Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 103: Taking All Fermented Fish and Zhou Minglu’s Friends

Chapter 103: Taking All Fermented Fish and Zhou Minglu’s Friends

Chapter 97

Taking All Fermented Fish and Zhou Minglu’s Friends

Xiaolin, her belly protruding, waddled over to the small stall run by ancestors from her past life. She beamed broadly when she saw that they were still there, although it was possible they had already sailed back once before. Some of the items on display were things she hadn’t seen on her last visit. She stood in front of the stall, grinning, until the stern-looking, bushy-mustache uncle from last time turned and eyed the chubby child with curiosity.

“Oh, it’s you again, little girl!” He greeted, remembering the talkative little girl who had previously bombarded them with questions about their wares.

“Hello, Uncle! You remember me?” Xiaolin greeted him in her native dialect, clasping her hands in a polite gesture. She approached the display table, gazing intently at the items.

“How many children do you think would dare run up to strangers like you do? So, what do you want to buy today?” he asked, noticing Huan Tan and three other boys trailing behind her. The two groups exchanged brief greetings before turning their attention to the lone round girl in front of the stall.

“I’d like to buy some fermented fish. Do you have any, Uncle?” Xiaolin asked excitedly.

She had been craving it for a long time, and Uncle Liu Hao’s shop hadn’t sold dishes made with fermented fish for several months due to a lack of essential ingredients. Even though customers had requested it, they couldn’t make it.

“Yes, I just got back from my hometown two months ago and brought dozens of jars of fermented fish. But I haven’t seen you at the port at all. I thought I’d been tricked by a child,”

He chuckled, looking down at the giggling chubby girl. Even if she didn’t buy them, they would still keep them for themselves, as they would have to stay abroad this winter and couldn’t return home in time.

“This is the first chance I’ve had to come here too, Uncle. How many jars did you bring? I’ll buy them all!”

“Really? I brought forty jars, but they’re much bigger than last time. Come take a look; I’ve stored them behind the stall.”

The mustached uncle led the round girl to the back, followed by Huan Tan and the boys. Several shop workers glanced curiously since their master had never taken an out-of-town customer to the back before. He opened a door and gestured for Xiaolin to step inside.

Xiaolin’s eyes widened at the sight of the large jars of fermented fish lined up, taking up the entire space. Her eyes sparkled as if she had found a treasure. She jumped with joy, telling the mustached uncle that she wanted them all but would need help transporting them home.

“Sure, I’ll charge you just two taels of silver for each jar, including transport. Do you think that’s too expensive?

The mustached man asked the little girl, who was bouncing with excitement, her belly jiggling. Although fermented fish was common and inexpensive in his hometown, it took months to transport it here, so he had to add a bit for shipping.

“Not at all! I’ll give you one tael of gold for the whole lot.” Her chubby hand pulled out a gold ingot and handed it to the mustached uncle, whose eyes bulged. He had never handled a gold ingot since he started trading here.

"Isn’t this a little too much, little girl!?"

"Not at all, sir. Next year, I’ll have fifty more jars, please. By the way, do you have any shrimp paste, Uncle?"

The man with the curved mustache looked at Huan Tan, who was standing behind the chubby child. When he saw Huan Tan nod, he accepted the money. Xiaolin smiled so broadly that her eyes closed with joy.

From now on, she would have fermented fish to eat and sell all year round. She planned to sell fifteen jars to her Uncle Liu Hao. Even though he ran a Northeastern cuisine restaurant, she didn’t let him use too much fermented fish because not everyone liked it. She would keep the rest for herself because she was sure the people behind her would ask for some as well.

"Shrimp paste? I don’t have any, but I’ll try to find some for you. As for the fermented fish, I’ll bring it to you, since I’ll only be trading here for one more year."

"Why is that, Uncle?" Xiaolin asked curiously. If he stopped trading, what would she do? Despite being from the Northeast, she had never made fermented fish herself. She didn’t know how many years it would take to make edible fermented fish if she tried.

"Sigh! Business isn’t doing well. We bring in pots, clay jars, vegetable seeds, silk, and cotton fabrics, but other shops sell the same things," he said with concern.

