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Hu Xiuxiu was at home chopping pigweed.
Hu Xiaosi quietly approached and whispered, “Sis, Brother Yong said he’s waiting for you at the place where he picks firewood on the mountain.”
Hu Xiuxiu paused, her axe still in her hand. She lowered her voice, “Tell him not to meet me again.”
She had struggled enough already and even risked drowning herself. She thought that a physical bond would lead to success, but the engagement was ultimately broken by her mother.
If she were to spread rumors about the drowning incident, her mother might do something drastic and sell her off.
The day after tomorrow, she was going to meet the carpenter in town. She had to sever all ties with Ye Yong.
Hu Xiaosi’s face showed disappointment, but he left anyway.
But soon, he came back, looking more urgent: “Brother Yong says… if you don’t come, he’ll come looking for you.”
“He’s crazy!” She immediately covered her mouth, worried the noise would alert their mother, who was busy making clothes inside.
After thinking for a while, Hu Xiuxiu slammed the axe on a wooden stake. “Xiaosi, you cut the pigweed, and I’ll go pick firewood.”
She needed to face Ye Yong and explain things clearly to end it once and for all.
“No, I’ll go with you. I’ll get Big Brother to cut the pigweed.”
Hu Xiaosi said, rushing into the house to leave the task of chopping pigweed to his older brother, before chasing after Hu Xiuxiu to the mountain.
They arrived at the spot where Ye Yong had been picking firewood.
Ye Yong was cutting wood when Hu Xiuxiu walked over, and without a moment’s pause, Ye Yong started speaking.
“What? You’ll gather the dowry money in two months?” Hu Xiuxiu was stunned.
“Yes. This is something my aunt promised us, a compensation for us.”
After the recent events, from digging cassava to selling spicy soup, Ye Yong had come to trust his aunt more and more. He also respected her opinions a great deal.
Hu Xiuxiu felt happy at first, but then worry crept in: “That’s… my mother won’t believe this. Unless that thirty taels is put right in front of her.”
“Also, the day after tomorrow, I’m going to meet the carpenter in town. If he likes me, the marriage could be decided.”
Ye Yong’s expression changed: “What should we do then…?”
Hu Xiuxiu didn’t know what to say either.
Hu Xiaosi piped up with an idea: “Why don’t you take Sister away for a while?”
“No way!” Ye Yong immediately rejected the idea. “That would ruin our reputation. Even if we came back later, our name would be tarnished.”
Especially for Xiuxiu, as a woman, the consequences would be much worse than for a man.
Hu Xiuxiu gritted her teeth: “So what should we do…?”
“Maybe I’ll talk to the carpenter and explain my feelings… I’ve heard that he has a narrow mind. If we offend him, he could tell the matchmaker or even my mother, and then my mother might just sell me off.”
“Or we could delay for a couple of months. If we can gather the money in two months, we can use the drowning incident as leverage to threaten your mother. Once we have the thirty taels, she’ll agree to the marriage,” Ye Yong suggested.
But the question was, how could they delay?
“I have an idea!” Hu Xiaosi said with a sly grin. “Sis, give me ten wen, and I’ll guarantee that the carpenter will push back the meeting by two months.”
Hu Xiuxiu furrowed her brow: “What’s your plan?”
“Just give me the money first. You’ll find out tomorrow.”
Hu Xiuxiu was growing impatient, but since Xiaosi was the smartest and quickest-witted among her brothers, she reluctantly agreed: “Fine, I’ll give it to you when we get home.”
She still had some secret savings.
After she had sorted things out with Ye Yong, Hu Xiuxiu felt a sense of relief, as if the sky had cleared up.
The next morning, at 4:00 AM, Ye Caiping and Yan Fang got up early and started working in the kitchen.
Yan Fang said, “There was one more spicy soup stall yesterday. It made us sell for an extra hour. How many should we make today?”
Ye Caiping thought for a moment: “Let’s make one barrel less.”
Yan Fang hesitated: “But what if it’s not enough?”
“If it’s not enough, we’ll take a break.”
After the spicy soup was made, the four of them took the ox cart to the town again.
Sure enough, there were four new spicy soup stalls that day, with varying prices. Some sold a small bowl for three wen, others for four, all lower than their price. This was a price war.
Ye Caiping found it amusing. “You want to engage in a price war, but you need quality to back it up!”
No matter how they followed the trend, without strength, they wouldn’t succeed.
However, although those stalls were all flash, they still took away some customers, as people have a tendency to try things that are cheaper or new.
Ye Caiping thought to herself, maybe yesterday’s stall wasn’t good, but perhaps some of the others would be. After all, they were a few wen cheaper.
One of the new stalls actually had quite a few customers, selling a small bowl for four wen.
Old Xu acted as their spy and bought from the stall with the most customers.
After tasting it, Ye Caiping nodded in approval. The stall had added pepper, which captured the key flavor of the spicy soup. But compared to theirs, it was still lacking.
Though their business had been affected, they still sold out their two large barrels within three hours.
Customers who didn’t get their spicy soup were disappointed, but there was nothing they could do but try other stalls.
Yan Fang said, “We sold out pretty quickly. We should have made half a barrel more.”
Ye Caiping smiled: “We’ll use a bit of hunger marketing. Let the customers try other stalls and compare.”
As they were packing up, a short, chubby middle-aged man came over with a smile.
“Boss, your spicy soup is really delicious. My name is Lin, I run Baiwei Lou.”
Ye Caiping smiled: “We know Baiwei Lou, it’s the busiest restaurant in the town.”
Manager Lin laughed heartily: “Your spicy soup… it’s quite good. We’re interested in it. How about we collaborate?”
Ye Caiping raised an eyebrow: “How would we collaborate?”
“Well… can you sell us the recipe?” Manager Lin smiled.
“Of course, after buying the recipe, you can still run your stall. I guarantee we’ll only sell it after noon. That way, you can sell it in the morning, and we can sell it in the afternoon and evening. It won’t compete with you.”
“No, I don’t want to sell it,” Ye Caiping rejected immediately.
Manager Lin frowned: “Wait, don’t be too quick to reject. I haven’t given you a price yet! I’ll offer fifty taels!”
Ye Caiping almost spat out her tea.
Even Yan Fang and Jin’er were furious.
Ye Caiping chuckled: “Sir, you want to buy our recipe because you like our flavor, right? You also run a food business. Do you think we can’t earn fifty taels on our own?”
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometimes Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Tie Niu and Zhuzi – two women who helped Caiping
Ye Bajin – Son of Ye Lijeng
Liu Decai
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Dashu Town – Town where Qinghe Village is Located
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty
Baiwei Lou – Restaurant
it’s better not to marry , being related to that family, will be their downfall, I mean they seem like regular friends but I guess there love affair might be shown off pages