Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 63: Or Should We Sell Grilled Pork?

Chapter 57

Or Should We Sell Grilled Pork?

Early in the morning, the chubby child was woken up by the sound of chickens clucking as if they were being slaughtered. But the chubby one just pulled the blanket over their head and continued to sleep without a care.

After a while, the comfortable sleeping figure, with the pillow thrown one way and the blanket the other, was woken up by their uncle. Xiaolin, with a grumpy face and messy hair, walked to the backyard and saw a white chicken lying lifeless in a basin.

Seeing this reminded her that she was going to make grilled chicken for sale. The chubby figure quickly ran to the kitchen, asking her grandmother to roast some pepper and coriander seeds, while she herself took jars of soy sauce and oyster sauce to pour into the basin with the chicken, estimating the right amount for the number of chickens.

“Uncle, make sure to rub the seasoning all over the chicken, inside and out. Have you kept the innards?”

“Yes, we’ve kept them. Your uncle and I prepared them, and your father is carving bamboo sticks.”

“Good, I’m going to make delicious grilled chicken innards too. Oh! Did you soak the sticky rice for me last night, uncle?” The chubby girl remembered that she had asked her young uncle to soak sticky rice before bed but wasn’t sure if he had done it.

“Yes, two big bowls. Is that enough?”

“It should be enough. We’ll try selling it first.”

“Xiaolin, the pepper and coriander seeds are roasted,” Zhang Ruo shouted from the kitchen.

“Yes, Grandmaa,” the chubby girl replied, pouring soy sauce into the basin with the chicken innards, estimating the amount, and then ran into the kitchen.

Xiaolin put garlic into the mortar, followed by roasted pepper and coriander seeds, and pounded them until fine, then scooped the mixture into a bowl. She didn’t forget to pour some syrup into another bowl to add a bit of sweetness.

“Grandma, please steam the sticky rice for me. Wrap the raw rice in a cheesecloth, wait until the water boils, and then put it into the steamer. I’ll come and check often,” the chubby girl said, carrying the bowls of spices and syrup outside.

She said she would check often because she had never steamed sticky rice before! She had only seen her mother do it. She remembered that the first round of steaming was done until the bottom started to soften, then the top was turned to the bottom and steamed again. Once fully cooked, it was taken out and kneaded with a spatula or a wooden rice paddle like the villagers did. She hoped it would cook properly for her.

“Ha ha,” the chubby girl laughed nervously, dividing the aromatic mixture into the basin with the chicken and the innards, followed by a bit of syrup to give a sweet hint at the end.

She planned to grill the chicken whole and skewer the innards like the street vendors, to sell with sticky rice. After marinating the chicken, she realized she needed large leaves to wrap the chicken.

“Uncle, are there trees with large enough leaves to wrap a whole chicken?” The chubby girl nudged Tianchen, who was marinating the chicken.

“Ah, yes, there are. Across the stream, there are plenty, but you’ll need to walk a bit to find them.”

“Then after marinating the chicken, could you take me to get some leaves?”

“Sure.”

Xiaolin went to ask her father to carve sharp bamboo sticks for skewering the chicken innards. Tianrong agreed willingly, so the chubby girl returned to watch her uncle marinate the chicken again. Noticing the chicken gizzard needed smaller pieces, she instructed him to cut them smaller for easier eating.

Seeing that Tianchen’s work would take some time, Xiaolin went to her grandfather, who was tending to three cows tied up to graze in the morning.

“Grandfather, could you take me across the stream? I need big leaves to wrap the chicken,” the chubby girl said, waddling with her chubby belly to her grandfather, who was resting under a tree.

“Alright, let me get my knife first,” Hui Song replied, walking back to the house.

Xiaolin didn’t understand why her grandfather needed to get a knife, but when he returned, he carried her across the shallow stream. Xiaolin looked around with interest. This side of the stream was also forested, but not as dense as the forest near the mountain. It was more like an overgrown garden behind a house.

Her small pale hand clung tightly to her grandfather’s shirt as she toddled behind him. After a while, she saw the trees with large leaves her uncle had mentioned.

It was a banana grove! There were so many! How did she not know about this?

“Cut those leaves, Grandfather! Pick the nice ones,” the chubby girl said, jumping up and down in excitement. Hui Song chuckled softly and went to cut the leaves as his granddaughter instructed.

This was great. When the bananas ripened, she could pick them to eat. The banana blossom could also be used to make food for her mother to eat, to increase the milk supply for the baby in her womb.

Once they were satisfied, the grandfather and granddaughter crossed the stream back home. Xiaolin asked her grandfather to carefully cut the banana leaves from the stalks with a knife while she used a damp cloth to clean them. Seeing that some time had passed, she hurriedly ran into the kitchen.

"Open the lid, Grandma!" The chubby girl stood on a stool, urging her grandmother to open the lid of the sticky rice steamer.

