Chapter 25 – Setting Up a Stall

Today was a busy day, and since Sister Yao didn’t go, Xia Tian ended up meeting several familiar aunts.

Aunt Chun saw her carrying tables and buckets, curious, she asked, “Girl, what are you doing? Why are you carrying so many things? What’s inside? It smells so good.”

Xia Tian smiled shyly, “I made some braised pig intestines. I thought I’d try setting up a stall to see if I can make a little extra money.”

“That sounds good. It smells really nice.” The aunts were considerate, not opening the containers.

“When we get to the town, I’ll let you all try some,” Xia Tian said, not hiding it at all. Since they were from the same village, they were bound to run into each other.

She didn’t need to say much; they would find out anyway.

By the time they arrived at the town, it was around seven in the morning, and people were already bustling around the streets.

Since they were in a rush today, the ox cart couldn’t enter the town. Xia Tian had so many things, so Aunt Chun and the others helped her carry the items to the stall location.

After expressing her thanks, Xia Tian told the aunts to wait a moment.

She set up the table, placed the wooden basin on top, and took out some of the braised pig intestines, pig feet, and tofu from the buckets, placing them into the basin.

She then took two wooden bowls from another bucket, separated the pig intestines and tofu into the bowls, and stuck toothpicks—cut by Shen Nian yesterday—into them for the aunts to try.

“Hey, it’s delicious, and there’s no bad smell.”

“Indeed, it’s chewy too.”

“I didn’t expect you, girl, to have such skills.”

After tasting, the aunts kept praising her.

“Girl, how much are you selling these for? Give me some; this is better than meat.”

Aunt Chun immediately wanted to buy.

“Each piece like this is one cent.” Xia Tian picked up a piece of pig intestine about 20 cm long with chopsticks to show them.

Last night, she and Shen Nian had agreed on the price.

After braising, the length of a fresh pig intestine would shrink by about 20%.

Usually, pig intestines are about 12 to 13 meters long, and after braising, they would shrink to around 10 to 13 meters.

If she cut them into 20 cm sections, one pig intestine could be cut into about 10 pieces, with each piece costing one cent, which seemed reasonable to customers, and the profit was also quite decent.

For convenience, Xia Tian had already pre-cut them last night.

The pig feet were sold by the piece—one piece for ten cents. A pound of tofu was also one cent per piece, roughly ten pieces for 10 cents. Xia Tian sold her braised tofu at one cent per piece.

Aunt Chun thought the prices were fair and immediately asked for a piece of pig intestine, asking Xia Tian to set it aside for her to pick up after finishing her shopping.

Other aunts also said they’d come by later.

At that moment, several people gathered around.

They had heard Xia Tian talking to Aunt Chun, and after Aunt Chun and the others left, a man came forward and asked, “Is this really pig intestine?”

“Everyone can try the taste; it’s okay if you don’t buy,” Xia Tian smiled and handed out toothpicks to the people gathered around for a taste.

“It’s really delicious.”

“And no bad smell.”

“How much is it?”

After tasting, a customer asked for the price, and Xia Tian explained it again.

The man who had asked first immediately wanted one piece, and Xia Tian wrapped it in oil paper for him.

When others saw someone had bought, they too pulled out money to buy some.

Compared to the pig intestines, the tofu had yet to sell a single piece. After all, the price difference made pig intestines seem like a better deal, as they were meat.

Since today was a busy market day with many people around, Xia Tian didn’t have to shout for attention. Gradually, people came by, and within less than an hour, all the pig intestines were sold out.

Only six pieces of tofu remained, and one pig foot was sold.

When Xia Tian saw that most of her items had sold, she started preparing to pack up.

The remaining items would be for her to eat.

She first took the table and other things over to Uncle Liu’s ox cart.

Then, she carried her basket to buy more materials.

From the day’s sales, it was clear that pig intestines were more popular.

She went directly to the butcher’s stall and bought three more pig intestines, along with a pound of pork. The butcher gave her a big bone as a gift.

Then she went to the tofu stall and bought ten pounds of tofu, which she could braise and store in her space to sell slowly over time.

