After over twenty days of business, the wooden cash box had grown considerably heavier, and when shaken, it clinked chaotically. Hua Xiaomai sat at the table in the main hall, glanced at Jing Taihe, then at Hua Erniang, and with a beaming smile, she opened the box and dumped its contents onto the table, producing a crash as a heap of resplendent copper coins spilled out.
Yesterday, ng Yuhuai had precisely given two hundred wen. She first set that money aside and then began to count the remaining copper coins on the table one by one with her fingertips. Hua Erniang, who was quick-tempered and impatient, could not stand her slow pace and pushed her aside, gathered all the coins in front of herself with a sweep of her hands, and counted them in just a mont. Then, her eyes glead as if sparking with gold, staring unblinkingly at Hua Xiaomai.
"Well, how much is it?" Jing Taihe, seeing his wife’s expression, found it amusing and couldn’t help but smile at the corners of his eyes as he asked.
"...wait, I didn’t count them clearly, I... I’ll count them again." Hua Erniang seed incredulous, bowed her head, and shuffled the coins again, counting them another ti.
Hua Xiaomai couldn’t help but support her forehead, "You complain about my slowness, yet how much faster can you be yourself?"
"Less nonsense!" Hua Erniang, fervent in her counting, even found a mont to flick Hua Xiaomai’s forehead, "See, it’s all your fault, I’ve lost track of the count again!"
After several such tussles, they finally got a clear count. Hua Erniang, as if she had discovered a mountain of gold, widened her eyes, her smile stretching ear to ear, and said ecstatically, "Oh my heavens, can you believe it? There’s a total of two thousand eight hundred and eighty wen here! We’ve only set up the stall for not even a month, and we’ve earned nearly three taels of silver!"
Hua Xiaomai, who spent all day at the stall, was naturally very aware of the business and found that the amount Hua Erniang announced was close to her own estimate. Thus, she wasn’t as excited as Hua Erniang, and smiled, "Sister, rember that this amount also includes the initial capital."
"So what? Even so, we’ve made a clean profit of more than one diao of money!" Hua Erniang responded defiantly, lifting her chin, "I was actually a bit worried at first, fearing that it might be a losing venture. Now it seems, my mind must have been kicked by a donkey! If we can make one or two diao every month, in a year, that would be more than ten taels of silver, plus the significant amount Pan Ping’an contributes every month, oh my, what a hefty inco!"
Jing Taihe, unable to contain his amusent, laughed, "Erqiao, your calculations are still not quite right; the business will gradually improve, and going forward we’ll make even more, much more than one or two diao, you..."
"Oh, hush, just let be happy!" Hua Erniang gave him a glance and turned to Hua Xiaomai, "Little sister, at this rate, you won’t need to cook for others anymore, right?"
"Why wouldn’t I?" Hua Xiaomai shook her head, "I understand that cooking for others doesn’t always bring in a lot of money. People like Uncle Ke and Uncle Qiao, who are well-off and generous, are rare. Even soone like Brother Li San, who’s considered wealthy in the village, only paid a tael or two of broken silver for labor. As for the others in the village, let alone. The reason I’m willing to cook for others is to practice making various dishes; otherwise, cooking only noodles all day would waste my skills!"
Hua Erniang gave her a glance and muttered, "I don’t know what’s wrong with you, why do you like hanging around the stove so much?"
"I’m a young maiden, if not around the stove, do you expect to go protect the country?" Hua Xiaomai pursed her lips, "By the way, Sister’s husband, while we both have so free ti, I want to discuss sothing with you. The weather is gradually warming up and there’s more vegetables available now. Next month, I want to add a few homade cakes and dishes to the stall, to avoid having just noodles and making it too monotonous. Also, by then, I can buy so small river shrimps from the fishern by the river, and make shrimp at wontons, to give those who co to the stall more options. What do you think?"
Having seen for herself that the stall could indeed make money, Hua Erniang was so delighted that bubbles could have burst from her joy, and she had no intention of interfering in what Hua Xiaomai did. She imdiately clapped her hands, "You know what you’re doing, your brother-in-law and I won’t ddle blindly. Just handle it as you see fit. Just one thing; all these tasks depend on you, I can’t be of much help. You must take good care of yourself and must not fall ill. It took so much effort for you to gain so weight, if it drops again, I won’t stand for it!"
Hua Xiaomai grinned in response, gathered the copper coins from the table back into the cash box, and went off to the west room to put everything away carefully without ntioning it again.
In the following month, indeed, a few more kinds of food were added to the small stall by the river. Apart from the fresh, lively small shrimp wontons, the most popular were various kinds of vegetables and deep-fried snacks.
The local vegetables available in the village, simply cleaned and tossed into a boiling oil pot, for so reason, tasted much more delicious than those cooked at ho; the inexpensive shrimp, having its at extracted and minced with half-fat half-lean pork to wrap wontons, not to ntion so added seasonings, turned out to be so delicious that one bowl wasn’t enough, and even then, it left people craving more.
Day by day, business at Hua Xiaomai’s stall improved, and though tired, she felt content. By mid-March, Pan Ping’an ca back from the Provincial City as usual, took all the prepared sauces back, paid the remaining 1,800 wen, and placed another order for preserved sweets for the next month.
At this ti of the year, there weren’t any fresh fruits yet, but flowers were blooming brilliantly. After so thought, seeing the wisteria blooming beautifully at the west end of the village near the low woods, Hua Xiaomai picked so to make Vinegar Cakes. Additionally, she made Yuan Yang Rolls and Sugar Ginger Slices according to the season, and sent them with Pan Ping’an to the Provincial City.
This ti, Pan Ping’an also pre-ordered the sauces for the next month and provided a total of three to four hang of money. Hua Erniang carefully brought the money back to the east room, divided it into two parts, putting one part in the usual money jar, and the remaining money was kept in a finely crafted box, ticulously stuffed deep into the wardrobe.
Every day at the stall, making sauces and preserves mid-month, and by the end of the month, visiting the old immortal Doctor Xing in the County to check pulses, life, though busy, was well ordered.
In May, the rainy season arrived in Fuzhe County. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote for it with a recomndation ticket and monthly ticket on Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian to read.)
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