Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Font Size:
Ye Lizheng ran off happily, practically skipping.
Ye Caiping’s lips curved into a smile. As long as this matter was reported to the County Magistrate, her hope of becoming an independent household would be within reach.
Old Lady Ye walked in and asked, “Caiping, who are you going to set up the stall with tomorrow?”
“With Jin’er and Huan’er.”
“I’ll go with you!”
“Sure.”
“What’s going on? What’s going on? I want to go too,” Ye Daquan barged in, freshly bathed and still dripping with water.
“No way,” Ye Caiping rejected him outright. “We already have enough people. Too many will just cause trouble instead of helping.”
Ye Daquan’s heart shattered with a resounding crack.
Old Man Ye glared at him. “There are still two acres of land waiting for you to water tomorrow! Planning to slack off, are you?”
Ye Daquan grinned sheepishly. “Of course not, of course not.”
“Dad, I’m going to bed now. I have to get up early tomorrow.”
Ye Caiping left the main hall, went to the kitchen to soak the ingredients needed for the next day, and then went to bed.
…
Around 4 am, a rooster crowed, waking Ye Caiping.
While she went out to rinse her mouth, Ye Caiping took out bones and meat from her spatial storage.
After washing up, she started to simmer the broth.
Jin’er and Huan’er also woke up, yawning. One chopped vegetables while the other watched the stove fire. Yan Fang washed the gluten.
Half an hour later, two large buckets of steaming hot Spicy Soup were ready.
Ye Caiping tasted it. Using the broth, the Spicy Soup was even more flavorful than the night before.
Just as she covered the Spicy Soup, Ye Bajin arrived, whispering at the gate, “Sister Caiping, are you ready?”
Ye Caiping opened the door and let him in, “Try some, this is our Spicy Soup.”
Ye Bajin took a sip and his face lit up, “Delicious!”
He was a simple man with no fancy words, unable to describe the divine taste.
Ye Caiping was about to lift the Spicy Soup with Ye Bajin, but Ye Daquan squeezed in, pushing her hand aside. The two men carried the Spicy Soup out of the kitchen.
Ye Daquan had been awake for a while, but he was afraid of being scolded by Yan Fang so he didn’t dare approach. Now that he saw them carrying things, he couldn’t bear to let his sister do the work, so he rushed out.
Two large buckets of Spicy Soup, some bowls and containers, and the tables and chairs already tied to the cart yesterday filled the ox-cart completely.
Ye Caiping, Jin’er, Huan’er, and Yan Fang sat on the ox-cart and slowly left.
“By the way, Caiping, how much are we going to sell our Spicy Soup for?” Yan Fang asked.
“I calculated last night, the spices are not cheap, the cost is high, and our stuff is unique. Small bowls will be 5 copper coins, large bowls 8 copper coins.”
Yan Fang gasped, “That’s quite expensive.”
Ye Jin’er said, “The same price as wontons.”
They soon arrived in town, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
There were already vendors setting up their stalls by the roadside.
Ye Caiping chose a spot next to a big tree and started to unload the things.
Ye Bajin rushed to carry the two large buckets of Spicy Soup down and helped assemble the table.
In less than half an hour, the Spicy Soup stall was set up.
Ye Caiping paid twenty copper coins, and Ye Bajin hurried the ox-cart away.
The four women sat down and waited for dawn.
At this time, a middle-aged couple pushed a cart of goods over and stopped next to Ye Caiping’s spot.
The woman was a plump aunt in her forties, and as she set up her stall, she said, “You look unfamiliar; what are you selling?”
Ye Caiping smiled, “Spicy Soup.”
“Never heard of it.” The plump aunt glanced sideways at Ye Caiping, “We’ve been setting up here for a few days. You’re taking up a bit of our space; could you move over a little?”
Ye Caiping didn’t want to argue with her, so she moved the tables and chairs closer to the big tree.
The plump auntie’s stall sold steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and brown rice porridge, a typical breakfast stall.
