A family with three widows, after severing ties with relatives, she became wealthy and married into

Chapter 19 Selling New Vegetables with a Sign

The other dishes were also ready, and one by one they were brought out and placed in front of the young master.

The first dish is steamed bean curd skin buns with meat filling.

The outer bean curd skin becomes translucent and slightly wrinkled, melts in your mouth, and has a fragrant bean aroma.

Then the savory flavor of the minced meat spread in my mouth...

The second step is frying.

The outer layer is golden and crispy. Taking a bite is like an explosion between your teeth, and the aroma of oil and beans instantly fills your mouth, rich but not greasy.

The inside, however, still retains the tender and juicy texture of the meat filling.

The third dish is pan-fried and then braised.

It has a bright red color and a fragrant aroma.

The outer skin is slightly golden and crispy after being pan-fried, and then becomes soft and flavorful after being soaked in the braising sauce, while the meat filling inside is even more delicious and juicy.

The fourth dish is a stew of cabbage, bean curd skin, and minced meat rolls.

The bean curd skin absorbs the fragrance of the cabbage and the essence of the broth, making its surface softer, while the meat filling inside becomes even more tender and juicy from the sweetness of the cabbage and the rich broth.

The young master kept nodding and saying "delicious" after eating one dish.

"good to eat."

"really not bad."

He never expected that something that looked so ordinary could be prepared in so many ways, and that every way of preparing it would be so delicious.

"Big sister, little girl, how much are your... bean curd skins?" the young master asked.

While Liu San Niang was still hesitating, Tian Tian had already quoted the price, "One hundred and twenty coins."

"So expensive?!" was the young master's instinctive reaction.

Tian Tian pulled out a thick stack of bean curd sheets. "Young master, each of these bean curd sheets is as thin as a cicada's wing. There are many sheets per pound."

"If you deep-fry the bean curd sheets, they will expand even more."

"We're currently using round shapes. After cutting them out, we can fry the edges and corners. When customers order soup, we can ask them if they'd like to add a side of fried tofu skin."

"If you add it, you can charge an extra ten coins."

"The cost is actually... only one or two coins."

"We'll make some changes in a few days and make them into square sheets, which will reduce waste."

"Most importantly, this ingredient is something that only we know how to make, and it's only available at Fulai Restaurant in the entire Baishi County."

The young master remained outwardly calm, but Tian Tian observed his eyes and knew he was interested.

But he didn't immediately say he wanted to buy Tian Tian's goods.

Anyway, Tian Tian said he could try selling it.

"Chef Zhu, please add these dishes to lunch. Get ready, and I'll have a sign put up outside."

Once a restaurant hangs a sign outside, it's to let customers know that there are new dishes available.

Tian Tian and Liu San Niang left the kitchen, leaving behind five catties of bean curd skin.

Lu Tao, along with Daya and Tian Jinghe, stood in the shade outside the restaurant. As soon as Liu San Niang came out, she went straight to Lu Tao and grabbed Lu Tao's hand.

"Sister-in-law! Do you know what price Tian Tian quoted to that young master?"

Lu Tao shook her head. "How much?"

"One hundred and twenty coins."

Liu San Niang held Lu Tao's hand tightly. "I saw that young master raising his eyebrows and saying how delicious it was as he ate a few dishes."

"Sweetie said 120 coins, and he didn't say anything else, so there's hope."

Tian Tian walked down slowly and deliberately, but before she could even stand still, Liu San Niang grabbed her hand.

"Sweetie, what you just said about changing...how do you want to change it?"

Tian Tian said, "The bean curd skin and meat filling rolls I just made were made with square bean curd skin. We make them round, which means we have to cut them every time, resulting in some waste."

"We can replace our pots with square ones, then the bean curd sheets we make will be square too?"

Lu Tao understood. "Doesn't that mean we need to change the pot?"

The pot is quite expensive.

“Mother, if Fulai Restaurant accepts our bean curd sheets, we will have more than two ounces, plus what we just sold for flowers, we will have more than three ounces.”

"Can you replace the pot?"

Tian Tian didn't know the price of the pot.

Lu Tao didn't know either...

Everyone looked at Liu San Niang.

Liu San Niang rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, "It should be okay..."

"Well, we're waiting anyway, let's go ask."

When the group arrived at the blacksmith's shop, they found that a regular iron pot cost 100 coins.

However, square pots are more difficult to make than round ones, and cost 150 coins.

"What if I want it to be a little smaller?" Tian Tian gestured to indicate the size, which was about 15 centimeters wide and 20 centimeters long.

"So small?" The blacksmith shopkeeper frowned.

This was the first time he had ever made such a small pot.

"That would be even more expensive."

"Although less iron is used, it is still time-consuming to make, and it will cost at least... 180 coins."

One hundred and eighty coins... in Tian Tian's opinion, that wasn't expensive.

Judging from the stove in Liu San Niang's house... a large round pot can hold three long pots, which means six pots need to be custom-made.

We also need two spares, so that we have some leeway in case production increases or the pot breaks.

"We've ordered eight."

The blacksmith shopkeeper was overjoyed; this was a big business opportunity.

“Eight of them total 1,440 coins, and we can give you 700 coins as a deposit first.”

Having just earned 605 coins from selling flowers, Tian Tian took them all out, counted out five, and said, "Shopkeeper, can I give you 600 coins first?"

The blacksmith shopkeeper nodded. "Of course."

"I'll write you a list."

He wrote a simple receipt for Tian Tian, ​​saying, "It should be ready in about three days."

As they left the blacksmith's shop, Lu Tao and Liu San Niang were both somewhat dazed.

"Is it settled then?" the two said in unison.

I wonder how well the bean curd sheets over there are selling...

“Mother, Aunt, don’t worry. We made 22 catties of bean curd sheets using only 40 catties of beans. The cost was less than 90 coins.”

"The young owner of Fulai Restaurant is interested in buying our goods, but there are still questions about how much to buy each day and the price."

“We want 120 coins per catty. No matter how much they try to lower the price, they can’t lower it to the point where we can’t even make back our costs.”

"So, you can rest assured."

“But…the cost of making the pot…” Lu Tao stammered.

Eight pots were made, which cost nearly one and a half taels of silver.

"Mom, at worst, Daya, Jinghe, and I can go up the mountain to pick flowers for a few more days, and then we'll have enough money for the pot."

Lu Tao chuckled sheepishly, "Yes, that makes sense..."

Tian Tian still had five coins in her hand, and when she passed a vendor selling rice cakes, she bought two.

One was given to Daya, and the other to Jinghe.

Daya wanted to share with Liu Sanniang, and Jinghe also wanted to share with Lu Tao and Tian Tian.

But such a small piece of rice cake is hardly enough to share.

"Da Ya, Jing He, you eat first. We'll eat after we get the money at the restaurant."

The group returned to Fulai Restaurant and were about to head towards the shaded area.

The waiter at the restaurant entrance exclaimed in surprise, "Two ladies, a young lady..."

He rushed down, shouting, "Where have you all been?"