Chapter 15
The days are getting warmer and the mornings are getting brighter.
Early in the morning, the tile market was bustling with activity. The two pancake stalls had arrived earlier than Ye Jia, and by the time Ye Jia arrived, they were already busy. He exchanged a glance with Zhou Jingchen, and the two of them set up their stalls in an orderly manner.
One of the two pancake stalls was at the innermost part of Lu Village, and was run by a dark-skinned middle-aged couple. The other was run by an old man with a five or six-year-old child at his feet. The pancakes from both stalls were very different from those made by Ye Jia. You couldn't buy a flat-bottomed frying pan like Ye Jia's on the market; they used a large stove pot. Ye Jia's pan heated evenly, and the pancakes were golden and crispy on the outside, and fresh and delicious on the inside. They couldn't make it, and didn't know how to make it, so they just made the pancakes with shredded radish filling like dumplings. They wrapped the filling in the dough, stretched it out, and threw it into the pan to fry.
Ye Jia took a quick glance and saw that the old man's recipe looked a bit like the leek boxes of later times. The middle-aged couple were too far away to see what they were making.
Honestly, setting up a stall is all about timing. After the morning, when you're most hungry, there aren't as many people. Perhaps you're too late to taste the new stall's flavors. Some people, starving in the morning, will just smell the delicious fried food and eat at another stall.
Business wasn't as brisk today as usual. Aside from a few people who were used to the flavors of Xishi's stall and were waiting for Ye Jia, most people were hungry and had already bought something to fill their stomachs. By the time Luzhai opened, they had already sold around forty pieces.
Ye Jia frowned, but Zhou Jingchen patted her and said, "Go in first."
As the saying goes, first come, first served; those who arrive later are no match for the first arrival. At Xishi's stall, Ye Jia had a good relationship with the gatekeeper, so Wusu and Si Le naturally reserved the best spots for the Zhou family.
It rained a few days ago, and I made over 300 pancakes. Normally, I'd close the stall in an hour, but today, I'd only sold half. Of course, I couldn't take the remaining half back home; it wouldn't keep well in the hot weather. I'd already been storing it at home for two days; another day would spoil it. But thanks to Zhou Jingchen's good looks, the women in town still liked to come to Xishi's stall to buy pancakes.
The two of them worked until almost noon, and finally sold out all 340 radish cakes.
The old man selling chive cakes closed his stall early. It was his first time there, so he didn't make much. He sold a few cakes in the morning and left. The middle-aged couple, however, were the ones who insisted on making cakes with Ye Jia. It was unknown how many cakes they had made; they were still making them even after Xishi's stall closed.
While carrying the goat milk, Ye Jia took the opportunity to take a look.
The couple couldn't cook, so their pancakes were just your average pancake made with shredded radish and batter. Because their pan was a poor choice, the batter was probably made from mixed grains, so the color wasn't pretty when they fried it. But they sold it cheaply, just three cents a pancake. They looked about the same size as Ye Jia's pancakes, but not as thick. Those who couldn't afford the expensive stuff could buy from their stall.
With a rough idea in mind, Ye Jia was about to prepare to drink the goat milk when he saw someone coming from a distance.
What a coincidence, an acquaintance. Zhang Chunfen came over with a bowl, apparently to deliver food. Ye Jia turned her head to look at the stall, and remembered that the dark-faced man was the Zhang brother who had brought radishes to the tile market that day. This one glance made it clear.
Zhang Chunfen obviously didn't see Ye Jia. She came over to deliver the meal and turned around to run away, but was grabbed by the dark and strong woman.
The woman had a loud, sharp voice. Right in the street, she lashed out at Zhang Chunfen, calling her a bitch: "You lazy, greedy bitch! You run away when I tell you to! You're the one delivering food until dark! Can't you see your brother and I have been busy all morning and haven't eaten yet? Instead of lending a hand, you're going off to flirt with other people?"
"You're just spreading rumors about who I'm hooking up with and ruining my reputation. If I can't get married, it's all your fault!"
The woman started talking about bad people's reputations, and Zhang Chunfen was so angry that her face turned red.
But the woman didn't buy her tricks and said something even more unpleasant: "How could you have such nice clothes without hooking up with someone? How could you dress so fancy every day without a man giving you money? You deceived your idiot brother into paying for your cosmetics behind my back. I'm being kind by not beating you! Look at the awful makeup you put on every day. Those who know you know you're a girl, but those who don't would think you're a prostitute from some brothel!"
