They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 20 went even more smoothly than yesterday.
Today was their first delivery. Manager Tang and a shop assistant carried the goods themselves, ten catties of each item. After weighing, there was a catty or two more than expected. Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "Manager Tang, just charge us ten catties. Consider the extra little bit as a gift."

The big restaurant doesn't lack money, but who doesn't like to hear words of generosity and openness?

Shopkeeper Tang didn't stand on ceremony and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll take a few extra points. How long will you stay at the market? If it sells well, I'll send my assistant to let them know how much to take tomorrow."

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "We'll leave as soon as we sell out, and we don't know when that will be. How about we come back again before we leave the city and go home?"

Shopkeeper Tang was even more delighted and nodded, "That's even better."

Each item weighs ten catties, totaling exactly five hundred and thirty coins.

Before they even set up their stall, they had already earned 530 coins, and everyone was very happy.

Today they still occupied the same spot as yesterday and started setting up their stall.

Business started coming in as soon as we set it up.

Everyone gets tired of eating the same few dishes every day. Something fresh, cheap and affordable, is a must. I bought some yesterday to try and it tasted good. Since I saw it again today, of course I had to get some more. There were also some things I didn't see yesterday, but I found them today.

"Give me two pieces of gray tofu!"

"I'll have two pieces too. I couldn't buy any gray bean shreds yesterday, so give me half a jin of those too."

"I want a pound of gray bean shreds and four pieces of gray tofu."

"What are you selling? How do you eat them? Are they good?"

"Looks good, I'll have a couple to try."

The three women responded enthusiastically while their hands moved non-stop, smiling as they took things and collected money, busy as bees.

Liang Mingliang stood behind the three women with a smile, acting as a mascot to keep an eye on things and prevent anyone from making any sneaky moves.

The most popular item was the snow-white and beautiful konjac noodles, which sold out quickly, about 20 kilograms in no time.

The konjac tofu weighed about 70 kilograms, and about half of it was sold.

Ice jelly is a new product, and Xu Zhichun is focusing on selling it today.

She specially prepared half a pot of brown sugar water at home in a small earthenware jar. When selling it, she scooped out the crushed and mixed ice jelly with a spoon, filled a small bowl, and placed it on her stall. The crystal-clear ice jelly was soaked in brown sugar water, and its crystal-clear appearance was bright red, which was pleasing to the eye.

The beautifully presented ice jelly quickly attracted the attention of customers.

"Madam Xu, what is this again?"

Xu Zhichun explained, "This is called 'ice jelly,' it's not a dish, it's a snack. I'm showing you how it's prepared. Once you buy it, you can take it home, mix it with brown sugar water, and eat it directly. It's smooth, tender, and refreshing, and it's delicious! You all know Lianhua Restaurant, right? Manager Tang bought ten catties of it."

"If you bring your own clean jar or bowl, you can try a bite for free. We don't make much today, so you can only try a bite to taste it. If you like it, you can buy more. It's three coins for half a bowl and five coins for a whole bowl."

In ancient times, soy sauce, vinegar, other sauces, pickles, and other similar products were not available in plastic bags or glass bottles; people had to bring their own containers if they wanted to buy them.

Even if you buy a piece of soft tofu or other cooked food, it's better to put it in a bowl than to wrap it in leaves.

So when women in the city go grocery shopping, if they plan to buy certain things that day, they will put an empty bowl or a small, covered earthenware jar in their shopping basket.

Upon hearing that the manager of the Lotus Restaurant had ordered ten catties, everyone immediately became interested.

As soon as Xu Zhichun said that it was free to try, an old lady immediately took out her small jar of soy sauce and handed it over: "Let me try it!"

"okay!"

Xu Zhichun smiled and scooped half a spoonful into the small jar: "Auntie, try it. If you like it, you can buy more. It's three coins for half a bowl and five coins for a whole bowl." The old lady seemed to be a straightforward person. She tilted her head back and gulped it down in one go. Her eyes lit up: "Not bad, not bad. This is delicious. My grandchildren will definitely love it. Give me some more."

Xu Zhichun smiled warmly and declined, "Auntie, I didn't make much. Each person can only have one bite. I'm so sorry."

Everyone laughed, including the old lady, who said, "Alright, alright, give me a bowl! I can just add brown sugar water at home and eat it, right?"

Everyone is happy to take advantage of a bargain, but most people are decent people, not shameless and greedy.

"Yes, ma'am! When you get home, just mash this ice jelly, add some brown sugar water, stir it up, and you can eat it. I'll fill you up with a big bowl."

"Oh!" The old lady was very happy and satisfied.

People carrying bowls or small jars in their shopping baskets rushed forward, all expressing their desire to try the produce. Whether they actually bought it or not was another matter; trying it wouldn't hurt.

Xu Zhichun smiled and scooped them out one by one.

A woman with a child received the food and offered it to the child beside her. Xu Zhichun saw this, smiled and called out, "Sister-in-law!" gesturing for her to come forward, and gave her another half spoonful, saying, "Each person can try it for free once, including children."

The woman was both surprised and delighted. "Thank you, Madam Xu!"

When others saw this, those with children also took their kids forward to try an extra portion.

Whether they brought children or not, everyone praised it.

"These three ladies are truly decisive and generous in their actions!"

"Absolutely, I love buying things from people like that; they won't rip you off."

"That's right, me too."

The free samples were all given away in no time, and the ice jelly was also sold out.

Later visitors were quite disappointed, feeling a bit resentful for not being able to eat or buy any. But then they saw that gray tofu was still available, so they decided to buy two pieces to try.

They brought significantly more konjac tofu and konjac noodles today than yesterday, but they sold out even faster than yesterday.

When it was time to pack up, all four of them were a little dumbfounded.

Zeng Xiaoyan laughed and said, "I made a lot of money today!"

Aunt Pearl was delighted: "That's right! If things continue like this, we're really going to get rich! Let's hurry back and dig up konjac and pick lantern fruits!"

Xu Zhichun laughed and said, "No need to rush, we're getting better and better at it, there's still time. It's still early, why don't we go shopping and buy some things? I want to buy some jars and pots to store things, and I'll also buy two pounds of meat to render some lard so I can cook a good meal for my Mingxuan to help him recover. I also want to buy some soy sauce, salt, and a few pounds of millet. What about you guys?"

Zeng Xiaoyan raised both hands in agreement: "Yes, yes, I also want to go to Guifangzhai to buy some pastries, and while I'm at it, I'll also buy two or three pounds of meat to take home."

Aunt Zhu'er laughed and said, "Then I'll go buy some meat too. We're running low on lard. I'll also check out some needles and thread."

Liang Mingliang had no objection. He took the oxcart and drove it. When they arrived at their destination, the three women got off the cart to buy things.

There are many rats in the countryside, and rural houses can't keep them out. Food at home is either stored in covered wooden buckets or covered jars and pots, otherwise the rats will spoil it.

Xu Zhichun didn't have many jars and pots at home, so she planned to buy two or three of each size, or eight or ten, to take back with her. This would make it easier to store dried mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, millet, kiwi seeds, and so on.

I'll also order a large iron pot today, which will make it easier to cook konjac tofu in the future.

These days, ironware is a first-class controlled product. Iron pots are not cheap, and large iron pots are even more expensive, but you have to buy them, there's no way around it.

My darlings, please, please, during this PK (player kill) period, don't neglect reading the story for the next few days. Just open the latest chapter every day to help me keep reading. It's a small encouragement and support for my new book, helping it grow healthily. Thank you so much!
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(End of this chapter)