Chapter 7

“Oh my little sweetie, look at those big eyes, really beautiful. Fourth son’s wife, just tell me what you want to eat, and your second sister-in-law will make it for you. Our family had a big catch yesterday, I used the money from selling the fish to buy you some white flour,” said Madam Zhou.

Although the family had farmland, the taxes were heavy and the population large, so grain was never enough. They also relied on selling fish, selling eggs—chicken eggs and goose eggs—and foraged some wild vegetables from the mountains to get by.

All six baskets of fish were sold to buy white flour for Liu’s family. This was a special treatment that no one else in the family had. Even Old Madam Zhou herself couldn’t eat that much.

Liu felt a bit embarrassed and said, “Mother, no need. Just eat normally, a little millet, eggs, and milk will be enough.”

Madam Zhou shook her head, teasing little Sweetie, then said, “That won’t do. What if the milk isn’t enough? Then what will my little granddaughter eat?”

Liu said, “There are many mouths to feed in the family and many expenses. The fish vendors always drive the prices down. If it’s hard to get some silver from selling fish, it’s better to keep it.”

Only a few villages within ten miles or so were coastal; most of the other places farmed. The farther inland, the more mountains there were, so seafood still had a market.

But this was mostly on market days, when some families would take their fish to sell themselves, and only if they had a cart. Usually, fish were sold to fish vendors.

Of course, fish vendors always suppressed prices as low as possible, not caring that fishermen worked hard for their catch. If the fishermen didn’t sell, they would salt the fish into salted fish, but salted fish was even harder to sell and salt cost money too.

So no matter the price, the fish had to be sold. Seeing Liu’s understanding and consideration for the family, Madam Zhou felt even happier.

“It’s okay. It’s not just about little Sweetie having enough to eat, I feel sorry for you too. Eat as many eggs and goose eggs as you want, and I’ll buy the white flour for you,” Madam Zhou said.

Song Tian’er thought for a moment and said, “Mom and Grandma don’t know, but we can make grilled grouper, mackerel dumplings, crispy knife fish, and eel rice. We can make one portion each and take it to the restaurant owner in town for tasting.”

“Mom and Grandma don’t know. If they like it, we can sell them the recipe, and in the future, give them the fresh fish we catch. They’ll have unique dishes that other restaurants don’t, and they won’t have to buy fish from vendors. We can sell our fish at better prices. It’s a win-win, and they’ll be willing.”

In this era, eating fish mostly meant stewing, frying, or making fish soup—simple methods. As for fresh, spicy, and tasty grilled fish, mackerel dumplings, or delicious eel rice, they definitely didn’t have those.

Now she was still young and it was hard to support the family business by opening a store. It was better to first sell the recipes for some money, and later the fish would have a market.

Madam Zhou and Liu were stunned for a moment and exchanged glances. They had been farmers for generations, planting and fishing, never thinking about doing business.

But this little Sweetie was just born and was already teaching the family about commerce? If what she said was true, future fish sales could get good prices instead of selling to fish vendors.

But these dishes needed good seasoning to taste good. Many seasonings were not available in this era, so the dishes would taste mediocre.

Liu said, “Mother, maybe… we can try the fish?”

The Song family was still a bit afraid to let little Sweetie know they could hear her thoughts, fearing she might stop talking. So Liu spoke in a roundabout way.

Song Tian’er knew they could hear her thoughts but she was too young to open a big restaurant in town. With unique seasonings and recipes other families didn’t have, it definitely would be popular.

She could only wait until she grew up. There were many new ways to eat these things, so a few recipes wouldn’t hurt.

Madam Zhou, who was usually the boss at home, was clearly at a loss today. What if it didn’t work?

But suddenly she thought, her little granddaughter was a little goddess. Who else was born with their thoughts known to the family? It definitely would work.

“Trying is fine, but I don’t know how to make them,” Madam Zhou said softly.

Song Tian’er then explained how to make grilled fish, crispy knife fish, eel rice, and mackerel dumplings, but some seasonings were missing in the Song family.

Song Tian’er said, “Grandma, later you must go just outside the main gate. There will be a traveling salesman from the south selling many seasonings not found around here. The seasonings used in these fish recipes are all available from him. We can buy some, order some, add some markup, and resell to the restaurant.”

This so-called traveling salesman from the south was actually a clone robot from Song Tian’er’s space, which could be released separately to carry out tasks.

The profit from selling the recipes belonged to Song Tian’er’s “ten thousand taels for wishing fruit” account, but the fish were caught by others. Even if the good luck came from Song Tian’er, the income didn’t count as hers.

As for reselling seasonings, those were supplies from her space and didn’t count towards the wishing fruit either. That money was for the Song family to live a better life.

Song Tian’er repeated the needed spices: dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, fennel seeds, bay leaves, oyster sauce, etc.

Old Madam Zhou was both happy and nervous, exchanged glances with Liu, and hurried outside to wait for the southern traveling salesman.

Song Tian’er told Big Rooster (a servant or assistant) to handle it, and soon the traveling salesman with a shoulder pole arrived.

Villagers had never seen such seasonings. Although cheap, every penny was precious. People thought these things were useless, so no one bought them.

Madam Zhou bought everything Song Tian’er wanted and ordered more to be delivered in a few days.

At noon, when Old Master Song returned from the field with the third and fourth sons, he saw all these things in the kitchen and was stunned.

“What is all this? What’s it for? Why buy so much?” Old Master Song frowned, money was hard to earn these days.

Madam Zhang, having heard Song Tian’er’s thoughts, trusted what her mother-in-law said. This was little Sweetie’s plan to make dishes from fish and sell to restaurants, definitely a good money maker.

She smiled and said, “Mother heard from little Sweetie that we don’t have to sell our fish to fish vendors. We can make tasty dishes and deliver them directly to the restaurant, selling recipes and fresh fish later.”

Madam Zhou also smiled, “It’s hard to deliver soups and stews; when it gets hot in a few days, it’ll spoil. Otherwise, we wouldn’t just sell recipes but make the dishes ourselves. When we have money, we’ll open a restaurant.”

First daughter-in-law Zhu and third daughter-in-law Zou exchanged glances without speaking.

Old Master Song felt the sky was falling. At first, only the old lady was excited and crazy, now the second daughter-in-law was talking nonsense too?