A Little Life in Another World
A Little Life in Another World Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Thriving Business

By noon, the laborers who had rushed to work early were hungry. The little something they had eaten in the morning was long gone. Having heard that a newly opened stall had fresh food at reasonable prices, and that they were giving away delicious radishes today, they wanted to try it out.

For these men, the little money they earned from hard labor every day wasn’t easy to come by. They were willing to spend a few copper coins on a meal, but every coin counted. Saving one coin was saving one coin, and saving two meant they had enough for a meal.

After finishing their work, the laborers went to the newly opened stall in groups of twos and threes. They didn’t need to ask for directions; they found it by following the fragrance.

“Esteemed customer, what would you like to order?”

“We have plain hefen, a large bowl for three wen and a small bowl for two wen. Pig offal hefen is five wen a bowl. Extra pig offal is two wen a serving, and plain radish is one wen a serving. Our stall is newly opened, and for the first three days, we’re giving away a free serving of plain radish, while supplies last.” At first, Cao Xiangnan had to quickly introduce what they were selling to the new customers. But as more customers came, he didn’t have time to introduce everything to each customer.

Later, the customers who came after heard the owner introducing the food to the people in front, and they understood. And then the people who came after that heard the people in front of them ordering and learned on their own.

“Boss, a large bowl of hefen soup.”

“A large bowl of dry-mixed hefen.”

“Boss, add an extra serving of plain radish.”

“I’ll have a bowl of pig offal hefen.”

“Alright, please take a seat over there. It’ll be right up.” He was the only one cooking the hefen in front of the stall. As more and more customers came, Cao Xiangnan’s hands never stopped moving. While cooking, he also had to remember what each customer had ordered.

Thankfully, he had experience working in a dai pai dong [open-air food stall] in his previous life. There were no fewer customers there than at their stall. He had to remember the dishes and drinks ordered by customers at each table in an instant and deliver them to the customers. So even with so many people now, Cao Xiangnan could remember what each customer had ordered and how much money he needed to collect.

Sun Bailian also went to help serve customers, clean up the tables, and wash the dishes, spinning around like a top. But with such good business, he was willing to be busy, because what he feared most was not being busy.

“Table one, four large bowls of plain hefen.”

“Table two, two bowls of pig offal hefen, one large bowl of plain hefen.”

The three of them divided the work in an orderly manner, each responsible for their own tasks, and they worked together with great tacit understanding.

On their first day, they didn’t expect so many customers to come. All four tables they had set up were full. Fortunately, they could wash the dishes as they were used, so they were still able to keep up. The customers who came later didn’t have tables and chairs to sit at, so they casually found a place to squat and ate. Fortunately, the food tasted really good. The large bowl of rich broth filled their bellies, and they were very satisfied.

Seeing how well the business of that stall was going, other vendors selling things nearby were naturally envious. After smelling the fragrance for a long time, they were also curious about what the newly opened stall was selling and asked around.

Cao Xiangnan didn’t have the mind to think about what other people were thinking. He was too busy making money. Fortunately, although there were many customers today, he didn’t encounter any troublemakers. So even with so many people, he could quickly handle what each customer had ordered and how much money he needed to collect.

Many customers came during lunchtime, and each person was given a free serving of plain radish, so the plain radish in the pot was quickly given away.

“I’m sorry, our radish is all gone. Please come earlier tomorrow.” Because the decision to give away radish had been made somewhat spontaneously, they hadn’t prepared too much. With so many customers coming and each person receiving a serving, they ran out quickly.

When Cao Xiangnan explained to the customers, there were naturally customers who had come specifically for the free radish, so their faces showed disappointment. But he patiently explained to the unhappy customers, “It’s our first day opening, and we didn’t prepare enough radish. We’ll prepare more radish to give away to everyone in the next two days. We hope you’re satisfied with our food and will patronize our business more often.”

With his explanation, the unhappy customers reluctantly agreed and still ordered a bowl of hefen to eat. Fortunately, the food really tasted good, and the customers were satisfied, paid, and left.

Their hefen was already cooked, so it was ready to serve immediately after dipping it in boiling water, so cooking it was quick. Almost as soon as the customers ordered, he could cook it.

Cao Xiangnan had also considered making noodles, but he thought that noodles had to be boiled, and if they were setting up a stall outside, selling hefen was much more convenient than selling noodles. Facts proved that his original idea was correct.

“Boss, how do you sell this hefen?” Some people wanted to take it away.

Hefen was a fresh food, made with rice. The price of a pound of hefen was about the same as the price of a pound of rice, and those who had eaten it knew that it was very filling. Ordinary families couldn’t eat rice many times a year. Rice was extremely precious to ordinary families, but if the price was cheap, some people would be willing to buy half a pound.

But because they weren’t prepared enough, and there were no lunch boxes in this era, it was very troublesome when customers wanted to take it away.

