Chapter 53: Supply

Ye Caiping and the others arrived in the county town and searched for quite a while before finding a corner with a moderate flow of people.

Ye Daquan was a bit worried.

Ye Caiping said, “Finding a spot here is already great. Brother, you just need to take care of the bowls and ladle the soup later. Don’t get in my or Huan’er’s way.”

Ye Daquan nervously rubbed his hands. “Alright.”

Ye Bajin helped set things up and was about to leave. “I’ll come back to pick you up at the second hour of the afternoon (1:30 PM).”

The stall in the small town could usually sell out before noon.

The situation in the county town was unknown, so they would have to wait until the afternoon for pickup.

Yan Fang would also wait in the town at that time, having a light meal, like noodles or buns, for lunch.

After Ye Bajin left, the weather brightened, and more people walked by.

Ye Caiping immediately raised her voice, shouting, “Spicy Soup! Spicy Soup here! Small bowl, five wen, large bowl, eight wen, can be sour or spicy.”

“What’s spicy soup?” A passerby stopped.

“Hey, they even have spicy soup in the county town!” A woman, who had eaten it before, approached. “Last time when I went back to my family’s home, I had it in Dashu Town.”

“At that time, I thought, if only they sold it in the county town too. Funny how it worked out, haha. But is this soup authentic?”

“I remember there were a few stalls in the town, but it wasn’t good at all.”

Ye Caiping smiled and said, “Authentic! It’s just that my family started selling it first, the one by the big tree on West Street.”

The woman took a closer look. “Oh, it’s really you, little sister. You look so pretty, I recognize you.”

Ye Caiping smiled. “Do you want a large bowl or a small one? Spicy?”

“A large bowl, with extra chili oil, and a little bit of vinegar!”

“Alright.”

While Ye Caiping  is adjusting the seasoning, curious, a woman asked, “Is it good? 8 wen, isn’t that a bit expensive?”

“It’s really good! It is a little pricey, but the taste is truly unbeatable. It’s even better than wontons. Try it, and if you don’t like it, I’ll take off my head and sit down for you.”

The passerby was intrigued by the woman’s words.

Moreover, people in the county town were generally more affluent, so they didn’t mind and sat down to try the soup.

Before long, the small stall became lively.

Since it was the first day, and the location was a bit off, by noon, there was still half a barrel left.

That half barrel had already cooled down, and Ye Caiping decided not to continue selling it.

For lunch, they directly bought some fried dough sticks and baked flatbread, eating them with the spicy soup.

At the second hour of the afternoon, Ye Bajin arrived on time to pick them up.

On the way back to the town, Yan Fang looked at the remaining half barrel of spicy soup and felt a pang of heartache.

Ye Caiping said, “The weather is getting colder, so the soup won’t go bad. We can take it home for dinner.”

Everyone moved the items onto the ox cart one by one.

Since there were three big men, Ye Caiping and the others didn’t have to do much.

“Jin’er, you and the others sell on your own today. Are you used to it?” Ye Caiping asked.

“Mm.” Ye Jin’er giggled. “By the way, today someone else wanted to buy our recipe.”

As she spoke, she patted her chest.

“Grandma said the recipe can’t be sold. That person still shamelessly asked if we could supply some ingredients. I immediately refused. How naïve.”

Ye Caiping nodded at first, but then froze in shock. “Why did you refuse? Supplying the ingredients is a good idea!”

Ye Jin’er stared blankly. “If we supply them, won’t our business be affected?”

“Then just sell less to them.” Ye Caiping poked her on the head. “Do you remember who wanted the ingredients?”

“I think it was Shunke Lou.” Ye Erquan answered from behind.

Ye Caiping said, “Mom, Big Brother, Second Brother, you go home with Ye Bajin first. Jin’er and I will go to Shunke Lou to take a look. We’ll find a way back later.”

She wanted to take her two daughters to gain some experience, especially Jin’er. Although she was the elder sister, she was a bit stubborn, and could use more learning.

Meanwhile, she also wanted to nurture the two brothers, but bringing a whole group at once might be a bit overwhelming.

She would take them next time when the opportunity arose.

……

Shunke Lou—

As Ye Caiping and her two companions entered, they saw the shopkeeper, Shopkeeper Chi, anxiously fiddling with an abacus, his face full of worry.

