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Ye Caiping, however, was very open-minded. While adding chili oil to the spicy soup, she joked, “It’s no problem at all. Everyone has their own preferences, and if the taste suits them, if it’s cheaper over there, I’d switch stalls too.”
The customers overheard and laughed, “The boss is really magnanimous.”
Ye Caiping handed the spicy soup to the customers.
Over at the other stall, the competition had drawn away most of the crowd. Some were tempted by the cheap price, and others just wanted to try something new.
Once the rush was over, Yan Fang looked worried. “Caiping… what should we do? We’ve lost more than half of our customers…”
“Today is just the first stall. There might be a second or a third one coming up…” Ye Jin’er said.
Ye Caiping remained calm. “Without competition, there’s no market. It’s just a small matter, no need to rush.”
She wasn’t worried in the least.
Even in modern times, with so many old brands competing, her spicy soup would still make it through; let alone here.
At that moment, the old man, who loved their spicy soup more than anyone, walked over from the other stall, speaking in a low voice.
“You wouldn’t believe it, boss. Their soup… oh my! I just went over, touched their bottom pot… heh heh, I’ve packed some for you, so you can try it.”
The old man was holding a bowl of spicy soup from the opposite stall.
Ye Caiping froze for a moment, still recognizing the familiar, eye-catching package the old man always carried!
Last time, he had waited in the dark to get their soup, and now, it seemed like he was acting as a spy for them!
“Thank you, old man,” Ye Caiping said.
“Go ahead and try it. Know your competition, and you’ll win every time!” the old man urged.
Ye Caiping wasn’t worried about the competition at all, but how could she resist the old man’s enthusiasm?
The soup looked similar to theirs on the surface, but without any gluten, its color was a little lighter, watery, and the ingredients sparse, especially the meat. After a bit of fishing around, she finally found a tiny cube of meat.
Ye Caiping stirred the soup with her spoon. The broth wasn’t thick enough, and there wasn’t enough starch.
She took a sip and frowned.
Ye Jin’er also tasted it and said, “Huh, they didn’t add the… didn’t use our secret recipe.”
She had wanted to say “spices,” but worried someone might overhear, so she quickly changed it to “secret recipe.”
Although she didn’t actually know what “spices” referred to, being cautious was the right move.
Yan Fang and Huan’er both tasted it and sighed in relief. It wasn’t very flavorful!
Ye Caiping smiled at the old man. “Thank you. By the way, may I ask your name?”
“I’m Xu, I run a shoe shop over at Liu’er Alley,” the old man replied.
“Ah, next time I need shoes, I’ll come to your shop. Old man, let me get you a bigger bowl of soup today; it’s on me.”
“Ha ha, thank you!”
Just then, a loud noise erupted from the other stall. An angry man threw his spoon down.
“Ugh, what is this? Isn’t this just a mess of wood ear mushrooms and daylily with some watery slop? No, it’s not even slop! There’s no spicy fragrance. I bought the big portion, and it’s such a waste of my money!”
Customers who had already paid and found the soup tasteless began murmuring, feeling resentful. With the angry man leading the charge, they too started complaining.
“You can get meat in a scoop at other stalls. I searched for ages and couldn’t find a single piece of meat in this.”
“And where’s the rich, spicy fragrance? This isn’t even real spicy soup. It’s not authentic at all!”
The stall owner rushed to apologize, smiling awkwardly. “Look, we have carrots, and we even added chili! Isn’t this spicy soup?”
The customers were momentarily speechless, well, if the stall owner insisted on explaining it this way… it wasn’t exactly wrong.
“But their spicy soup is different. It’s not just regular chili; that flavor is unique… And your chili oil is lacking—there’s only chili, no oil, and no sesame either,” a customer pointed out.
The customers, filled with frustration and regret, finally understood the saying, “You get what you pay for.”
The other stall’s soup was packed with meat, and their chili oil was generously made with oil.
Now that they thought about it, those who once found the spicy soup slightly expensive now felt it was worth the price.
Those who had been too late to buy earlier quickly returned to Ye Caiping’s stall.
Yan Fang, seeing the returning customers, smiled and worked cheerfully.
Although more people had come back, the competition from the other stall still had some effect.
Today, they had sold more than yesterday, extending by half an hour.
Ye Caiping stretched and asked, “Mother, what time is it now?”
Ye Caiping wasn’t good at telling time by the sun or the shadow of the bamboo poles.
Yan Fang glanced up and said, “It’s noon. This batch will need to be delivered to the villagers, so let’s wait a bit longer.”
“How about we find a place to eat? We can ask Sister Pang next door to keep an eye on the stall.”
Since the spicy soup had boosted the business of the steamed bun stall, Sister Pang had made twice as many buns as usual, and most of them had been sold, with only some porridge left.
Sister Pang, overhearing the conversation, smiled and came over. “Go ahead and eat, I’ll watch your stuff.”
“Thank you, Sister,” Ye Caiping said.
“Call me Pang Hong, everyone around here does,” Sister Pang said.
“I’m Ye Caiping, just call me by my name. Oh, by the way, there may be more stalls copying our spicy soup, and that might affect our sales. You don’t need to make so many buns.”
Seeing the situation, Sister Pang nodded. “I understand.”
Ye Caiping dismantled the table and stacked the wooden tubs and other supplies against the wall.
“Let’s go. Hey, where’s Jin’er?” Ye Caiping looked around and saw that Yan Fang and Huan’er were in front of them, but Ye Jin’er was missing.
In the hustle and bustle, she hadn’t noticed where Ye Jin’er had gone.
Huan’er explained, “When the spicy soup was almost sold out, she said she needed to go to the bathroom. She probably went to ask a neighbor to use theirs.”
Yan Fang frowned. “We’ve been packing up for almost a quarter of an hour, and she still hasn’t returned. Did she run off to join those troublemakers?”
As she spoke, Yan Fang’s face darkened, and Huan’er’s expression shifted as well.
Ye Caiping felt a wave of panic because she realized that Jin’er might not have gone to the troublemakers, but rather, she might have gone after something else—ginseng!
Jin’er had been obsessed with that ginseng for a long time.
Things had not gone smoothly, and unexpected events always occurred, preventing her from digging it up.
Today was supposed to be the day for her and Jin’er to retrieve the ginseng, and now it seemed like fate had dealt them a blow.
Caiping had planned to finish selling the soup, have a meal in the town, and then go for a stroll. By then, the ginseng would have already been dug up by Jiaojiao.
Jin’er would stop thinking about it.
But now…
It seemed obvious that Jin’er had noticed her lack of interest in the ginseng and had decided to act on her own!