The next day, Li Hehua and Cao Simei went to sell cakes and took the little one with them.
The little one didn't make any noise or fuss. He just quietly squatted beside the basket and watched Li Hehua sell cakes. Many acquaintances praised Li Hehua: "Your child is really well behaved."
Li Hehua felt helpless. If possible, she would like the little guy to be naughty or even a little bit mischievous.
Since the snack stand will be opened tomorrow, and the cakes will also be sold there then, Li Hehua explained the change of location of the cake stand to all the customers who came to buy cakes, and also mentioned that her snack stand will open tomorrow.
Many old customers said they would definitely come to support the event.
After selling for about half an hour, Master Gu, who had not been seen for many days, actually came.
Ever since he came here last time with the old woman who took care of the children at home, it has always been the old woman who came to buy cakes. Unexpectedly, he came alone today. Li Hehua guessed that today should be the school holiday, so as a teacher, he has time to go shopping and buy cakes.
Li Hehua greeted him, "Master Gu, are you here in person to buy cakes today?"
Gu Zhijin smiled and nodded, "That's right, the school is closed today, so I'm free."
Li Hehua thought of the double skin milk in the basket and said to Gu Zhijin, "That's perfect. I made double skin milk for the children yesterday and also made a bowl for your child. You can take them both back." Then he took out the double skin milk from the basket.
Gu Zhijin had never heard of "double skin milk" and guessed that this was another exclusive delicacy of the boss. The exclusive food made by the boss in the past was always very delicious. Even an adult like him was addicted to it. It was no wonder that his nephew liked her cooking so much. This double skin milk must be delicious too.
Gu Zhijin took the double skin milk and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you very much, boss. I'd like to trouble you to pack some cakes for me, just like before, and I'll take them back."
Li Hehua nodded, took out the oil paper bag, squatted down skillfully and packed the pastries for him.
At this time, Gu Zhijin noticed the little child squatting beside the basket and asked, "Boss, is this child yours?"
Li Hehua said as he packed the cakes: "Yes, this is my son, his name is Shulin. He doesn't like to talk, please don't blame him, Master."
Gu Zhijin shook his head indifferently, "It doesn't matter. Children always have different personalities. It's rare to find a quiet child."
Li Hehua smiled, glanced at the quiet little guy, and gently touched his face. The little guy raised his eyes to look at her, and his eyes seemed to ask, "Mom, what are you doing?"
Li Hehua smiled even wider.
Gu Zhijin watched the interaction between the mother and son and laughed too, thinking that this boss must be a very good mother.
"Master Gu, your cakes are ready, please take them." Li Hehua packed them and handed them to Gu Zhijin, and also told him about the cake stall moving. "By the way, Master Gu, I have something else to tell you. Starting tomorrow, my cake stall will be moving to the entrance of Yangliu Lane. From now on, you can just go there to find me if you want to buy cakes."
Gu Zhijin was puzzled, "Why did you suddenly move?"
Li Hehua smiled and explained: "It's like this, I'm planning to open a snack stand to sell food at the entrance of the alley over there, so I'm also going to sell cakes there."
As soon as the word "food" passed through Gu Zhijin's ears, his heart lifted and he instantly became interested. The cakes made by this boss are so delicious, I believe her skills in making other food must be extraordinary, otherwise his nephew would not eat her cakes every day, but now his nephew almost eats cakes as meals, but how can these cakes be equal to meals? For this reason, he was very worried, and even thought in his heart, it would be better if the boss did not sell cakes but sold food, so that he would not have to worry about his nephew not having food.
I didn’t expect the boss was really going to sell meals.
Gu Zhijin's smile widened, and he asked about the snack stand with great interest, "Boss, what kind of food do you sell at this snack stand?"
Seeing that he was interested, Li Hehua read out the menu one by one, "My snack stand sells a lot of things, but they are all enough to fill your stomach. There are fried rice, fried noodles, noodle soup, stir-fried vegetables and dumplings. I also sell buns and steamed buns."
Gu Zhijin's eyes had already lit up, thinking that now his little ancestor would have something to eat. He also wanted to try the food the boss mentioned, so he said, "The boss's cooking must be good. I must go and try it tomorrow."
Li Hehua smiled, "Okay, then you are welcome to visit us tomorrow, Master Gu."
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After selling the cakes, Li Hehua first took the little one to buy the ingredients needed to make the cakes. After sending them home, he began to prepare for tomorrow's snack stand.