Zhang Ruo opened the lid, releasing a plume of hot steam. Xiaolin instructed her grandmother to use a spatula to turn the rice from the bottom to the top to ensure even cooking. The chubby girl grabbed a grain of rice stuck to the spatula and popped it into her mouth. The sticky, tender texture made her nod in satisfaction before asking Zhang Ruo to sprinkle a bit of water and cover it again.

"We don’t have any food yet today, Xiaolin," Zhang Ruo reminded her granddaughter, as they had been busy preparing items for sale.

"Let’s grill a chicken and stir-fry the innards with dried chilies and wild onions, Grandma," Xiaolin suggested.

"In that case, go tell your father to grill the chicken."

"Yes, Grandma."

Xiaolin ran outside and saw there were twelve chickens in the basin, so she decided to grill two for lunch.

By the time everything was prepared, the sun was fully up. The little vendor hurriedly instructed the helpers to load the cart. They also packed the rice to eat at the market, since they needed to grill the chicken before selling it to customers. They could eat during the journey or once they arrived.

"I’m off now, Mother, Grandma," the chubby girl said, waving from the slowly moving cart.

"Good luck with your sales, dear," Hui Ning wished her daughter well.

The small cart stopped to pick up Liu Hao, who had prepared a bucket of fish. He asked to use Xiaolin’s grill before going to order a new one from Master Zheng, who Xiaolin had recommended.

"Xiaolin, how much are you going to sell the grilled chicken for?" Tianchen asked his niece, eating sticky rice as he spoke, finding it very easy to eat.

"Can I sell it for one tael of silver per chicken?"

Cough! "One tael of silver?" Tianchen almost choked on his rice. Liu Hao, who had been sneaking bites of sticky rice, was equally shocked.

"Hehe, is it too expensive, uncle? How much do you think we should sell it for?"

“Back when I used to catch wild chickens to sell in town, the restaurant would buy them for thirty brass coins each,” Liu Hao told the little girl. Xiaolin wrinkled her nose at this.

Upon thinking about it, she realized how much those merchants were taking advantage of the villagers. The food at the big restaurants was expensive, yet they bought goods from the villagers for only a few brass coins and paid the laborers just twenty brass coins.

“I’m going to sell for one tael of silver. The salt-grilled fish will also be one tael. If they ask, tell them it’s because a lot of salt is used, so it has to be expensive,”

Xiaolin said, crossing her arms. She didn’t forget to tell Liu Hao too. At first, he wanted to argue but upon thinking it over, he agreed that they should sell at a higher price. Salt in the city wasn’t cheap, even though the salt he got didn’t cost him anything.

Wouldn’t that mean they would make a lot of profit?

“What if people think your grilled chicken is too expensive?”

“Wild chickens aren’t easy to catch, uncle. If they think it’s too expensive, they can try catching some themselves. But if it sells well, I’ll have to find someone to raise chickens for sale because we can’t always rely on catching wild ones.”

If the wild chickens ran out, she wouldn’t have any left to eat. It would take months for her chickens to lay eggs, hatch chicks, and grow big enough to sell.

“I’ll help you find someone, alright?”

“Thank you, uncle. You’re eating all the chicken!”

The chubby girl had been busy chatting with Liu Hao. When she turned back, the chicken thighs she had set aside were nearly half gone. This led to a battle for grilled chicken and sticky rice on the back of the cart. Meanwhile, Tianrong and Hui Song didn’t have to fight over food, as it was just the two of them.

When they arrived at the market, the four men set up the tables in front of the market. They unloaded the goods and prepared the grill while the little vendor directed where everything should go.

While waiting for the coals to heat up, the two merchants and the little vendor tied up the chickens and salted the fish with bamboo sticks. Hui Song, worried that the sharp sticks might prick his granddaughter’s hands, helped skewer the chicken innards. Xiaolin then wrapped the sticky rice in banana leaves.

“Sticky rice, five brass coins per packet. Grilled chicken innards, ten brass coins per skewer,” Xiaolin announced, crossing her arms as she looked at her handiwork. The skewers of chicken innards were substantial enough to fill a person up. The sticky rice was generously portioned, much more than what ten baht could buy in the present day.

Sizzle, sizzle!

The sound of oil from the chicken and fish dripping onto the hot coals, along with the smoke and delicious aroma, attracted the attention of people shopping at the market. Early in the morning, not many people sold food; most sold vegetables and meat.

“What are you selling? It smells wonderful,” a middle-aged woman with a servant in tow asked as she approached, drawn by the enticing aroma.

“Good morning, miss. We sell grilled chicken, grilled chicken innards, and salt-grilled fish,” Xiaolin replied with a beaming smile.

“I know grilled chicken, but what are salt-grilled fish and grilled innards..?” The customer looked puzzled as she glanced at the grill.

