Baozi Xishi's Struggle

The old man was standing idle at this time. He turned around and saw a young girl talking to him in a sweet voice. He smiled and said, "Girl, you are asking about these things. Are you going to set up a food stall?"

The old woman who was listening became defensive and said unhappily, "What do you mean by arranging it anywhere? If you set up the porridge stall next to my house, that won't work."

Shen Yu hurriedly said with a smile: "Auntie, don't worry, how can I compete with you for business? Your porridge smells delicious. Without ten or twenty years of experience, you can't make such good porridge."

Flattery never wears out. After hearing what Shen Yu said, the old woman's face looked better, and she explained in a low voice: "Don't blame me, young lady. We old couple still rely on this porridge stall to make a living. The business is not very good to begin with. If another one comes, my old man and I will have nothing to eat."

After hearing what the old woman said, the old man's face became a little gloomy and he sighed helplessly.

The old woman went on to say, "You can set up food stalls here directly. As long as they don't occupy the road and don't affect the entry and exit of these caravans, the government won't interfere."

After hearing this, Shen Yu finally felt at ease and hurriedly bowed to the two elderly people to express his gratitude.

Seeing that the young girl was polite and would not steal her business, the old woman let down her guard and kindly reminded her, "Young girl, what kind of food do you want to sell? Making breakfast is hard work. Some things need to be prepared in advance, and you have to get up at three o'clock in the morning."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Aunt, I just know some pastry making skills. I earn some hard-earned money and my family can have enough food to eat."

When the old woman heard this, she asked with interest, "Miss, you can make noodles. I wonder what kind of noodles you make. The cake stand over there has all kinds of Hu cakes and oil cakes, and they all taste good. I'm afraid it will be hard to compete with them."

Shen Yu glanced at the pancake stall that the old woman pointed to. Business was indeed good there. The caravans in a hurry came to pack up their pancakes to take away, and each time they packed up a big bag. The four pancake ovens were busy, and there were customers waiting by the side for the freshly baked pancakes to come out of the oven.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "That pancake stall is doing very well now. Business requires harmony to make money. I'm here to make a living, not to compete with the stall owners. It's not easy for me to make the food that's already there. I saw that none of the food stalls make steamed buns, and I happen to be good at this, so I'm going to make some steamed buns to sell."

The old woman seemed a little unconvinced after hearing what Shen Yu said, and said, "This bun is a test of craftsmanship, and it requires old dough to be made well. Ordinary food stalls don't sell this. In this county, only the buns made by the Xingsheng Restaurant in Dongcheng are good. The dough is soft and the stuffing is soft lamb. It's not something that ordinary people can afford. I heard that a basket of buns only has five small ones, and it costs one hundred coins a basket. We ordinary people can't afford it."

After hearing this, Shen Yu complimented the old woman, "Auntie, it is indeed necessary to use old dough to make good buns. It seems that you are also an expert."

When the old woman heard this, she seemed to have touched a sore spot. She was a little proud and said with a smile, "When I was young, I also worked as a kitchen helper in a rich family. The owner of that family loved to make steamed cakes and steamed buns. I watched the head cook make them. At the beginning, he often couldn't make the dough well, but after doing it more often, he could make it eight out of ten times. It's a pity that the head cook always made cakes and buns without telling us kitchen helpers. If I could learn how to do it, I wouldn't have to sell rice porridge and bean porridge here to make a living when I'm old.

As he spoke, he felt a little depressed. Thinking about the meager daily income from his own porridge stall, he sighed.

Seeing that what she wanted to ask had been asked, Shen Yu quickly changed the subject: "Auntie, as long as the porridge tastes good, business will always be good. You have more customers now, so I won't delay you from entertaining them. In a few days, I will buy the stove and put it next to you. These buns are best eaten with rice porridge or bean porridge. If the buns sell well, maybe we can sell more rice porridge with your help."

The old man and the old woman heard that having more food stalls selling buns next to them would not affect their business, but would bring them more customers, so they smiled happily and promised: "Girl, just come, there are plenty of empty spaces next to us. If anyone wants to set up next to us in the next few days, we won't let them, we'll keep it for you."

Shen Yu thanked her with a smile and took Li away with him.

After walking for a while, Li said apprehensively, "Yuzhi, you're talking nonsense. Is this possible? I've also heard that it's hard to control the amount of dough when making pasta with old dough. It won't rise, and the steamed pasta will be sticky and hard. If it rises too much, it will be sour and inedible. Most families don't dare to make steamed buns or cakes."

Shen Yu said confidently: "Mom, don't worry. When I made honey-gong flower cake, I made a big plate like this, with three layers and various patterns. My daughter did a great job and won everyone's praise. When making buns, the key to making them delicious lies in the filling. I'm sure I can make them well." As she spoke, she exaggeratedly made a big circle with her hands.

Li thought of the gold and silver ingots that Shen Yu brought back, opened her mouth but said nothing, and suppressed her worries.

The two of them returned to the inn together. By then it was already bright. Yutao and Yucheng had already gotten up and washed up, and were eagerly waiting for the two of them to come back.

Shen Yu and Li simply washed up, and then Shen Yu discussed with Li about checking out and moving their luggage to the rented house.

Shen Yu wanted to find a car on the street to take all the luggage over in one trip and check out neatly, but Li glared at him and stopped him, saying, "We don't have much luggage, and the rented house is not far away. We can each take a little, and it will only take two or three trips to get everything. Why waste that money?"

Shen Yu was overwhelmed when he heard this. He looked at the pile of luggage on the ground, especially the big iron pot, and the four people who were thinner than each other. He quickly calculated the expenses and persuaded Li: "Mom, look at us, who looks strong enough? If we move by ourselves, how long will it take? Go to the street and hire a car. It's only 20 or 30 yuan and we can move it all at once. We should cancel the room here as soon as possible. If we move slowly and it takes a day, won't we have to pay an extra day's rent?"

After listening to Shen Yu's calculation, Li stopped talking.

Shen Yu went to find the inn owner Uncle Zheng to settle the room fee, and told Uncle Zheng where she was going to move to, and asked him to take a message about her address to the eldest brother of the Li family when the coachman Liu Laosi came to the inn again.

Uncle Zheng collected the rent, took out an old account book that was full of words, wrote down Shen Yu's address in a blank space, and promised Liu Laosi to tell him when he came again.

After writing down the address, Shen Yu smiled and said, "Uncle Zheng, our family has just arrived in the county town. Could you please help us hire a cart so that we can move our luggage over?"

Uncle Zheng smiled and said, "Why not? I'll ask Erlang to help you hire one."

Uncle Zheng called Zheng Erlang over and told him to go to the street to hire a flatbed truck. Zheng Erlang agreed and went out.

The inn was not far from the market. The caravans that came and went needed flatbed carts to transport goods. There were always many flatbed carts waiting for work at the market. After a short while, Zheng Erlang came back, followed by a driver pulling a small flatbed cart.

After asking where we were going, we walked through a few streets and alleys. The driver didn't ask for much, just twenty coins. We all loaded our luggage onto the flatbed and followed it to the rented house.

Arriving at the small courtyard in Willow Alley, the driver helped unload the luggage. Shen Yu paid the fare and asked the driver where he could buy kitchen utensils such as steamers and chopping boards nearby. The driver pointed in the direction of the market and said, "There is a shop next to the market over there, called Lin's Old Shop, which sells kitchen utensils. The prices are fair and the styles are complete."

Shen Yu kept it in mind, thanked the driver, and put the luggage in the middle of the room with Li and others.