Chapter 81: Chapter 48: Business Comes Knocking

Juhua huddled in the foot warmer for a good while before she finally caught her breath.

This made Mrs. Yang’s heart ache for her. She told Zheng Changhe and Qingmu that they couldn’t let Juhua go out again in this cold weather.

Zheng Changhe nodded repeatedly. “You’re talking about Juhua, but what about yourself? Just stop carrying your goods to the villages below to sell. Just sell what you can at Xiatang Market. I’d feel more at ease that way.”

But Mrs. Yang wouldn’t listen. She said, “I go down with Laixi, what could possibly happen? I give him fifteen cents a day now. The kid is so happy and willing to go out with me, and he even earns some pocket money. It’ll be the New Year soon. We need to earn some money to have a plentiful celebration.”

Juhua said, “Mother, if it was just about the hard work of traveling and selling things, we wouldn’t be worried. We’re just afraid you’ll run into some unreasonable ruffian and get taken advantage of.”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Zheng Changhe said.

Qingmu couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He felt that despite his education, he had accomplished nothing and couldn’t help at all, which frustrated him immensely. But he couldn’t just give up and drop out of school midway. ’I’ll have to study even harder from now on,’ he thought. ’Once I’ve learned enough, I’ll come home and help.’

Mrs. Yang laughed. “I’m this old, you think I haven’t considered things as carefully as you? That’s precisely why I bring Laixi with me. Besides, we don’t go far, just to the villages near Xiatang Market. Everyone in this area knows each other. Even if we meet someone difficult, they wouldn’t dare go too far.”

In the end, Mrs. Yang still didn’t listen to Zheng Changhe and Juhua. She insisted on carrying the pig offal to sell in the various villages, while Juhua’s maternal uncle, Yang Defa, sold it on her behalf at Xiatang Market.

Because of this, she still came home a little later than usual each day, not arriving until around noon. However, she earned a bit more money than before, selling two sets of offal, two pig heads, and some pig trotters every day.

The day after the village chief came to Juhua’s house to buy pig offal, the sky cleared up. The bright sun melted the snow, which flowed everywhere in rivulets, and water dripped constantly from the thatched eaves. The temperature, however, had dropped significantly. In the shaded spots, the ground had frozen over, forming delightful and varied patterns of frost flowers.

Early in the morning, Zheng Changhe took a shovel and cleared all the snow from the courtyard, piling it outside. He even swept a path outside the yard for people to walk on. Once the snow was cleared, the sun would quickly dry the ground, preventing it from getting wet and messy from people tracking through.

Juhua was bundled up snugly. She had put on a new silver-red scarf she made last night—or perhaps it was more of a neck warmer, as it was lined with cotton. On her head was a matching silver-red hat, both made from leftover fabric from making clothes.

She slipped on a pair of straw sandals over her shoes, picked up a basket and a small trowel, and went to the new vegetable patch to dig up two heads of yellow-heart cabbage. Then she went to the small kitchen garden to pull up some spinach.

Pushing aside the snow and seeing the dark green spinach underneath the white blanket, she found the sight especially pleasing to the eye.

This spinach wasn’t like the kind sold at the markets in her previous life—long, large, and bright green. Instead, it grew flat against the muddy ground, its leaves a dark, inky green, so dark it was almost black. The stems were pinkish, and every plant was plump, tender, sturdy, and robust. She usually didn’t even cut off the roots; she’d just wash it clean and stir-fry it directly. It was crisp and tender, and having been touched by frost and snow, the spinach was exceptionally fresh and sweet.

After pulling up half a basket of spinach, she looked at the small patch, thought for a moment, and used her trowel to push all the snow away. Then she called her father over to scoop a dustpan of wood ash from the stove and sprinkle it over the spinach.

This wood ash was good stuff. It not only fertilized the soil but also protected the roots of the vegetables from freezing. Her family always spread their wood ash on the vegetable patches. The only annoying part was when it was windy, as it would blow everywhere. They had to sprinkle some water on it to weigh it down.

Zheng Changhe came in and gave the other patch of green garlic the same treatment. He said to Juhua, “You go rest and get some sun. I’ll take care of this.”

Juhua agreed and went to wash the vegetables by the well, basking in the sun.

Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name from the courtyard gate.

“Juhua! Someone’s here to see you!”

She looked up and saw it was Li Changyu. He and Li Changfeng were standing outside the wicker fence, smiling at her. Beside them were an older man and a young man.

The young man was dressed similarly to the Li Changyu brothers, only more opulently. He wore a fur vest over a silver-gray long robe, with snow-white fur peeking out from the collar and cuffs, which accentuated his fair complexion and deep-set eyes.

The older man was about Zheng Changhe’s age and wore a thick, padded cotton robe and a fur-lined hat.

Juhua propped the washed spinach on the edge of the water bucket and walked over to them. She asked softly, “Brother Changyu, what’s going on?”

