Chapter 23: Chicks and Donkey

Chapter 23: Little Chicks and a Donkey

"...That's too many." Lin Su's head spun. They had no experience with farm animals, so they might not even keep them alive, and it would be quite troublesome.

"Brother—" Fu Yun pleaded in a soft voice, begging him.

Lin Su's head ached. He pointed and said, "At most, you can keep these two little chicks."

Fu Yun wanted to whine, but Lin Su pinched his cheek: "Our place is too small. Pigs eat a ton and poop a ton, they stink. Sheep and ducks eat anything—aren't you afraid they'll gnaw all your herbs?"

Fu Yun's eyes widened immediately: "No, I don't want any lambs or ducklings!"

"Alright then, we'll just raise these two chicks. When they grow up, they'll catch bugs for you, and you can have eggs."

He had the owner help him pick out two pullets and also found a little donkey. He bought them both for five taels.

One led the donkey, the other carried the chicks. When they returned, they saw a crowd gathered around their stall in the distance.

"Hey, hey! You officers are not handling this fairly. The man paid the stall fee and got a permit. How can you drive him away?" A stout, well-off aunt spoke out angrily, taking their side.

The officer said coldly, "This spot's already been taken by someone else. We can no longer rent it out, so they have to leave."

"Then you're the ones who messed up! Why don't you refund the money to the stall owner!" The crowd echoed, demanding a refund.

The officer shouted impatiently, "He paid whoever, go ask them for a refund. Now get out of here and stop making trouble!"

With just a few words, the situation was already clear. Lin Su shot a glance at the two unfamiliar officers and gave a cold snort, stepping forward to stop Xu Lei, who was balling his fists, about to throw a punch.

"It's fine. Let's go."

Xu Lei was unwilling: "But..."

We haven't gotten the stall fee back yet. Six coppers a day—five days is thirty coppers! That's enough to buy ten eggs.

"Trust me." Lin Su urged him to pack up while he himself secured the cart to the donkey.

With a crack of the whip, the little donkey trotted off.

The streets in the county were flat, paved with bluestone slabs. The Street Administration had set up pillars dividing the area into stalls and walkways, so the walkways were spacious and unobstructed, making it easy to drive the cart.

Lin Su glanced at the officers and thought to himself, You forced my hand. Ain't this just dodging the market enforcers?

He could avoid zombies, so why be afraid of a few enforcers?

And this saved him the trouble of paying the stall fee anyway.

He called out loudly, "Lin Ji Vermicelli Pot! Spicy and delicious! Grab one to go! Quick and easy! Don't miss out if you're walking by!"

His shout not only darkened the officers' faces but also stunned the angry crowd. They snapped out of it and eagerly crowded around.

"Haha! Give me one to go!"

"One for me too!"

"And me!"

...

Lin Su pulled on the rope, and the little donkey slowed down but didn't stop completely, walking leisurely forward. There was already a ready-made vermicelli pot on the stove. He quickly packed a few portions and handed them to customers walking alongside the cart.

No sooner had he taken the money than the officers walked up with grim faces. Lin Su smiled brightly: "Hey there, officers! What would you two like to eat?"

"We're a traveling business, not like those with fixed stalls. It's a bit crude, just making a living. Fortunately, His Majesty is benevolent and considerate of the common people. He allows us peddlers to operate freely without charging taxes or fees."

The current dynasty vigorously promoted commerce. The Emperor made it clear that street vendors can't be taxed or kicked out. Would these two officers dare to defy the Emperor's decree in public?

"How about some for you two?"

The officers' faces turned even darker. But with all these people around, they couldn't throw a fit. They had no choice but to swallow their anger and turn to disperse the crowd.

"Stop blocking the road!" Then they threatened Lin Su, "Don't park your cart on the road. Move it."

"Got it." Lin Su responded cheerfully and said to the surrounding customers, "To avoid blocking the road, we'll come back later. If you're interested, just listen for our shouts."