Since there were many things to buy, she definitely couldn't buy them all by herself with a child. After thinking about it, Li Hehua ran to Sister Xie's house and called Sister Xie out to help.
Without saying a word, Mrs. Xie put down what she was doing and followed her out to buy things.
The first thing to buy is flour. The amount of flour needed will be huge, and it is estimated that several bags will be needed at a time. Li Hehua went directly to the grain and oil store and bought three large bags of flour. Then she discussed with the owner of the grain and oil store to deliver flour to her every three days.
Seeing that Li Hehua wanted such a large quantity, the boss readily agreed. After asking for her home address, he said he would definitely deliver it on time.
The problem of flour was solved, and the only things left were meat and vegetables. This was no problem for Mrs. Xie. She took Li Hehua directly to a familiar stall to buy them. Not only was it fast, but she also saved a lot of money by bargaining with the boss.
With the help of Sister Xie, the ingredients were bought quickly. After returning home, Li Hehua took out an apron and gave it to Sister Xie, and the two began to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow.
"Sister Xie, make the dumpling fillings first. Make two kinds, one with leeks and one with pork and leeks. Make a pot of each and we'll make dumplings later. After they're done, make some stuffing for buns, one with meat and one with vegetarian stuffing."
"Okay." Mrs. Xie nodded and sat aside to pick vegetables.
Li Hehua took a wooden basin, poured most of the flour into it, added an appropriate amount of water and began to knead the dough. This is used to make dumpling skins, steamed buns and noodles.
The dough for making steamed buns needs to be rested for a while, but Li Hehua chose to make dumpling skins first. He rolled the dough into a long strip, then cut it into small pieces, and then rolled the small pieces into round dumpling skins with a rolling pin.
After Li Hehua had finished making the dumpling skins, Mrs. Xie also skillfully prepared the stuffing. Li Hehua took the stuffing and seasoned it himself to ensure that the dumplings tasted delicious.
After the filling was ready, Li Hehua handed the task of making the dumplings to Sister Xie, while she took this opportunity to make the pastries to be sold tomorrow.
Both of them were quick-witted and worked very quickly, but the workload was quite large. By the time everything was ready, it was already very late and everyone else had finished dinner and was going to bed.
Li Hehua ate three bowls of noodles with the noodles he had just rolled out. "Sister-in-law, you've worked hard today. Let's have some noodles tonight. After you finish eating, go home and have a rest."
Mrs. Xie thought to herself that she had really met a noble man. Not only was the work easy and the salary high, but the man also provided a dinner, and the dinner was made of white flour. It was hard to find such a master even with a lantern. She must work hard and try to keep Sister Hehua employing her.
At the same time, Li Hehua was also thinking about Sister Xie in her heart. Through today's observation, Sister Xie worked very efficiently. The dumplings and buns she made looked very good and tasted good. It seemed that they could be used for a long time, which saved her the trouble of finding other people.
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The next morning, after Li Hehua got up, she called the little one, "Wake up, baby! Mommy is going out to set up the stall."
The little guy opened his eyes sleepily and rubbed his eyes with his little hands in a daze.
Li Hehua took his hand away, picked him up from the bed and rocked him in her arms to help him wake up. After rocking for a while, the little guy really opened his eyes and put his arms around Li Hehua's neck and looked at her.
Li Hehua patted his little back and said, "Okay, little darling, you need to get ready to open the shop with your mother~"
Li Hehua put clothes on the little guy, washed him, and took him to have breakfast when Cao Simei came, followed by Daha and Daya. Daha was pushing her stroller.
"Sister, we brought your cart here."
Dahe pushed the cart into the yard. Li Hehua looked at it for a moment and was generally satisfied. "That's good. The cart is here. It's just right for transporting things to the street corner later."
Li Hehua, Cao Simei, Dahe Daya and the other two carried tables, chairs, benches, pots, pans, firewood, rice, oil and salt to the street corner. By the time they had put the snack stalls in order, the market had become bustling with activity.
A newly opened stall is considered an eye-catching thing in this town. Many passers-by stood aside to watch the excitement. Li Hehua hung the wooden board with the menu in the most eye-catching place in front of the stall for the onlookers to see. When most of the onlookers had read it, Li Hehua stood in front of the crowd and introduced everyone: "Hello, everyone, my snack stall is open today. The main items sold in this stall are fried rice, fried noodles, noodles with toppings, dumplings, and steamed buns. You can order whatever you want. In addition, all customers who eat in this store can get a free delicious vegetable soup for one night. Everyone is welcome to come and taste it."
