolin over and asked Xiaolin to peel garlic for him. He was just trying it out, so he didn't need to use too much. He could give it a try.
Slice and dice the peeled garlic, then soak it in cold water for ten minutes.
Heat oil in the wok and sauté some spices until fragrant. Remove all the spices from the wok. Next, add the minced garlic. Once it slowly turns golden brown, remove the garlic. Finally, when the oil cools down, sauté the remaining garlic. This is ready for seasoning.
There weren't many condiments at home, so Miao Ying had done his best to make the sauce taste good. Once the small bowl of sauce was ready, he had everyone in the family taste it and made some improvements.
After the garlic sauce is ready, salt, cumin powder, chili powder, sesame seeds and treacle are boiled together. After it becomes thick, sweet potato starch is added. The sauce becomes thick. Miao Ying tasted a little and thought it was almost done, so he called other people over to taste it, and they received unanimous praise.
Miao Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief. Making the sauce was only the first step in setting up a stall.
The second step is tools. If he wants to set up a stall, he needs a special cart, which he has to ask Huo Xing to make for him. He can modify their cart and make a small stove so that there is fire for frying skewers.
There also needs to be space for the vegetables and meat. Miao Ying described everything to Huo Xing and let Huo Xing worry about the rest as he had other things to do.
He needed a stove and a small pot with a lid to fry a handful at a time. He couldn't let others see what kind of oil he was using. This was also the agreement between him and Young Master Fu. He could use it, but he couldn't let others know what it was. Anyway, he had seen something like this in modern times, so it shouldn't be difficult to make.
By the time they had completed all the preparations, the day had arrived for Huo Xiaobao to go to the academy.
Mother and grandmother sent them to the village entrance. Huo Xiaobao had never lived away from home before. Li Hongying burst into tears thinking about it. Huo Xiaobao hugged her and grandmother and said, "I will be back during the Mid-Autumn Festival. You can prepare delicious food for me then."
Li Hongying and her grandmother wiped away their tears and watched them walk further and further away.
Today, Miao Ying, Huo Xing and Xiao Lin took him to the academy. When they arrived at the academy, the front of the academy was already crowded with people who came to study. Miao Ying took Huo Xiaobao to line up. From time to time, there were people crying and walking back in front. Miao Ying and Huo Xiaobao were a little nervous this time.
After waiting in line for about an incense stick of time, it was their turn. Miao Ying wanted to pay the money first, but the teacher said that it was not necessary and asked them to wait. After fifteen people gathered, they would have to pass the teacher's test before they could get the qualification.
Soon the fifteen people gathered and were taken to a lecture hall. Miao Ying couldn't go in, so he had to wait outside. Xiao Lin and Huo Xing also followed.
"Xiaobao should be able to make it, right?" Miao Ying paced back and forth anxiously. This place was really crowded, so Huo Xing pulled him aside and patted his back gently.
Xiaolin also held his hand and comforted him: "Brother, Xiaobao is fine."
After waiting for a cup of tea, the fifteen people who had just entered finally came out. What Miao Ying didn't expect was that only five of the fifteen people were left. Fortunately, Huo Xiaobao was among them.
The remaining children all had red eyes, and the more fragile ones had already started crying. Miao Ying was called over to prepare for the various admission procedures. He had no time to feel sorry for others and left quickly.
They paid the money, three taels of silver for tuition and one tael of silver for food, and finally got the accommodation assigned to them by the academy. Someone took them there, and Miao Ying helped Huo Xiaobao make the bed and put all the daily necessities in place. He also gave him a purse with some small change in it.
Huo Xiaobao is only seven years old now, which is the age for first grade in modern times, but in ancient times he would have to go to boarding school. It's really pitiful.
This room looked big enough for ten people to stay in. Since Huo Xiaobao arrived early, Miao Ying chose a good seat for him. Later, more people came and soon the room was full.
Seeing Miao Ying giving money to Huo Xiaobao, the person in charge of managing the dormitory said that the children didn't have much money to spend in the academy, and it would be irresponsible if the academy was lost, so Miao Ying had to take the money back.
After everything was settled, these idlers were about to leave the school. Huo Xiaobao sent them to the door. Miao Ying saw that he was about to cry.
Xiaolin turned around and hugged Huo Xiaobao. Huo Xiaobao couldn't help crying. Finally, a teacher took him back. The teacher who stayed behind told them to come back to pick him up on August 14th.
After a busy afternoon, Yunshan Academy finally closed its heavy doors. Outside the door were eager expectations, and inside were the hopes of the entire family.
Miao Ying and the others were not in a good mood, and they were a little worried about Huo Xiaobao. They were afraid that he would be bullied, that he would not have enough food to eat, and that he would get sick again.