With that, he cracked the whip and drove off, shouting, "Lin Ji Vermicelli Pot..."

But after running half a li, Lin Su slowed down again, sold two more portions of vermicelli pot, purposely waiting for the officers to catch up before cracking the whip and taking off.

The little donkey trotted half a li, and when it saw its master wasn't urging it on, it stopped again. After its new master quickly packed a few more vermicelli pots, it trotted off once more.

This pattern of running and stopping continued. The little donkey was smart. After a few times, it didn't need Lin Su's commands. Its wide field of vision spotted the officers coming, and it would start running, leaving the two officers panting heavily behind.

Whether they continued chasing or gave up, both outcomes suited Lin Su perfectly. But he deliberately stopped within their sight, a clear provocation. The two officers, unable to swallow their anger, gritted their teeth and chased after him.

Then they saw Lin Su smack the donkey's rump with a laugh, getting farther and farther away...

When they returned home that night, everyone was exhausted.

Though they had the donkey cart, the constant shouting had left their voices a bit hoarse. Lin Su gulped down tea, wishing he had a modern handheld loudspeaker.

But after counting the day's takings, Fu Yun and Xu Lei's exhaustion vanished. They were grinning ear to ear.

They made half as much again as they did at the docks!

Lin Su lounged in a wicker chair, lazily reaching out to tug at Fu Yun, who was grinning like an idiot. He had expected this outcome.

At the docks, though they operated all day, the actual rush was only at lunch and dinner, amounting to about an hour and a half total. The rest of the time, they were mostly idle.

Today, moving around brought in lots of new customers eager to try it, and we weren't tied to mealtimes. A few per street didn't seem like much, but across the whole county it added up.

The four stoves on the donkey cart blazed all day without stopping. The charcoal they brought nearly ran out.

The income was naturally substantial.

But it was tiring. Lin Su sighed. He liked experimenting with tasty food, but didn't want to be stuck by the stove all day.

He told Xu Lei to take the donkey and feed it, pushed Fu Yun, who was hugging the money box and wouldn't let go, to wash up and go to bed, while he figured out how to deal with the people targeting them quickly.

However, to his disappointment, the person behind them was surprisingly patient. Aside from the usual harassment from those four officers, not a single new face showed up for two weeks.

Xu Lei also got used to the new routine. He brought his son—one cooked, one hawked, and the little donkey was in charge of evading the market enforcers. The two men and the donkey made a happy team.

Seeing that, Lin Su handed over the reins and holed up in the little shack to develop new menu items.

He planned to set aside one stove for making hot braised dishes.

Both meat and veg would be available, but the emphasis would be on bean products like tofu, tofu puffs, and tofu skin; various dried goods like mushrooms and seaweed; and seasonal vegetables like lotus root, radish, and cabbage. For meat, mostly pork. Chicken and duck were too pricey to consider for now.

Today was just a test run, so he only made small batches of each. Even so, prepping ingredients like pig head, ears, trotters, and innards was a real hassle. The cleaning, singeing, scraping, and rubbing with wood ash took up a ton of Lin Su's time.

Fortunately, he had a diligent little husband who followed him around, eager to help. Lin Su gave him a basin of hot water and sent him off to wash vegetables.

After all the ingredients were prepared, the meat and vegetables were separated and placed into two clay pots, each with its own secret marinade, and braised over low heat.

There was no rush for the meat dishes, but for the vegetables, timing was crucial. Each vegetable had its optimal braising time; if cooked too long, the texture would become mushy, like chewing mud, which was really unappetizing.

Moreover, since the hot braised items would be taken out to cool, and then reheated in the broth after customers selected them, they definitely couldn't be braised too long.

Lin Su carefully fished out the first braised items: tofu skin and tofu puffs, followed by mountain fungus, kelp... As he scooped them out, he paused to stroke his husband's smooth chin. He suspected that his little fool's mouth was already watering.