Later, Cao Xiangnan thought of a solution, which was to charge a one wen deposit if they used their bowls to take it back. This was equivalent to renting it, and he would return the money to the customer when they returned the bowl undamaged.

When he said this, the customers who really wanted to buy hefen to take home for their families were willing to spend a copper coin to rent a bowl from him. In the future, if they brought their own containers, they wouldn’t have to spend a wen to rent their bowls.

Cao Xiangnan was thinking about getting some takeaway containers. There would always be a need for them, and it would be best to set up two more tables. They had a small open space behind their stall, so thinking about it now, their stall was excellent.

One pound of rice could produce about three pounds of hefen. If the volume of plain hefen sold was high, it would also be a good source of income, but the problem now was that they didn’t have enough manpower.

After noon, after the peak period, the number of customers gradually decreased. They had sold almost everything, and the remaining little bit was sold to the last few customers who came. After selling the last serving of hefen and sending the last customer away, he said, “Esteemed customer, please come again.”

“I’m exhausted!” Sun Bailian, who had been worried about not having customers at the beginning, sat down on a stool with a thud. He was so tired that he didn’t want to move, but he still had a happy smile on his face.

There was still a large basin of bowls and chopsticks to wash, and he was too tired to wash them.

Cao Xiangnan looked at the bucket used to collect the money. This was their harvest for today. At first, he was able to keep track of how many copper coins he had sold, but later he completely lost track.

His heart was extremely excited that business was so good on their first day, but he knew that so many people had come on the first day because the food was new and they were giving things away. He didn’t know if they would have so many customers in the future when they didn’t give things away anymore. But he would think of a solution when the time came. There were always feasible solutions.

By the time they had sold out of hefen, they were tired and hungry after being busy for most of the day, and they hadn’t even had a sip of water.

Cao Gang went to a shaobing [sesame flatbread] shop across the street and bought a few shaobing. There was still some soup left in the pot, so Cao Xiangnan poured a bowl of soup for each of them, and everyone sat down and ate the shaobing with the soup. The smile never left Sun Bailian’s face. He was so happy that business was so good. “I really didn’t expect our business to be so good,” he said.

“Yeah,” Cao Xiangnan nodded, thinking about Qi Wanfeng, who was staying at home to take care of the children. He wondered if he and the children were doing well at home.

Everyone was very happy that business was so good on the first day.

After eating lunch, Cao Gang, a rough man, squatted down and washed a large basin of bowls and chopsticks. He didn’t show any signs of fatigue from beginning to end, silently doing his work.

After cleaning up the stall, they couldn’t leave the tables and chairs here, fearing that they would be stolen. They had to move the things to the small courtyard they had rented nearby. Cao Xiangnan’s legs and feet were inconvenient, so he stayed at the stall to watch the things. Cao Gang and Sun Bailian moved the things over there, carrying them back and forth several times until they were all moved.

“We don’t have enough bowls and chopsticks. We need to prepare some more. Where did you buy these bowls and chopsticks last time? Let’s go buy the same ones. And where can we buy oil paper for takeout? Let’s buy some.”

“Oh, there are food boxes for sale there. Let’s go buy two and keep them on hand, just in case,” Cao Xiangnan said, listing all the problems he had discovered today, as well as some things they needed to buy. “Isn’t there a large piece of land behind our stall? Should we buy two more tables?”

“Yeah,” Cao Gang nodded, without any objections.

Sun Bailian also had no objections. Thinking about how good business was today, he couldn’t help but smile as he walked.

They went to buy what they needed and ordered two tables and several stools to pick up tomorrow morning. There was still a lot of pig offal left at the town’s pork stall, and they bought it all. Otherwise, there would be nowhere to buy pig offal early in the morning. Fortunately, the weather wasn’t too hot, and the leftovers hadn’t gone bad yet, or they wouldn’t have been able to keep it until the next day. This was also a problem that Cao Xiangnan was worried about.

Actually, the best thing would be to buy freshly slaughtered pig offal on the same day, because the taste would be the freshest and purest.

Cao Xiangnan was thinking about renting a house in town, so they would have a place to store their stall’s supplies and it would be easier for them to do business in town. But renting a small house in town cost several guan [strings of 1000 coins] a month. If they were making hefen, they would also need a house with a yard, and the monthly rent would be even more expensive.

Moreover, they were now doing business together as two families, so he couldn’t only consider their family’s situation. He also had to think about the other family. Thinking this way, it was clearly unrealistic, at least for now.

Today was only the first day of business. These plans could be put off and slowly implemented step by step. “The boat will right itself when it reaches the pier, and the bridge will straighten as it nears the crossing!” [idiom meaning problems will naturally resolve themselves] At least they had gotten off to a good start and didn’t have to worry about losing money right from the start. They should have made a lot of money today.

Sitting on the ox cart, the ox cart slowly headed back to Caojia Village.

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