Since I can't think of anything for now, I'll just keep selling tofu for now.
Since we've found a new supplier, let's just wait it out for a while longer.
As the family of three walked home that evening, a sudden idea flashed into Wang Yan's mind.
Make some mala tang! And with the weather starting to get cooler, isn't a bowl of hot mala tang even better than rice and spicy tofu?
Chili powder is not easy to use in cooking, and even if you manage to make it, it won't bring out your own unique characteristics.
When chili powder is sprinkled on a dish, the vegetable becomes the main element; when you stir-fry a green vegetable, you can only see a single leaf at a glance. This is unlike Mapo Tofu, where the entire vegetable is bright red.
It creates a strong visual impression, and its spicy flavor makes people want to buy it, which is very effective in making the restaurant famous.
After all, Wang Yan had tasted the spicy vegetable pancakes made by others, and although the spiciness was not as domineering and fragrant as chili peppers.
It has a unique flavor; it's very pungent and refreshing, and it's addictive.
Simply sprinkling a handful of vegetables directly onto the stir-fry doesn't offer any advantage; no matter how much you sprinkle, it still looks like a tiny bit.
Why not just fry it into chili oil and then add a spoonful when making mala tang (spicy hot pot)?
Add some almond paste and sesame paste to the hot pot, and then scoop up two spoonfuls of chili oil, and it'll definitely sell like hotcakes!
They got right to it, but Aunt Wang wouldn't let them buy sesame paste in the capital; they had to get it from the oil mill in the countryside.
It's much cheaper. One tael of silver per jar. Aunt Wang said that for the same price, you can only buy three jars in the capital, but you can buy five jars in the countryside.
Don't be fooled by the price; because you need to dilute it with hot water, one jar can last quite a long time.
However, if you're making mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot), you'll need to experiment a few times to find the right ratio for the ingredients and seasonings.
Moreover, Aunt Wang wasn't very interested in this. Firstly, it was too expensive, and secondly, unlike making tofu, making spicy hot pot was much more time-consuming and tiring.
So she bought some sesame paste in the capital and had Wang Yan try it out first, while she sold tofu.
If the experiment proves successful, then we'll go to the countryside to buy sesame paste and almond paste.
Given the current situation, the tofu business will definitely be able to continue for a while longer.
The next day, after washing up at home, the group went to Ma Xing Street and had a bowl of soy milk with fried dough sticks before leisurely heading to the shop.
When they arrived, they saw Aunt Cai, who delivered vegetables to them every day, arguing with the old man who made tofu.
"Let go! Are you crazy? People don't want your things, but they still order my food every day!"
If you stop me from delivering it again, I'll get rough!
Wang Yan frowned and quickly stepped forward with Aunt Wang and Sister Ying.
The old man had his back to them. "Why won't you listen to advice, old woman? I've already told you, this family is no good!"
What if you get ripped off by delivering vegetables to their house?
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wang's eyebrows furrowed in anger, she glared at him, and strode forward.
"Pah! You bastard who spouts nonsense! Why don't you want your tofu? Don't you even know what's going on?"
If you dare to engage in such forced buying and selling, we dare not retaliate, and you dare to do such bad things behind our backs!
"You've got some nerve, you shameless old bastard!"
After cursing, he kicked over the old man's tofu basket, then picked up the vegetables in front of Aunt Cai and went into his own shop.
The old man was stunned for a moment, then, realizing what was happening, he grabbed Wang Da Niang and wouldn't let her leave.
"Hey, stop right there! Why are you kicking my stall? This basket of tofu is worth a lot of money! You've kicked it to the ground, how am I supposed to sell it? I'll lose money!"
"Pay? Bah! I'll pay you a fortune! If you piss me off, I'll take it to Manager Hu of our restaurant, and I'll make sure you regret it!"
Who joins a guild for nothing? The guild's responsibility is to strengthen industry management and maintain industry order.
However, the old man who sold them the tofu had a clever trick up his sleeve; he only insisted on selling it without raising the price.
That's why Wang Yan didn't register with the local food guild.
However, the old man's actions were somewhat unreasonable, so he backed down a bit after being yelled at like that. Nobody wants to get themselves into trouble for no reason.
With a long sigh, the old tofu maker could only accept his bad luck, pick up the tofu, tidy it up, and stop causing trouble.
Aunt Cai helped carry the two baskets of vegetables back. "Sister, you really are something!"
After placing the dishes down, Aunt Cai praised Aunt Wang while giving her a thumbs up.
"That old man and his family, relying on the fact that they are the only ones selling tofu in this half of the market, are extremely arrogant and always give other merchants extra portions."
They clearly have a decent business and make a good profit, but they're still not satisfied. They don't dare to openly confront the guild, so they secretly devise all sorts of ways to annoy you little foot shops.
