Chapter 127: Selling Hot Pot Without Worries

  In the afternoon, Shen Sisi cooked a blood cake after killing the pig and had Dabao send it to Lǐ Zhèng's wife. She couldn't just take things from others without giving anything in return; she couldn't bring herself to do something so petty, especially when they owed someone a favor for some pickled vegetables.

  The mother and daughter were delighted to receive it, and as they watched Da Bao grow up, they felt that the children of the Zhong family were very promising.

  In the evening, it was a delicious and spicy sour fish soup, stewed in a hot pot, and everyone ate with relish. One by one, they were all sweating and had runny noses...

  San Bao's mouth was red and swollen from eating, but he still wanted to eat. He said with a smile: "Tuniu, this pepper is really good stuff, delicious, really delicious..."

  "Eat slowly......" Shen Sisi smiled and said: "I've removed the fish bones, but I don't guarantee that they're all gone, don't choke..."

  "Hmm." San Bao murmured in agreement, eating even more enthusiastically. In the end, even the soup was completely soaked up by the baozi, leaving it spotless. Shen Si thought to herself helplessly: "Since everyone at home loves eating this so much, I should stock up on some pickled vegetables. It's not bad for winter either..."

  "So that's why I said we should buy more jars, it will be convenient to store things later..." He Axiu smiled and said: "Our house now has a place to put these things, just put them in the corner of the storage room, and we can pickle more vegetables later..."

  "Tomorrow we'll go into town and buy a lot of things back..."

  After dinner, it was time for her to check the four treasures' homework and teach them new knowledge. Only Dabao gradually got on the right track with arithmetic, and Shen Sisi would sometimes teach some business tricks. Having listened to many of these, Dabao thought more and more, and slowly began to think for himself, which was truly incredibly good.

  Entering the space and looking at the lotus with slowly unfolding stems and leaves, I feel joyful in my heart. I estimate that it will soon bloom and produce lotus seeds, what a wonderful thing.

  She slowly walked into the fields, harvesting the seasonings she had planted earlier. If not for her foresight in planting some seeds, the demand for such uses as marinating meat every day outside would have been impossible to meet. Fortunately, what couldn't be found outside could be bought at a spice shop, and what couldn't be bought, she grew herself, saying they were picked from the mountains, and no one would know.

  Thinking of putting these seasonings into the house, I also took some seeds, turned over the soil and planted some.

  These seasonings can be used for a long time, after all, they are not the main course, and it doesn't cost much to use them... Until everything was ready, it wasn't early anymore, so she didn't read books today. She looked around the room at everything neat and tidy, the green bricks on the floor were perfectly flat, the big bed was very stable, square and sturdy, and there was a dresser that was quite elegant, a large wardrobe... Although there weren't many clothes inside, she smiled softly to herself, but in the future this place would be filled with her things.

  Behind the bed, a curtain was hung and a chamber pot was placed, making the remaining space extremely large. Even the smell in the room was fresh, unlike the musty smell of old houses.

  Shen Sisi's heart was filled with joy, she hugged her quilt and got into bed, smelling the fresh cotton scent of the new quilt, then turned over and fell asleep. At this time, the Zhong family's courtyard was pitch black, all the rooms had extinguished their lights, leaving only a peaceful atmosphere.

  The next morning, the whole family got up early. Zhong Gensheng had already gone out and brought over two ox carts and a donkey cart. Since they had made arrangements the day before, everything went particularly smoothly today.

  They entered the yard, put all the cured meat and dried goods on the ox cart, Da Bao drove a donkey cart, Zhong Gen Sheng drove an ox cart, and let Si Bao drive another ox cart, and they set off.

  At home, only He Axiu and Niu Xiaohua were left. Shen Sisi was not at ease, so she whispered to He Axiu: "Mother, if Tian Guihua and her three daughters-in-law come, don't pay attention to them..."

  Look at them, they've been holding back for over a month, their eyes have turned green already. Especially the other day, she saw the four of them secretly checking out their new house from afar. It's just that they're being considerate of Shen Sisi being at home and also being considerate of Niu Laogen, otherwise they would have come knocking on the door early in the morning.

  He Axiu nodded and said, "Don't worry, you go to the city, what can happen to us? Tian Guifang is fierce, but she can't eat us, can she?! Besides, Niu Shu is still in the village, they don't dare to do anything..."

  "In short, be more careful, otherwise someone will suffer a loss. If they really don't behave themselves, you can call the housekeeper to come over...". Shen Sisi always felt that these two people were too soft and would suffer losses, so she said: "Otherwise, just close the front courtyard door and pretend not to be at home, they won't do anything..."

  He Qiu Xiu smiled and said: "I know, you go quickly, the earlier you leave, the earlier you'll be back, mother will keep dinner for you to eat when you return..."

  Shen Sisi finally got on the bus and left...

  All the way, the two dogs were extremely excited and smiled: "Tuni, after your family makes money, shouldn't you also buy a cow cart? Now business is getting better and better, in the future things will only get heavier, running back and forth like this is tiring, this cow cart is really good..."

