Inside the house, Gu Linchen’s mother was sewing quilts when she heard a knock on the door. She came out to open it and saw that the two of them had returned so early. She thought their business had not gone well, and they had closed up early. However, when they told her everything had sold out, she could hardly believe it.

“Really? Everything was sold out?”
“Yes, Mom, we had just arrived when customers started buying. After that, people were buying several bowls at a time, so everything sold quickly.” Gu Linchen was pushing the cart into the yard while telling her about the day’s events.
“Mom, you should have seen it. People were even fighting over the food later. The dishes made by my husband are so delicious. Even the noodles we prepared were bought up,” Feng Ge’er added excitedly.
“Hehehe, that’s great! Looks like this business is going to work!” Gu Linchen’s mother smiled broadly, her teeth showing. Suddenly, she stopped and said, “Everything sold out? Then you must not have had lunch yet. I’ll go cook something for you now.”

Feng Ge’er quickly stopped her, saying, “No need to worry, we already ate. There’s still a little leftover noodles, but my husband decided not to sell them, so we just boiled them for ourselves.”

Gu Linchen brought two bowls of water from the house, handing one to Feng Ge’er and drinking the other himself. After taking a big gulp and sighing, he said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let myself go hungry, and I won’t let Feng Ge’er starve either.”

Feng Ge’er’s ears turned slightly red upon hearing this, and he quickly grabbed the bowl from Gu Linchen’s hand and ran into the house.

Xige’er woke up and ran out of the house, circling around Gu Linchen. He had just heard his mother say that his father had bought him something nice. Gu Linchen took a string of candied hawthorns and a stuffed doll from the cart and gave them to Xige’er. Xige’er was so happy that he started dancing around. Children are truly easy to please. Gu Linchen stopped what he was doing and played with Xige’er, making him laugh uncontrollably.

Feng Ge’er, watching from the side, could only shake his head helplessly. Today, his husband had been buying things for Xige’er whenever he saw something he liked. He was lucky that he had stopped him earlier; lately, his husband had been treating him better, and he had become bolder. He had never imagined that he would really listen to him and not buy anything else.

Gu Linchen thought that vegetables marinated in the same way would also taste good, so he asked his mother to find some in the garden. Feng Ge’er was already cleaning the pig offal, and thinking that they probably didn’t have many vegetables at home, he hurriedly grabbed a hoe and ran to the mountain to look for some bamboo shoots, which would also taste great if marinated.

After dinner that evening, Gu Linchen poured the money he had earned onto the table. The copper coins piled up into a small hill. The family gathered around to count it—five hundred and eighty wen. After deducting the costs, there was still five hundred wen left. This was after only two hours of business, and everyone’s hearts raced with excitement.

“Hahaha, I didn’t expect you, kid, to be this capable!” Gu Linchen’s father was also delighted. He only earned thirty wen a day, but his son had earned half a tael of silver in just two hours. It was a sign of hope for their future.

Gu Linchen and the others had arrived a little late today, but as soon as they reached the street, the customers gathered around.

“Boss Gu, you really made us wait!” a regular customer from yesterday complained.

“Sorry about that! We added a few new items today, so we came a little late. But we’ll give everyone a free taste of something new,” Gu Linchen said as he brought out a basin of marinated offal and another basin filled with marinated vegetables.

Hearing the word “free,” everyone immediately formed a line. Gu Linchen noticed that the first man who had eaten yesterday was also at the front of the line.

“Big Brother, would you like noodles again today?”

“Just like yesterday, I’ll have a bowl with noodles,” the man replied.

“Got it, please sit over there,” Gu Linchen said as he handed him a string of marinated vegetables.

The people in the line saw that they were really giving away food for free. Although it was just vegetables, which weren’t worth much, they still smelled good. And after tasting it, they found it was delicious! The bamboo shoots were crunchy and had a sweet taste, and the potatoes were soft and flavorful. They asked how much a string would cost.