The people watching around originally thought that it was a new noodle shop or a stall selling mutton soup and beef soup, but they didn't expect that this snack stand was different from other stalls in the town. It sold so many things, and the food was also novel. They immediately became curious and started talking about it in whispers.
However, although many people were talking about it, no one asked to try it.
Seeing that people were just watching but not eating, Cao Simei and Dahe Daya became anxious and kept staring at Li Hehua.
Li Hehua found it funny and shook his head to signal them not to be anxious. After all, it was not yet lunch time. It was normal that no one came in to eat. It would not be too late to be anxious if no one came in at lunchtime.
Li Hehua simply placed the cakes he brought on the empty space next to the stall and said to Cao Simei, "Sister, it's still early and it's not time for dinner yet. Don't worry. You and Daya can sell cakes first."
Seeing Li Hehua so calm, Cao Simei felt a little relieved. Thinking that the pastry business should not be delayed, she pulled Daya to start selling pastries.
The pastry business is very good. After the pastries are put out, customers come to buy one after another. There are also many old customers. When these old customers see Li Hehua's snack stall, they come forward to greet Li Hehua and curiously ask about the food in the stall. Li Hehua does not get annoyed and patiently introduces the food in the snack stall to the customers.
Many old customers said that they would definitely come to try the food when it’s time for dinner. This made Cao Simei smile from ear to ear, and she finally felt relieved.
Sure enough, when it was time to eat, many old customers sat down at the stall to try Li Hehua's snacks.
Li Hehua patted Dahe on the shoulder and said, "Dahe, go and greet the guests quickly. Introduce the menu to them and ask them what they want to eat. After you've asked them, come and tell me."
It was Daha's first time as a waiter and he was a little nervous, but he was smart enough. Upon hearing what Li Hehua said, he immediately went to greet the guests.
While Dahao was asking the guests what they wanted to eat, Li Hehua filled the soup bowls he had bought with a few bowls of vegetable soup, which were to be given to the diners.
After asking the guests what they wanted to eat, Da He came back trotting and said to Li He Hua, "Auntie He Hua, I want a bowl of vegetarian fried rice, a bowl of vegetarian fried noodles, and two bowls of dumplings, fifteen dumplings in each bowl, one vegetarian and one meat."
Li Hehua nodded, "Okay, I understand. Now take these bowls of soup to the customers and tell them that they are free from our stall. Be careful not to burn yourself when you serve them."
Da He let out an "ah", turned around and enthusiastically brought the soup to the guests.
Li Hehua poured oil into the pot and started cooking.
The rice for the fried rice was cooked last night and is now cooled. All you have to do is pour it into the pan and fry it. Thanks to Li Hehua's superb speed, the rice is ready in just a few moments.
Li Hehua deftly put the fried rice in the pot into a plate, put a spoon on it and placed it on the table next to him. Suddenly, an enticing aroma wafted out. People within a few hundred meters radius couldn't help but turn up their noses, and the onlookers stared with their eyes wide open.
"This rice was cooked so quickly, I thought it was just a simple meal, but it smells so good~"
"This meal looks really good. It looks delicious. I'll go back and try it later."
"This boss's cooking skills are really good. He just stirs it in the wok for a few times and it smells so good. It smells so good that I want to try it."
"Yes, yes, I really want to try it..."
The discussions of the people around him floated into Li Hehua's ears. The corners of Li Hehua's mouth curled up and he continued to cook the next plate of food.
Da He saw that the first serving of egg fried rice was ready. He came over to take the plate away and brought it to the first customer who ordered. "Sir, this is your fried rice. Enjoy."
The first customer had been staring at Li Hehua's movements. The fragrance had already drifted into his nose, and his heart was itching. He didn't feel hungry when he came, but now he seemed to be starving. At this moment, seeing his egg fried rice being served, he picked up the spoon and scooped a spoonful into his mouth without saying a word. His eyes widened instantly, and after a moment, he swallowed the rice in his mouth, and then quickly scooped up the second spoonful and put it into his mouth.
The guests who were still waiting for their meals were all staring at him, expecting his reaction. Seeing his behavior, it was clear that the food must be really delicious. The whole plate of rice was almost empty in just a short while.
So everyone was looking forward to their portion being served soon.
Li Hehua moved very quickly, and in just a few moments he had completed all the customers' orders. Looking at the customers at the stall concentrating on their food, his heart was filled with joy, because the first step for this snack stand had been taken.