“Salt-grilled fish is just grilled fish, but seasoned with salt. As for the grilled innards, they include chicken liver, heart, and gizzard. Don’t worry about any smell; Xiaolin cleaned them thoroughly,” the little girl explained, picking up a skewer of cooked innards. She nudged her uncle.

“Uncle, could you take the organs off the skewer for me?” Xiaolin handed him the skewer and prepared a small banana leaf bowl.

Once the innards were ready, the chubby girl handed the bowl to the customer along with a small stick for tasting.

“Try it,”

The middle-aged woman hesitated, but seeing the little vendor’s cheerful face, she decided to try a piece of chicken liver. Her eyes widened in surprise at the taste.

“Mmm, this is delicious! It’s very flavorful. How much are you selling these for, little vendor?”

“Ten brass coins per skewer, miss. I don’t sell them at a high price at all. Since most people haven’t tried them before, I’m selling them cheap. We also have sticky rice, which is very tasty with the grilled innards. Please try some, madam,” the chubby girl said, holding out a banana leaf packet of sticky rice.

“How many skewers do you have? I’d like to buy ten skewers and ten packets of sticky rice. Is that possible?”

“Yes, madam. Would you also like to buy some grilled chicken or salt-grilled fish? These two items are a bit more expensive because the fish requires a lot of salt and the chicken is wild and plump. They’re one tael of silver each. What do you think, miss?”

The chubby girl anxiously awaited the customer’s decision. The well-dressed woman, accompanied by a servant, seemed to be well-off. Xiaolin hoped the price wouldn’t be considered too high.

“It is quite expensive, but I understand. Look at all the salt on the fish. And I’ve never caught a wild chicken myself, but it must not be easy. Alright, I’ll take one of each,”

“Thank you very much, auntie! Please wait a moment for the grilled chicken and fish to be ready. You can sit over there,” the chubby girl said excitedly, pointing to three chairs set up a short distance away for customers to wait.

The little girl wrapped the grilled innards in banana leaves and tied them neatly with strips of banana stalk. Tianchen and Liu Hao were just as excited, realizing the little vendor’s business couldn’t be underestimated. Even before the chicken and fish were fully cooked, they already had a waiting customer.

After the first customer left, Xiaolin received two taels of silver and one hundred and fifty brass coins with a wide smile that made her cheeks ache. She divided the money into two parts, one for her and her uncle, and the other for Liu Hao. She carefully stored the coins in a small money box.

“Hehe, if we can handle it, should we sell squid next time, uncle?” The chubby girl suggested.

“Sure, but will people buy squid in the morning? It doesn’t seem like breakfast food,” Tianchen pondered.

“We can sell the chicken first, and the squid later in the morning.”

“Alright, we can do that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Xiaolin?” Liu Hao asked, pretending to be hurt that the chubby girl hadn’t included him.

“Uncle, you’re doing well with the salt-grilled fish. You’re working alone, aren’t you? Once you’re married, we can discuss it again hehe,”

“I’m not in a hurry!”

The small shop continued to attract customers. Most were villagers buying grilled innards and sticky rice for their children who accompanied them. The children couldn’t resist the delicious smell and kept asking to eat.

But since there weren’t many grilled innards, they sold out quickly. Xiaolin thought about selling grilled pork belly the next day. Buying a cut of pork belly, slicing it thin, skewering it, and grilling it with spicy dipping sauce and sticky rice would likely sell well.

By late morning, all the prepared food was sold out. They had only brought ten chickens and ten fish. The first customer even sent her servant to buy another four chickens and four fish. In total, Xiaolin made ten taels of silver and four hundred brass coins.

She divided three taels of silver for her uncle and set aside one tael each for her grandmother, grandfather, and father. The rest, after deducting the cost of charcoal, was kept for herself.

“What about the four hundred brass coins?” Tianchen asked curiously.

“I’m going to use them to buy pork, uncle. How much does pork usually cost per jin?”

“A hundred brass coins per jin.”

“Oh, my! Shouldn’t we hunt wild boar instead?”

Hearing this, Liu Hao laughed out loud. This little girl thought wild boars would just walk around waiting to be caught.

But hunting them wasn’t as difficult as she thought. The forest behind their village had several hills and wasn’t frequently hunted, so there were plenty of animals to catch.

“Are you planning to switch to selling grilled pork now?” Liu Hao asked, packing up.

“Do you think it’s a good idea, uncle? One pig can be sold over several days. We can sell fresh pork belly on the first day, and marinate and sun-dry the rest for later sales, just like before winter. The bones can be sold cheaply to villagers, the fat can be rendered for oil, and the innards can be grilled or used for our meals. It’s all profit,” the chubby girl said with a broad smile.

The two men shook their heads in amazement. The chubby girl had all the ideas but would leave the hard work to them and her father. Sigh!

-----

Read ‘Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family’ before anyone else with more Chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en