She planned to sell the pig intestines for a few more days and see how they went. If the response was good, she’d look into expanding her selection. The only problem was the hassle of carrying the table and other items every day. But other than that, it wasn’t a big deal since she had the spring water to drink and wasn’t lacking in energy.

Carrying tables and such was a pain though.

If she hired Uncle Liu’s ox cart every day, the cart fee would cost several dozen coins daily, which wasn’t worth it.

However, tomorrow she could use a carrying pole and leave earlier. When the road was empty, she could put the items in her space.

With this plan in mind, Xia Tian went to find Aunt Chun and the others, giving them the pig intestines she had set aside. She even gave them extra since they had helped her carry things today.

Having good relationships in the village made life more convenient.

Not long after, Aunt Chun and the others arrived, and they all headed to the ox cart together.

They asked her, “Did you sell everything so quickly?”

“The tofu’s still got a few pieces left,” Xia Tian said, pulling out the tofu wrapped in oil paper and offering it to the aunts.

“Sell the ones you’re making money off of, keep the rest for yourself.”

“It’s fine; they won’t be fresh tomorrow. Aunty, try some.”

Since Xia Tian insisted, the aunts didn’t refuse.

By the time they got home, it was almost time for lunch. Shen Nian saw her coming back and poured her a cup of water.

Xia Tian took out the buns she had bought on the way home and gave them to Shen Nian to eat while she quickly started preparing lunch.

She stir-fried some greens, braised some meat, and made a cold dish with bamboo shoots. After heating up the steamed buns, they sat down to eat.

Shen Nian seemed hungry too, eating three large buns and finishing the vegetables cleanly.

After the meal, Xia Tian took out her pouch and poured all the copper coins onto the table with a “clink.”

Looking at the small pile of copper coins, her eyes sparkled. This was the first “gold” she had earned since arriving here.

Although it wasn’t much, it didn’t affect her good mood.

She counted—132 copper coins.

“Today, I sold the tofu for 12 coins, the pig feet for 10 coins, and the rest were from the pig intestines.”

“Calculating like this, after deducting what we ate, what the customers tasted, and the pieces given to Aunt Chun and the others, I made a pure profit of 110 coins.”

“After considering expenses, I still earned about 80 coins today.”

“If it’s like this every day, I could make around two to three taels a month.”

Xia Tian analyzed while muttering to herself.

This was actually quite good. For comparison, people like Xia Yang who went to the town to work could only make three to four hundred coins a month.

And she had only tried a small amount of braised food today.

Shen Nian smiled at her eager expression, his eyes filled with affection, “Hmm, not bad.”

“Right? But if I keep going like this, it gets a bit late, and I can’t make you lunch on time.”

If this became a daily routine, then Shen Nian’s lunch would be a problem.

Xia Tian couldn’t just focus on making money; she had to think about feeding the “boss” at home.

“It’s fine,” Shen Nian said, not showing any discontent.

“I’ll set up for a few more days and see. If it’s selling well, I’ll see if I can find someone to help.”

Xia Tian had made up her mind. She had to set up a stall every day; only selling during the market days wouldn’t make her much money.

“Alright, that works,” Shen Nian nodded.

Xia Tian, seeing that Shen Nian seemed truly content, relaxed her mind.

Just as she was about to turn to leave, she noticed the teapot on the table and asked Shen Nian, “Brother Shen, have you been drinking your mugwort tea every day?”

“Yes.”

“Do you feel any better recently?”

“Mm, much better.”

“That’s good. Keep drinking it. It seems the mugwort tea really works. I’ll pick more and dry it, so you can drink it in the winter.”

She thought she had covered her tracks well and gave herself a mental high-five for her cleverness!

“Okay,” Shen Nian replied gently, not exposing her and simply agreeing.

After chatting a bit, Xia Tian went to the well for two trips to fetch water and then sat in the yard to clean the pig intestines.

It was a good way to earn money, but cleaning pig intestines was such a hassle.

By the time she had braised the pig intestines and tofu, it was almost four in the afternoon.

She was about to rest a bit before preparing dinner when she heard a knock on the door. It was Sister Yao coming to find her.