  Shen Sisi smiled and said, "Can't you bear a little hardship on the road? However, even if you want to return, you have to get through this winter first. Our family doesn't buy cattle in winter because it's hard to raise them then. We'll buy some back when spring comes, and by that time, you can ride them every day when you go into town..."

  The two little dogs' eyes lit up at once and they exclaimed: "Really?!"

  "Of course it's true..." Shen Sisi chuckled: "This winter, if it snows lightly, our business will still be okay, but if it snows heavily, I'm afraid we'll have to take a break for a while..."

  The two dogs suddenly became anxious, saying: "Don't stop, don't stop, at worst we'll do less. We can still carry things out to sell every day. As long as the road isn't blocked, how can we not do business? At most we'll just suffer a bit of cold, we're not afraid..."

  How can they bear to give up 25 cents a day?! Every day, they can earn money. If they were allowed to stay at home without earning any money, where would they be willing to go? Even if it's hard work, as long as there is money, that's all that matters. If it's cold, no big deal, just spend some money on cotton-padded jackets and shoes...

  Shen Sisi didn't say anything else, just smiled and said: "Let's see how things go later."

  The two dogs were determined to make this money, but Shen Sisi thought that while money was important, if it was too cold and froze people to death, it wasn't worth it.

  After entering the city, Shen Sisi had Da Bao and others take the donkey cart to set up a stall, while she went to Fuman Building with Zhong Gensheng.

  As they entered, Zhong Gensheng's face was tense, while Shen Sisi was extremely calm and composed. Even though she was wearing the most ordinary clothes, Xiao Er was clearly taken aback, but still came forward and said: "Are you two here to eat?"

  The tone naturally carries doubt and uncertainty.

  Shen Sisi smiled and said: "Where is your boss? I want to talk to him, you tell him it's about the braised meat, he'll know..."

  Xiao Er knew about the braised meat, and after a brief pause, he hastily went to the backyard. Soon, the shopkeeper came forward with a smile, but when he saw the two of them, he was taken aback for a moment. However, thinking of Da Bao and Si Bao's appearance, he realized that the person who made this braised meat must be from an ordinary family; otherwise, they wouldn't have just set up a stall without opening a shop... This braised meat smells so good, if they were to open a restaurant, wouldn't it be enough to squeeze out Fu Man Lou?!

  "Please, after you two..." The shopkeeper, with a smile all over his face, ordered the young servant: "Quickly, bring tea..."

  The little servant boy hurried off.

  Shen Sisi took the shopkeeper's hand and smiled: "Business is pretty good today, I see a lot of people sitting in front..."

  "Hello, just so-so..." said the shopkeeper with a humble smile.

  However, Shen Sisi just smiled and said: "Relatively speaking, your Fuman Building is only slightly better than other restaurants. Boss, do you want to be even more prosperous? If you use my dishes, I'm afraid your restaurant will be crowded every day..."

  "You're talking about braised meat, I naturally want to buy it..." The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Quickly sit down, this braised meat, are you the one who can make decisions?! I originally wanted to buy from Fangzi, but Da Bao didn't agree. I thought I could only buy braised meat now. However, we need to discuss the details of the purchase method. What I mean is that if your braised meat can be bought outside, then won't my store here lose its advantage?! So my intention is to buy it outright, and you won't sell it outside anymore, how about that?!"

  He then looked at Zhong Gensheng, thinking he was in charge.

  Shen Sisi just smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the braised meat for now. Today I have something else to ask you to taste, can I borrow your kitchen? Once this dish is out, I'm afraid your wine shop will be booming with business even in winter..."

  The shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "The kitchen is just next door."

  Shen Sisi got up and took the jar in her hand into the kitchen, smiling at the chef who was stir-frying: "May I borrow a pot for a moment..."

  The master was quite pleased with this little thing and said, "You can use it..."

  Shen Sisi then had someone light the fire, add oil, and stir-fry until fragrant. Then she scooped a large spoonful of sauce from the jar and stir-fried it until extremely fragrant. After adding water to bring to a boil...then added sesame oil and served it up. She then placed it in a small hot pot she had brought with her, and added some charcoal fire from the stove, before carrying it out...

  The charcoal fire below was still quite fierce, and the things in the pot were already bubbling and emitting a fragrant aroma. Shen Sisi smiled lightly: "This is called hot pot, this is the base... think of what you want to eat and add it." After finishing speaking, she took out some clean and cut vegetables from the kitchen and threw them in, smiling: "Boss, try one, this is just vegetarian dishes, if it's meat dishes, you need to cook for a while longer, of course, you can also steam it half-cooked and then add it to the boiling water, and it's ready to eat. This winter, one table, one dish, cut vegetables are sold on a plate, paired with some wine, this is absolutely delicious...

  The shopkeeper's eyes widened, took a bite of the vegetables, and his eyes were filled with a faint glow. Then he took another sip of the soup base, which was both numbing and spicy, so much so that eating it hastily could bring out a sweat...

  "What... what seasoning is this? I've never seen it before?!" The shopkeeper asked subconsciously, already stunned. This kind of thing is best for warming up in winter and the flavor is extremely good, like an addiction that can't be stopped. He naturally understood how well the hot pot business would do.