Seeing that she wasn’t ignoring him like she did yesterday, Li Changyu beamed with joy and hurriedly explained, “Juhua, this is Mr. Chen of the Chen Family from Xiatang Market—Chen Yu. He studies at the same school as us. His family owns the Qinghui Restaurant in Xiatang Market. And this is Manager Mao. They’ve come today to talk business with you.”

Juhua was startled but showed no emotion. She carefully sized up the two men, secretly pondering the reason for their visit.

Chen Yu was also sizing up Juhua. The “ugly girl” with the face covering was frankly astonishing to him—she was so different from how Li Changyu had described her!

Though she was still young, her eyes were like pools of water, and she exuded an aura of calm and indifference. Her silver-red hat and jacket seemed to bring the rustic little courtyard, with its thatched eaves and mud walls, to life against the snowy backdrop.

Although the Li Changfeng brothers had briefly explained the Zheng Family’s situation to him on the way here, including Juhua’s supposedly ugly face, now that he had actually met her, he found it hard to believe that an ugly face was hidden beneath that mask.

Juhua stepped aside and invited them into the courtyard. Just then, Zheng Changhe came out of the vegetable garden. He ladled some water from the bucket to wash his hands, hastily wiped them on his clothes, and walked over.

Li Changfeng and Li Changyu quickly called out, “Uncle Zheng.”

Zheng Changhe chuckled good-naturedly. “Hey! Look at you two, all grown up. You’ve gotten so tall.”

After bringing out stools, offering seats, and exchanging some pleasantries, everyone sat down in the courtyard. Juhua didn’t pour them any tea—they didn’t have enough cups, and it wouldn’t be proper to use bowls, would it?

Manager Mao then carefully explained their purpose to Zheng Changhe: the Qinghui Restaurant wanted to buy their family’s recipe for braised pig offal and pig head meat, as well as the spicy cabbage.

Zheng Changhe was a simple, honest farmer who had never experienced anything like this. Even with his family’s recent venture into selling pig head meat and offal, it was just a matter of cooking it and selling it by the ladle to the village folk. He had no idea how to negotiate a business deal.

He couldn’t help but look toward Juhua in a bind. Of all times, her mother wasn’t here. Otherwise, her mother was someone who had ideas.

How could he have known that they had gone to the Fuxi Grocery Store first, and only came to Qingnan Village after they couldn’t find Mrs. Yang?

Although Yang Defa had said his sister would be at the market tomorrow, Mr. Chen, Chen Yu, had just returned from Qinghui County town with Li Changfeng yesterday. When he heard the Zheng Family lived in Qingnan Village, he figured that approaching them through his classmate, Li Changfeng, would make the business dealings go more smoothly.

Now, seeing Zheng Changhe’s gaze shift to Juhua, he couldn’t help but size up the masked “ugly girl” again. ’Could it be that she’s the one who calls the shots in the Zheng Family?’ he wondered.

Juhua had been listening attentively from the side. Seeing her father’s predicament, she knew she couldn’t feign ignorance any longer. She leaned against Zheng Changhe and said to Manager Mao in a soft, delicate voice, “Sir, as you can see, my family is very poor. We were hoping to rely on this business to earn a little money and save up for my brother’s wedding! We don’t make much from selling this pig offal and head meat. After all the work of washing and cooking, a big ladleful only sells for one cent. On a cold day like today, my mother is still out carrying her pole, going from village to village to sell. If we sell the recipe to you, what will my family do?”

Manager Mao was about to reply, but Chen Yu stopped him with a wave of his hand.

He smiled at Juhua and said, “Miss Juhua, it’s hard work for your mother to carry her goods and sell them ladle by ladle, isn’t it? If we paid you a sum of money for your family’s recipe, you could afford to set up a shop and wouldn’t have to run around anymore. My family runs a restaurant. Even if we bought the recipe and made the dish, we would be selling it to restaurant patrons, not to the laborers at the docks or the villagers. We wouldn’t be stealing your business. Wouldn’t that be better?”

’It’s not that simple,’ Juhua thought.

She quickly mulled it over. After a moment of thought, she said softly, “Mr. Chen, this pig offal is food for us poor folk. No matter how good it tastes, serving it in a restaurant after cooking it in a big pot is probably not a good idea. Who would want to spend good money to eat the same thing as the laborers at the docks? Isn’t that right? And if you also sell it for two cents a bowl, you won’t make any money either. I have an idea, I wonder if you’d be willing to hear it?”

Chen Yu smiled encouragingly. “Miss Juhua, please speak.”

Juhua said calmly, “There’s more than one way to cook pig offal and head meat. I can tell you other methods, ones that would prevent the dish from looking like a simple stew of offal and pickled vegetables, something unpresentable for a proper table.”

Manager Mao’s eyes lit up when he heard this. He asked eagerly, “Is what you say true, Miss? You know other methods?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep