Chapter 35: Selling Fried Chicken

Jiang Liyu heard that during the Chinese New Year, there would be new clothes to wear, and a shy smile appeared on her face as she hugged Jiang Liyun tightly.

Jiang Liyu was born relatively late. Due to the later implementation of household contracting for land and the improvement of the family’s conditions, she didn’t suffer much from hunger, but material scarcity was still a reality.

Jiang Qiangzi and Wu Xiaochun were determined to save money and reluctant to spend on anything unnecessary. Their family lacked many things, and Jiang Liyu usually wore old clothes, even being careful with a single pencil.

Luckily, most rural children at this time were in similar situations as Jiang Liyu, so she didn’t feel inferior.

Thinking about this, Jiang Liyun lifted Jiang Liyu up.

At nine years old, Jiang Liyu was thin and small, weighing only about forty to fifty kilograms. After easily lifting her up, Jiang Liyun kissed her little cheek and said, “Let’s go; time for dinner!”

Jiang Liyu hugged Jiang Liyun’s neck and giggled.

Her clothes were indeed very old, and she only had two pencils and an eraser for stationery.

Previously, she didn’t even have an eraser, but recently Jiang Liyun gave her a dollar, so she bought an eraser, pencils, and a blank notebook.

Jiang Liyun really wanted to buy her a bunch of things and dress her up, but she didn’t have any money.

She had only been reborn for a little over a month. Although she had earned some money, it wasn’t much—definitely not enough to spend lavishly.

Touching Jiang Liyu’s slightly rough little black face, Jiang Liyun thought about buying several bags of snowflake cream in a few days.

The weather was getting colder, and whether it was her, Jiang Liyu, or even Feng Yi, they should all use some snowflake cream.

Otherwise, in the winter, if they weren’t careful, their faces would crack, and it would be very painful.

When Jiang Liyu was young, she always had a ruddy complexion, and every time Wu Xiaochun washed her face, she would cry because the towel rubbing against her face was very painful.

Jiang Liyun and Jiang Liyu were affectionate with each other, making Feng Yi look on with envy.

Even when he was young, his sister Liyun never hugged him or kissed him like this!

Alright, back then, Jiang Liyun was also young and couldn’t lift him.

Soon, Wu Xiaochun returned without bringing the three chickens. Plucking feathers from the chickens takes time, and Jiang Yuxian would only deliver the slaughtered chickens in the afternoon.

Jiang Liyun didn’t mind and went back to her room for a nap after lunch.

When she woke up half an hour later, the three chickens had been delivered.

Jiang Liyun took a knife and began to cut the three chickens.

She separated the chicken breast, wings, and whole legs, leaving only the chicken frame.

The whole legs were commonly known as “□□ legs.” Jiang Liyun divided them into upper and lower parts, marinating them along with the wings.

As for the chicken breast, she cut it into thin strips and also marinated it.

With three chickens in total, it took Jiang Liyun some time to marinate them separately.

She initially planned to sell the fried chicken the next day, but she finished marinating the chicken by three in the afternoon.

Chicken doesn’t really need to be marinated for too long… Jiang Liyun gritted her teeth, called Feng Yi, and set off for the town with a cart.

She had already prepared the pot and seasonings needed for selling fried chicken.

Even if she couldn’t sell everything today, she could continue tomorrow.

The weather was suitable, and the freshly marinated chicken could stay overnight without any issues.

In her past life, some shops repeatedly thawed chicken.

Feng Yi, who was busy building a wall, was surprised to hear Jiang Liyun’s decision but quickly agreed. He hurriedly washed up and changed clothes.

He had been working on the construction, and without washing, he would be covered in dust, making it impossible to sell food.

Fortunately, he had short hair, so washing up was quick.

Wu Xiaochun was a bit worried. “Liyun, are you really going to sell today?”

“Since the preparations are done, we might as well sell now. It’s boring to procrastinate,” Jiang Liyun said.

Hesitation only leads to missed opportunities.

Thinking about the delayed construction of their own house, Wu Xiaochun felt guilty again.

Two people were enough to sell fried chicken, so Jiang Liyun didn’t call Jiang Qiangzi and his wife. Instead, she went with Feng Yi.

As they hadn’t walked far, Jiang Er’s aunt complained to Jiang Er’s uncle, who followed Feng Yi back, “They treat our cart as if it’s theirs, always taking advantage of us.”