It was so noisy that people gathered around and pointed and talked. Zhang Chunfen felt so embarrassed that she sat on the ground and covered her face with her hands and cried.
Ye Jia had heard that Zhang Chunfen and her sister-in-law were at odds, but this was the first time he'd witnessed it firsthand. He hadn't expected Zhang Chunfen to have a nemesis: the sister-in-law's scolding of her was always accurate. No wonder Zhang Chunfen hadn't gotten away with anything at her sister-in-law's hands since Ye Zhang had brought her to the Ye family. Ye Jia wasn't in the mood to listen to other people's business, so he returned to his stall with the goat milk in his hand.
Zhou Jingchen had already packed up everything and was standing outside the tile market with Old Man Sun, waiting for her.
Seeing Ye Jia coming from afar, he slowly came over and brought her goat milk.
Two months later, his leg was almost healed. He no longer needed crutches to walk, he just had to walk slower. As he walked, he looked down at Ye Jia's expression. He wanted to try to persuade her, but seeing that she looked relaxed and didn't seem to be in any trouble, he felt relieved.
"Would you like to try it?" Zhou Jingchen followed Ye Jia and held up an oil-paper bag.
Ye Jiaben was thinking about something when he looked up and saw two kinds of cakes wrapped in oil paper.
She didn't know when he'd bought it, but he'd surprised her by bringing it out without a word. Seeing her blink, the man's eyes curved slightly. Even the coarse fabric couldn't hide his elegant and refined demeanor. He bent down to meet Ye Jia's gaze. "This fried one tastes okay, but this fried one is unpalatable."
After saying that, he tore off a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth, then handed the rest to Ye Jia.
Ye Jia tasted it. The fried radish cake was made with flour, and the radish inside had a simple radish flavor. The seasoning wasn't great, but there was a bit of broth inside, and it tasted quite good piping hot. The other one wasn't as good. It tasted astringent when hot, and even harder when cold.
"Three cents is too expensive." The man's voice was clear and light, which made people feel calm when listening to it.
Ye Jia looked up at him, their eyes met, and Ye Jia was the first to look away.
It was noon when the ox cart arrived at Zhou's door.
Having sold a lot today, Yu had been prepared to return late. But she hadn't expected them to be so late. She and Ruijie'er waited at home for a long time, but they didn't return. They went to the village entrance several times, but there was no sign of them. She almost thought something had happened to them in town. She almost went to town to look for them. Seeing them return, looking grimly, she immediately asked what had happened.
Ye Jia didn't hide it from her and told her that there were two new pancake stalls in the town.
Upon hearing this, Yu's face changed, and she immediately panicked. It was no wonder Yu lost her composure; she was afraid. The Zhou family finally had a business to make ends meet, but how could someone come and rob them after only two and a half months of earnings? After three years of exile, Yu was no longer the now dust-free and ignorant Princess Jing. In this desolate northwest land, even a dragon would have to coil.
No matter how well you can read and write, or how good you are at guessing people's minds, you will still starve to death if you don't have enough food to eat.
Hearing her business was being snatched away, she became anxious, her face flushing with anxiety: "What should I do? Why do these people just follow the trend? If others make pancakes, they make pancakes too. Don't they have their own business acumen?"
"Don't panic, Mom, it's not a big deal."
Honestly, after two months of having the food all to themselves, suddenly having it divided up, anyone would feel uneasy. But when it comes to business, if you don't have the skills to monopolize, you can't be too overbearing. You need to eat, and others want a share, too. Especially in this hardship-ridden place, every family is struggling.
Besides, the success of business depends on your ability. If you can’t set up a stall, you can’t allow others to do so.
After inspecting the two pancake stalls, Ye Jia settled on her decision. First, her pancakes were delicious, well-made, and made with white flour. Second, no matter how good something is, it always has a shelf life. Once that shelf life wears off, the truth is revealed. Good things will naturally remain good, while bad ones won't need anyone to resort to trickery; they'll simply fail. This process takes time; you won't see anything in just one or two days.
"Whether something is good or bad is known only to the person who eats it," Ye Jia reassured him. "Our pancakes do taste good. Besides, we can't make radish pancakes forever. Once the radishes on the market are gone, we'll have to come up with something new tomorrow."
That's true. There are no radishes available on the market these days. If you want more, it'll be winter.
