Chapter 65 Mountain Home Hearth 65

Chapter 65: Mountain Family's Daily Life 65

The new food cart was ready, and the iron griddle Liu Guyu had ordered in town was also finished. He'd spent the entire day at home preparing ingredients for the day after tomorrow, ensuring everything was perfectly in order.

There was quite a lot to carry, and Banban, being a girl, naturally wasn't as strong as her second brother, Qin Rongshi. Coincidentally, Qin Rongshi had a day off the day after tomorrow, so he was roped in to help with the heavy lifting.

With that settled, the family finished their meal, cleaned up, washed, and went to bed early.

Liu Guyu got lucky—the next day dawned clear and sunny, perfect weather for doing business.

Cui Lanfang woke up early to cook noodles for the two of them before seeing them off.

They brought so many things that even Lin Xingniang was startled. She knew Liu Guyu had commissioned a new food cart, but she hadn’t expected it to be so large. It occupied more than half the space on the donkey cart, forcing all four of them to squeeze in.

“Wow, what a setup! It’s like you’ve opened a shop right on the street!” Lin Xingniang joked.

Liu Guyu laughed, his dark eyes sparkling. “Not at all! I wish I really had a shop!”

Lin Xingniang quickly added, “You’ve definitely got the skills! Opening a shop is just a matter of time!”

Liu Guyu chuckled happily and said, “I’ll take that as a good omen!”

The two chatted and joked back and forth as the donkey cart made its leisurely way to town. Since it had rained the day before, the road was slippery, so they had to proceed slowly to ensure safety.

They soon arrived at Fushui Town. After paying the entrance tax to the guards at the city gate, Qin Rongshi unloaded everything from the cart—both their own belongings and Lin Xingniang’s—putting his muscles to work.

They left the donkey cart at the stable and hauled their goods to the East Market, some pushing the cart, others carrying loads on their backs.

By the time they entered the city, the sky was already bright, and people were starting to fill the streets. Liu Guyu and Qin Rongshi quickly set up their stall.

A few regular customers had already arrived, but Liu Guyu hadn’t started the fire yet. He smiled and greeted them, “Why don't you take a walk around first? I’ve just arrived and haven’t finished setting up yet!”

Some nodded and wandered off to browse other stalls.

Niu Dawei, however, stayed behind. Humming a little tune, he stood in front of the stall, curiously examining Liu Guyu’s new food cart.

He stopped humming mid-tune and pointed at the cart, asking with interest, “Boss Liu, you got yourself a new cart! Looks great! Does that mean there's new stuff today?”

Liu Guyu smiled back and asked, “It’s brand new—just taking it for a test run today. Boss Niu, here to buy red bean balls for your daughter again?”

Niu Dawei chuckled and scratched his head, replying, “That girl’s been spoiled rotten. She turns up her nose at her mother's cooking and insists on eating from outside.”

Though he said “spoiled,” his tone and expression clearly conveyed deep affection.

His daughter was incredibly picky. She used to have favorite foods but would quickly grow tired of them. Only the snacks from Boss Liu’s stall never seemed to bore her. She had to have them every few days and couldn't stop talking about that mushroom meat sauce for a long time.

“You really dote on your child,” Liu Guyu nodded in agreement. “There are indeed new items today, but they won’t be ready until around noon. It’s still early. You can bring your daughter out for a stroll in the afternoon and try them then. I made plenty, so there’ll be enough.”

“This morning, we’re still selling red bean balls, soft cakes, and such… Oh, and since the Qingming Festival is the day after tomorrow, I made some qingtuan for the festival—some sweet, some savory!”

Niu Dawei quickly asked, “You have qingtuan too? What flavors? Do you have red bean?”

Liu Guyu nodded right away. “Yes, we do!”

“There are four flavors. Sweet ones are osmanthus red bean and sweet potato taro paste. Savory ones are pickled vegetable with bamboo shoots and pork floss. If bought separately, the vegetarian ones are two coins each, and the meat-filled ones are three coins each. But if you buy all four flavors together, it’s only eight coins. Eight-eight-eight—sounds like 'prosperity' in Chinese—for good luck.”

Niu Dawei, being a businessman himself, loved the sound of good fortune. His face lit up, completely forgetting that his wife had said she would make qingtuan herself that morning. Without hesitation, he said, “Give me two of each flavor! Also, a bowl of red bean balls and a pack of that loquat jelly from last time.”

By then, Qin Rongshi had already fetched water with a wooden bucket and started the fire under the stove.

Liu Guyu couldn’t help smiling. Since Qin Rongshi had started attending the academy, Banban had been the one accompanying him to the stall, so fetching water had naturally fallen to him. It had been a while since Liu Guyu had felt this relaxed.

He glanced at Qin Rongshi with a smile, quickly cooked a bowl of red bean balls, wrapped up the other goodies in oil paper, and tied them with straw rope for Niu Dawei to carry home easily.

Niu Dawei paid, took the items in both hands, and left satisfied.

Not long after he left, two of the earlier customers who had wandered off returned. Seeing qingtuan for sale, they bought some for the season.

The morning business was just okay—neither particularly good nor bad. But Liu Guyu wasn’t surprised. People in town usually came out to stroll in the afternoon, which was when things would really pick up.

Around noon, Liu Guyu got the charcoal going on the other side of the iron griddle, brushed it with oil, and began frying sausages and sweet potato skins.

The aroma of these items was way more powerful than that of qingtuan or red bean balls. The scents of oil and meat quickly drifted through the air.

Liu Guyu skillfully made cuts in the sausages, frying them on both sides until they were thoroughly cooked and crispy. Then he stuck bamboo skewers in them, brushed them with spicy sauce, and sprinkled on seasonings, making the aroma even richer.