“Say less,” Uncle Jiang interrupted.

Aunt Jiang wouldn’t have it: “Last night, they made fried chicken again and didn’t give you any! You care about your brother, but he doesn’t care about you.”

“My brother came to help when we were building our house,” Uncle Jiang defended.

“With a lame leg, what can he do?”

Thinking about it, I haven’t done much heavy lifting these days either. Uncle Jiang sternly lectured Aunt Jiang, “Brothers should help each other. Don’t always think about those trivial matters. We rarely use the cart ourselves. Let them use it. If our eldest brother borrowed the cart from the second brother, how would the second brother feel?”

Uncle Jiang went on and on, and Aunt Jiang, who was just scowling, picked up her granddaughter and walked outside, saying, “I’ll go to the field to pick some vegetables.”

Feeling triumphant, Uncle Jiang walked next door, planning to “educate” his brother and find out what Jiang Liyun was up to.

Before Jiang Liyun’s rebirth, kindergarten dismissal was very early. Some parents couldn’t make it to pick up their children after work.

But now, the public kindergarten in town didn’t dismiss until 4:40, just in time for parents who finished work at 4:30.

Of course, many children were picked up by grandparents. Some idle grandparents even arrived early and queued up at the kindergarten gate.

Jiang Liyun parked the cart near the kindergarten, lit a coal stove, placed a pot on it, and poured soybean oil into the pot.

Some people curiously watched them, but no one approached, giving Jiang Liyun time to work at her own pace.

When the oil temperature rose, she placed the battered chicken frame into the pot.

The oil sizzled, and the aroma of fried chicken quickly spread.

Several old ladies waiting for their grandchildren couldn’t help but come over and ask Jiang Liyun, “What is this?”

“I’m selling foreign fried chicken! Foreigners like to eat chicken this way. They have a shop in Beijing, and the business is booming! I’m making it according to their secret recipe,” Jiang Liyun explained, pointing to the wooden board leaning on the cart.

The board had a red piece of paper attached to it, with four big characters written on it: “Foreign Fried Chicken.”

Below these four characters were a few lines of small text: “Fried chicken leg, fried chicken frame, one yuan; fried chicken pieces, fried chicken wings, fried chicken wingtips, fifty cents; boneless chicken fillet, fifty cents per serving.”

The pricing wasn’t cheap, especially considering the low wages at the time. But there were wealthy people in town, and the cost of making fried chicken was high. Plus, Jiang Liyun’s was the only one in town, so selling at a higher price was reasonable.

“That’s a bit expensive,” one literate old lady commented.

“Auntie, this thing uses a lot of oil, and I spent money to buy the secret recipe. The cost isn’t low,” Jiang Liyun explained.

As they spoke, the aroma of fried chicken became increasingly rich.

A stylishly dressed old lady, wearing a bright red peony-patterned coat, spoke first: “Give me an order of boneless chicken tenders.”

“You have a good eye; these boneless chicken tenders are all meat and very cost-effective,” smiled Jiang Liyun.

Jiang Liyun had been contemplating selling fried chicken about a week ago. During this time, she had been making various preparations and acquiring the necessary items for selling fried chicken.

Now, she fried the boneless chicken tenders until golden, set them aside to drain excess oil, and then rolled a clean sheet of paper into a cylindrical shape. After placing the boneless chicken tenders inside, she inserted a bamboo skewer and handed it to the old lady.

In ten years, people in the town would use specialised paper bags for boneless chicken tenders, but at this time, such bags were not available, so this simple packaging sufficed.

Although the boneless chicken tenders were priced at only five cents, they were delicious! The old lady enjoyed two and asked Jiang Liyun, “Are the others just as tasty?”

“They’re all delicious. Would you like to buy a chicken leg for your child?” Jiang Liyun asked with a smile.

The old lady said, “Fry a chicken wing for me.”

Fried chicken wings, including the wing and wingtip, sold for only five cents, which is indeed a good deal. Chicken wing roots were also sold for five cents because Jiang Liyun intentionally left a bit of meat on them during preparation.

As for the fried chicken pieces, they were actually chicken thighs. They had a good amount of meat and were tasty, making them worth the five cents.

The least cost-effective might be the fried chicken leg, priced at one yuan. However, at this time, people considered chicken legs desirable, allowing for a premium.