Gu Linchen smiled and answered, “One coin for two strings. If you buy five coins’ worth, you get two extra strings for free.”

The customers, while thinking that one coin for two strings of vegetables was a bit expensive, felt it was worth it because it tasted so good. They didn’t mind spending the extra coin and all asked for two strings.

Meng Zuheng, who had planned a trip with his classmates to the outskirts, passed by West Street and caught a whiff of the scent.

“What’s that smell?” He sniffed a few times.

“Stop the carraige,” he said, and the servant quickly halted the horse.

“Young Master, what’s wrong?”

A young man, about sixteen or seventeen, dressed in luxurious clothes, stepped out of a carriage. “Afu, do you smell something?” he asked.

Afu, the young servant, sniffed the air and replied, “It smells so good!” He noticed a long line forming near a stall not far away. “Let’s go check it out,” the young man said, jumping down from the carriage and heading directly toward the stall.

When they arrived, Gu Linchen, hearing the voice, looked up and saw a young nobleman standing in front of his stall. “What are you selling here?” the young man asked.

“It’s marinated offal and some marinated vegetables,” Gu Linchen replied.

Upon hearing that it was made from offal, the young man felt a bit disdainful. But as he got closer, the smell was so enticing that he couldn’t resist. Seeing so many people buying, he asked, “How much is it?”

Gu Linchen pointed at the marinated offal and explained, “This is three wen per bowl, five wen for two bowls. If you want noodles, it’s five wen per bowl. The marinated vegetables are one wen for two strings.”

“Give me two bowls of this,” the young man said after thinking for a moment, pointing at the marinated offal.

“Please join the line,” Gu Linchen said, gesturing toward the people who were waiting.

“Yes, yes, you have to line up to buy. You can’t cut in front of us,” the other customers said. They weren’t afraid to speak up, even though the young man appeared to be a noble; after all, they had already been waiting for quite a while.

The young man, Meng Zuheng, stood still without moving. He was used to never having to wait for food, and felt like walking away in annoyance. But when he saw the fragrant food in front of him, he couldn’t help but be curious. He noticed that Feng Ge’er was serving a customer with a big bowl of noodles, and the customer was eating with a satisfied expression, which made him swallow his saliva. “Afu, go get in line,” he said.

There were many people wanting noodles by lunchtime, and luckily, they had prepared enough noodles in the morning. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had enough to last until noon. Feng Ge’er was busy cooking noodles and barely had time to rest.

As the last of the noodles were nearly sold out, and it was Afu’s turn, Meng Zuheng became anxious. “Hey! Leave some for me!” he said loudly, watching as the last bowls were being served.

Gu Linchen noticed the young man standing there, constantly swallowing his saliva, and thought to himself, ‘Another food lover.‘ When there were only two or three servings left, it was finally Afu’s turn.

“I’ll take everything,” Meng Zuheng said excitedly. “And add two servings of noodles.”

The people waiting behind saw that the food was running out and started complaining. “Boss, can’t you cook more every day? It’s only past noon and there’s nothing left!”

“I’m really sorry. It takes a long time to cook this, as it has to be prepared with herbs. We only have this amount for the day. Please come early tomorrow,” Gu Linchen replied, bowing to them.

Meng Zuheng, seeing the large bowl of noodles with marinated offal in front of him, immediately grabbed his chopsticks and started eating. “Mmm, it’s really good. It was worth the wait,” he said.

Afu watched as his master devoured the food like someone who hadn’t eaten in days. When he took a bite himself, he found it delicious too, and started eating just as enthusiastically as his master.

Gu Linchen and Feng Ge’er finally got a chance to rest. Feng Ge’er was sweating heavily, and Gu Linchen wiped his forehead with a cloth. “You’ve worked hard.”

“I’m not tired. You worked harder,” Feng Ge’er replied, feeling his cheeks heat up. He could feel the tenderness in his husband’s gaze.