Soon, the sky was fully bright, and more pedestrians began to fill the street.
“Boss, give me a fried dough stick and a bowl of brown rice porridge.”
“Boss, the usual, please.”
At the neighboring breakfast stall, regular customers started to arrive, and by now, half the seats were taken.
Ye Caiping’s stall still had no customers, and Yan Fang anxiously said, “Caiping, let’s open the barrel lids. We need to start calling out our goods!”
“Wait a bit. We don’t have a stove. If we open the barrels now and there aren’t many customers, half of it will cool down before we can sell it. Let’s wait until it gets busier,” Ye Caiping said.
Yan Fang, feeling anxious, sighed, “Should have set up a stove earlier.”
“We don’t have a big enough iron pot. It’s not convenient to cook it right now, so let’s just sell it like this. Don’t worry, let’s wait a little longer.”
Compared to Ye Caiping’s calm demeanor, Old Lady Ye and Ye Jin’er both felt worried and uneasy.
The plump auntie from the neighboring stall, seeing that Ye Caiping hadn’t had any customers, was a little smug. She kindly advised,
“Little sister, business isn’t this easy. It’s better to stay at home and farm.”
Ye Caiping smiled. “Thanks, but you don’t need to worry about us.”
The plump auntie wasn’t offended. As long as the new stall didn’t make any sales, she was in a good mood.
Soon, the small town became bustling with activity.
“Mother, let’s start selling!” Ye Caiping opened the lid of the bucket.
Yan Fang quickly scooped a bowl of spicy soup onto the table. She had experience, and with a loud voice, she called out, “Spicy soup, spicy soup!”
Ye Caiping: “Fragrant and smooth spicy soup, tastier than wonton, more fragrant than meat porridge! Spicy soup!”
The pedestrians on the street, seeing this strange thing, stopped and asked, “What is spicy soup?”
“Never heard of it. How much is it?” Many people gathered around.
“Small bowl for 5 wen, big bowl for 8 wen!”
“Whoa! So expensive? For 5 wen, I can eat a bowl of wonton! Each wonton is filled with meat, what’s in this?”
Everyone looked closely, only to see a bowl of mush, with black and yellow things inside.
“There isn’t even a piece of meat, how dare you sell it for 3 wen?”
“Our spicy soup does have meat in it, it’s just that the color is dark, you can’t see it.” Yan Fang said anxiously.
The customers didn’t believe her.
the plump Auntie next door laughed, a bowl of mush for 5wen, why not just fly to the sky? Who would be the fool to buy this thing!
“Sir, come to my stall. Brown rice porridge is 2 wen a bowl, made with this year’s new rice. Steamed buns are 1 coin each, meat buns are 2 wen each.”
Seeing that the pedestrians were about to be lured away by the plump Auntie, Yan Fang and Ye Jin’er, were anxious.
Ye Caiping, however, calmly picked up a long ladle, stirred it in the spicy soup, and the unique, domineering aroma instantly wafted out.
“Ah, so fragrant!”
“What kind of smell is this? I’ve never smelled it before.”
In this era, there were no spices, so this aroma was extremely stimulating to them.
The customers who were about to leave paused, all looking towards the large bucket, their appetites instantly piqued. The aroma alone made them want to try it.
“But it’s so expensive, 5 wen…”
“But it smells so good… I don’t know what it tastes like, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s only 5 wen! It’s like buying a bowl of wonton. I’ll have a bowl.”
There were still quite a few wealthy people in town. An old gentleman, seeing it was something new and smelling so good, decided to try a bowl.
Ye Caiping immediately scooped a small bowl: “Do you want green onions? Do you want it spicy? Do you prefer a sour taste?”
The old gentleman hadn’t expected there to be choices: “Yes, green onions, a little spicy, no sour.”
Ye Caiping skillfully sprinkled on the green onions, added half a spoonful of chili oil: “That’ll be 5 wen.”
The old gentleman paid 5 wen and sat down with his bowl of spicy soup.
Previous
Fiction Page
Next