Recently, many shops have placed orders with Old Zhou's tofu shop. I think if this old man keeps doing this, no one in our half-neighborhood will buy anything from him anymore.
Aunt Wang scoffed, "That's right, tell me, how can you do business like this, forcing people to buy and sell!"
We've already determined how much our small business needs per day. Kuangkuang is sending you seven or eight buckets. Even if we work ourselves to death, we can't make that many in a day.
Besides, even if you could make it, you'd have to consider how many customers come in a day to buy food and cook it, right?
"They have such a big tofu shop at home, I don't know what they were thinking!"
Aunt Cai took the fried rice tea that Wang Yan poured for her, then sat down on a chair by the door to rest for a while.
"Hey! What were you thinking? I didn't really think about it! His son is a good-for-nothing, but he married a capable 'good wife,' and this idea came from his new wife."
But the whole family agreed, feeling that others had no choice but to accept it.
But if you think about it carefully, who would want to put up with this?
Before you came, not to mention other places, just here on the Wei River, several merchants would rather walk an extra half hour every day to buy tofu from Old Zhou's family than give business to Old Liu's family.
The family was dumbfounded when they realized something was wrong, so they sent Old Liu out to prepare a basket of tofu every day and have him squat there pitifully to sell it.
But to be honest, his family is not short of money. How much do they sell to individual investors every day?
Later, it was because of this that he offended all the small restaurants in our area, and they stopped wanting his tofu, so they stopped bothering him.
But business still needs to be done. After his family stopped forcing customers to buy tofu, all the small merchants in the row had no choice but to swallow their anger and continue buying from him.
Otherwise, the time spent commuting every day would be exhausting enough.
It's a reluctant compromise. Look at that basket he carries every day; it's not for individual customers. Our local merchants just pick up a couple of pieces each day, enough for their own use.
Unexpectedly, only a few days have passed, and they've already shown their true colors again, trying to force you to buy.
After finishing her long speech, Aunt Cai was parched and extremely thirsty, so she gulped down a large bowl of fried rice tea.
Wang Yan exclaimed in surprise, "So that's what happened!"
Aunt Lu from the shop next door heard them talking and brought over her own stool.
"That's right, that old man has been saying bad things about your family for two days in a row. Your family has set a good example for us."
"Thanks to you all, Old Zhou's family delivers three buckets every day. Your family gets two, and we'll divide the remaining bucket among ourselves. Now we'll all order tofu from Old Zhou's family."
Wang Yan couldn't help but get angry. Serves them right! They're neglecting their perfectly good business and only thinking of crooked ideas.
Selling tofu! They'll continue selling tofu themselves, determined to bring down the Liu family's tofu business for a while!
However, that was just talk; Wang Yan then began researching dipping sauces for mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot).
How much food should be cooked in a bowl to fill an adult's stomach? What's the right ratio for sauces? How much peanut butter and sesame paste should be added to complement each other's flavors, rather than creating a jarring contrast?
Three days later, Wang Yan finally figured it out, but it was useless. Aunt Wang disagreed with doing business this way. She said that they should just sell tofu for now.
Wang Yan also agreed, after all, her family's shop had only just begun to gain a reputation, and it wasn't appropriate to make too many changes.
Let's make a name for ourselves in the Bianhe Four Canals area with just this one dish!
Wang Yan's daily life now consists of cutting tofu into cubes, frying tofu, and stir-frying tofu with Aunt Wang.
I feel nauseous just looking at tofu; I'm so tired of it! I'm really sick of it.
Even if you serve her a big bowl of Xuexia soup now, she won't be able to eat it.
A month has passed, and it's time for the exciting moment of calculating the money. Two baskets of tofu a day cost 200 coins. Two baskets of green vegetables cost 35 coins, and pork cost 80 coins for two jin (1 kg).
Ginger and Sichuan peppercorn powder are used sparingly, bought every ten days, totaling 200 yuan.
Chili powder is not included in the expenses, so it's impossible to calculate in detail. Four taels of silver a year is enough to harvest one mountain.
The scallions were only used for the first two days, and then none were used after that, so they didn't cost anything. One tael of silver equaled one shi of rice. Six shi were used.
The total cost for vegetables was 1055 coins, and for tofu, 6 ounces, plus the cost of the scallions bought on the first day. The pork cost 2 ounces and 300 coins. The total cost for pork was 600 coins.
A load of firewood cost 50 coins. Because they sometimes stayed in the afternoon and rested in the back room, they also bought some coal. It cost 60 coins per pound, or 4 coins per pound.
These haven't all been burned yet, but they're all included in the cost. It adds up to two taels of silver a month.
The expenditure was 17 taels and 955 cash, which is calculated as 18 taels. The remaining 50 cash is disregarded; all costs and expenses are calculated as 18 taels.
Then, he earned a total of 45 taels of silver from selling large bowls of vegetables and rice every day, and made a net profit of 27 taels of silver that month.
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