“Shopkeeper,” Ye Caiping called out, walking over. “I’m the one who sells spicy soup on West Street.”

Shopkeeper Chi suddenly looked up, his eyes lighting up. “Oh, it’s Boss Ye! Please, have a seat!”

Shopkeeper Chi had been observing the spicy soup stall for a long time and had already found out that Ye Caiping was from Qinghe Village and her surname was Ye.

Today, he had been trying to buy a recipe for something but had failed and couldn’t get the goods, so he was feeling rather disheartened.

When he saw Ye Caiping, he was overjoyed, quickly gesturing for her and her companions to sit by the window.

“My surname is Chi. Miss Ye, you are here to…”

“I came to the county town to set up my stall today,” Ye Caiping replied. “Only when I arrived did I find out about your situation. Are you planning to sell spicy soup?”

“Yes, yes!” Shopkeeper Chi immediately nodded.

He knew that the recipe was something he couldn’t buy, as he had heard that Baiwei Lou was also interested, but they too had been unable to get it.

In the morning, he had mentioned wanting to buy the recipe, but it was only a trial.

Now that Ye Caiping had come to his door, it was clear that she wasn’t here to give him the recipe but to supply goods.

“How many barrels would you like?” Ye Caiping asked.

Shopkeeper Chi hesitated for a moment. “To be honest, I’ve taken over this restaurant, and it’s been running for two months now, but the business isn’t as good as I expected. I can’t take too much… Could you provide just one barrel a day to start with?”

Ye Caiping nodded. “Sure.”

Shopkeeper Chi happily rubbed his hands together. “Then, as for the price…”

“Our small bowl costs five wen. One barrel can hold at least one hundred and twenty bowls. A barrel would make six hundred wen. I can supply you with one barrel for five hundred wen.”

Shopkeeper Chi thought for a moment—only earning six hundred wen per barrel!

But as long as he wasn’t losing money, it was fine, because Shunke Lou’s business was struggling. Selling spicy soup was meant to boost foot traffic.

With the addition of the spicy soup, customers would likely order other dishes as well.

Just like the breakfast stall next to the spicy soup stand, the sales had tripled thanks to the soup’s popularity.

Without a second thought, Shopkeeper Chi nodded. “Alright!”

“By the way, Shopkeeper, do you want to sell in the morning or at noon?”

Shopkeeper Chi had already thought this through. “Let’s start with the noon market.”

Ye Caiping was already selling in the morning, and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to compete. His business couldn’t afford any more losses.

Shopkeeper Chi went to the counter, took out a few wen, and said, “Here’s the payment for the goods, a deposit for three days.”

“Alright. I’ll have the spicy soup delivered before noon.”

They discussed some other details and finalized the arrangement.

The two of them tacitly didn’t mention signing a contract. Shopkeeper Chi only wanted to try selling it first, and if the sales didn’t work out, he wouldn’t order more.

After leaving Shunke Lou, the three women walked down the street.

Ye Jin’er frowned. “Mother, last time, you said that if people know there’s another place selling spicy soup at noon, some customers might not wake up early to come to our place.”

“I think … if they keep ordering, we’re just going to supply them with more than one bucket. In that case, our stall’s profit will earn 100 wen less but we will still earn from their orders!”

Ye Caiping smiled. “If he sells well, other restaurants will ask us for supplies.”

“It’s inevitable that our stall business will be affected. If that happens, we won’t run a stall anymore, just supply to them. We’ll earn less per barrel, but we won’t have to set up the stall. Low profit but high volume— we’ll earn more in the long run.”

Ye Jin’er was taken aback for a moment. “I think I kind of understand now.”

Ye Huan’er chuckled. “Sister, you’re so slow. I figured it out a long time ago.”

“You little brat, you’re so smart,” Ye Jin’er glared at her, and the sisters started teasing each other.

Ye Caiping smiled as she watched them, then headed to where the ox cart was parked. Sure enough, there was an ox cart from another village.

Ye Caiping paid six coins and headed towards the village.

The cold wind was howling, and Ye Jin’er and her sister hugged their shoulders to keep warm.

Looking at their thin clothes, Ye Caiping thought it was time to make them some new clothes.