Chapter 6

Si’s mother asked her, “Where are the chickens, ducks and fish?”

“I didn’t have time to buy it.”

“Where’s the money?”

“It’s all gone.”

“I spent it all. I bought a lot of things.”

Si An said naively: “An An, did your sister really spend all the money?”

Mrs. Si looked at the large and small bags and couldn’t help but feel a little upset.

“Your dad is still sleeping drunk at noon, go buy a live chicken or duck. Don’t buy too expensive ones.”

As he said this, he took out another twenty yuan and gave Si Cheng.

When Si An said he wanted to go together, his mother knocked the fire tongs on the ground and said, “I don’t know what you want to do outside. If you dare to leave this door, I will break your legs!”

My brother shrank back in fear, not daring to speak.

Satisfied, Si’s mother took back the fire tongs and asked Si An to do his homework with his grandfather.

Si Cheng took the money and went out.

After shopping, she had thirty yuan left. She gave five yuan to her brother, and she still had twenty-five yuan left.

The younger brother was young and couldn’t calculate how much money she had spent. He was fooled by her and thought that all she had left was the money for the return trip and the five dollars she gave him.

The familiar yet vague vegetable market had already closed. The environment inside was dirty and messy, and there was a foul smell everywhere, which made Si Cheng wrinkle his nose.

Si Cheng held her breath and found the live poultry market in her memory, and bought a live chicken and a duck. The fishmonger had already closed his stall. When she left the vegetable market, she saw people buying lotus fish and loaches on the roadside, so she bought two kilograms of lotus fish and one kilogram of loaches.

When I bought the things, Mr. Si had already gotten up.

When Si’s mother saw the loach and small yellow croaker, she couldn’t help but frowned: “These small yellow croaker and loach are full of bones, not delicious, and no customer wants to eat them.”

She basically doesn’t cook dishes that her mother doesn’t like.

Si Cheng said, “I bought it for five dollars. Let’s try it tonight. If it’s well made, it can be a very profitable dish.”

Father Si said quickly, “Of course. Lotus fish and loach are only two or three yuan per pound, but they are meat dishes. They can be sold for fifteen yuan each, which is very profitable.”

My parents are going to set up shop.

Si Cheng put his things away and then took the opportunity to do the laundry.

After washing the clothes, she helped her father push the cart, while her mother checked the other things that needed to be taken and then dragged them over.

After pulling the cart to the stall, Si’s father would return to drag another cart of miscellaneous items.

Si Cheng took the bucket and went to the grocery store where they bought cigarettes, alcohol and seasonings to fetch water.

A bucket of water weighs more than 30 kilograms, and Si Cheng could only carry half a bucket. She walked towards the stall with two buckets of water, and her small body was weighed down and she couldn’t stand up straight.

The afterglow of the setting sun spread over, dressing the entire town in a golden and colorful look.

Si Cheng’s long reflection was stretched very long.

Si Cheng looked at her own reflection numbly, and she swore secretly: In this life, she would never encounter such a native family again, and would never have such a miserable experience again.

She will try to save herself.

Even if her parents’ relationship still breaks down and her mother still uses her as an emotional trash can, she must have the ability to break free from her mother’s control over her.

money.

She has to save money, she has to make money.

Before her parents divorced, her aunt and grandfather would not give her living expenses. Her grandfather might give her living expenses, but she didn’t want to make things difficult for him. After all, she still had an uncle. If she gave her more than one hundred or two hundred yuan in living expenses every month, her uncle would have objections.

The darkness of the year before and after my parents’ divorce was the most difficult to endure.

She went back and forth several times and filled the buckets and basins she brought from home with water.

Mr. and Mrs. Si came pulling a second cart, and they each moved things to set up their stalls.

Mr. and Mrs. Si’s stalls were at the intersection of the three-way street, and my third aunt’s stall was one row below them.

After setting up the stall, Si Cheng went to the back of the stall to process the lotus fish.

It was almost dark when she started to cook the braised lotus fish. When the lotus fish was almost out of the pot, a young man in his twenties passed by.

“What kind of dish is this? It smells so good.”

Si Cheng explained: “Lotus fish. It is a carp that grows in rice fields. The meat is tender and the fish soup is sweet and delicious.”

The man said, “Then I’ll take it. I’ve invited my friends, eight of us in total.”

Si’s mother was overjoyed: “Then please come in…”

The young man jokingly said, “I didn’t expect it was your daughter who was cooking.”

Father Si looked a little unhappy.

Si Cheng explained: “I am thirteen years old now, I have grown up, and I am interested in cooking. I like to eat, so I asked my mother to teach me how to cook.”

The young man smiled and said, “The daughter follows in her mother’s footsteps. Great.”

Si Cheng asked: “Brother, do you want this lotus fish or should I make another one for you?”

“Who was this originally intended for?”

“I was going to send it home for my grandfather and brother to eat.”

The young man said, “I don’t dare to snatch food from the old man. Little girl, make me the next portion. My friend won’t be here for a while.”

Si’s mother asked the young man to sit down, quickly took the bowl and chopsticks, placed a plate of soybeans in front of him, and asked him to eat while waiting.

Sifu came over to introduce the menu.

right.

They don’t have a menu, so it’s all up to the boss to decide what the guests should eat today.

Mr. Si vigorously promoted Dong’an chicken and beer duck.

The whole one is 30 yuan, and half one is 18 yuan.

The young man asked for half each.

We also ordered a dish of spicy and sour beef, a dish of spicy and sour duck gizzards, a dish of stir-fried kidney, and a dish of giant toad leaf soup.

After ordering the dishes, Mr. Si helped Mrs. Si kill the chickens and ducks.

Si Cheng cooked the fish, prepared some rice, and asked his third uncle to send it back to his grandfather and younger brother.

When making Dong’an chicken and beer duck, the third aunt also came over to watch. Si Cheng did not hide anything. He explained while cooking and let Si’s mother and the third aunt try it out.

The young man who was tempted by the fish said it was very interesting.

He was not someone who lacked food, but he had never eaten such dishes. After his friends came over, the dishes were officially served. After eating the Dong’an chicken and beer duck, everyone praised them highly.

It was just time for supper, and those who wanted to come out for a meal saw that their stall was already full of guests, and it attracted a few more tables of customers.

In less than an hour, they had used up all the tables and chairs, and had to borrow the spare tables and chairs from my third aunt. When new customers came, they could only introduce them to my third aunt’s stall.

Their stall only has two coal stoves that can hold three layers of honeycomb coal. The speed of cooking is so fast that they cannot handle the crowds no matter how many customers there are.

Luckily, Si Cheng was there to help tonight. After dinner, grandpa brought his younger brother over and helped run errands to get tables, chairs, dishes, and chopsticks, as well as cigarettes, beer, and drinks. Only then did he feel better.

Si Cheng is still young, and his hands are a little sore after cooking for a whole night.

But when she thought about receiving 9 tables of guests tonight, she couldn’t help but smile.

Except for the first table with 8 guests, the rest had fewer people and ordered fewer dishes. But they even sold out all the vegetables, and had to borrow a few meat dishes from their third aunt’s family.

After nine tables, the revenue was more than 600 yuan.

The cost of buying vegetables is only 30-40%, and the net profit is about 400 yuan.