These days, every morning, Qin Rong would go to the West Market to sell scallion buns and drinks.

On average, she could sell nearly a hundred scallion buns and around thirty servings of drinks a day.

She would change the drinks every few days, so her stall had gradually gathered a group of regular customers who loved sweet beverages.

The Qin Family Lunchboxes were unexpectedly popular in front of the academy.

Now, nearly 150 lunchboxes were sold each day, and Yu Xiaoshan collected money until his hands were sore.

After selling braised pork lunchboxes and Mapo tofu lunchboxes for a while, Qin Rong thought it was time to change the menu.

Although braised pork lunchboxes sold at a higher price, their cost was also higher, and in the end, they actually brought in less profit than the Mapo tofu.

After browsing around the West Market, Qin Rong decided to switch the braised pork lunchbox for a fish-flavored shredded pork lunchbox.

Once home, she placed the ingredients beside the well. Over time, Qin Yue and Yu Xiaoshan had become quite accustomed to helping with the washing of vegetables.

The green peppers were freshly picked from the garden. Qin Rong picked a few, washed them, removed the seeds, and cut them into strips.

She also soaked the wood ear mushrooms.

“Big Sister, aren’t we eating the leftover braised pork lunchboxes for lunch today?” Qin Yue asked.

“I’m making a new dish for you to try today. If the feedback is good, we won’t make the braised pork lunchboxes tomorrow,” Qin Rong replied.

Yu Xiaoshan smiled and said, “Everything Big Sister makes tastes amazing. Today we have green peppers and wood ear mushrooms—is it soup you’re making?”

“Today we’re having fish-flavored shredded pork.”

Qin Yi swallowed her saliva and quietly asked Qin Yue, “Second Sister, did Big Sister buy any fish?”

Qin Yue also looked puzzled. “No, there wasn’t any fish delivered today.”

The two looked confused. Qin Rong came over to pour some water and saw the strange expressions on their faces.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

Yu Xiaoshan, still washing vegetables, explained, “Big Sister, Ah Yue and Ah Yi are just wondering why there’s no fish.”

Fish-flavored shredded pork is a Sichuan dish.

Despite the name, it actually contains no fish.

Only then did Qin Rong realize what they were thinking and said, “Fish-flavored shredded pork is a dish from Shu (Sichuan). It’s not made with fish meat, but rather with the same seasonings used for fish. That’s why it’s called fish-flavored.”

Qin Yue was full of admiration—Big Sister even knew how to cook Sichuan dishes…

After prepping all the ingredients, Qin Rong started slicing the pork, then marinated it with salt, cooking wine, egg, and starch.

She had already prepared the sauce while soaking the wood ear mushrooms. It contained sugar, vinegar, cooking wine, salt, soy sauce, and a spoonful of bean paste.

The bean paste was homemade by a farming family in Daliang Village.

Qin Rong had tasted it—it was delicious.

She heated the wok, stir-fried the pork strips briefly, and set them aside.

Then she stir-fried shredded radish in the same oil, added the bean paste to bring out the aroma, tossed in the green peppers and other ingredients.

Once the green peppers began to change color and the spiciness started to rise, she added the pork back in and stir-fried it until the meat changed color.

Finally, she poured in the sauce.

The moment the sauce hit the hot pan, a burst of sour and spicy aroma filled the air with a loud sizzle. Steam billowed up, and Qin Yue, Qin Yi, and Yu Xiaoshan were all drawn into the kitchen by the mouth-watering smell.

The fragrance was different from the Mapo tofu. Yu Xiaoshan swallowed hard, but the more he tried, the more his mouth watered.

Qin Yue and Qin Yi weren’t doing much better.

Their eyes kept darting toward the kitchen.

After the fish-flavored shredded pork was ready, Qin Rong also stir-fried a plate of vegetables with pork drippings.

Then she called out, “Time to eat!”

The three in the courtyard immediately jumped up and rushed into the kitchen to help carry out the dishes and rice.

It was just the few of them eating at this hour—two dishes and one soup were more than enough.

After sitting down, Qin Rong smiled and said, “Try the fish-flavored shredded pork and tell me how it tastes.”

Yu Xiaoshan, Qin Yi, and Qin Yue all reached their chopsticks into the dish at the same time and stuffed a mouthful into their mouths.

Mmm, it was delicious—sour, sweet, and spicy—perfect with rice!

They couldn’t even get a word of praise out before eagerly shoveling another bite of rice into their mouths.

Seeing this, Qin Rong smiled, picked up her own chopsticks, and tasted the dish too. Mmm, it really was delicious. Come to think of it, her cooking skills were definitely improving.

After several more days of selling fish-flavored shredded pork lunchboxes, Qin Rong decided to take a break. Yu Xiaoshan was reluctant—taking a day off would mean selling fewer lunchboxes.

But Qin Rong insisted that all work needs to have a balance between effort and rest.

Only then did Yu Xiaoshan realize that he actually was a bit tired.

This month, they averaged about 200 lunchboxes a day.

After deducting Yu Xiaoshan’s wages and the cost of ingredients, they still made around 1.1 to 1.2 taels of silver per day.

From the scallion buns and drinks, they earned about 200 cash coins a day.

Even with a few rainy days when they couldn’t set up the stall, they still earned around 3.5 taels of silver from that business.

They hadn’t sold any shrimp powder this month but did earn 1 tael from selling salted bamboo shoots.

All in all, Qin Rong had made nearly thirty-two taels of silver this month!

Qin Rong had a general idea of how much she was earning, but Madam Yu, Qin Yue, and Qin Yi were all stunned.

That much money in just one month?

With a smile, Qin Rong took out 200 coins each for Madam Yu, Qin Yi, and Qin Yue, and another 200 coins for Yu Xiaoshan.

At first, they all refused to take the money. But Qin Rong explained that since business was good in the first month, this was a symbolic red envelope for everyone.

Only then did they accept it.

“At this rate, we’ll definitely have our own shop by next year. Life is only going to get better from now on!” Qin Rong said cheerfully.

Madam Yu never imagined Qin Rong’s business would be so successful.

It earned much more than her tiring embroidery work.

Still, she didn’t plan to quit.

She was still learning and could only do basic embroidery for now. But her skills were steadily improving, and once she advanced, her monthly earnings and commissions for custom work would both increase.

“Big Sister is amazing!” Qin Yi exclaimed.

It was her first time owning her own copper coins, and she was ecstatic.

Since coming to town, she had made friends and bonded with other girls.

At their age, it was rare to have any personal spending money!

“Xiao Tao treats me so well—her father even shares his maiwu candy with me. Next time, I want to treat her to a piece of candy too,” Qin Yi said earnestly.

Qin Rong praised her with a smile, “Our Xiao Yi is so thoughtful!”

“Big Sister, can we go shopping in town tomorrow? We’ve been in Lihua Town for a while, but we’ve never really explored it for ourselves,” Qin Yue asked excitedly, clutching her purse.

Qin Rong thought for a moment and looked at Madam Yu. “Mother, since you’re off tomorrow anyway, why don’t we bring some gifts to Grandma’s house and go shopping in the afternoon?”

Since they came to Lihua Town, aside from briefly visiting her mother the day they arrived, they hadn’t had a proper chat. Thinking of this, Madam Yu agreed. “Alright, let’s visit your grandmother tomorrow.”

“Mm!” they all nodded happily.