After the sausages were done, he flipped the sweet potato skins on the griddle. He preferred them crispy, so he fried them a bit longer until little white bubbles popped up on the surface. When scraped with a bamboo skewer, they made a nice crispy sound.

“Hey, boss, what are you making? It smells incredible!”

The speaker was a man in his forties named Shi Liangcai, the manager of a grain store in town. With nothing to do at the shop that day, he had sneaked out for a walk. As soon as he reached the East Market, the smell of the grilled sausages made him stop dead in his tracks.

Liu Guyu looked up and saw that the man was unfamiliar—not a regular customer. But judging by his fine clothing and the walnuts he was playing with, he looked like he had money to burn.

Liu Guyu quickly smiled and replied, “These are sausages, made with casings and pork. Once they’re fried, we brush them with sauce, and they’re ready to eat.”

Without even asking the price, Shi Liangcai said, “Give me one.”

Liu Guyu: “Sure thing! Do you like it spicy? If not, I can fry another one without spice.”

Shi Liangcai was too impatient to wait. He nodded and said, “Spicy's fine. This one will do.”

Liu Guyu: “Alright! That’ll be three coins.”

Shi Liangcai immediately paid, and Liu Guyu handed him the grilled sausage.

Instead of leaving, Shi Liangcai stood by the stall, eating the sausage while watching Liu Guyu continue frying the sweet potato skins.

The sausage tasted excellent—crispy and fragrant on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside. Coated with spicy sauce, it was so delicious he couldn’t stop eating.

He finished the sausage quickly and was tempted to ask for another, but his eyes were fixed on the sweet potato skins sizzling on the griddle.

The sweet potato skins were now ready. Liu Guyu brushed them with a layer of spicy sauce and began adding fillings—using small wooden tongs to place scallions, coriander, pickled radish cubes, and fish mint inside.

Shi Liangcai watched eagerly and finally couldn’t resist asking, “Give me one of those too!”

Liu Guyu smiled discreetly and nodded. “Sure! That’s also three coins. I’ll skewer it for you right away.”

Liu Guyu used two bamboo skewers to secure the stuffed sweet potato skin, while Qin Rongshi handled the payment.

Once Shi Liangcai received the grilled sweet potato skin, he left satisfied, thinking to himself: The food at this stall is really good! I’ll definitely come back!

His shop assistants had recommended the Liu Family Food Stall to him before, but Shi Liangcai wasn’t fond of sweets and only knew that a young boss named Liu at the East Market sold delicious snacks.

Now that he’d tried it, he was sold on it!

Shi Liangcai left, but several people had already lined up behind him, all eyeing the griddle in front of Liu Guyu.

“Boss, how much for the sausage?”

"And give me one of these grilled sweet potato skins too!"

"Me too! I want two sausages!"

"I'll take both the sausage and the sweet potato skin! No fishwort in the skin, extra pickled radish, please!"

...

Business instantly boomed. Liu Guyu grabbed five sausages at once, scored them with knife cuts, and started frying them on the griddle. He also took out sweet potato skins to grill, soon swamped with orders.

The nearby sweets stall was managed by Qin Rongshi, who occasionally served a few female customers coming over for fruit drinks. After finishing up, he had to help Liu Guyu handle the money.

With this surge of customers, neither of them had a moment to rest.

After serving two large waves of customers, Liu Guyu distributed the extra three sausages he’d fried: two to Lin Xingniang and her daughter next door, and the remaining one to Qin Rongshi.

"Here, have a snack to keep you going. We've been swamped since noon, we haven’t eaten anything yet," Liu Guyu said.

Qin Rongshi glanced at him, frowned slightly, and asked softly, "What about you?"

Liu Guyu, standing in front of the griddle, was drenched in sweat from the heat of the charcoal. He wiped his face with his sleeve as he replied, "You eat first. You're still growing. I’ll take a break later and buy two bowls of bamboo and fern wontons from the stall next door. I don’t know how they make theirs—I can never get the flavor quite right!"

"Yours are better," Qin Rongshi murmured, but Liu Guyu, busy swallowing hard, didn’t hear him at all.

After a moment of silence, Qin Rongshi suddenly took a handkerchief from inside his robe and handed it over.

Liu Guyu froze for a second, then recognized it as the handkerchief he’d previously lent Qin Rongshi to wipe his mouth.

Qin Rongshi hadn’t returned it, and Liu Guyu had completely forgotten about it. When he later needed it and couldn’t find it, he thought he’d lost it by accident.

Liu Guyu took the handkerchief and wiped his face. The soft cloth felt gentle against his skin, carrying a faint scent of soapberries.

Did this kid wash it?

Liu Guyu found it a bit strange but couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

He stood there blankly, holding the handkerchief absently, not yet putting it away.

Qin Rongshi glanced at him, then suddenly reached out and plucked the handkerchief from Liu Guyu’s hand.

Then Liu Guyu watched as Qin Rongshi tucked his own handkerchief inside his robes.

Liu Guyu: "???"

Liu Guyu was puzzled for a moment, then it dawned on him.

Scholars are quite particular—using pouches, handkerchiefs… maybe every student at the academy carries one. Qin Rongshi, seeing this often, must have wanted one too but was too shy to ask Cui Lanfang to make him another, so he set his sights on Liu Guyu’s!

Yes, that must be it.

Qin Rongshi had no idea about Liu Guyu’s weird train of thought. After putting away the handkerchief, he glanced at Liu Guyu again and saw him still zoning out.

After a moment’s thought, he said quietly, "I’ll go buy the wontons."

Liu Guyu: "What?"

Liu Guyu asked softly, but Qin Rongshi didn’t answer. Instead, he had already left the stall and was heading toward the stall owner selling bamboo and fern wontons.