In truth, they also had items like ivory, but most of it had to be sent to the royal court as a way to gain favor and request trading space. Sometimes, greedy officials took small items for themselves, claiming it was a reward for helping with trade and dealing with the royal court.

Hearing this, Xiaolin frowned. She looked around the shop at the items they were selling, mostly pottery and cotton fabrics, as her mustached uncle had said. She tried to recall the ancient history she had learned, pondering what Thailand traded during those times.

"Of course! Next time, you should bring wood to sell!"

"Wood?"

"Yes, beautiful redwood and fragrant woods, bring them as logs. Rich people will surely buy them to carve and decorate their homes. And different gems, amber of all shades. Bring jasmine rice too, I want to buy your rice. Bring paddy as well, I want my uncle to plant it," Xiaolin said, turning to her large friend standing behind. Huan Tan pointed at himself in confusion, and when the chubby child nodded, he sighed.

More work again...

"Alright, anything else you want or any other suggestions?" The man with the mustache asked with interest. After all, next year would be the last year he could trade here, so he wanted to take the risk. If the chubby child’s suggestions worked, his business might flourish.

"I would like some black rice as well, Uncle. If you can find it, please get both the milled rice and the paddy. Oh, and you can sell spices too, like pepper, cardamom, or garlic. The garlic here isn’t very fragrant."

"Alright, if your suggestions work out, next year I’ll bring everything you want. Just let me know if you need anything else. By the way, my name is Krai or Master Krai. You can call me Uncle Krai."

Krai looked at the chubby child adorably. Not only was she proficient in a foreign language, but she also knew how to recommend products for him to sell. These were items commonly found in his homeland. Her family must have provided her with a good education.

"Uncle Krai, you can call me Xiaolin," the chubby child said with a broad smile, pondering whether she should open a shop selling rice varieties sourced from different regions in the future.

Xiaolin bid farewell to the dark-skinned, mustached Uncle Krai and clung to her large friend’s back as they left the shop. She didn’t forget to give her home address to the hired cart driver. After finishing her business, she rested her cheek on her large friend’s shoulder, watching the young boys enjoying their time at the market.

"I want to buy five jars, please," Huan Tan said suddenly. Xiaolin laughed heartily.

"I sell at a high price, you know."

"Five taels."

"Gold taels, right? Deal!" Xiaolin teased her big friend. Huan Tan sighed loudly.

"Silver taels will do."

The chubby child laughed gleefully, finding ways to tease her large friend all the way back to where they had parked the carriage. The young boys had their hands full of sweets and toys, including a child-sized wooden bow suitable for boys around ten years old.

Xiaolin’s eyes sparkled, and she eagerly said she wanted one too. Huan Tan bought it for his friend, who was now acting like a complete child. Ching Long announced that everyone would practice archery in the evening because Xiaolin had work to do in the afternoon.

On the way back, Xiaolin suggested they eat at her father’s restaurant. Tianrong prepared a feast for his daughter, who seldom visited the city restaurant, especially a spicy glass noodle salad with seafood and minced pork.

While eating the salad, the chubby child remembered she had never made Vietnamese pork sausage. She turned to her father, asking if he planned to go hunting wild boar with his group again, as she wanted to use the meat for delicious dishes. Moreover, her grandmother’s salted pork hocks were just two pieces, definitely not enough. Tianrong replied that they would go into the forest in a couple of days.

Huan Tan, upon hearing this, expressed his desire to join the hunt as he also wanted to bring home some salted pork hocks from the Tang household. Additionally, he wanted to buy salt from the chubby child, since the salt sold in the city was not only dull in color but also expensive. Moreover, the sauces and pickled vegetables made by the chubby child would surely please his father-in-law and mother-in-law, enhancing their appetite during the winter.

After a hearty lunch, Xiaolin ordered a large special seafood glass noodle salad to take home to her mother. When they arrived home, the chubby child saw four people sitting on the bench in front of the house. They were young men and women around the same age as her uncle. She spread her chubby arms, signaling her large friend to help her down from the carriage, and then waddled over to the waiting group.