At this moment, a familiar figure slowly approached the snack stand. It was Master Gu.
Li Hehua greeted him with a smile, "Master Gu, are you here for dinner?"
Gu Zhijin smiled and nodded, "Yes, I smelled the fragrance from your stall from a long distance just now, and I was tempted by the fragrance and came here involuntarily."
Li Hehua was amused by Gu Zhijin's slightly complimenting words and said, "Then Master Gu, you must try it carefully. Take a seat and see what you would like to eat."
Gu Zhijin was actually attracted by the aroma from a distance, and his appetite was aroused. Hearing this, he carefully looked at the menu and said, "Then Boss, please make me a bowl of beef fried noodles, and then a bowl of meat dumplings. I want to take it away when I leave and give it to my children at home."
Li Hehua smiled and nodded, "Okay, no problem, please sit down first, I'll be ready soon."
Li Hehua poured oil into the pot while talking to the small pendant beside his leg.
"Baby, are you hungry? It's time for dinner. Look, other uncles and aunts are eating, so it's time for you to eat too. Mommy will make some food for you. Can you sit down and eat?"
The little guy has been sticking to her legs since the morning when she set up the stall. She asked him to sit on the table to rest, but he refused and just held on to her trouser leg and watched her cook. She didn't know where he got so much patience, and he didn't get bored even after watching her cook for so long. Only when she looked down at him would he move his eyes and look up at her, which really made her heart melt with love.
But the kid was still young, and he couldn't stand like this all the time. Besides, it was time for dinner, and although it was okay for adults to eat later, the kid couldn't go hungry. Li Hehua wanted to coax the kid to sit down and eat, but every time she coaxed him to sit down and eat, he would hug her legs tightly, and his refusal was self-evident, which made Li Hehua helpless, and she had to ask again and again.
But this time, after she asked the question, the little guy did not hug her legs tightly like he did every time before.
Li Hehua was puzzled and lowered his head to look at the little guy beside his legs. He found that the little guy was staring at something diagonally opposite to him.
Li Hehua was curious and looked in the direction the little guy was looking. He saw a tall figure standing quietly in a corner not far away, easily distinguished from the people around him.
It’s Zhang Tieshan.
Li Hehua was shocked. He didn't expect Zhang Tieshan to come here.
What is he here for?
But on second thought, there is nothing strange about it. Shu Lin is staying with her now, and Zhang Tieshan must be worried about Shu Lin, so he came to see him to feel at ease.
Li Hehua didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but then he thought of the little guy who didn't want to eat. If Zhang Tieshan took him to eat, would the little guy be willing? After all, the little guy still liked him as his biological father.
Why not call Zhang Tieshan over and let him coax the little guy to eat.
Li Hehua quickly finished making Gu Zhijin's beef fried noodles. After serving it to Gu Zhijin, she wiped her hands on her apron, then picked up the little guy and went to Zhang Tieshan.
When Zhang Tieshan saw her coming, he had no expression and just looked at her and the little guy quietly.
Li Hehua didn't expect Zhang Tieshan to speak first, so he had to greet him first, "Um...you're here?"
Li Hehua regretted saying this. Why did she start with this? It sounded like she was just making a deliberate greeting. Zhang Tieshan hated her so much that he didn't even bother to greet her. She was so stupid.
Li Hehua was just about to say something again to ease the awkwardness, but Zhang Tieshan unexpectedly said "hmm", and no one knew what he was saying.
Li Hehua blinked and said "Oh". He didn't know what else to say, so he just said to him directly: "You are here to see Shulin, right? Then go sit down at the stall. It's a good opportunity to take Shulin to have some lunch. He hasn't eaten yet. I'm busy cooking and don't have time to take him to eat. He doesn't want to eat by himself. He will be willing if you go with him."
Zhang Tieshan looked at Li Hehua twice, did not refuse, and took the little guy from her arms.
The little guy rarely gave face and stayed obediently in Zhang Tieshan's arms without moving.
Li Hehua breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led Zhang Tieshan back to the stall and asked him to sit at an empty table. "Wait a moment. I'll make some dumplings for you and Shulin."
Zhang Tieshan said nothing and nodded.
Li Hehua originally wanted Shulin to eat, but she couldn't let Zhang Tieshan, as a father, watch his son eat. He must not have had lunch either, so she let the father and son eat together. She just wanted to make more dumplings.
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