It turns out these radishes were leftovers from other people's cellars, and after a winter's storage, their quality was already deteriorating. I chose radish pancakes because they were cheap, but once the radishes were out of season, this business had to stop.
Ye Jia thought about it and went to the backyard to look at the land.
It rained a few days ago, but Zhou Jingchen had already cleared the vacant lot. He had also planted the seeds she had given him. The sun was shining brightly today, and many of the fast-growing plants were showing some green.
Yu followed her out and saw her staring at the land, wondering what she was thinking about. She turned around and looked at her son.
Zhou Jingchen shook his head: "Jia Niang has rules."
Ye Jia had given Zhou Jingchen three packets of vegetable seeds: one for white cabbage, one for radish, and one for leeks. Radishes are planted in autumn, but white cabbage and leeks can be grown. They grow rapidly once the weather warms up. The leeks sprouting green now are the leeks. In a past life, people used to say they'd harvest leeks one crop after another, which was actually a description of how fast they grow.
After walking around the field for a long time, she patted her butt and stood up: "Mom, let's have a good meal at noon today."
Yu looked at her and smiled again, her heart finally settling down. It was true that in this part of the Northwest, no matter how much her own son said, nothing Ye Jia could calm her down. Knowing that her daughter-in-law must have made another idea, she relaxed. "Mother, I'm not a good cook, so I only cooked. Are you planning to make something new?"
Ye Jia nodded: "I bought some mutton. We're having mutton noodles with臊子 for lunch today."
Yu knew about mutton noodles, but she had never heard of mutton noodles with sauerkraut. But whatever Ye Jia cooked, they ate. Yu pulled Rui Jie'er, who was trying to get closer to Ye Jia, and followed her back to the kitchen.
Zhou Jingchen was outside the yard, not knowing what he was doing. He said he had something to do and went out with his crutches.
Ye Jia was a little surprised and looked at Yu. How could Yu know?
The two looked at each other in bewilderment, not caring. After all, Zhou Jingchen was a grown man and needed someone to watch him when he went out. Ye Jia cleaned the mutton and began to stir-fry the sauerkraut. Yu Shi, now an expert at making fire, stayed behind to help Ye Jia. Soon, the fragrant aroma of the sauerkraut wafted into the air, and not only did Rui Jieer get ravenous, but even Yu Shi came out from behind the stove and stood by the pot, watching eagerly.
"We'll sell them all morning tomorrow, so we won't make radish cakes." Ye Jia said to Yu while frying them. "Mom will go to the village and ask if anyone has eggs to spare. We can stock up a few for home."
Rui Jieer blinked her big eyes and looked up at Ye Jia. Ye Jia couldn't help but scooped a spoonful of臊子 for her to taste first.
Yu was jealous, but as a grandmother, she was too embarrassed to eat even if Ye Jia served her some. She stood aside and asked Ye Jia what he wanted the eggs for. Eggs were not cheap these days, only a penny each.
"Of course it's a new business." Ye Jia smiled. Radish cakes are easy to make, but she doesn't know if these leek and egg cakes will sell well.
As she pondered this, the sauce was fried and the noodles were kneaded. Ye Jia was making knife-cut noodles. She had wanted to learn how to make hand-pulled noodles, but she lacked the strength to make them, so she could only cut everything with a knife. Just as the noodles were ready, Zhou Jingchen came back from outside on crutches. It was unclear what he had been doing outside, but he looked rather pensive when he returned.
Ye Jia looked at him quietly. His eyes swept over her. In just a moment, he returned to his calm and gentle appearance.
The mutton noodles with臊子 sauce were well received, and even Zhou Jingchen, who was a low-key person, praised the dish for being well-made.
As Yu was eating, she had a whim and asked if she could go out and make this noodle. The moment she opened her mouth, Ye Jia shot her down. "This thing takes so much work to make. And what's the price of mutton?" "This stuff is fine for home consumption, but how many people in town could afford it if we started a business like this? I'm afraid they'd lose everything."
Yu was awakened by the beating and felt very regretful. Ye Jia put down the bowl and was about to speak when someone came to the yard.
The man, with a loud voice and great strength, pushed the door open and stood in the yard, calling Ye Jia's name. Ye Jia hurried out to see, and it was Ye Zhang's sister-in-law again. When Ye Zhang saw Ye Jia, she came up and grabbed her hand, "Jia Niang, please come with me quickly, saving lives is urgent."
Ye Jia was stunned when he heard this: "Huh?"
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