"Are you the ones who are going to work for me?" Xiaolin asked, looking up at the tall, slim young man and the two pretty young women. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"You must be Xiaolin. Yes, we came because our younger siblings said you had work for us," one of the young men said excitedly. Both their parents and siblings worked at the Tang household and consistently earned a good income, with wages higher than those in the city.

"That’s right. What are your names?"

"You can call me Xian, and these are Mao, Yi Zhu, and Li Er," the first young man introduced everyone to the chubby child.

"Brother Xian, Brother Mao, Sister Zhu, and Sister Li, have you had lunch yet?" Xiaolin asked.

"We’ve already eaten. If you haven’t, feel free to go have your meal; we can wait," Yi Zhu replied with a smile, looking at the chubby child fondly.

"I’ve already eaten. Let me just put my things away and change clothes. I’ll be right back,"

Xiaolin said before waddling into the house. She handed the box of salad to her mother, who was sewing beside the bed where her younger brother lay with the chubby cat Xiao Hui. Xiaolin eyed the fat cat determinedly, planning to give it a bath as soon as she had some free time.

After changing clothes, Xiaolin called for the three Huan household boys, who had also changed their clothes by then. The children informed Hui Ning before trailing out of the house like ducklings following each other to the lotus pond. Hui Ning chuckled at the sight, just as her chubby son stirred, opened his eyes, and immediately cried out for milk.

"You little chubby cheeks, waking up and crying for food right away, huh?"

Hui Ning said as she picked up a wooden basin of water nearby. She wet a cloth and wrung it out before wiping the face of the fussy child. Every time he got hungry, he cried as if he were being slaughtered, even startling Xiao Hui, the cat who liked to sleep beside him. The cat jumped up and dashed into Xiaolin’s room.

"I’d like to hire you to shuck oysters. They are the ones clinging to the rocks at the seaside. I’m thinking about whether to hire you daily or to have you shuck them and sell them to me. What do you think?" Xiaolin chattered away. After finishing, she turned to ask the group following her. The four people discussed among themselves before Li Er replied.

"It would be better to shuck them and sell them to you. My sister Zhu and I, being women, can’t shuck as many as these two. If we were paid the same daily wage, we’d feel uncomfortable."

"Alright then. I’ll buy them at fifty brass coins per jin. Shucking just the oyster meat until you have a jin is hard work," the chubby child smiled before leading the way. Not long after, they reached the small huts of the uncles.

Xiaolin led the four to an area with a large cluster of oysters, explaining how to shuck them. But since they hadn’t brought any tools today, she didn’t have them start work yet.

However, upon returning to the huts, the four young people showed interest in drying squid. She let them try it out and paid them ten brass coins, requiring them to work until the evening. They were very happy and asked for more work, which wasn’t a problem since their fathers also worked there.

The chubby child walked into the hut where the three Huan boys were lying around. When they arrived at the seaside, they had asked to go to the hut first. She thought they might be up to something, but they were just lounging around, enjoying the sea breeze. She was about to invite them to walk along the beach when a fine carriage pulled up not far from the hut.

"Who’s there?" Wu Zhong asked, washing his hands and getting up to look at the carriage. Xiaolin clung to her uncle’s sleeve, staring at the carriage without blinking.

"Xiaolin!" Zhou Mingwang called loudly as he stepped down from the carriage. Xiaolin smiled in response.

"I wondered who would be coming around here,"

Xiaolin then walked over to Zhou Mingwang, who was waiting for his brother to get down from the carriage. A young man about the same age as Zhou Minglu stepped out too. He wore a blue outfit, had a handsome face with fair skin contrasting with his clothes, thick eyebrows, a high nose, and thin but healthy lips. When his eyes met Xiaolin’s, he fell silent until Zhou Mingwang nudged his shoulder.

Too handsome... Xiaolin thought to herself, making a strange face.

Xiaolin blinked at the handsome young man. He looked like a noble, unlike the Zhou brothers, the governor’s sons who studied in the capital. Xiaolin felt like he was more approachable to common folk than this person.

"This is Long Licheng, a friend of mine," Zhou Minglu introduced his friend to the chubby child.

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