Jiang Liyun calculated that she could earn ten yuan by selling a three-yuan chicken. Of course, the batter on the fried chicken was egg-coated, and the cost of oil was not cheap, resulting in additional expenses. However, when considering these costs in the aggregate, they amounted to only three yuan.

So, she could make a profit of four yuan by selling one chicken. Today, she brought three chickens, and selling them all would earn her twelve yuan.

She still had chicken innards at home for her family to enjoy!

The profit from selling fried chicken was much better than selling pan-fried dumplings!

However, in the current situation, she couldn’t sell too much fried chicken in a day. After all, it was just a small town, not a big city.

As Jiang Liyun began frying chicken wings, the kindergarten was letting out.

Some old ladies rushed in to pick up their children, with one person muttering, “I promised my granddaughter to be the first one to pick her up.”

Seeing this, Jiang Liyun smiled and, having previously fried the chicken frame for a while and set it aside, re-fried it in the oil.

This way, it would be even more delicious!

The enticing aroma of fried food tempted the children, who had just come out of school.

People several decades later might find fried foods a bit heavy on the stomach due to their oil content, but at this time, that wasn’t the case.

A little girl with two braids on her head, just out of the school gate, asked her mother, “Mum, what smells so good?”

The girl’s mother, with permed hair and leather shoes, obviously well-off and willing to spend money, also found the scent of fried chicken appealing and headed towards Jiang Liyun’s stall.

On the other side, a little boy who had just walked out of the kindergarten’s gate saw Jiang Liyun’s stall and immediately shouted, “I want to eat that. I want to eat that.”

The boy’s grandmother, reluctant to spend money, said, “Grandma doesn’t have money.”

However, the boy, experienced in such situations, promptly sat on the ground, throwing a tantrum. “I want it! I want to eat that!”

Helpless, his grandmother pulled him up, saying, “Grandma will buy it for you, but you can’t act like this again.”

The child didn’t pay attention to what his grandmother said.

Being able to get tasty food by sitting on the ground, he would probably continue doing so next time. But for now, he pulled his grandmother towards Jiang Liyun.

Another young man who came to pick up his child, upon suddenly smelling the aroma of fried chicken, completely forgot about his child and hurriedly approached Jiang Liyun’s stall.

“How much is this?”

“I want a five-cent fried chicken, the boneless chicken tenders.”

“I want fried chicken wing roots.”

“Give me a fried chicken leg!”

…

Not everyone was willing to buy fried chicken. Many people, seeing the prices of five cents or one yuan, decisively left with their children.

Some people didn’t even look at the prices, hastily leaving with their children—something so fragrant, they knew it wouldn’t be cheap!

However, there were still over a dozen people surrounding Jiang Liyun. Among them, some even recognised her: “Aren’t you the one who sold Northeastern pan-fried dumplings at the elementary school gate this morning?”

“Yes, it’s me, auntie. I learned Northeastern pan-fried dumplings from someone before, and recently I learned foreign-style fried chicken, so I came to sell it,” Jiang Liyun explained.

To show that her fried chicken was unique, Jiang Liyun even took out the newspaper she bought earlier, showing the news about KFC opening.

People in big cities like Beijing were actually lining up to buy fried chicken.

Those queuing in front of Jiang Liyun’s stall were surprised, and their anticipation for the fried chicken she was selling grew even stronger.

Jiang Liyun had already pre-fried three chicken frames. The chicken legs and wings were not too large, allowing her to fry a good amount at once, making the frying process quite fast.

While she was frying, Feng Yi handled the money and packaging. As the chicken frames were relatively large, he would ask customers if they needed help cutting them open.

With only three chickens and two people working together, they sold out in less than half an hour.

People who missed out asked, “Will you be selling again tomorrow?”

Jiang Liyun smiled and replied, “Yes, I’ll be back tomorrow to sell.”

“Then, I’ll come tomorrow. Make sure to prepare more,” one person said, licking their lips.

The aroma of the fried chicken was so tempting that they couldn’t wait to taste it.

At this point, those who bought the fried chicken had already started eating. Most of them were children, eating eagerly.

Some parents, seeing their children enjoying it, picked out a piece to taste and were pleasantly surprised.

The crispy skin and the flavorful fried batter with its rich oil content were indeed delicious!

However, the quantity was a bit small, and it was quickly devoured.