Chapter 25: Night Market

Chapter 25: Night Market

When Xu Lei returned from setting up his stall in the county town, Xu Shi immediately shouted in her loud voice, "Lei Zi, on the table are things your nephews brought over. They said that Young Su wants you to taste them and pick out some to sell at your stall."

Xu Shi swallowed hard. The aroma had been driving her crazy all afternoon, but since it was about making money, she hadn't dared to take a single bite.

"Hurry up and taste them!"

When the oil paper package was opened, the slightly red and glossy braised dishes were either sliced or chopped into pieces, with a few drops of braising liquid still rolling on the skin.

The appearance of the dishes was already appealing, and the smell made one's mouth water. Xu Lei restrained himself and tried a little of each, his eyes growing brighter with every bite.

After finishing, he put down his chopsticks and headed straight for the back mountain of the village.

Lin Su had sent off several customers who had come following the aroma to buy food in the afternoon. He didn't hide anything, explaining that today was just a trial with a small batch, and gave them small tastes, only charging a cost price.

It was almost completely dark when he finally stopped, and that was when Xu Lei arrived.

Lin Su really admired the Xu family's efficiency. He teased him, "Brother Xu, you're too impatient."

Xu Lei was straightforward and honest, not intimidated by the teasing. He said directly, "The braised food business is viable. It will be very popular at the food stall."

In fact, many regular customers had already complained that the toppings for the vermicelli pot were too limited, and eating the same thing every day was monotonous. If it weren't for the unique spicy flavor they couldn't give up, they would have gotten tired of it long ago. Adding these braised items would give the regular customers something new to try.

Lin Su nodded in agreement. He was about to speak, but Fu Yun, who had been fidgeting restlessly beside him, interrupted.

Fu Yun grabbed Lin Su's sleeve and shook it, slipped his hand into the sleeve to grab his older brother's hand, saying, "Brother's braised food tastes good even without being paired with vermicelli pot. It's delicious on its own, good with rice, and definitely good with porridge or cornbread!"

Xu Lei was taken aback for a moment, then realized he had been thinking too narrowly. The braised food didn't have to be used just as a topping; it could also be sold on its own. People who didn't want to cook or wanted to add a dish to their meal would surely be willing to buy it.

"Our little Fuyun is really smart. The braised food will mainly be sold on its own; using it as a topping is just an extra." Lin Su patted Fu Yun's hand and praised him casually.

Since they had decided to sell braised food, they needed to discuss the varieties, pricing, and supply sources of ingredients.

Lin Su said, "For vegetarian items, we'll mainly use seasonal vegetables and tofu products. For meat items, we'll focus on pig intestines, tripe, pig head, and pig trotters. These ingredients are relatively cheap and easy to buy."

Xu Lei nodded, "Seasonal vegetables are cheaper than tofu products. We can buy them from the villagers. Old Zhang's family in the village makes tofu, so we can buy from them in the village too. But pig parts aren't commonly available in the village. Either we catch someone slaughtering a pig, or we have to go to the Xiaohe Market, where it's easier to find in the town."

Lin Su wasn't worried about this. He explained, "There's a young man selling pork at the Xiaohe Market. When I bought meat from him, I found out that his older brother is Butcher Li, who sells pork in the town. We can hire him to help us with the supply."

In fact, the young man was very happy when he heard they wanted to buy the pig heads and offal that others didn't like. His brother had been worrying about how to sell the offal!

It wasn't that people here didn't eat pig heads and offal, but they were troublesome to prepare and required a lot of spices. Ordinary families would rather save up to buy a piece of fatty meat to eat and also render some lard.

With the ingredient supply issue resolved, Lin Su still needed help processing the ingredients. Thinking of the nephews who had come for a free meal at noon, they were around thirteen or fourteen, tall and strong, with lean muscles, full of strength, and quick workers.

He asked Xu Lei, "I'd like to hire your two nephews to help me process ingredients. What do you think?"

Xu Lei said, "I'll go back and tell my sister and brother-in-law. They'll definitely agree."

The next day, Yang Shu and Yang Mu arrived early.

"Uncle Su, our uncle told us to come help." The two grinned honestly.

The ingredients hadn't been ordered yet, so Lin Su took the two of them and Fu Yun on a trip around the village and the town, ordering the types, quantities, and prices of daily ingredients for the future.

They returned with a large pile of ingredients. From then on, the suppliers would deliver the ingredients to them, saving Lin Su the trouble of running around.

Then they immediately got to work processing the ingredients. Fortunately, the braising liquid could be reused, so they didn't need to make it again, saving a lot of time.

It wasn't until dark that all the braised dishes were finally finished.

After Xu Lei closed his stall and came over, Lin Su gave him a pot of braising liquid and taught him how to sell.

"After the customer selects the items, weigh them, then put them into the braising liquid diluted with water to heat up, and finally take them out and pack them." Lin Su demonstrated as he spoke, making sure Xu Lei learned.

"The price is: seasonal vegetables four wen per half jin, tofu items six wen per half jin, braised pig trotters ten wen per half jin, and braised pig head meat, pig ears, pig tripe, and large intestine twelve wen per half jin."

Although the ingredients were cheap, a lot of spices, salt, sugar, and wine were used, along with Lin Su's secret superpower chili sauce. Although the braising liquid could be reused, there would inevitably be some loss, not to mention labor and transportation costs.

These prices were expensive for villagers and townspeople, but they matched the spending level in the county town. Moreover, braised meat loses weight during cooking; ten jin of meat yields only a little over eight jin.

This was because Lin Su had prepared the braising liquid well, with most of the moisture locked inside the ingredients. During the soaking process, the ingredients also absorbed some of the braising liquid, so the weight loss wasn't too much.

Fifty jin of meat yielded only forty jin of braised meat. Fortunately, vegetables absorb water, so over forty jin of vegetables yielded nearly sixty jin after braising.

Tomorrow's market reaction would tell. If they could sell everything, the daily revenue would be more than one tael of silver.

However, the next evening, Xu Lei came back looking grim.

The reason was that the braised meat hadn't sold out. Most of the vegetables were sold, but half of the meat items remained.

Lin Su wasn't disappointed. After all, it was a new food, not cheap, and not as filling as the vermicelli pot, so it was normal for people to be waiting to see.

Selling half was already good.

"Braised food keeps for a few days in winter without spoiling. You can sell it again tomorrow." Lin Su smiled and comforted him. "And today's meat items were mostly because Butcher Li had a lot of pig trotters saved up, and I bought them all at once. Today's batch was less than thirty jin, which is about the usual amount. Actually, it's just right."

Xu Lei's brow relaxed only slightly, still deeply furrowed.

Seeing this, Lin Su stopped trying to persuade him. But when he turned around, he saw his little fool also frowning at the leftover braised food on the table.

Fu Yun's skin was fair and smooth. His deep frown only created a faint crease between his brows, which squeezed his clear, elegant phoenix eyes, making them look watery, like a kitten trying to look alert and calm.

You could tell from his eyes that he was truly simple-minded.

Lin Su's heart softened. After a moment of thought, he said, "If Brother Xu is not afraid of extra work, I still have another idea."

Hearing this, Fu Yun reacted faster than Xu Lei. "Brother, what idea?"

Under his adoring gaze, Lin Su looked at Fu Yun, who seemed to have a tail wagging nonstop behind him, and couldn't help but pat his head.

"We can set up a stall at the night market."