"You're coming?" Li Xiaoxiao's eyes shone brightly, as if she wanted to see through him completely. Fortunately, the man's wound on the back was covered by new clothes, so no trace of injury could be seen. His slightly hunched body revealed that the injury had not yet healed. "I'll come. Don't make things worse. The medical expenses are quite expensive." After saying that, she glanced meaningfully at the man's back.
Qi Yu straightened up abruptly, and strangely enough, he was already mostly recovered.
Li Xiaoxiao didn't care, snatched it back, and easily walked down the mountain with the two or three hundred jin basket on her back. The man followed slowly behind her. The two gave each other two coins, got on the oxcart, and swayed to the market.
It happened to be market day, a bustling crowd, shoulder to shoulder, with all sorts of vendors hawking their wares. Li Xiaoxiao first went to buy 30 coins' worth of lard, then found a corner, set up her basket, stacked the fish balls, and took out a small brazier from under the basket. Inside was a small pot. She filled the pot with oil, supported it with an iron rack, and arranged firewood under the brazier. Smoke rose, and the simple setup for frying fish balls was complete. She took out the fish balls one by one and put them into the pot to fry. She took out the chili sauce, and after each one was fried, she skewered it with a wooden skewer she had sharpened the night before, with three or two skewers on each skewer before frying.
The fish balls changed from milky white to golden and crispy. Li Xiaoxiao got more and more excited as she worked on them. If she had some oiled paper, these fish balls wouldn't have been so difficult to handle.
Qi Yu also helped out, and the two of them made more than a dozen skewers. Li Xiaoxiao cleared her throat and raised her voice a little louder, "Grilled fish balls, grilled fish balls, delicious and inexpensive, five for ten coins, five for ten coins."
The price of five grilled fish balls for ten coins was a bit high, and with the poor harvest this year, who would want to eat this rare treat? But Li Xiaoxiao wasn't in a hurry. She made the fish balls while calling out to sell them, "Fish balls are here! Delicious and inexpensive, five for ten coins."
Amidst the bustling city, the crisp cries of vendors could be heard repeatedly by passersby, and the aroma of fried fish balls gradually spread among them.
The shopkeeper, Min, originally intended to buy some rare medicinal herbs and household items, but he was drawn over by the sweet cries of his vendors along the way.
"Madam, is that you?" The shopkeeper was initially curious about what kind of fragrance was so enticing, but upon seeing it, he was surprised to find it was the medicine customer from before. He had earned eight hundred taels of silver from that ginseng last time, and today he found Li Xiaoxiao quite adorable.
"Hey, is this the shopkeeper? How about a few skewers?" Li Xiaoxiao was worried about not having any customers when the shopkeeper came to her door.
Manager Min took out a special bag for storing stone materials and handed it to Li Xiaoxiao. "Give me ten." Li Xiaoxiao quickly got to work, happily scooping up the freshly fried fish balls and pouring on the special chili sauce. Instantly, the aroma of spicy flavor spread. The manager, who had originally just come to support the business, couldn't resist eating them either. The spicy aroma of the fish balls stimulated his senses, and his mouth was itching to try them.
"Here you go, shopkeeper." Li Xiaoxiao quickly handed over two skewers of three and two skewers of two. Shopkeeper Min picked them up and started eating. The chili sauce was really fragrant. The fish balls were refreshing, cool, and spicy, while the freshness of the fish was well preserved. There was even flour added inside, making them as smooth and tender as soft tofu, and as fragrant as running in a sea of fire. His taste buds were having a blast. He never liked to eat too much, and his figure was already thin. His face showed his bare bones, and he usually always had a bitter face. Today, he couldn't help but laugh heartily, and his eyes were slightly red with a hint of tears.
"Okay, okay, Madam, pack up these fish balls for me. I'll take fifty more back to satisfy the children in my clan." Some of the better-off families passing by the market were intrigued.
Seeing that even the manager of Min Pharmacy said so, I also wanted to try what this delicacy that could bring tears to one's eyes was. Food was scarce on ordinary days, and it was good enough to have something to eat. It was rare to find food that could make one's eyes well up with tears after eating it, so this was even more unusual.
Seeing that the passersby's curiosity had been piqued, Li Xiaoxiao pressed her advantage and enthusiastically shouted, "Five for ten coins! Buying them is like making a profit!"
After the fish balls were packed up, Manager Min handed them to Li Xiaoxiao for one hundred coins. Without lingering, he hurriedly said, "Madam, you should go home early today. I won't stay any longer." With that, he happily left with the fish balls and a small bag of chili sauce.
Some of the onlookers began to get restless. A waiter from Wanxianglou, still dressed as a janitor, rushed out from the crowd, defiantly saying, "I don't believe it's really that delicious. It's just a scam. I wonder how much money Manager Min has been given."
"Give me ten coins for fish balls, let me try them first, but please don't cheat me." Lu Chang took out ten coins and placed them beside his basket. Qi Yu silently put them away, and Li Xiaoxiao poured chili sauce on the fried fish balls and gave them to Lu Chang.
The waiter was still complaining, "This cooking utensils are so simple, how can it make anything delicious?" Despite his words, he took a bite of the fish ball, and the refreshing, spicy flavor of the fish ball hit his tongue.
The bursting hot broth poured onto the tongue, and there were no fish bones at all—it was simply divine.
Lu Chang finished eating in a few bites, cleared his throat twice, and said, "Give me twenty more." He took out forty coins from his purse, and Li Xiaoxiao smiled as she handed the fish balls to Lu Chang. "Brother, remember to recommend Qingxi fish balls to Wanxianglou when you get back." The waiter took the fish balls, blushed, and didn't dare to reply. He hurriedly left, as he needed to report this matter to the manager as soon as possible.
The two of them took away eighty fish balls, nearly a third less than expected. Li Xiaoxiao couldn't hide her joy on her fair face. Qi Yu looked at the 150 coins he had in his pocket and weighed them. In the past, he would only earn 10 coins a day doing laundry and odd jobs for others. Today, the woman had earned about 100 coins. Even if the fish balls didn't sell, it would be enough.
Because two relatively well-known figures praised it highly, more than twenty people rushed to buy it, and the fish balls sold out in one day. There were still a dozen or so fish balls left, which were not very good in appearance. Li Xiaoxiao simply fried them up and ate them herself. Qi Yu also ate seven or eight of them. They tasted really good, better than all the snacks he had in his wealthy home.
"Mmm." Qi Yu groaned and swallowed. After finishing, he started cleaning up the leftovers and took out the more than six hundred coins he had earned that day, placing them in front of him. "Here you go."
To everyone's surprise, Li Xiaoxiao waved her hand, indicating that she had no intention of taking it.
"Keep this. Here are ten taels of silver. Take it and find a trustworthy carpenter to renovate your house. You'll probably have a hard time getting through this winter."
The man waved the silver coins in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "You want me to go?"
“Of course, you’re a man, you should manage the household affairs.” Li Xiao said matter-of-factly, completely unaware of the man’s fleeting hesitation.
"Mmm," Qi Yu replied softly, her voice filled with joy, but it was carried away by the cold wind.
The two men, one tall and one short, walked toward the carpenter's shop. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from the shadows of a pile of tangled wood around the corner.
The bustling city was still filled with noise, and Qi Yu felt more confident. He strode forward slightly in front of Li Xiaoxiao, blocking the crowd from getting too close to her.
There were few people in front of the carpenter's shop. When Qi Yu arrived, the carpenter, Old Wu, greeted him warmly, "Qi Yu, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
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