Huo Xing looked at them and said, "I've asked around. There are many errand boys and doctors in the academy. If anyone has a headache or a fever, someone will come and report it."
Miao Ying nodded, followed the crowd down the mountain, and went home quietly.
Sending Huo Xiaobao to the academy was a small goal of his, and his next goal was to make money.
On the way back, they stopped by the same blacksmith shop as last time, the Hong family blacksmith. Blacksmith Hong made the pot according to Miao Ying's requirements. It looked very delicate, and the stove was also made according to Miao Ying's requirements.
When they got home, they put the stove and the pot on the cart, and they fit perfectly.
At this point, he has completed all the preparations for selling fried skewers, and the next step is to prepare to set up the stall.
The dishes for the stall are also ready, a combination of meat and vegetables. Vegetarian dishes are one cent per string, and meat dishes are two strings for five cents. However, there are not too many varieties, so we can only wait and see how the stall performs the day before.
The vegetarian dishes included cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and radish meatballs made by Miao Ying himself. The meat dishes were pork tenderloin strips, pork belly cubes, and a chicken that Li Hongying killed for him at Miao Ying's request. The skin was torn off, and the chicken breast was cut into strips and marinated.
Miao Ying always had a plan in mind when setting up a stall in the past, but this time was different. He tossed and turned in bed at night. Huo Xing held his waist for the fifth time: "What's wrong?"
There was a hint of sleepiness in his voice, which made Miao Ying very angry. He tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, but Huo Xing slept like a pig.
"Heh." Miao Ying snorted coldly.
Huo Xing's sleepiness had mostly disappeared. He leaned over with his arms propped up to look at Miao Ying: "What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep." Miao Ying turned over again and put his legs on Huo Xing's body. "I'm nervous."
Unlike the small-scale businesses he started before, this time he wanted to develop the family business in the long term, so he was still very worried that the business would not be good.
Huo Xing reached out and took off Miao Ying's clothes: "If you can't sleep, do something that will help you sleep."
Miao Ying let out a light cry, but finally let him do whatever he wanted to her. Only once did Miao Ying become too tired to open his eyes, and he didn't have the energy to worry anymore.
I did it gently at night and my body had gotten used to it, so I didn't feel any discomfort when I woke up the next day. Miao Ying was eating slowly, and Huo Xing had already started loading the truck.
Xiaolin will not go with them today. After all, they don’t know when they will be back. It would be a hassle to take Xiaolin with them. It would be better to let him stay at home.
Xiaolin stood at the door and placed a wooden sculpture of a kitten he had made into a small slot in their cart.
Miao Ying touched his head, and then went out with Huo Xing to set up a stall. Miao Ying walked beside Huo Xing. The cart loaded with a lot of things now looked very heavy. He stopped and helped Huo Xing push the cart from behind.
When the road was flat, he walked back to Huo Xing and said, "If it sells well, I want to buy one that can pull a cart."
Huo Xing hummed: "Can't I pull the cart?"
"That's too tiring," Miao Ying said. "You need to use your energy elsewhere. Besides, you're going to the oil press. I can't pull the cart by myself."
Huo Xing was silent: "Alright."
"Then what do you think we should buy? A mule for pulling the cart will do, right? How much is a mule?" Miao Ying didn't know much about the livestock in this world. He only dealt with chickens and ducks every day.
"A mule is five taels, and an ox is twenty taels."
Miao Ying sighed, "It's only fifteen taels short. If I buy a cow, farming will be easier in the future."
Although their family now has a hundred taels of silver as a base, Miao Ying does not intend to use this money, so he plans to see how the stall goes today before making a decision.
It was almost noon when we arrived at the county town. It was not the busy farming season anymore, the weather was not too hot these past two days, and there were more people on the streets.
They were all familiar with the process of setting up a stall, and the stall was pretty good. The two of them worked together to set up the stall quickly.
The person next to their stall was also an acquaintance. They were next to this stall when they sold cold noodles last time. The vendor looked at them and asked, "What new things are you selling this time?"
Miao Ying just smiled and didn't answer. Then he asked Huo Xing to light the stove. Soon the oil in the pot was hot, but it was not open yet.
Miao Ying was playing with the wooden cat that Xiao Lin made for him, and he was not too anxious.
After a while, a little kid stood beside his stall, looking at the wooden cat in Miao Ying's hand, his eyes full of desire.
His mother came over quickly, and it was obvious that she loved her child so much that her eyes were filled with love. She asked Miao Ying if he wanted to sell the things in his hand.
Miao Ying's mind worked quickly, and he said with a smile, "If you buy my food, I can give it to you."
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